Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Spring 2023: Leaning into Ultra
Galaxy S23
At its first in-person Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco since 2020 (just days before pandemic lockdowns), Samsung is doubling down on what worked in phones last year, and is bringing its Ultra branding to its laptop PCs. It is certainly a challenging economic environment to sell premium devices, but the new Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra are all priced the same as last year, despite inflation.
The partnership that Samsung announced with Qualcomm last year is helping the Galaxy S23 line in two ways: differentiation and global parity. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy features a boost in CPU and GPU speed exclusive to Samsung, which gives Samsung bragging rights for gamers and some much-needed differentiation on the spec sheet. It’s also just a really good platform, with a good combination of power and efficiency. This chipset will also now be applied to all global Galaxy S23 variants instead of Exynos in some regions, which brings welcome homogenization and a boost in performance, heat management, and battery life to year-over-year comparisons. Samsung is using the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and its integrated X70 modem in all three S23 flagships: good (Galaxy S23), bigger (Galaxy S23+), and best (Galaxy S23 Ultra). While a blow to Samsung’s silicon business, this is a win for Samsung Mobile: better performance and competitive differentiation.
While all three phones get silicon and camera upgrades, the marketing focus is on the Ultra, for good reason. The most expensive Galaxy S22 Ultra was actually Samsung’s best selling S22 variant, pulling in Galaxy Note aficionados and Galaxy S buyers alike. The Galaxy S22 Ultra featured the most versatile camera system on the market alongside an included S-Pen that slotted and charged inside the phone. Especially in the U.S. where carriers deeply discount smartphones with trade-ins, consumers had little reason to settle for a pedestrian phone when an Ultra didn’t cost much more every month. The Galaxy S23 Ultra follows the same formula.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra features a huge 6.8” display, now slightly flatter at the edges for more writing real estate with the included internally stored and charged S-Pen. The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera has been improved with noticeably better low light capabilities and a huge 200MP sensor, while retaining the wide angle and extreme zoom capabilities. Mega-megapixel counts often leads to poor focus and slow processing times, so we will have to see how Samsung has addressed this; Qualcomm’s improved AI and ISP on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 are certainly a part. In the brief hands-on time I got ahead of launch, I noticed some definite shot-to-shot processing delay when set to 200MP mode and taking low-light shots, but the portrait mode produced absolutely stunning output. In Samsung’s San Francisco Experience pop-up, they had a studio setup with good lighting, and I got headshots that look like they were taken with a high end DSLR.
Samsung is offering its phones in four color variations this year: black, white, green, and lavender. The green and lavender are extremely hard to photograph: the green is a dark matte hunter green, while the lavender is extremely light and reads as pale pink in most lighting.
Samsung also has a good story to tell around sustainability: it is using more recycled material in the phones, less plastic in the packaging, and less packaging in general. The most environmentally friendly phone is one you don’t have to buy, so Samsung is also touting long software support (5 years of security updates, 4 years of OS upgrades), and simple self-repair options (in the U.S. for now).
Galaxy Book3
Samsung is the most recognizable Android smartphone brand – and the global smartphone volume leader overall – but its Galaxy Book Windows laptops get remarkably little attention. At Unpacked, Samsung introduced four new Galaxy Book3 laptops, but the highlight is the Galaxy Book Ultra, which could generate buzz simply by tying in with the Ultra branding on Samsung’s best (bar) smartphones. Samsung is aiming the new laptops at “consumer creators” with relatively high-performance Intel processors and gorgeous, high-resolution displays.
There are four new Galaxy Book3 laptops: the lightweight Galaxy Book3 Pro (in 14” and 16” sizes), the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 (a touchscreen convertible with S Pen), and the Galaxy Book3 Ultra (with H-series processor and discrete NVIDIA graphics). All four models feature 13th generation Intel processors, a full HD webcam, dual microphone with noise cancellation, quad speakers with AKG tuning and Dolby Atmos, and high resolution, high contrast 3K 16:10 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED displays. Only the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 has an optional Intel/MediaTek 5G modem option, and even then only outside the U.S.
In addition to branding, Samsung is also offering software experiences that ties its phones, laptops, and tablets together. After an initial connection, a Galaxy Tab tablet can act as a second screen, and a single keyboard and mouse can be used across Galaxy phones, tablets, and laptops for drag/drop/cut/paste. Wi-Fi direct can automatically share Expert RAW images from the phone to the laptop, Phone Link can create a hotspot, and Samsung’s has a version of its Smart Switch phone software for Windows, making it easier to migrate data from your old laptop to a Galaxy Book3.
These are all premium laptops, and are priced accordingly: the 14” Galaxy Book3 Pro starts at $1449.99, the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 starts at $1899.99, and the 16” Galaxy Book3 Ultra starts at $2,399.99.
The Galaxy Book3 displays are stunning despite featuring low blue light technology. While gamers would prefer even higher refresh rates and lower resolution, 120Hz along with a 45W Intel Core i7 or i9 and NVIDIA RTX4050 or RTX4090 GPU should provide respectable frame rates for dual-use scenarios. Techsponential expects to get review units of at least one Galaxy Book3 variant in for hands-on evaluation; while the 16” models all feature relatively large 76wh batteries, Samsung did not provide battery life estimates, so battery life will be a definite focus as I get hands on.
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Updated Feb 15 to correct missing text.