The Samsung Galaxy S23 launches on February 1st. Here's what to expect

Samsung fans are counting the days until the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra. Unless something really weird happens, Samsung's best Android phones for 2023 will be revealed on 1st February with shipping a few weeks later. 

As ever with Samsung launches, we know pretty much everything about the new phones even though the official event is still a couple of weeks away. That's partly because it's really hard to keep such important products secret, and partly because leaks are great marketing and we're sure not all of the Galaxy S23 leaks we've seen so far got out without Samsung's permission. So here's what you can expect from the new Galaxy phones for 2023.

Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra: price

This is one bit of information that hasn't leaked yet. However, given that the standard Galaxy S22 phone went on sale for a starting price of £769 / $799, we'd expect something in that ballpark.

The Plus and Ultra will be more expensive still: the S22 Plus originally went on sale for £949 / $999, while the S22 Ultra starting price was £1,149 / $1,199. 

Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra: design and colours

The design is largely unchanged from the 2022 range, but there are new colours. The S23 and S23+ will reportedly come in cream, green, lavender and Phantom Black. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will come in Black, Green, Rose and Beige. 

Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra: processors and RAM

All three models will be powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which should provide a substantial boost over the Samsung Galaxy S22 range. Multiple rumours have said that the Snapdragon here is optimised specifically for the Samsung phones, with higher clock speeds than the version in other manufacturers' devices.

Previous Galaxy phones have had different processors in different markets, with some territories getting Snapdragons and others getting Samsung's own Exynos processors. That isn't the case with these phones: they're Snapdragons all the way.

According to noted Samsung leaker Ahmed Quaider, the entire Galaxy S23 range ill be getting DDR5X RAM. According to Samsung, its DDR5X offers up to 130% better performance using 20% less power than DDR5 RAM. The phones will be available with 8GB of RAM or 12GB in the Ultra, with storage of 256GB or 512GB.

Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra: cameras

For photographers, the S23 Ultra is the one to – ahem – focus on. The S23 Ultra reportedly has a 200MP camera in its main camera bump. It isn't the first 200MP camera phone – that badge of honour goes to the Motorola X30 Pro – but leaked images from the sensor are pretty spectacular.

We're not expecting to see big upgrades in the other models' cameras, but multiple reports say that the selfie cameras could be getting an upgrade from 10MP to 12MP. We hope so, although it's not really a deal-breaker for anyone trying to decide whether or not to get an S23.

Should you be excited about the Samsung Galaxy S23?

The Galaxy range is well established now, so annual changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary: Samsung knows it has a winning formula and it's not going to mess with it too much, so incremental improvements are the name of the game here. If you're big on photography the Ultra is really exciting this year, building on the already stellar performance of the S22 Ultra; for the rest of us the standard S23 looks like all the phone you'll need.

If you're already rocking a Samsung Galaxy S22 or one of its variants, then realistically this isn't going to be a must-have upgrade for any model: the differences aren't dramatic unless you really want those extra megapixels in the Ultra. But if you skipped the upgrade last year, you're going to love the power and performance Samsung's 2023 flagship phones will bring you.