Samsung is under pressure, and their upcoming launch of three new Galaxy S23 smartphones in Australia is a return to “better quality basics”, according to Samsung executives.
The new models being launched in February include the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, and the S23 Ultra, with all three carriers, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys, set to start taking pre-orders next week.
The back-to-basics approach could be a problem for Samsung, as consumers weigh up whether to invest in a new smartphone or stay with what they already have.
The fact inflation is stripping income and savings are falling because of increased mortgage costs is a real problem for Samsung management, who globally are facing a major downturn in demand for their new hero products.
According to new DigiTimes research, third-quarter and fourth-quarter 2022 global smartphone shipments are set to come to 277 million units and 311 million units, respectively, each showing a double-digit on-year decline. Samsung has already slashed their production numbers.
The real standout for Samsung here is the introduction of a 200-megapixel rear camera and a 1TB storage option for the S23 Ultra.
This is the product Samsung Australia are punting on to drive sales.
That’s because their base models are set to be smaller and less full-featured than the Ultra models, which delivers margin for carriers, retailers and Samsung.
The entry level S23 will have a 6.1-inch display, the Plus a 6.6-inch display, and the Ultra a 6.8-inch display.
As for cameras, the S23 and S23 will house the same cameras as the current S22 models, with a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP zoom lens.
The 12MP front camera is also expected to be the same as current models.
For the S23 Ultra there is also a 5,000 mAh battery and 45W fast charging.
Roh Tae-moon, president and head of Samsung Electronics’ mobile experience business, claimed yesterday, “This year, the Galaxy S series has extended our innovation heritage by doubling down on our fundamentals.”
He admitted that what consumers are getting with the Ultra are upgrades to the camera and chipset.
“That’s why our pro-grade camera system is getting smarter, offering the best photos and videos in any light among our Galaxy smartphones. Along with the hardware and software optimisation, our newest chipset, born out of Samsung’s open partnership philosophy, enables the fastest and most powerful Galaxy performance,” he wrote in a blog.
All three are to be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, also on board is 8GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.
The S23 and S23 Plus will house 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, while the S23 Ultra is expected to get 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage, with retailers allowed to sell the 1TB models that in the past have been restricted to Samsung’s own sales operations.
The real standout feature, and a reason to upgrade, is the all-new S23 Ultra 200MP main camera, and it comes with a 12MP ultra-wide camera and two 10MP cameras for additional zoom capabilities.
Typically, an image shot with a 12 MP camera will take up between 3 MB and 9 MB of space, and because Samsung is introducing a 200 MP camera, owners are going to require a lot more space to store each image file.
While there are some concerns that greater compression might equal loss of detail and reduced image quality, the introduction of more memory and a faster processor will make the process of capturing images a lot more manageable.
The only problem will be what is the cost of this new enhanced gear?
With cameras becoming a key battleground for smartphone manufacturers, Samsung has used their new 200-megapixel (MP) sensor to deliver a significant camera upgrade.
The ISOCELL HP2 is a relatively large (for a smartphone) Type 1/1.3 sensor (around 12mm diagonally), with a pixel pitch of 0.6 micrometres in between the 200-megapixel HP1 and HP3 sensors.
It offers more light gathering than past sensors, along with new HDR features and is a key weapon for Samsung in luring consumers to their S23 Ultra.
Next week we will get our first look at the Australian models being released by Samsung, including their all-new sensor.
The HP2 uses something Samsung calls Dual Vertical Transfer Gate (D-VTG) technology. This essentially doubles the number of electrons available from each photo diode, “boosting the pixel’s full-well capacity by more than 33 per cent,” the company claims. That means a pixel can hold more charge before saturating, reducing overexposure and improving colour reproduction in bright light conditions.
As before, it can transform into either a 1.2μm 50MP or 2.4μm 12.5MP sensor by binding either four or 16 neighbouring pixels, allowing for better performance in low light. It can shoot up to 8K 30 fps video in 50MP mode (up from 24 fps on the Galaxy S22) to minimize cropping while still allowing for sharp video. It also uses something called Smart-ISO Pro to capture 12.5MP HDR images and 4K HDR at up to 60 fps. And as before, each pixel acts as a focus agent to allow for quick autofocus, even in low-light situations.
Roh Tae-moon says of the new sensor and camera rig, “That’s why our pro-grade camera system is getting smarter, offering the best photos and videos in any light among our Galaxy smartphones. Along with the hardware and software optimisation, our newest chipset, born out of Samsung’s open partnership philosophy, enables the fastest and most powerful Galaxy performance.”
The mobile chief also notes the Galaxy S Ultra smartphone is a product users can trust for its redefined performance and quality, while the smartphone model has become the pinnacle of Samsung mobile’s innovation.
“We fully merged the most beloved Galaxy Note experiences into Ultra, pioneering a smartphone with the power, performance and creative capabilities of two leading Galaxy innovations in one,” he says.
Pricing for the new models being offered in Australia have not been announced yet.
Images shown are renders of what the new S23 smartphones could look like.
