Phone
The 5 most important new features of the Samsung Galaxy S23 series
The long-awaited Galaxy S23 series officially launched in the global market. The company (Samsung) has already started accepting pre-orders for it. Notably, the series will get a total of three devices as usual, which are Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra. All three of them compile plenty of new features, which further increases the value of this series. Today we will focus on the 5 most important new offerings of this series. So, let’s get started.
1. The new One UI 5.1
The Galaxy S23 series gave a platform to this newly-launched One UI 5.1 update, which is also the most admirable offering of this series. Informatively, the One UI 5.1 update has been launched with the Galaxy S23 series out of the box. It is based on Android 13, and as it made its official debut with the S23 series, this series is the first one to get it. Notably, the One UI 5.1 has a lot to serve. In-depth information can be found here.
2. Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset
The most important and noticeable thing about the Galaxy S23 series is its processor. All three devices of this series feature an overclocked version of Qualcomm’s chipset, which is the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset”. The other thing is, this time, Samsung hadn’t produced any Exynos-based devices due to the issues it has shown previously, which means all the S23 models are running on this Galaxy dedicated SoC.
For information, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset has the Adreno 740 GPU and an improved CPU. It is an octa-core processor, which is said to have a better clock speed of 3.36GHz. The chipset has increased the Galaxy S23 series’ processing abilities by 30% as compared to its predecessor series Galaxy S22.
3. 200MP image sensor for the top-of-the-line Ultra model
Besides the processor, the other appreciable thing of this series is the 200MP image sensor of its Galaxy S23 Ultra device. This adaptive pixel sensor is capable of withstanding all lighting levels. The sensor uses a better pixel binning technology, which helps it to offer a total of three output options- 200MP, 50MP, and 12MP. Notably, it is the main rear camera sensor of the Ultra device, which can capture sharper and clearer images.
4. A better USF 4.0 memories
Apart from all of these, a device’s memory is also the most important component of it. Hence, the Galaxy S23 series will undoubtedly win in this league. Informatively, the recently-launched series contains the USF 4.0 memory type in it. The 4.0 memory is faster and more efficient compared to the previous 3.1 memory type. It is said to have a maximum data transfer speed of 23.2 GB/s.
Additionally, the USF 4.0 memory has read and write speeds of 4200MB/s and 2800MB/s, respectively. It has also got a 46% improvement in its sequential read speed (6MB/s). Notably, the Plus and Ultra model of the Galaxy S23 series uses USF 4.0 memory, but the Base Galaxy S23 device is stuck with USF 3.1 memory.
5. A more consistent design and stability
Now, the design and stability are quite different from the rest of the modifications because the others can be experienced by using them, but the design can be seen through the bare eye, and stability can be justified by time. Notably, for better stability, the company has protected the Galaxy S23 series with Corning’s new Gorilla Glass Victus 2, on the front and back, which provides greater protection.
Adobe Lightroom became the official native photo editing software for the Galaxy S23 Ultra
The company has tried something new with this Galaxy S23 device this time. In particular, the company has removed the perimeter housing, and now all the camera sensors of these phones have emerged directly into the body, which provides it with a better and different look. Other than this, Samsung has used recycled material in the S23 devices’ manufacturing, which makes the series even more valuable.
Official price of Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23
We already crossed the first quarter of 2024, and the results are fortunate for the tech industry since the global smartphone market grew by six percent.
If the reports are to be believed, the global smartphone market seems to be rebounding, with Android smartphones particularly finding success in the first quarter of the year. Comprehensively, the market grew by six percent year-over-year regardless of Apple shipping only a few iPhones last quarter as compared to Q1 2023, and that appears due to the great success of Samsung Galaxy phones.
Samsung is typically the top smartphone manufacturer in terms of sales, but things appeared to have changed over the months of 2023 since it later lost that title to Apple in Q4 2023. However, as Apple posted a 13% decline in shipments in the first quarter of 2024, Samsung took it as a golden opportunity and was able to recapture the leading position. Samsung devices made up 20% of the total smartphones shipped last quarter, whereas iPhones accounted for only 17%.
In the premium smartphone market, phones above $800 grew the fastest in Q1 2024. This benefited Apple the most, probably because customers are choosing the more expensive iPhone 15 Pro Max models. Furthermore, Apple maintained its position as the smartphone revenue leader, with a 43% share of the market. The success of select brands in regions outside of North America, such as TECNO, Xiaomi, Honor, and Huawei, partially explains the entire growth. Of the top five OEMs, Xiaomi grew the most last quarter, improving shipments by 34%.
It is expected that the trend of strong growth in the premium smartphone market will continue. This is driven by the arrival of new phones with generative AI capabilities. Analysts are predicting that at least 11% of smartphones shipped in 2024 will have generative AI. However, Apple has yet to join the generative AI list.
Finally, Samsung started distributing the waiting One UI 6.1 update to more Galaxy flagship devices that debuted in 2021 and 2022. Now a total of 19 Galaxy devices have gotten their Android 14-based One UI 6.1 update.
Samsung has added new devices to the list of One UI 6.1, which are as follows:
- Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and Galaxy Flip 3.
The Galaxy S22 series, including the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra, is on the list of devices getting One UI 6.1, but it appears that Samsung may have delayed the rollout due to errors a few users have faced after updating their smartphones.
It is reported that the rollout was paused because some Galaxy S22 units may fail to boot or unlock after the update has been installed. However, users on the Samsung Community forums in Korea, the only market where One UI 6.1 has been released for now, don’t appear to have run into issues themselves.
However, Samsung has yet to officially confirm that it has paused the rollout and even acknowledged any issues, so at the moment, it’s not exactly confirmed that the update has been taken off the air. The Galaxy S22 series owners who didn’t get the One UI 6.1 update yet might want to wait for more details to come out before proceeding with the installation.
If the users are afraid of the issue and want to avoid the risk, they might consider waiting until the Korean giant fixes these problems before installing the update.
Samsung has kept the same battery capacity for the flagship devices while also sticking to the same fast charging speed. If we look at the Galaxy S Ultra devices from the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the company has stuck with 45 W charging and the same 5000 mAh battery. According to the latest report, the Galaxy S25 Ultra may also use the same battery and specifications.
Previous, it was rumored that the Galaxy S24 Ultra could be equipped with stacked battery technology, which could lead to maximizing the component cost, but now, according to an X user named Sawyer Galox, it is reported that the Korean giant will skip this hardware change on the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra to save on component cost.
Along with this, the tipster also expressed his disappointment with Samsung’s take on the unchained hardware. He adds that users who want to buy the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra should keep their expectations low with the battery performance, as Samsung will keep the specs the same with the 500mAh battery and the 45W.
However, the company will also introduce its latest device with new chipsets that may provide improved optimization, which may provide some long-lasting battery life, but it will not provide any improvement in charging.