Samsung unveils Galaxy S23 with better camera, processor

SAN FRANCISCO – Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top smartphone maker, unveiled on Wednesday its flagship Galaxy S23 series equipped with a state-of-the-art camera and more powerful processor, to compete with Apple Inc. in the global premium mobile phone market.

The South Korean tech giant hosted Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 at Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, to showcase the Galaxy S23, the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy S23 Plus.

“We redefine the standards for premium smartphone performance,” said TM Roh, president and head of Samsung’s Mobile eXperience (MX) business during the event. “We can assure you that they are the best Galaxy series in terms of performance and quality.”

Samsung hopes the Galaxy S23 series can rival Apple’s high-end line of iPhones and improve its smartphone sales, which declined last year. Samsung is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer by volume but lags Apple by a large margin in the premium segment.

CLEAR PICTURES IN THE DARK

For its latest smartphones, Samsung worked most on camera features. The Galaxy S23 series can take a clear picture of the face of a person running 100 meters away by zooming in 100 times. The smartphone also can photograph a street at night clearly through artificial intelligence.

It is usually challenging for a camera to simultaneously take high-definition pictures in bright light or photograph a subject clearly in the dark. But Samsung has installed high-performance cameras and adopted new technology to solve these issues.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is equipped with a rear-facing camera of 200 million pixels, nearly double that of previous models with 108 million pixels. The latest smartphone has a space zoom function that can be expanded up to 100 times without shaking.

In addition, Samsung applied technology that allows the latest model’s cameras to reduce the number of pixels to collect more light in a dark environment. For example, the Galaxy S23 Ultra automatically converts 200 million pixels into 12 million pixels by tying them by 16 pixels each to secure more light in the dark for clearer pictures, the company said.

The Expert Raw, an application for experts, maximizes the camera’s performance. The astrophotography mode allows exposure for four or seven minutes to capture the movements of the galaxy or constellations in the night sky.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE PROCESSORS

Such performances come as the Galaxy S23 series is equipped with US chipmaker Qualcomm Technologies Inc.'s next-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile application processor (AP). Its graphics processing unit (GPU) can handle graphics 41% faster than previous models while allowing users to enjoy high-end games without interruption.

The performance of its neural processing unit (NPU) improved by 40%, optimizing the function of the cameras. The Galaxy S23 series is also equipped with a cooling system with a larger capacity, reducing heat for a longer period

Samsung has also enhanced the security and privacy functions, which the global smartphone industry has been emphasizing of late, for the Galaxy S23 series.

Pre-orders for the smartphones in four colors – phantom black, cream, green and lavender – will start on Feb. 7 in South Korea with the official global launch on Feb. 17.

The Galaxy S23 phone will retail for 1.16 million won ($938.6) in the country, while the premium Galaxy S23 Ultra with a 512 gigabyte (GB) capacity will be priced at 1.72 million won.

Write to Ki-Yeol Seo at philos@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.