Last week, leaked photos of a “dummy unit” of the Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Ultra were published on the internet and it hinted at the possibility of a recycled design on at least the Ultra model. Now, we’re getting a look at what appears to be official promotional images that were leaked featuring what is allegedly Samsung‘s upcoming flagship series in full colour.
As far as looking legit goes, these images look like proper Samsung ads. Of course, we will probably not get official confirmation until the phones launch, but they’re a pretty solid reference point. Two phones are on display here, the Galaxy S23 Ultra in what looks like their next hero colour—a muted green that I can totally get behind. Personally, I would have preferred the green that you’d find on the Galaxy Z Flip 3, but this isn’t too bad either.
The other, I can already tell, will be very popular. It’s a pink almost purple shade that I think looks way nicer on the eyes than the super saturated Bora Purple that Samsung was pushing with its existing line of smartphones. Seeing it in contrast with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and the Galaxy Watch 5‘s purple strap makes it so much clearer to me which colourway I prefer.
What I am surprised by, however, is the fact that the phone that’s allegedly the Galaxy S23+ has much more rounded edges than we saw on the “dummy units” that leaked last week. I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of that because I’ve generally preferred flatter edges for its more secure grip in hand. These images indicate that the phone will have a rounded frame which is a lot more in line with the current crop of Galaxy S22 and S22+ phones. I guess the upside is that it’ll look less like it “copied the iPhone hurr durr”.
The S23 Ultra, however, shows pretty much nothing new. It’s expected, with a shape that’s almost identical to the even the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. While I’m disappointed because it looks super boring, it’s hard to argue with the practicality of this shape. If it’s anything like the S22 Ultra, then it’ll be super easy to handle and use with an S Pen despite being an absolutely massive phone thanks to the comfortably rounded edges. Though, I suspect Note users would have liked to see a flat screen for easier stylus input.
While we don’t know a whole lot about the smartphone beyond these looks and a couple of educated guesses, there have been a couple of rumours and reports leaking bits and pieces of information about the device. For starters, it’s very unlikely that these phones will come with Exynos processors at their core even in our market.
A report came out last week stating that while there will be Exynos 2300 processors, they will only feature in two smartphones in Samsung’s 2023 linep. Those phones are reportedly the Galaxy S22 FE (which will apparently replace the Galaxy A7X series) and Galaxy Tab S8 FE. Relegating their once flagship class of processor to the value-oriented FE series is a significant fall from grace, but considering the streak Samsung’s own silicone has been on—it makes sense.
On the upside for fans, however, is the fact that the new S23 lineup will probably feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips. On top of that, they will also be rumoured to feature satellite communications, following in the footsteps of Huawei and Apple.
But we won’t know any of this for sure until they’ve been officially confirmed by Samsung at their launch event…which, in the spirit of the rumour mill roundup that this post has become, will apparently happen on the 1st of February 2023. If that proves true, you could get these phones in your hands by Valentine’s Day here in Malaysia, so if you’re looking for gift ideas—I mean, that pink S23+ is looking quite good.
