Samsung's Galaxy S23 And S23 Plus Focus On The Changes That Matter

It's that time of year again. South Korean technology giant Samsung has released its new range of flagship phones. The S23 series has long been the high-end go-to for smartphone users who don't want to deal with Apple, so it's reasonable to expect a lot of new premium features with each new version of the phone, and that seems to be what Samsung is trying to do. There's big news on the processor front, coupled with a camera upgrade, and a few other changes with the highly lucrative mobile gaming market in mind. Samsung also appears to be attempting to create an ecosystem similar to Apple's — where all of its devices seamlessly integrate with each other. This may be a smart move, as it doesn't stop things like the Galaxy S23 from working with other manufacturer's products, but life gets that little bit easier if you go with Samsung all the way down the line.

Arguably, the big news is the processor upgrade which sees the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 appear in all versions of the S23. Samsung says this means their phones are now backed by "groundbreaking AI, future-ready mobile gaming experience, and powerfully sustained gameplay with the world's fastest mobile graphics." But performance differences at the high end are negligible, and where top-of-the-line phones really stand out these days is in the camera department. So Samsung has had a look at that too.

In terms of raw numbers, the Galaxy S23's selfie camera has received a bit of a boost — now boasting 12 megapixels, up from the S22's 10. Flip it over, and the three main cameras on the back appear to be the same, or at least incredibly similar, to last year's model. You have a 12 MP ultrawide camera, a 10 MP Telephoto Camera, and a 50 MP wide camera. While the base models don't appear to have gotten a hardware boost on par with the Ultra's new 200 MP rear camera, the processing and software side of things can still make a notable difference.

Even if you have a decent camera, recording or taking photos in low light has often been a guaranteed way to expose its limitations. That may not be the case with the S23, as its AI algorithm offers "Improved Nightography capabilities" and should help ensure you take high-quality shots in all lighting conditions. Advanced AI also shows up, promising to keep track of all the minute details in a photo — including people's facial features.

Video recording gets a boost, with wider-angle 8K recording at 30 frames per second. That new selfie camera also boasts 4k video recording with "Super HDR" at a smooth 60 fps, so you can capture your monologues in ultra-high definition. You can also pair the phone with the Galaxy Buds2 Pro to record 360-degree sound. Also included is a suite of tools including Samsung's "Expert RAW app" which brings smartphone photography a step closer to the digital SLR experience.

As with the previous versions, the standard S23 has a 6.1-inch display and the Plus comes in at 6.6 inches. The screen itself is a 120hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, capable of offering crisp visuals, smooth video, and a fantastic range of vibrant colors. That display is also protected by a sheet of Corning's new Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The phones' batteries have also received a bit of a boost, which may be needed to power the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processors that are present in this generation of Galaxy S range phones. If you grab a standard S23, then you'll get 3,900mAh of capacity. As always, the bigger phone has space for a bigger battery. As a result, the S23+ can hold a very respectable 4,700 mAh of power when fully charged. There's also an improvement to the phone's "vapor cooling chamber" which should keep things from overheating, and keep everything running at max capacity longer. Both phones come with 8GB of RAM and have 128GB of storage if you opt for the basic version, and 256 GB if you have a little bit more to spend. You could also take advantage of Samsung's pre-order offer and get a free upgrade to the next tier of storage when you purchase the phone through its online store.

Prices for the Samsung Galaxy S23 start at $799.99, while the S23+ is available from $999.99. Pre-orders start today and run through to February 16, with the phone set to hit the shelves on February 17. Samsung says pre-ordering through their website will net you that free upgrade to the next storage tier, and $100 in Samsung credit.