Samsung announced its latest lineup of devices, the Galaxy S23 series, exactly one month ago. They are: the S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra.
These smartphones are the company’s top-of-the-line models, boasting the best features.
The Galaxy S23 series has many similar features, including the use of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for both the front and back, and they all run on an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
All three phones come equipped with 12OHz Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays that support HDR10+. The S23 has a screen size of 6.1 inches, while the S23 Plus and S23 Ultra have larger screens of 6.6 inches and 6.8 inches, respectively.
| Specs | S23 | S23 Plus | S23 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back. Armor aluminum frame IP68 | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back. Armor aluminum frame IP68 | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back. Armor aluminum frame IP68 |
| Weight | 167g | 195g | 233g |
| Screen | Flat 6.1″ FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2340 x 1080 pixels 120 Hz HDR10+ | Flat 6.6″ FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2340 x 1080 pixels 120 Hz HDR10+ | 6.8″ QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 3200 x 1440 pixels 120 Hz HDR10+ 1750 nits |
| Chip | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 GPU | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 GPU | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 GPU |
| RAM | 8 GB | 8 GB | 8/12 GB |
| Internal | 128 UFS 3.1 256GB UFS 4.0 No SD card support | 1256 GB UFS 4.0 No SD card support | 256/512 GB UFS 4.0 No SD card support |
| Fingerprint reader | Ultrasonic In-Display reader | Ultrasonic In-Display reader | Ultrasonic In-Display reader |
| Main Camera | Triple 50 MP wide angle with OIS 12 MP ultra-wide 10 MP telephoto with OIS 720p@960fps, 1080p@30/60/240fp, 4K@30/60fp, 8K@ 24fps and 30fps stereo sound recording HDR10+ | Triple 50 MP wide angle with OIS 12 MP ultra-wide 10 MP telephoto with OIS 720p@960fps, 1080p@30/60/240fp, 4K@30/60fp, 8K@ 24fps and 30fps stereo sound recording HDR10+ | Quad 108 MP wide-angle with OIS 12 MP ultra-wide 10 MP telephoto, OIS, 3x optical zoom 10 MP Pertiscope telephoto, OIS, 10x optical zoom 720p@960fps, 1080p@30/60/240fp, 4K@30/60fp, 8K@ 24fps and 30fps stereo sound recording HDR10+ |
| Selfie | 12 MP 1080p@30fps, 4K@30/60fps HDR10+ | 10 MP 1080p@30fps, 4K@30/60fps HDR10+ | 40 MP 1080p@30fps, 4K@30/60fps HDR10+ |
| Radios | 5G Bluetooth 5.3 Wi-Fi 6 | 5G Bluetooth 5.3 Wi-Fi 6 | 5G Bluetooth 5.3 Wi-Fi 6 |
| Headphone socket | No 32-bit/384kHz audio | No 32-bit/384kHz audio | No 32-bit/384kHz audio |
| Audio | Stereo with dual-speakers | Stereo with dual-speakers | Stereo with dual-speakers |
| Battery | 3900mAh 25W PD Wired 10W wireless 4.5W reverse wireless | 4700mAh 45W PD Wired 10W wireless 4.5W reverse wireless | 5000mAh 45W PD Wired 10W wireless 4.5W reverse wireless |
| Software | Android 13, One UI 5.1 | Android 13, One UI 5.1 | Android 13, One UI 5.1 |
| Colours | Lavender, Phantom Black, Green, Lime, Crea, | Lavender, Phantom Black, Green, Lime, Crea, | Lavender, Phantom Black, Green, Lime, Crea, |
| Price | 256 GB version – KES 129,999 | 256 GB version – KES 144,995 | 256 GB version – KES 182,995 512 GB version – KES 194,995 |
Now, Samsung has revealed that the series is available worldwide, after achieving notable preorder results. The previous year’s Galaxy S22 series had already experienced great preorder success, with figures surpassing those of the Galaxy S21 series within the first week and exceeding double.
This year’s preorder results were even more impressive than those of the Galaxy S22 series, with 60% of customers choosing the top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 Ultra.
“The great momentum we’re witnessing speaks to customers’ excitement about products that push the envelope and give them the freedom to express themselves creatively,” said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. “This year’s preorder numbers echo our customers’ strong trust in our brand and demonstrate how our commitment to ground-breaking innovation and sustainability continues to resonate with consumers.”
“As a business, we are looking to increase inclusivity and affordability for our consumers so that they can acquire the Galaxy S23 Ultra, S23+ and S23 devices and one of the ways we are doing this is through strategic partnerships with finance partners. We already have a working agreement with KCB and Safaricom as the first two official device financing partners and are working on getting more partners on board to allow more Kenyans to acquire our devices at a pace that works for them. These strategic partnerships are what we believe will shape the device acquisition landscape in Kenya” said Samsung Director of Mobile Experience East Africa, Mr. Charles Kimari.
Samsung has struck different partnerships with companies like:
- Badili Africa lets you trade in your device for one of the latest S23 smartphones and this offer will be available in 12 official Samsung Stores starting with Nairobi. This is a limited offer.
- Safaricom will offer up to 10GB of data for 12 months when you purchase from their official stores during the pre-order period.
- Samsung has partnered with Safaricom to make the S23 series available for purchase on its post-pay platform(contract) with additional benefits like talk time and airtime from March.
- When you use a KCB Credit card to buy one of the latest S23 smartphones at Safaricom stores, you get 0% interest for 6 months.
*The S23 Ultra has a 12 MP selfie snapper, not 40 MP.
