Samsung Galaxy S23: Release Date, Specs, and Price

One of 2023's most anticipated smartphones, the Galaxy S23, keeps getting unofficially teased by Samsung. When will the Samsung Galaxy S23 launch? What are its specs? How much will it cost? Keep reading our article for all of that and more!

What Are the Samsung Galaxy S23 Models?

Like the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S21 families before it, we expect the Galaxy S23 to come in three different options: the Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra. The "regular" S23 should offer the core Galaxy S23 experience in a smaller form factor at the lowest price. The S23+ will likely offer a bigger screen and battery for a higher price. Finally, for those who want the best Samsung has to offer, that's where the S23 Ultra comes in. Offering the biggest screen and the best specs, the S23 Ultra will also be the most expensive. Of course, all of this assumes Samsung follows its usual release rhythm. 2021 gave us the S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra. Then 2022 gave us the S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra. We have no reason to believe Samsung will change this strategy for 2023, especially since we've seen plenty of reliable leaks for all three devices. For now, the S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra look like safe bets.

What Will the Galaxy S23 Design Look Like?

Based on a handful of leaked images circulating online, the Galaxy S23 series looks likely to closely resemble the S22 series. That's expected, since most smartphone makers tend to make incremental changes to their design each year. That said, the base S23 and S23 Ultra look nearly identical to their predecessors, with the only standout changes being the camera layout and small differences around the edges. A recent leak even claims the S23 Ultra will have the exact same dimensions as the S22 Ultra.

As for the edges, there's likely a small change to the Galaxy S23's curvature. Instead of the rounder edges seen on the S22, the S23 will adopt a squarer look that reduces the glass's curvature, according to Ice Universe at least. While it's not a huge design change overall, it's one that could affect how the S23 feels in the hand, since its harder edges let users grip the device better.

The reason behind the change to the S23's edges appears to be the result of a new metal frame used internally. It looks a bit wider around the edges, which requires a sharper curve than we've seen on previous Galaxy devices.

The camera design on the S23 is also changing a bit. On the S22, all the lenses and sensors sat on a raised island, and now they appear to be following the floating camera design seen on countless other smartphones. It's not a huge change, but it looks like one of the few things that sets the S23 apart from the S22 at a quick glance.

What Are the Galaxy S23 Specs?

The latest leaks have painted a fairly promising picture of the Galaxy S23's specs, but there are a handful of conflicting reports, which means it's important to take the information below with a grain of salt.

According to leaker Yogesh Brar, the S23 closely resembles its predecessor, the S22, but with one key difference: it may run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC (system on a chip). Even though Brar's track record is fairly solid and other sources, like industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, back up the claims about the S23's processor, Korea Business has claimed that Samsung will work with MediaTek to supply a chip — potentially an Exynos.

This claim made some sense when it first surfaced, but since a partnership between Samsung and Qualcomm was announced in late July, it now looks most likely that the Galaxy S23 will have a Qualcomm chip inside. That partnership confirmed we'd keep seeing "Snapdragon platforms for future premium Samsung Galaxy products, including smartphones, PCs, tablets, extended reality, and more."

More evidence pointing to the use of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 came in October, in the form of a Geekbench database listing that briefly showed an unlocked Galaxy S23+ with that chipset and 8GB of RAM. With each new piece of information, it looks like the Qualcomm processor is confirmed for the entire S23 lineup, though we'll still need to hear from Samsung to know for sure. The rest of the specs leaked by Brar don't leave much to dig into, since the S23 looks like a relatively modest step up from last year's S22. According to Brar, the display is a 6.1-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel that supports a 120Hz refresh rate. As mentioned above, Brar says it will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, have a minimum of 8GB of RAM matching the Geekbench leak, and offer 128GB and 256GB storage options as expected from a modern flagship. Nearly every detail about the S23 Ultra was leaked by TENAA, China's counterpart to the FCC. While the chipset wasn't specifically listed, the processing power details provided by TENAA suggest the S23 Ultra will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which will likely also apply to the S23 and S23+. As expected, TENAA says the S23 Ultra will offer 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage (the same as the previous S22 Ultra).

When Will the Samsung Galaxy S23 Launch?

Since there's been no official statement from Samsung about the S23, we don't have a specific release date for it. However, looking at past releases, we can start to get an idea of what the company might have planned on its calendar. The Galaxy S22 launched in February 2022, the S21 in January 2021, and the S20 in March 2020. Based on that, it's a safe assumption to say the S23 will launch in the first few months of 2023, likely in late January. A report from the Korean outlet JoongAng Daily backs up this line of thinking. On November 28, the news outlet published a quote from a Samsung executive saying, "The S23 series will be shown at our own Unpacked event, which will be held in the United States in February." JoongAng Daily doesn't say who this executive is, but given the last several launches, a February release date makes a lot of sense.

How Much Will the Samsung Galaxy S23 Cost?

Pricing is another detail that's still unknown. For context, the Galaxy S22 starts at $799, the S22+ at $999, and the S22 Ultra at $1,199. Samsung could keep these exact prices for the S23 series, but depending on the market and economic conditions, we could also see a price increase of $50 or $100 per model.