Samsung Announces New Galaxy S23 Lineup With Stunning 200MP Camera Sensor, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 & More

It's that time of the year again, with Samsung's new flagship Galaxy S lineup announced at the first Unpacked event for 2023. This year, we're getting the Galaxy S23 in three flavours, the base Galaxy S23, the Galaxy S23+ and the cream of the crop, the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The design of the S23 Ultra looks to be almost the same as the Galaxy S22 series, although the S23 Ultra's 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen has a reduced curvature which results in a larger and flatter display compared to the S22 Ultra. The S23 and S23+ displays are the same size as previously at 6.1 and 6.6-inch respectively. Both models also look slightly different as the contour-cut camera housing on the rear has been removed, with both phones now looking more similar to the S23 Ultra on the rear.

On the front and back of the phone, Samsung has upgraded the glass to Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is said to hold up better to drops on concrete and other rough surfaces. All three phones come in four colours, Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender.

When it comes to the cameras, though, there has been quite a big difference made this year. Samsung has finally upgraded to a 200MP rear main camera for the S23 Ultra. Because of this, Samsung claims the phone is able to focus faster and more accurately by using four adjacent pixels to detect differences from left to right and top to bottom. Additionally, the S23 Ultra can now film in 8K at 30 frames per second with a new adaptive pixel sensor of the S23 Ultra being able to combine 16 pixels into one for better low-light performance. The other rear cameras stay the same, with a 12MP ultra-wide camera and two 10MP telephoto cameras allowing for 3x and 10x optical zoom.

For the S23 and S23+, the cameras on the rear are unchanged from a 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide and a 10MP telephoto camera that can go up to 3x optical zoom. All three models have the same 12MP front selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture and an 80-degree field of view.

Internally, we're looking at a base RAM configuration of 8GB across the S23 and S23+ models, with the option to upgrade to 12GB for the S23 Ultra if you go for the 512GB or 1TB storage options instead of the 256GB. The S23 has 128GB or 256GB storage options while the S23+ comes with either 256GB or 512GB of storage.

The phones all come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, which is fitting for a flagship device and we're certain the S23 series will perform as well as it always has over the years. The S23 series also supports 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, which are all the latest connectivity standards you want to see in a flagship phone. They're also all IP68 dust and water-resistant, so no worries bringing them to the beach or to the swimming pool, or if they accidentally get drinks spilt on them.

The S23 Ultra comes with the S Pen and a slot to keep the S Pen in, just like the S22 Ultra before it, and the phones all get slightly heavier this year, with the S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra weighing in at 168, 200g and 233g respectively. Battery capacities have improved for the S23 and S23+ too, clocking in at 3,900mAh and 4,700mAh. The S23 Ultra still keeps the 5,000mAh battery that the S22 Ultra has, with a 30-minute charge giving 65% when using a 45W adapter.

As for pricing, the Samsung Galaxy S23 starts at S$1,188 while the Galaxy S23+ retails from S$1,528. The Galaxy S23 Ultra starts from S$1,828 and goes all the way up to S$2,458 for the 1TB model. Preorders start today with collection starting on 10 February 2023. General availability will be from 17 February 2023 at M1, Singtel, Starhub, Samsung Online Store, Samsung Experience Stores as well as major consumer electronics and IT stores.