Samsung Galaxy S23 Series: First Impressions, Features

The Samsung Galaxy S23 series was the main attraction of this year’s Galaxy Unpacked event.

And just as always you can expect to get the gist and breakdown of the devices here.

Three devices were released today namely the Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Samsung also launched three laptops – Samsung Book 3 Pro, Book 3 Pro 360 and the Book 3 Ultra

The smartphone trio take over from last year’s S22 line, with improvements to design, camera quality and overall functionality.

Let’s take a closer look at these phones.

Galaxy S23

The base version of the Galaxy S23 series is the smallest by size with a 6.1-inch AMOLED display.

Talking about display, the Galaxy S23 received an increase in its peak brightness by an additional 450 nits compared to the S22 (base).

The camera bump we saw in the S22 has been removed from the S23, leaving the camera design consistent across all S23 models.

The primary snapper for the base S23 model is a 50MP lens, supported by a 12MP ultrawide lens and 10MP telephoto lens.

Fancy a selfie? You can rely on a 12MP front camera which is a bump up from last year’s model.

Big news this year is that all models of the S23 series (both global and in American regions) will have the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset – the best one yet for Android devices.

For software, you get the latest Android 13 version (OneUI 5.1) with 128/8GB, 256/8GB and 512/8GB storage options.

Battery life looks decent for the S23 given its 3900mAh capacity with 25W fast charging and 15W wireless charging with support for reverse wireless charging.

Field tests will show how these brilliant specifications match up to everyday usage.

Galaxy S23 Plus

As the big brother of the Galaxy S23, the S23+ has a bigger 6.6-inch AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for screen protection.

This means the S23 series should withstand a fall from 1 metre on concrete and up to 2 metres on asphalt.

Galaxy S23+ has an identical camera setup to the base model as well as the same SD 8 Gen 2 chipset.

The battery, however is improved here with a 4700mAh capacity that supports 45W charging.

With the Galaxy S23 Plus, you have an additional 512GB storage alternative while maintaining 8GB of RAM.

Galaxy S23 Ultra

S23 Ultra could easily pass as the King of Android flagships for 2023.

And yes, we have 10 more months before the year’s end!

This powerhouse has a 6.8-inch display with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 200MP lens with 10x optical zoom. It has 8K/30fps video recording which is an improvement from the S22 Ultra’s 8K/24fps.

Also, S23 Ultra lets to take 50MP Expert RAW photos giving you the option to unlock more professional photography tools.

An additional option for 12GB of RAM and 1TB of memory ensures you have little to worry about when it comes to file storage.

It maintains a 12MP front camera, smaller compared to last year’s. However outdoor photo testing will help us get a better gauge regarding its quality.

This device has the biggest battery among the three – A 5000mAh battery capacity with 45W fast charging ability.

One more thing that makes the S23 Ultra unique is the inbuilt S Pen. The S Pen stylus is perfect for writing notes, creating art and navigating the device. The S Pen even allows for camera gestures.

Price

S23 – starts at $799

S23 Plus – starts at $999

S23 Ultra – starts at $1199

Pre-order

Pre-orders start on February 1.

Purchasing one of the devices from an authorized Samsung dealer in Ghana gets you a pair of Galaxy Buds 2 earbuds

Colours

Colours to choose from are Lime, Sky Blue, Red and Graphite.