Samsung announces its newest flagship S23 series of phones

In one of the largest tech announcements of the year, Samsung has announced its brand-new flagship mobile devices, the S23, the S23+ and the headline S23 Ultra.

Samsung describes its latest series of devices as its most powerful devices yet, with a clear highlight on its upgraded and expanded camera systems across all three devices. In addition, there are a number of features that are found across the series.

Starting with the base model, the S23. The S23 features a 6.1-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with a variable 48-120Hz refresh rate. Storage-wise, the base S23 comes with 8GB of RAM with either 128GB or 256GB of memory. 

It also features a 3900mAh battery for increased battery life. This pairs well with the S23's 25W fast charging, which Samsung claims can charge the device up to 50% charge in around 30 minutes.

Moving to the upgraded S23+, it features a 6.6-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display and also comes with a variable 48-120Hz refresh rate. Storage-wise, the S23+ comes with 8GB of RAM with either 256GB or 512GB of memory.

It features a 4,700mAh battery, a 200mAh increase over the previous S22+. This also pairs well with the 45W fast charger, which Samsung claims can charge the device up to 65% in around 30 minutes.

Important, however, is that both devices feature the same camera systems.

Now, the cameras. The S23 and S23+ feature a tri-camera set-up, with the removal of the contoured housing of the previous series of devices. Samsung is highlighting these updated cameras for the increases they have made to their night photography capabilities and their optimised optical image stabilisation (OIS).

The devices feature a 12MP Ultrawide lens with an F2.2 aperture. The main sensor features an increased 50MP wide lens with an F1.8 aperture. In addition, they both feature a 10MP Telephoto lens for close-up photography, with an F2.4 aperture and 3x optical zoom. Finally, both devices feature a Super HDR 12MP Selfie camera with an F2.2 aperture.

Moving to the headline device of the series, the S23 Ultra. The S23 Ultra features a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a variable 1-120Hz refresh rate. The device comes with three different storage options, 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 512GB and 12GB + 1TB. 

The S23 Ultra features a 5,000mAh battery, which comes with the same claim of 65% charge in around 30 minutes using the 45W fast charger. It also features the embedded S-pen stylus carried over from Samsung's previous Galaxy Note Devices.

The biggest improvement to this series is found in the S23 Ultras camera system. The quad-camera system comes with the same cameras as the base S23 and S23+ models but features two extras.

The stand-out is an incredible 200MP adaptive pixel wide camera sensor with an F1.7 aperture. The other is a second 10MP telephoto lens, but this time with an F4.9 aperture and the ability for 10x optical zoom.

These improvements for the S23 Ultra are in an effort to push the device's capabilities further. Just some of these expanded capabilities include 8K 30 Fps video capturing, pixel binning for greater picture quality, and a new AI-powered image signal processing (ISP) algorithm.

As Samsung devices, they come with the newest Android version, Android 13, and feature the latest UI system from Samsung, One UI 5.1. They also all feature an IP68 Water Resistance rating, 5G connectivity and the latest Wifi and Bluetooth updates.

All models contain the latest and most powerful chipset Qualcomm has ever made, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile platform for Galaxy, enabling many software and hardware applications that could not be done before.

"The most impactful technology is measured, not just by what it enables for people today, but also how it contributes to a better future," says TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Experience Business, Samsung Electronics.

"Galaxy S23 Ultra and the entire Galaxy S series lineup are the new standard-bearers of a trustworthy premium smartphone experience. We're redefining peak performance by merging power and lasting innovation in devices that have less environmental impact."

Regarding sustainability, the new series of devices features an expanded use of recycled materials in internal and external construction. This includes pre-consumer recycled aluminium, recycled glass, and post-consumer recycled plastics sourced from discarded fishing nets, water barrels and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

All three devices also feature the new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in their build, with an average of 22% pre-consumer recycled content. In addition, the packaging for the devices has also been redesigned, made with 100% recycled paper. 

In an effort to further adhere to sustainable practises, the devices will come with four years of OS updates and five years of security updates.

The devices will come in four colours: Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. The Samsung Australia site will also exclusively feature Lime, Graphite and Sky Blue variants.

Starting on February 17, 2023, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 will be widely available in network operators and retailers online.

The Galaxy S23 starts at AUD $1,349, NZD $1,599.00, Galaxy S23+ starts at AUD $1,649, NZD $1,949.00, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra starts at AUD $1,949, NZD $2,299.00.