The annual Samsung Unpacked event has come to an end – and as expected, we were greeted with the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 series. But while these three phones, including the S23 Ultra, made headlines, there were also plenty of interesting support acts.
As the leaks suggested, we’ve also been treated to the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 series, which gives Samsung fans fancy new ultrabook options. These include the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, a powerful machine that weighs less than the Dell XPS 13 or the Apple MacBook Pro.
But Samsung’s trio of new S23 series phones were undoubtedly the stars of the show. You can read about the base model’s refined design in our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S23 review, or its larger sibling’s beautiful screen in our Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus review.
Alternatively, if you’re a fan of deep-pocket photography, you can take a closer look at Samsung’s flagship phone in our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review.
Are you already convinced that these phones are for you? Head over to our Samsung Galaxy S23 pre-order page. Or if you’re looking for a quick rundown of everything announced on Unpacked, check out our recap below.
How to watch Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 again
The Samsung Unpacked 2023 livestream has come to an end. But if you weren’t able to tune in, you can still rewatch the event on Samsung’s website (opens in a new tab) or on his YouTube channel (opens in a new tab).
Alternatively, we’ve included a replay of the live stream below.
What happened during the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23
1. Samsung Galaxy S23
The vanilla Samsung Galaxy S23 may not have been the most exciting teaser on Unpacked, but it has all the makings of another hugely popular Android phone.
As predicted by the leaks, it has many of the same features as the current Samsung Galaxy S22, including a 6.1-inch FHD+ screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, as well as the same 8GB of RAM (8GB) and rear cameras as previously. This means you get a 50MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.
But there are also changes under the hood, most notably an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that improves gaming and video skills. The design has also been refined with the arrival of a new, cleaner look. Check out our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S23 review for a closer look.
2. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
If you need the space of a 6.6-inch screen, the Galaxy S23 Plus is the new middle child of the series. It provides a new, cleaner look by omitting the raised metal that previously surrounded the camera array, and it has the same purpose-built Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor as its smaller sibling.
Another bonus is the S23 Plus’ base storage boost, which has now increased from 128GB to 256GB. But like last year, the phone also falls between the standard S23 and the flashier S23 Ultra. We would like the S23 Plus to inherit the 108MP main camera from last year’s S22 Ultra.
Still, Samsung hasn’t tried to fix what wasn’t broken in the S22 Plus, and it still has a powerful trio of cameras – you get a 50-megapixel wide, 12-megapixel ultra-wide and a 10-megapixel optically stabilized camera with 3x optical zoom. The front camera is now also 12MP, up from 40MP, allowing you to take 10MP 4-in-1 photos sorted by pixels.
For a more detailed look, head over to our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus review.
3. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The star of Samsung’s Unpacked event was the Galaxy S23 Ultra, an incredibly powerful (but also incredibly expensive) flagship phone with a new 200MP main camera.
It’s far from a complete overhaul of its predecessor, but there are slight improvements across the board – including a tougher screen, faster memory and storage, and a more powerful battery.
However, a large part of the presentation was devoted to the system of “professional” cameras. This is the first Samsung phone with a 200MP sensor, the new ISOCELL HP2 that Samsung revealed ahead of launch.
In addition to the phone’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, this powers what appear to be strong upgrades to the S23 Ultra’s low-light performance for both video and photos, but only our full review will be able to gauge how much of the real world it does. differences. Until then, you can read our hands-on review of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
4.Samsung Galaxy Book 3
On today’s Android Unpacked we got not only three smartphones – Samsung also treated creative types with three Galaxy Book 3 laptops.
The most powerful is the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, which came along with the Pro and Pro 360 versions of the laptop. A big part of the appeal of all three will be their AMOLED screens, and the heavier Galaxy Book 3 Ultra also features the latest mobile processor and graphics card to help it appeal to both gamers and visual creators.
While the price of the Ultra ($2,199.99 / £1,849 – not available in Australia) is quite high, it looks like an intriguing contender for high-end gaming laptops and ultrabooks. You can read about it in our hands-on Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra review.
Alternatively, we wrote our first thoughts on its sibling in our Samsung Galaxy Book 3 review and Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 review.
5. One User Interface 5.1
In addition to the new hardware, we also saw new software in the form of One UI 5.1 at the first Unpacked event in 2023.
Long story short, Samsung has made some tweaks to the One UI that comes on top of Google’s Android 13. It’s far from a major redesign, with features including updating the Notes app to make editing and sharing easier.
A larger overhaul along with bug fixes and security tweaks would certainly be welcome, although we could see more major changes with the launch of Android 14 later this year.
What we didn’t see at the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23
The above is all we saw at the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23, which means there was a lot that wasn’t there.
First, we didn’t see the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 there, even though the Galaxy Tab S8 series debuted alongside the Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup.
These tablets have reportedly been delayed due to slow sales of the current models, and that’s a plausible claim considering there have been very few rumors about the Tab S9 series.
Other than that, there are other big Samsung products on the horizon, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, but new models in these lines are not expected until late 2023, following the old mold. Likewise, timing wasn’t right for some of the new Galaxy Buds.