Samsung Galaxy S23: Everything you need to know

Samsung has finally unveiled its latest generation of flagship slab phones, the Galaxy S23 series, and they’ll be on sale soon.

It’s a year for cautious upgrades though – the main S23 and S23+ have changed a lot in how they look, but a little less on the inside. Meanwhile the S23 Ultra doesn’t look so different, but does benefit from an overhauled 200Mp main camera – and all three phones get the benefit of Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon worldwide.

So, what should you expect if you’re considering picking up an S23? Here’s what you need to know.

When did the Samsung Galaxy S23 go on sale?

Samsung officially revealed the three S23 phones – the S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra – at a Galaxy Unpacked event on 1 February, and the phones went on sale officially on 17 February. You can buy them now from Samsung.

For more on getting your hands on the new smartphone range, including the best savings and offers we can find from Samsung and other retailers, take a look at our guide to the best Samsung Galaxy S23 deals.

This launch includes the standard S23 model alongside the Plus and Ultra variants – these are the models we’ll focus on in this article.

In 2020, Samsung introduced the FE (Fan Edition) models, which are essentially toned down versions of the standard S model. These have had a more sporadic release schedule, but always launch months after the other models. Since there’s been no sign of the Galaxy S22 FE yet, and some rumours say that it’s been cancelled, it’s also possible that there’ll be no S23 FE either.

How much does the Samsung Galaxy S23 cost?

First up, the regular S23 comes in two variants:

• Galaxy S23 with 128GB storage: $799/£849/€959
• Galaxy S23 with 256GB storage: $899/£899/€1,019

Then there’s the S23+, which ships with more storage by default:

• Galaxy S23+ with 256GB storage: $999/£1,049/€1,219
• Galaxy S23+ with 512GB storage: $1,099/£1,149/€1,339

Finally, the Ultra model adds an additional 1TB storage tier:

• Galaxy S23 Ultra with 256GB storage: $1,199/£1,249/€1,419
• Galaxy S23 Ultra with 512GB storage: $1,379/£1,399/€1,599
• Galaxy S23 Ultra with 1TB storage: $1,619/£1,599/€1,839

In terms of how these prices compare to last year’s Galaxy S22 models, Samsung has increased the starting prices across the board. That’s easier to swallow for the Plus and Ultra, which now ship with double the base storage at 256GB, but any way you shake it the regular S23 is much more expensive than its predecessor.

What are the Samsung Galaxy S23 specs?

With three phones, we’re going to keep things simple and break the line down one by one, highlighting what’s new, what’s most exciting, and what differs between each model.

Galaxy S23

Let’s start with the regular S23, the cheapest phone in the new line.

You’ll probably notice straight away that the phone looks pretty different to last year’s S22. Gone is the ‘contour cut’ camera module use in the last two generations, now replaced with a minimalist array of three camera lenses and a flash sat directly on the phone’s rear – a design clearly inspired by last year’s Ultra model.

The colours have been tweaked too, with the same set of four finishes now available across all three S23 phones: Green, Lavender, Cream, and Phantom Black. If you order through Samsung’s online store you’ll also get to pick from Graphite, Red, Lime, or Sky Blue – though sadly there’s no sign yet of anything like the Bespoke option the company offers on the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

While the design has changed a lot, the regular S23 is almost exactly the same size and weight as last year’s phone, with the same size 6.1in display. This is a little tougher than before though, marking the debut of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 – the new toughest phone glass around – though the phone’s overall IP68 rating for water and dust-resistance is unchanged.

As for the display, it’s pretty much unchanged from last year – it’s once again a 120Hz AMOLED panel able to scale down as slow as 48Hz, with similar brightness, and the same Full HD+ resolution.

One of the most interesting changes this year is inside the phone: it will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip – everywhere. Samsung traditionally used Qualcomm chips in the US and some other territories, while Europe and India get Samsung’s own Exynos processors, but this time around it’s Snapdragon globally.

Even more interestingly, this is actually a tweaked version of the 8 Gen 2 that’s branded ‘Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy’. The chip has been improved, with its prime CPU core running at a higher clock speed of 3.36GHz, up from the 3.2GHz of the regular 8 Gen 2’s main core, so it should technically run slightly faster than rival phones.

The S23 ships with 8GB of RAM as standard, and a choice of just two storage options: 128GB or 256GB, the same options as last year.

As for the battery, overall capacity has gone up slightly from last year to 3900mAh (up from 3700mAh), while charging is staying the same with 25W wired speeds along with basic Qi wireless charging too.

Then there’s the cameras. Samsung has also chosen not to change too much here, sticking with the broad setup of the S22: a 50Mp main camera, 12Mp ultrawide, and 10Mp telephoto. The only major hardware change here is on the other side, where the selfie camera has been upgraded from 10Mp to 12Mp.

Although the camera hardware hasn’t been tweaked much, Samsung touts plenty of software improvements, especially to lowlight photography, so overall performance should still be improved – but likely not dramatically.

As you’d expect the S23 – and indeed all three models – ship with Android 13 and One UI 5.1, and continues Samsung’s promise of four years of core OS updates with a fifth year of security patches.

