The News: Samsung recently hosted its Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco where the company announced its new lineup of Galaxy S23 smartphones, Galaxy Books and a partnership with Qualcomm, and Google for mixed or extended reality. Read the Samsung Press Release for more Information.
Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 Recap
Analyst Take: During Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event in San Francisco the company introduced an update to its Galaxy S smartphone (e.g., Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra), Galaxy Book Pro notebooks (e.g., Galaxy Book 3 Pro, Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, and Galaxy Book 3 Ultra) along with other announcements which included a partnership with Qualcomm, and Google for mixed reality.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Line-up – Colors, Camera Tweaks, and More
The newly announced Samsung Galaxy S23 lineup consisted of its of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra. Right out of the gate, Samsung chose Qualcomm’s latest high-end mobile platform, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (for Galaxy) across its S23 line-up offering more horsepower than the Galaxy S22 line. For further details on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Gen 2 Mobile platform summary of capabilities, read our prior analysis from Qualcomm’s most recent Snapdragon Summit event. In a nutshell, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform’s artificial intelligence capabilities turns the smartphone into an incredible photography and movie making experience.
As mentioned, Samsung introduced the Samsung Galaxy S23 (low-end), Samsung Galaxy 23 Plus (mid-range), and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (high-end) smartphones. From a commonality perspective, all devices come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform, Android 13 and the One UI 5.1 operating system, have a minimum of 8 gigabytes of RAM and 128 gigabytes of storage, are protected with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and IP68 certified and have Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.
The Samsung Galaxy S23
The Samsung Galaxy S23, the lower-end of the S23 family, comes with a 6.1-inch dynamic OLED flat display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, FHD+ resolution and a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate. The device is also protected with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 coupled with having an IP68 certified rating. The rear facing camera is capable of 50 megapixels (wide), 12 megapixels (ultrawide) and 10 megapixels (telephoto). The front facing camera is outfitted with a 12-megapixel camera (wide). The device also includes 8 gigabytes of ram and 128 or 256 gigabytes of storage. From a connectivity perspective, the device comes with Wi-Fi 6E. The device is outfitted with a 3,900mAh battery, 25W wired and 15W wireless charging.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, the mid-range phone, comes with a 6.6-inch dynamic AMOLED flat display, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, FHD+ resolution, along with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The S23 Plus comes with 8 gigabytes of RAM or 256 or 512 gigabytes or storage. The device’s rear facing camera includes a 50-megapixel wide camera, 12 megapixel ultrawide and 10 megapixel telephoto. The front facing camera includes a 12-megapixel wide camera. The S23 Plus comes with a 4,700mAh battery, 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. The S23 Plus also comes with Wi-Fi 6E and does not include an S-Pen.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the higher-end of the Galaxy S23 family has a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED edge display which is curved versus the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus. It has a 19.3:9 aspect ratio, QHD+ resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The device comes with 8 gigabytes or 12 gigabytes of RAM, 256 gigabytes, 512 gigabytes or 1 terabytes of storage. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, 45W wired and 15W wireless charging. From an input perspective, it also comes with an S Pen storage slot.
Galaxy Book 3
Samsung also unveiled its new premium line-up of its Galaxy Book 3 series notebooks which included the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, and Galaxy Book 3 Pro. The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, weighing in at 3.9 pounds, is the most expensive model and priced at $2,199. The device is outfitted with a 16-inch 3K 120HZ AMOLED display, which is wide, along with an excellent refresh rate at 120Hz. From a CPU and GPU perspective, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra has the option of the Intel Core i7 or Core i9 CPU and a 6GB RTX 4050 or an 8GB RTX 4070 GPU. It also comes with 16 gigabytes or 32 gigabytes of RAM. My impression is the machine will be appealing to gamers and those that want to demand a more premium viewing experience when watching movies, etc.
The Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, starting at $1,699, includes a 16-inch AMOLED touchscreen with 120Hz refresh rate. It also includes Intel’s 13th generation CPU along with Intel’s Iris Xe integrated GPU. From a memory and storage perspective, the Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 comes with the option of 8 or 32 gigabytes of memory while storage options are 256 gigabytes up to 1 terabyte of storage. The device is slightly lighter than the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra weighing in at 3.7 pounds.
The Galaxy Book 3 Pro, the lesser of the models, costs $1,449 and comes with a 14-inch or 16-inch 3K AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. From a CPU and GPU perspective, it comes with Intel’s 13th Generation CPU and Intel’s Iris Xe Integrated GPU. Similar to the Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, it can be outfitted with 8 or 32 gigabytes or RAM coupled with 256 gigabytes to 1 terabyte of storage. The device itself weights in at 2.42 to 3.4 pounds depending on the configuration.
Mixed Reality Partnership: Samsung, Qualcomm, and Google
Another notable moment during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event was news that the company is working with partners Qualcomm and Google to bring about a new mixed-reality platform to build the next XR experience. The announcement was cemented by Dr. TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Experience at Samsung, welcoming Google’s Senior Vice President of Platforms & Ecosystems, Hiroshi Lockheimer, and Cristiano Amon, the President, and CEO of Qualcomm to the stage. For the partnership, according to Dr. TM Roh, the overarching goal is to bring immersive shared experiences that will enhance people’s lives and revolutionizing how the world will connect with one another.
Wrapping it up, recapping the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event, the new Samsung S23 smartphones, Galaxy Books and announcements around the partnership with Qualcomm and Google on forging ahead with extended reality are exciting. Although we are still in the early innings of extended reality, one thing appears to be abundantly clear: the world wants to be connected. Breaking down communication barriers and extended reality could be one the leading horses in the race to accomplish that. I was also amazed how the S23 was used for professional level film-making, which makes me wonder about how many aspiring film makers, music artists and others will continue to collaborate one day like Logic’s “Do What You Love” video, where people from around the world collaborated, which is very cool.
Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum Research as a whole.
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