Samsung will unveil its next flagship family, the Galaxy S23, at an event on February 1. Viewers at home can tune in directly to Samsung, and TechRadar will be on site in San Francisco to check out the new phones, which will presumably include the Galaxy S23 Plus and the 200MP-capable Galaxy S23 Ultra.
If you’re already sure you want Samsung’s next big thing, the reserve sale has started and will run until the event. Samsung isn’t giving away details upfront, but you can get $50 or $100 in store credit if you commit to one or two new devices, respectively. You don’t have to deposit money in advance, you just need to provide your name and email address.
The event invite looks remarkably similar to the three-hole camera cutout we’ve seen on leaked renders and images of the Galaxy S23 phone, making it much more similar to the design of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, as seen above is.
The launch of the Galaxy S23 is the first major phone launch of the year, and it probably raises the bar for other manufacturers to jump over. Qualcomm has loudly suggested that any Galaxy S23 device will run its next-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform, and we’ve even heard it could get a speed boost for Samsung’s flagships.
Otherwise, we don’t expect major upgrades this year, although we’d like to be surprised. The most expensive model, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, is likely to be the first Samsung phone with a 200MP sensor.
Aside from the sheer pixel count, we’re hearing enthusiastic rumblings about the improvements to low-light capabilities. We’re not expecting major improvements to the other cameras, which is probably fine given that the Galaxy S22 Ultra is already at the top of our list of the best camera phones money can buy.
Prices for the phones are still up in the air, and we’ve heard it could cost the same or cost a price increase over last year’s models.
Of course, we also expect accessories to go with the new phones, so we’ll also be looking out for new earbuds in all the new Galaxy S23 colors. The new phones should launch in cream (“Cotton Flower”), pink (“Misty Lilac”), “Botanic” Green and “Phantom” Black.
Since we’ve pinned down most of the hardware specs, the big question is what software features and improvements Samsung will offer on the new phones. We hope One UI finally matures to match the look and feel we enjoy on Google’s own Pixel devices.
Samsung loves adding and changing software to every phone, so we’re curious to see how this plays out on February 1. Check back often for the latest on the Galaxy S23 and all our most anticipated phones of 2023.