Here are the full specs:

Galaxy S23 specs:

• 6.1in, 48-120Hz, FHD+, AMOLED display
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• 8GB RAM
• 128/256GB storage
• 3900mAh battery
• 25W wired charging
• 15W wireless charging
• Rear camera:
  • 50Mp, f/1.8, OIS main camera
  • 12Mp, f/2.2 ultra-wide camera
  • 10Mp, f/2.4, OIS 3x zoom telephoto camera
• 12Mp, f/2.2 front camera
• 5G
• Wi-Fi 6E
• Bluetooth 5.3
• IP68
• Gorilla Glass Victus 2
• Android 13 with One UI 5.1
• 70.9 x 146.3 x 7.6mm
• 168g

Galaxy S23+

Then we get to the S23+. The good news is that this is a simple one, as it’s very similar to the regular S23 – and, like that phone, hasn’t changed to much from the S22+ last year.

The design is essentially the same as the S23, in the same colours and in similar proportions. The main difference of course is that it’s a little bigger, thanks to a 6.6in display, though otherwise this packs the same specs as its smaller sibling.

The chipset and RAM are the same, but there is a boost to the storage: the S23+ starts from 256GB, double the cheaper phone, with an upgrade option to 512GB.

You also get the benefit of a larger battery at 4700mAh (up from 4500mAh in the S22+), and 45W wired charging – faster than the regular S23.

Here are the full specs:

Galaxy S23+ specs:

• 6.6in, 48-120Hz, FHD+, AMOLED display
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• 8GB RAM
• 256/512GB storage
• 4700mAh battery
• 45W wired charging
• 15W wireless charging
• Rear camera:
  • 50Mp, f/1.8, OIS main camera
  • 12Mp, f/2.2 ultra-wide camera
  • 10Mp, f/2.4, OIS 3x zoom telephoto camera
• 12Mp, f/2.2 front camera
• 5G
• Wi-Fi 6E
• Bluetooth 5.3
• IP68
• Gorilla Glass Victus 2
• Android 13 with One UI 5.1
• 76.2 x 157.8 x 7.6mm
• 196g

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Finally, the Ultra is the big daddy of the line-up once again. Read our S23 Ultra review to find out how it shapes up, or read on for the specs.

Unlike last year’s S22 Ultra this phone matches the rest of the line in terms of design, though in this case that’s because the Ultra itself hasn’t changed.

It packs the largest display of the lot at 6.8in, and this is also the only panel that features a dynamic refresh rate able to scale all the way from 1-120Hz. It’s also the only phone of the three to have a slightly curved panel and to support the S Pen stylus, which comes included and slots directly into the phone. In one small design tweak, this is now black regardless of which model you buy, with only the end colour-matched to the phone’s finish.

You once again get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and base storage options are the same as the S23+ but with the addition of a third tier that upgrades to a full 1TB of storage. In at least some regions, including the UK, this 1TB model will be exclusive to the Samsung store however. You also get the chance to jump up to 12GB of RAM for faster performance.

You also get the biggest battery of the lot, at 5000mAh (though this is identical to the S22 Ultra) and the same 45W wired charging and 15W wireless as the S23+.

Finally there’s the camera, which is really where the Ultra shines. The main upgrade is the main rear camera, a 200Mp monster using Samsung’s new ISOCELL HP2 sensor. This features a large 1/1.3in sensor, enhanced HDR, improved low-light focussing, and Tetra2pixel technology that allows the phone to pixel-bin to different levels depending on lighting:

“When in low-lit environments, the sensor transforms either into a 1.2μm 50Mp or 2.4μm 12.5Mp image sensor by binding four to 16 neighboring pixels. For fuller 8K video, approximately at 33Mp, the HP2 switches to 1.2μm 50Mp mode to minimize cropping and capture more of the scene. Filming 8K at 30 frames-per-second (fps), a wide field of view along with bigger pixel size can produce sharp cinematic videos.”

Samsung

Beyond the main camera, the S23 Ultra uses the same ultrawide, 3x zoom, and 10x zoom camera hardware as its predecessor – meaning 10Mp for the two telephotos, and 12Mp for the ultrawide.

The Ultra also moves to the same 12Mp selfie camera as the other two phones – though that’s seemingly a downgrade from the 40Mp sensor used previously.

Here are the full specs:

Galaxy S23 Ultra specs:

• 6.8in, 1-120Hz, QHD+, AMOLED display
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• 8/12GB RAM
• 256/512GB/1TB storage
• 5000mAh battery
• 45W wired charging
• 15W wireless charging
• Rear camera:
  • 200Mp, f/1.7, OIS main camera
  • 12Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide camera
  • 10Mp, f/2.4, OIS 3x zoom telephoto camera
  • 10Mp, f/4.9, OIS 10x zoom telephoto camera
• 12Mp, f/2.2 front camera
• 5G
• Wi-Fi 6E
• Bluetooth 5.3
• IP68
• Gorilla Glass Victus 2
• Android 13 with One UI 5.1
• 78.1 x 163.4 x 8.9mm
• 234g

So that’s everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S23 series. If you can’t wait until the S23 goes on sale to replace your existing device, check out our best Samsung Galaxy S22 deals roundup to see if you can pick up a bargain, or our round-up of the best Samsung Galaxy phones to see how the company’s other options compare.