Just a few months after unveiling two new foldables, Samsung has returned to kick off 2023 with the latest entries in its mainline flagship series. The Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra aren't the most exciting phones we've ever seen, but if you've been holding off on upgrading that aging Galaxy Note 9, these devices look to be as good a trio as the company has ever released. Last year's Galaxy S22 series blew us away, after all, and this year, Samsung has brought the best of its design to all three models.

Since Samsung took to the stage in San Francisco, we've spent significant time with all three devices in the Galaxy S23 lineup. While it should come as no surprise the Galaxy S23 Ultra blew us away, don't sleep on the Galaxy S23+. It's nearly as magnificent a smartphone for $200 less. Not to be outdone, the Galaxy S23 left us seriously impressed — it's the best small phone the company's made since the S10e nearly half a decade ago. All three make for some of the best Android phones you can buy in 2023, but it's worth diving deep into the specs, software, and more for each of these phones.

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23

  The Galaxy S23 offers the best that Samsung has — from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset to a high-class camera system led by an impressive 50MP sensor — just at the right size with a vibrant and "palmable" 6.1-inch display. The phone also brings a larger battery than the S22's, plus a sector-leading five years of monthly security updates to the table. That's all for the same price as last year.

  $800 at Samsung $800 at Best Buy $800 at AT&T $800 at Verizon $800 at T-Mobile

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23+

  The Galaxy S23+ is built to provide a top-notch Android experience in 2023 for those who like to live just a little larger. The 6.6" AMOLED display runs smooth, the 45W wired charging should allow for longer days with shorter breaks plugged in, and there's also more room to run around with, thanks to the 256GB and 512GB options. Backed by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, it's about as much phone as you can get right on that $1,000 mark.

  $1000 at Samsung $1000 at Best Buy $1000 at AT&T $1000 at T-Mobile $1000 at Verizon

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

  If you're looking for the best of the best out of Android in 2023, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is it. It's the only one in the S23 lineup to feature the company's flagship 200MP ISOCELL HP2 camera sensor, the only one with a 5,000mAh battery, and the only one to push the storage envelope up to 1TB. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy should run fast while everything on that 6.8" Dynamic AMOLED 2x display should look smooth and beautiful.

  $1200 at Samsung $1200 at Best Buy $1200 at AT&T $1200 at T-Mobile $1200 at Verizon

Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Design and display

Samsung's design language is more unified than ever, even surpassing the days of the S21 lineup and its unique camera bumps. For the Galaxy S23 series, the company looked to last year's Galaxy S22 Ultra for inspiration, dropping its Tetris-esque camera block for something far more minimal. The result is a bit of a boring year-over-year upgrade for S22 Ultra owners, but a fresh take on Samsung's house style for all three models.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra's look is nearly unchanged from its predecessor. It sports the same frosted glass back — though with some new color choices, of course — the same squared sides that serve as an echo to the Note series, and ever-so-slightly refined curved edges along the display. It's not to say the S23 Ultra is an ugly phone, or even that it's uninspired. Rather, it's more of the same, a "don't fix what ain't broke" approach to design that is guaranteed to keep most S22 Ultra owners from feeling any buyer's remorse.

The Galaxy S23 and S23+ are certainly the more interesting devices design-wise, though Samsung isn't rocking the boat here either. Rather, these two devices — the smaller, more affordable choices for consumers — adopt the same camera trends set by the last two Ultra models. Last year, the company blended its module seamlessly into the frame of the device, giving both models a unique look that built on the legacy of the S21 series. This year, it's all about protruding lens; although both phones lack the same amount of cutouts as their Ultra-sized sibling, it's clear these three devices are part of a family.

Exciting? No, not especially. But Samsung's design chops are so far ahead of the pack, it's hard to argue with the choice to avoid a revolutionary look for another year. While early adopters and enthusiasts might feel disappointed by the decision to recycle this style for another year, regular folks — those who upgrade their devices every three, four, or even five years — are bound to find it as fresh and exciting as shoppers found Samsung's last-gen models one year ago.

Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Specs

Those familiar shells aren't housing some incredible new technology, either. The specs for all three phones are what you'd expect for a 2023 flagship, albeit with a big twist for international users. While Samsung has generally used Qualcomm's top-tier chipset in North America and other various regions, much of the world relied on Samsung's own Exynos chips to power their Galaxy experience. Unfortunately, these chips haven't been able to keep up with the fastest Snapdragon-branded CPUs, something that becomes more obvious with each passing year.

So, for the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung did something drastic. Not only did it ditch Exynos for Qualcomm, but it also did so in style. All three models are powered by a special Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, a souped-up model made specifically for Samsung. It keeps everything that made the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 so impressive in last year's debut, but with a higher 3.36Ghz clock speed for the main Cortex-X3 core.

