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Samsung’s Galaxy S23 and S23+ challenge Google’s Pixel for the camera crown

This year, Samsung placed significant focus on the phones' camera chops

Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S23 and S23+ smartphones during its February 1st Unpacked keynote in San Francisco, California. The company also unveiled the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which you can learn more about here.

The new smartphones sport a slightly updated design that ditches the single camera bump for individual raised lenses, still in the typical vertical line layout — Samsung calls this layout ‘Contour Cut.’ If you’ve paid much attention to the leaks leading up to Samsung’s reveal, then the S23 and S23+ should hardly come as a surprise. Moreover, the phones come in ‘Phantom Black,’ ‘Cream,’ ‘Green’ and ‘Lavender’ colour options.


The phones sport 6.1-inch and 6.6-inch screens, respectively, using Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 — the first smartphones to do so. The devices sport an ‘Intelligent Display’ feature that automatically adjusts and enhances colour and contrast to match three different ambient lighting conditions.

They also run on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, with Samsung touting the devices’ gaming prowess.When it comes to battery life, Samsung says it increased the battery by 200mAh on both the S23 and S23+. That means the phones boast 3,900mAh and 4,700mAh cells, respectively.

Samsung talked a big game about the camera in the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but the S23 and S23+ didn’t get as significant an improvement. Both phones sport a 50-megapixel wide sensor, 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and 10-megapixel 3x telephoto shooter.

The S23 and S23+ still sport Samsung’s new adaptive pixel Super HDR to capture more detail, improve night photography, image stabilization through adaptive VDIS and Wide OIS, and more.

The company also highlighted improvements to the Expert RAW mode for the S23 and S23+, including support for Astrophoto to capture the night sky (tripod required) and ‘Multiple exposures,’ which lets users layer together multiple frames to create one picture.

Another camera improvement: the S23 and S23+ now sport 12-megapixel selfie cameras, up from 10-megapixels in their predecessors. Samsung says the phones now apply Super HDR to photos taken with the camera, enabling it to capture a more dynamic range of colour.

Samsung says the new Galaxy smartphones were designed with the planet in mind and use a variety of recycled materials, including pre-consumer recycled glass for the front screen and back cover, recycled aluminum, and plastics, including recycled water barrels, fishing nets, and more. The smartphones’ packaging is also made of recycled materials.

Galaxy S23

Galaxy S23+

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Display

6.1-inch Flat Dynamic AMOLED, 1,080 x 2,400 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz display, HDR10+, 240Hz Touch Sampling in Games

6.6-inch Flat Dynamic AMOLED, 1,080 x 2,400 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz display, HDR10+, 240Hz Touch Sampling in Games

6.8-inch Curved Dynamic AMOLED, 1,440 x 3,200 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz display (variable 1-120Hz) HDR10+, 240Hz Touch Sampling in Games

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

RAM

8GB of RAM

8GB of RAM

8GB of RAM, 12GB of RAM

Storage

128GB, 256GB

256GB, 512GB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

Dimensions (in.)

70.9 x146.3 x7.6mm

76.2 x157.8 x7.6mm

163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm

Weight

168g

196g

234g

Rear Facing Camera

50-megapixel (f/1.8, wide) + 10-megapixel (f/2.4, 3x zoom) + 12-megapixel (f/2.2, 120-degree FOV, ultrawide)

50-megapixel (f/1.8, wide) + 10-megapixel (f/2.4, 3x zoom) + 12-megapixel (f/2.2, 120-degree FOV, ultrawide)

200-megapixel, 12-megapixel (f/2.2, 120-degree), 10-megapixel (f/4.9, 10x zoom), 10-megapixel (f/2.4, 3x zoom)

Front Facing Camera

12-megapixel

12-megapixel

12-megapixel

OS

Android 13, One UI 5.1

Android 13, One UI 5.1

Android 13, One UI 5.1

Battery

3,900mAh

4,700mAh

5,000mAh

Network Connectivity

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E

Sensors

Fingerprint (in-display), accelerometor, gyro, proximity, compass

Fingerprint (in-display), accelerometor, gyro, proximity, compass

Fingerprint (in-display), accelerometor, gyro, proximity, compass

SIM Type

Nano SIM, eSIM

Nano SIM, eSIM

Nano SIM, eSIM

Launch Date

February 17, 2023

February 17, 2023

February 17, 2023

Misc

Colours: ‘Phantom Black,’ ‘Green,' 'Lavendar,' 'Creme'

