Samsung Unpacked live blog: Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, S23 Ultra, Galaxy Book and more
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If Samsung Galaxy S23 prices do rise, then you’ll want to save every cent you can on the new phones. That’s particularly true if you have your eye on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, because that phone is unlikely to be cheap wherever you are.
The good news is that you can save money on the devices if you act quickly. Galaxy S23 preorder are still live, and the official Samsung site is running a unique pre-registration promo which could save you $50 on one of the phones.
Simply head on over to this page and fill out the ‘register your interest’ form (opens in new tab) to reserve a device. Not only will you secure a firm place in line in doing this, but you’ll also receive $50 of store credit should you commit to a preorder once they go live later today.
But act quickly: the pre-orders will close an hour before the event starts, so as of writing you have around 8hrs to register.
Regardless of how many leaks there have been around the Galaxy S23 – and seriously, this thing has leaked like a sieve – we don’t know everything about it yet.
For one, we don’t know how much it will cost. The smart money (pun intended) says that in the US at least, all three models will keep the prices from the S22. If true, that would mean prices of $799.99, $999.99 and $1,199.99 respectively, for the base variants.
However, earlier this week we heard rumors that Galaxy S23 prices could go up in some countries – and considerably so. Fingers crossed that isn’t the case.
Good morning from the UK, where I’m picking up this live blog from my colleague Philip Berne while he gets some much-needed sleep ahead of Unpacked later today.
Let’s start the day with the latest in a seemingly never-ending line of leaks around the Galaxy S23 series. In this case, multiple images of the devices have surfaced after a Twitter user seemingly spotted the phones on display in Chile.
The source, Dylan Xitton (opens in new tab), initially posted a video of the phones, but that’s now been removed. However photos purportedly of the handsets can still be seen below.
Of course, I have an extra bunch of photos here, the chilean mobile provider (Wom) said that the phone would be released in chile 1 month ongoing, I was surprised seeing on the shelf lmao pic.twitter.com/07ga0Ob9OPJanuary 31, 2023
The S23 Ultra, in particular, looks as though it’s getting more than just a higher resolution camera than its predecessor, with an additional trio of key upgrades over the S22 Ultra expected in a feature by writer, James Rogerson.
For one, how about a powerful new chipset?
As the Samsung fans over at SamMobile unearthed earlier this month, the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus will sport new primary cameras at the same 50MP resolution as last year’s model. The Galaxy S23 Ultra will drop the 108MP sensor of its predecessor in favor of a new primary camera, rocking an impressive-sounding 200MP.
Not only that, but the new devices will capture photos in RAW format at up to 50MP, up from the previous 12MP limit. We’re also hearing about a feature that helps the camera take hyperlapse videos of the sky.
Cameras Editor, Tim Coleman seems to think we should be looking past that 200MP number when it comes to the S23 Ultra’s camera, saying “it’s more than just a gimmick” in his deep-dive of the sensor the phone’s likely to use.
If one thing has become abundantly clear over the past few weeks of leaks, it’s that the cameras on the S23 generation aren’t messing around. This official video posted by Samsung less than ten days ago highlights the low-light capture capabilities of the new phones.
“Epic nights are coming” may seem a little ambiguous as a tagline but we already have an idea of why that might be the <ahem> focus of the Galaxy S23’s camera experience.
An interesting tidbit that’s arisen from the rumors is that every Galaxy S23 buyer will have equal color opportunities, no matter which Galaxy S model you pick. Whether you go for the entry level device or spring for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, you’ll be able to show off Samsung’s unique colors.
We’re expecting some interesting shades, accompanied by Samsung’s interesting color branding. A Misty Lilac or a Botanic Green could be your preferred hue this season, whether you go for the enigmatic mid-level Galaxy S23 Plus or any other of the new phones.
We’re also expecting accessories to match the new colors, though we haven’t heard of new devices like earbuds in this year’s shades.
James Rogerson has even offered up an in-depth round-up of all the expected Galaxy S23 colors, which includes speculative renders of what each color might look like on different models.
Which one’s your favorite? I have a love-hate relationship with the Cotton Flower color, personally.
As Samsung fans will already be well aware, we’re expecting three members of the Galaxy S23 series to arrive on February 1: the Galaxy S23, the Galaxy S23 Plus and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The leaked image of dummy units you see above (credit: Sonny Dickson) echoes other leaks and rumors around the design direction Samsung is taking with this generation. Each device looks strikingly similar in form to the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The standard and Plus models of the S23 this year appear to shrug off the Contour Cut camera module of the previous two generations of Galaxy S phone, in favor of something a little more sleek and sharp.
TechRadar’s Editor in Chief, Marc McLaren has done a deep-dive on the difference between the three expected models in our Samsung Galaxy S23 vs S23 Plus vs S23 Ultra comparison feature.
Good afternoon and welcome to our Samsung Galaxy S23 event live blog.
We’re just under 24 hours out from Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, which is set to start at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT on February 1 (or 5am AEDT on February 2).
We’ll be keeping a close eye on any breaking news ahead of the event, as well as giving you our verdict on the rumors so far. Then, once the event begins, we’ll be sharing all the big news as it happens.
So, on with the show…
Refresh 2023-02-01T08:56:58.215Z (Image credit: Future) If Samsung Galaxy S23 prices do rise, then you’ll want to save every cent you can on the new phones. That’s particularly true if you have your eye on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, because that phone is unlikely to be cheap wherever you are. The…
