“Boringly perfect” Galaxy S23 proves this is Samsung's Apple-style upgrade - a blessing in disguise?

It appears the S23 will be Samsung’s “iPhone” upgrade with targeted improvements to key areas of the phone experience instead of brand new, flashy features and design! But is an easy recommendation for those S8, S9, S10, S20 users looking to upgrade on the way? It sure looks like it!

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

It is now expected that the Galaxy S23 will come with a larger battery (3900 mAh) but the same 6.1-inch display as the Galaxy S22. Speaking of displays, the one on the vanilla Galaxy S23 model is now expected to reach 1,700 nits of max brightness, matching the Galaxy S22 Ultra (interestingly, all Galaxy S23 phones are said to have identically bright displays).

The other noticeable improvements are expected to come to the camera department of the Galaxy S23, but they aren’t necessarily related to newer hardware (although this could also turn out to be true).

Serial leakster with a great track record, Ice Universe, promises that despite sticking to mostly the same camera hardware as before, Galaxy S23 phones will come with “many upgrades” in the camera. Of course, that means that Samsung is expected to tweak the image processing, which is the only way to get better cameras in the absence of hardware upgrades.

The main reason Samsung would be able to make tweaks to the camera of the Galaxy S23 (and S23+) would be Qualcomm’s brand new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which promises to enable greater HDR capabilities and native 8K 30fps video recording.

Samsung’s continuously unreliable Exynos chips are gone for good; Qualcomm can finally compete with Apple, as Galaxy users win big time

Perhaps the biggest upgrade to the Galaxy S23, and the one responsible for many of the smaller improvements expected to come with Samsung’s new flagship, is the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip itself! Not only it’s now pretty much surefire that Samsung will be using the new Qualcomm processor exclusively (Exynos won't be missed), but this one’s shaping up to be (by far) the most capable and efficient chip that Android’s ever seen!

Leaked benchmarks from the Galaxy S23 Ultra, as well as early tests from phones like the Vivo X90 Pro+, point towards big improvements in all areas of the processor compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and especially the Exynos 2200, which was used in millions of Galaxy S22 phones sold in Europe and other regions of the world.

Assuming Samsung’s biggest competitors will be the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7, Galaxy S23 should do remarkably well…

Pretty much for the first time in recorded phone history, Qualcomm’s new chipset seems to match or even overtake the processor used in the latest vanilla iPhone model, the iPhone 14! Sure, that’s partially thanks to the fact that Apple decided to stick to the very same processor that powered last year’s iPhone 13 Pro, but who cares - Samsung fans can finally rest assured that their new Galaxy flagship won’t be necessarily weaker than an iPhone (at least according to benchmarks, of course).

Moreover, due to Google’s reluctance to bet on high-performance chipsets and Tensor G2’s focus on AI and Machine Learning, the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered Galaxy S23 is expected to run circles around the Pixel 7 - as you can see by the benchmarks in the image above.

As I often say, benchmarks often mean little to nothing, but in this case, we’re talking some serious power gains, which might very well become apparent in the near and distant future, as you keep using both phones - only time will show if that’s the case.

Cheaper Android and Apple-er flagship phones are coming in 2023, but "boringly perfect" Galaxy S23 will check all boxes

Specifically, ever since the Galaxy S21 series, the South Korean company has been trying to take a more relaxed approach to its annual flagship upgrades, emulating what Apple’s been doing with the iPhone since... the beginning of time. And although some hardcore Samsung fans might find it a bit boring, slow innovation and iterative improvements are exactly what a big company like Samsung needs in order to keep making great, reliable phones...

We already know Samsung makes flagships with excellent hardware, but now we also know that the company can make killer software, thanks to the last few versions of One UI on top of Android. Furthermore, Samsung's 4-5 year software support promise makes for the sweetest cherry on top of what's already a phenomenal package, putting to shame Google and the Pixel (come on, Google, 3 software updates for the Pixel 6 and 7?)

Pixel 7 and Xiaomi 13 will challenge Galaxy S23 big time, but only if they are sold in your region

Now, sure, the Galaxy S23 might turn out to be some $150-200 more expensive than phones like the Pixel 7 and Xiaomi 13, which come with a great deal of awesome selling points too, but none of them check as many boxes as the S23 is expected to...

• The Pixel 7 is expected to remain considerably cheaper than Samsung’s Galaxy S23, but it comes with the weakest flagship processor on the market; only three years of Android updates; and a bulky design, which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea; the limited availability of the Pixel 7 is another real problem

• The Xiaomi 13, expected to launch globally very soon (although not in the United States), is perhaps the closest thing to what’s to the supposed Galaxy S23 - with a compact form-factor, excellent display, and cameras; however, Xiaomi’s phones haven’t enjoyed the most reliable software support, which isn’t something to overlook when paying $700-800 for a new phone; the lack of US availability, of course, will be a dealbreaker for our North American readers