Everything Samsung Announced at Galaxy Unpacked 2023

Samsung’s new Galaxy S23 smartphones are the 6.1-inch Galaxy S23 (left), the 6.6-inch Galaxy S23+ (middle), and the 6.8-inch Galaxy S23 Ultra (right). The Galaxy S23/23+ are pretty much the same in terms of specifications. But if you want all that Samsung has to offer, you can spring for the Ultra.

This year, Samsung has made its entire lineup of Galaxy S23 smartphones available in the same four colors. They are Phantom Black, Cream, Green, and Lavender. There are also four exclusive colorways available through Samsung’s website, including a red one that I did not get to see in person.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has four cameras—again. There’s a 200-MP primary camera coupled with an f/1.7 aperture and an 85-degree field-of-view (FOV). There’s a 12-MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 120-degree FOV. And there are two telephoto cameras, one with a 3x optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture, and a 36-degree FOV, and one with 10x optical zoom, f/4.9 aperture, and 11-degree FOV. The 10x camera sensor is the one that helps facilitate the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 100x digital space zoom.

Last year, Samsung’s working gimmick with the Galaxy S22 Ultra was that it could shoot the moon. And indeed, it did! But this year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra seems more focused on capturing video in the dead of night.

There’s also a curious Astrophoto feature that popped up while I was pawing around at the sample device. I’m hoping to understand more about what it does when we get our review unit.

Samsung’s Galaxy S23/S23+ will be an excellent addition to the current landscape of Android flagships. This year’s rendition looks much better from the backside, since Samsung got rid of what it calls the “contour housing” around the triple-array camera system. Now it just looks like three camera lenses poking out of the back, contributing to a much more simplistic and approachable design.

With the new batch of Galaxy S23 smartphones, Samsung is officially launching its One UI 5.1 software update. We’re looking forward to the iOS 16-like style of customizing the lock screen—more than what Android offers natively. Samsung will also let you use a video as the background, and it’ll be interesting to see how that affects the overall battery life of the always-on display.

A batch of new Bixby features is also coming with the software update. They include a feature called Bixby text call, which lets you use the digital assistant as your transcription secretary. I look forward to testing this feature more closely with our Galaxy S23 review units.

In addition to the new Galaxy S23 family of smartphones, Samsung introduced a batch of new laptops. The Galaxy Book 3 Pro series includes the 14-inch and 16-inch Galaxy Book 3 Pros, the 2-in-1 convertible Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, and the ultimate offering of the line, the Galaxy Book 3 Pro Ultra.

Unfortunately, the Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 is the only one in the Galaxy Book 3 Pro lineup available with Samsung’s S Pen stylus. Annoyingly, the stylus doesn’t clamp on with a magnet. You’ll need a pencil pouch in tow if you’re interested in this particular two-in-one.