Colours: ‘Phantom Black,’ ‘Green,' 'Lavendar,' 'Creme'

Colours: ‘Phantom Black,’ ‘Green,' 'Lavendar,' 'Creme'

Display

Galaxy S23

6.1-inch Flat Dynamic AMOLED, 1,080 x 2,400 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz display, HDR10+, 240Hz Touch Sampling in Games

Galaxy S23+

6.6-inch Flat Dynamic AMOLED, 1,080 x 2,400 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz display, HDR10+, 240Hz Touch Sampling in Games

Galaxy S23 Ultra

6.8-inch Curved Dynamic AMOLED, 1,440 x 3,200 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz display (variable 1-120Hz) HDR10+, 240Hz Touch Sampling in Games

Processor

Galaxy S23

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Galaxy S23+

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

RAM

Galaxy S23

8GB of RAM

Galaxy S23+

8GB of RAM

Galaxy S23 Ultra

8GB of RAM, 12GB of RAM

Storage

Galaxy S23

128GB, 256GB

Galaxy S23+

256GB, 512GB

Galaxy S23 Ultra

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

Dimensions (in.)

Galaxy S23

70.9 x146.3 x7.6mm

Galaxy S23+

76.2 x157.8 x7.6mm

Galaxy S23 Ultra

163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm

Weight

Galaxy S23

168g

Galaxy S23+

196g

Galaxy S23 Ultra

234g

Rear Facing Camera

Galaxy S23

50-megapixel (f/1.8, wide) + 10-megapixel (f/2.4, 3x zoom) + 12-megapixel (f/2.2, 120-degree FOV, ultrawide)

Galaxy S23+

50-megapixel (f/1.8, wide) + 10-megapixel (f/2.4, 3x zoom) + 12-megapixel (f/2.2, 120-degree FOV, ultrawide)

Galaxy S23 Ultra

200-megapixel, 12-megapixel (f/2.2, 120-degree), 10-megapixel (f/4.9, 10x zoom), 10-megapixel (f/2.4, 3x zoom)

Front Facing Camera

Galaxy S23

12-megapixel

Galaxy S23+

12-megapixel

Galaxy S23 Ultra

12-megapixel

OS

Galaxy S23

Android 13, One UI 5.1

Galaxy S23+

Android 13, One UI 5.1

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Android 13, One UI 5.1

Battery

Galaxy S23

3,900mAh

Galaxy S23+

4,700mAh

Galaxy S23 Ultra

5,000mAh

Network Connectivity

Galaxy S23

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E

Galaxy S23+

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E

Galaxy S23 Ultra

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E

Sensors

Galaxy S23

Fingerprint (in-display), accelerometor, gyro, proximity, compass

Galaxy S23+

Fingerprint (in-display), accelerometor, gyro, proximity, compass

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Fingerprint (in-display), accelerometor, gyro, proximity, compass

SIM Type

Galaxy S23

Nano SIM, eSIM

Galaxy S23+

Nano SIM, eSIM

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Nano SIM, eSIM

Launch Date

Galaxy S23

February 17, 2023

Galaxy S23+

February 17, 2023

Galaxy S23 Ultra

February 17, 2023

Misc

Galaxy S23

Colours: ‘Phantom Black,’ ‘Green,' 'Lavendar,' 'Creme'

Galaxy S23+

Colours: ‘Phantom Black,’ ‘Green,' 'Lavendar,' 'Creme'

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Colours: ‘Phantom Black,’ ‘Green,' 'Lavendar,' 'Creme'

In Canada, the Galaxy S23 will cost $1,099.99 for the 128GB model and $1,179.99 for the 256GB model. The Galaxy S23+ will cost $1,399.99 for the 256GB model and $1,559.99 for the 512GB model. The handsets are available for pre-order now and release on February 17th.

For more on Samsung’s Galaxy S23 line, check out our hands-on with the new smartphones and all of our Unpacked 2023 content here.

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