Samsung pre-orders higher than last year: Galaxy S23 Ultra is the most popular model amongst early buyers

While some time has passed since 1st February, when Samsung formally announced the Samsung Galaxy S23 lineup, we can now definitively say that the company’s flagship for 2023 has officially launched.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra starts at $199.99 with trade-in

The S23 Ultra is now officially in stores. Get up to $750 instant trade-in credit, and $100 instant credit from Samsung with the purchase. The phone starts at $199.99 with an eligible trade-in for AT&T or T-Mobile.

$1180 off (86%) Trade-in

$199 ⁹⁹

$1379 ⁹⁹

Buy at Samsung

Galaxy S23 Plus starts at $119.99

You can now get the Galaxy S23 Plus with up to $700 in trade-in discount from Samsung. Save even more if you go for T-Mobile or AT&T.

$1000 off (89%) Trade-in

$119 ⁹⁹

$1119 ⁹⁹

Buy at Samsung

Galaxy S23 for free with trade-in (AT&T and T-Mobile), save on unlocked model too

Go with T-Mobile or AT&T right off the bat and you can pay nothing for a vanilla S23 with 256GB storage (with an eligible trade-in). Verizon's version starts at $59.99 with trade-in. Or pick an unlocked model and cough up $159.99 after trade-in credits.

$860 off (100%) Trade-in

$0

$859 ⁹⁹

Buy at Samsung

In order to mark the start of general availability and the end of the (generous) pre-order campaign, Samsung has published a dedicated post on its official Samsung Newsroom website. In it, the company spills some interesting details about the commercial performance of the lineup thus far.

Firstly, Samsung asserts that the most popular model in the Galaxy S23 family during the pre-order campaign was the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the most high-end device out of the bunch. With its 200MP camera, gorgeous 6.8” display and S Pen, the Ultra was the preferred choice of more than half of all early buyers (60% to be precise).

It seems the ostentatious $1200 price tag (which was even higher in some markers), did not dissuade consumers. In fact, according to Samsung, the Galaxy S23 series scored more pre-orders than its predecessor, the Galaxy S22.

It should be noted that these numbers apply only to the pre-order campaign, during which a number of exclusive offers gave consumers further incentive to splurge on the newest Samsung flagships. This is by no means indicative of the overall commercial performance of the Galaxy S23 in the long run.

Nevertheless, the fact that the Ultra is the most popular model demonstrates that Samsung’s strategy of gating the best features and limiting them to the most expensive device in the lineup is working.

At any rate, no one can deny that the Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the best phones to buy in 2023. With a custom Snapdragon processor, it is easily the most powerful Android device on the market, a position it will likely hold on to for the foreseeable future.