Make no mistake, the expansion of Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S-series phones is a big deal. But outside of this change, the S23 lineup's specs are about as unsurprising as the design. We're once again looking at three screen sizes — 6.1", 6.6", and 6.8", respectively — and they're as impressive as anything Samsung has ever launched. Each AMOLED panel is running at 120Hz and is capable of hitting 1,750 nits of brightness outdoors. The S23 and S23+ screens are 1080p, of course, while the S23 Ultra sports a 1440p QHD display.

Unfortunately for fans of small phones, the Galaxy S23 is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to specs. While the two larger phones include 45W charging and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage in its base configuration, the S23 starts with just 128GB of slower UFS 3.1 storage, and can only charge at 25W. At 3,900mAh, it also sports the smallest battery of the bunch, compared to the 4,700mAh and 5,000mAh batteries in the larger phones.

Otherwise, we're looking at similar specs across the board. All three phones are IP68 water resistant, support modern connectivity standards like Wi-Fi 6E and mmWave, include ultrasonic fingerprint sensors and face recognition for biometric authentication, and are protected by Corning's latest Gorilla Glass Victus 2. And of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the S23 Ultra's S Pen, which continues to keep the Note's legacy alive and well.

Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Software

For the most part, the S23's software experience is as consistent as we've seen in previous launches. One UI 5.1 shipped on Samsung's latest series first before rolling out to older models like last year's Z-series and all the various S22 models. It's based on Android 13, but as you might expect for a mid-generation bump, it only contains some slight changes, like a new battery widget for all of your connected devices, AR filters, changes to Samsung Notes for simultaneous editing, and more. Google and Samsung also designed a streamlined method for setting up your new phone using Fast Pair, and it launched first on the Galaxy S23 series.

Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Cameras

The Galaxy S23 Ultra might look the same as last year's model, but don't be fooled — it has some big changes to help upgrade those photography skills. Forget last year's 108MP sensor — this year, Samsung's largest phone is rocking its largest yet. At 200MP, the S23 Ultra should be capable of capturing immense detail throughout a scene, though you'll need to adjust your settings first.

As you'd expect, the company is relying on pixel binning to translate its massive shots into 50MP or 12MP images, which, in our testing, really helped to improve low-light photography in even the darkest of situations. Unfortunately, motion can still cause some problems with Samsung's photo output, so you'll need to be patient if you're trying to capture moving objects.

There are plenty of other advancements coming from this next-gen hardware too, including 8K video recording at 30FPS — up from 24FPS on last year's phones — and improved object-based AI detection.

As for the smaller S23 and S23+, Samsung has kept the same lens lineup as last year's phones: a 50MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide lens capable of 120-degree shots, and a 10MP telephoto lens capable of 3x optical zoom and up to 30x digital zoom. The selfie cam has been upgraded though, moving from 10MP to the same 12MP lens on the Ultra with Super HDR support for higher-quality shots.

Finally, pro photographers, take note: all three models have Expert RAW settings built right into the software once the app is downloaded, something you've been begging Samsung to add for years.

Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Release date and price

Samsung launched all three of its Galaxy S23 smartphones on February 17th, just a couple of weeks after the announcement on February 1st. While that means you've missed out on preorder deals, buying any of Samsung's latest phones is easy — especially if you know where to look. We recommend our where-to-buy the Galaxy S23 guide, so you can find the right deal for you.

The Galaxy S23 price is set at $800 for its cheapest variant, the S23+ jumps up to $1,000, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra costs $1,200. These are all for the basic storage variants of each model, so expect to be spending more if you want higher specs on your phone. It's an identical pricing structure to what we saw last year. It's great to see some stability in these prices, but regardless, Samsung's lineup remains pretty expensive.

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23

  The Galaxy S23 offers the best that Samsung has — from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset to a high-class camera system led by an impressive 50MP sensor — just at the right size with a vibrant and "palmable" 6.1-inch display. The phone also brings a larger battery than the S22's, plus a sector-leading five years of monthly security updates to the table. That's all for the same price as last year.

  $800 at Samsung $800 at Best Buy $800 at AT&T $800 at Verizon $800 at T-Mobile

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23+

  The Galaxy S23+ is built to provide a top-notch Android experience in 2023 for those who like to live just a little larger. The 6.6" AMOLED display runs smooth, the 45W wired charging should allow for longer days with shorter breaks plugged in, and there's also more room to run around with, thanks to the 256GB and 512GB options. Backed by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, it's about as much phone as you can get right on that $1,000 mark.

  $1000 at Samsung $1000 at Best Buy $1000 at AT&T $1000 at T-Mobile $1000 at Verizon

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

  If you're looking for the best of the best out of Android in 2023, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is it. It's the only one in the S23 lineup to feature the company's flagship 200MP ISOCELL HP2 camera sensor, the only one with a 5,000mAh battery, and the only one to push the storage envelope up to 1TB. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy should run fast and easy and everything on that 6.8" Dynamic AMOLED 2x display (the only one in the series with adaptive refresh rates between 1 and 120Hz) should look smooth and beautiful.

  $1200 at Samsung $1200 at Best Buy $1200 at AT&T $1200 at T-Mobile $1200 at Verizon