Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to get whopping 200MP camera?
The most believable rumor to date is a 200MP camera sensor on the Galaxy S23 Ultra model
There are already so many Samsung Galaxy S23 leaks and rumors flying around the internet, ahead of the next Samsung Unpacked event on February 1, 2023.
The excellent Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup was launched in February 2022, with great acclaim from smartphone photographers. The Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra were and are some of the best camera phones around, as well as being the best Samsung phones, so what could the S23 lineup have in store? Here is the most believable intel so far…
Samsung Galaxy S23: Design
The Galaxy S23 Ultra could look very familiar to the S22 when it launches, as according to @UniverseIce, a reputable leaker with a strong track record, based on what they’ve heard so far, the S23 Ultra will be the “smallest appearance change in Samsung’s history.” According to the tipster, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will have dimensions of 163.4 × 78.1 × 8.9mm. This is incredibly similar to the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9mm dimensions, meaning the phones will have the exact same thickness and be almost identical in both length and width.
The size of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is almost unchanged from that of the S22 Ultra, with only an increase of 0.1~0.2mm, 5000mAh, 8.9mm thickness, and still a 6.8-inch 3088x1440 screen.As long as the Snapdragon 8Gen2 + One UI 5.1 is excellent, the appearance can remain the same.August 21, 2022
Unofficial renders shared by @OnLeaks – another leaker with a great track record – on behalf of SmartPrix certainly agree with @UniverseIce – it’s alleged to look almost identical to the S22 Ultra.
The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus are expected to have bigger design changes – in the camera department at least, as per unofficial renders that respected leaker @OnLeaks shared with SmartPrix and Digit. We can see a triple rear camera setup placed vertically at the top left corner. Although the placement of sensors aren’t alleged to be different from that on the Galaxy S22 / Galaxy S22 Plus, this time we don’t expect to see a camera island this time, as per the current Ultra model. Each camera sensor at the back has separate raised rings while the flash is flushed into the body.
Samsung Galaxy S23: Specifications
Several leakers claim that the whole Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra range will feature the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and indeed the new chip would be fitting for the new range and the biggest upgrade rumoured overall by a long way.
A fortnight ago trusted leaker, Yogesh Brar, tweeted rumored specifications for the base model Samsung Galaxy S23, which he said will feature a 6.1-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate.
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As per the above, Brar also says the upcoming Galaxy S23 will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and 8GB of RAM with storage supposedly coming in both 128GB and 256GB variants.
Moving on to the camera specs, Brar says the Galaxy S23 may have a 50MP main camera with OIS, a 12MP ultrawide shooter and 10MP offered for the telephoto. The front facing selfie camera also gets a 10MP camera. These specs are as per the Galaxy S22 cameras.
Battery-wise, @IceUniverse has suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra might have a 5,000mAh battery – a leak that’s corroborated by GalaxyClub (via GSMArena) who also say we can expect the Galaxy S23 Plus to get a 4,700mAh battery (up from 4,500mAh on the S22 Plus). Meanwhile, the vanilla S23 is also expected to get a batter upgrade, but a slight one at an extra 200mAh, taking it to 3,900mAh – this is according to a post on Chinese social media site Weibo by prolific leaker Digital Chat Station, which was spotted by Pocket Lint.
Samsung Galaxy S23: Cameras
According to established leaker @UniverseIce the Galaxy S23 Ultra will see “the biggest improvement of Samsung’s flagship mobile phone in five years,” with Samsung greatly improving its night photography and night video skills.
It can be confirmed that S23 Ultra's night photos are very strong and much better than S22 Ultra's. I think it's the biggest improvement of Samsung's flagship mobile phone in five years.October 27, 2022
The leaker also says – and this is corroborated by according to Korean outlet, ET News – that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a 200MP main sensor (up from 108MP on the Galaxy S22 Ultra). Apparently, it the new sensor has “unparalleled analytical power,” too. In contrast, @UniverseIce says that the 200MP camera isn’t currently capable of taking 50MP photos through pixel binning, but does say this is a software issue, so by the time it launches the camera phone could well be capable of capturing 50MP shots.
The 200MP of Samsung S23 Ultra is too strong. It has unparalleled analytical power. It is stronger than all the 200MP I have seen before.😭October 27, 2022
Lastly, the source say we can expect the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to have the same 3x and 10x optical zoom cameras as the S22 Ultra, but with better photo quality, thanks to better colors and AI algorithms. The only cameras the leaker doesn’t comment on is the ultra-wide that completes the rear system and the front-facing camera.
According to Dutch publication, GalaxyClub, the Galaxy S23 will see an extra 2MP added to the front selfie camera, an improvement on the current 10MP resolution that the latest released Samsung Galaxy S22 and 22 Plus models are fitted with. If this rumour is true, it means the Samsung Galaxy S23 will have the first front camera resolution upgrade in three years! The publication hasn’t specified if the Ultra models are included in this equation, as they all boast a much higher resolution front camera, with the latest Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra fitted with an impressive 40 MP, f/2.2 front camera.
According to leaked specifications courtesy of Yogesh Brar, the Galaxy S23 may have a 50MP main camera with OIS, a 12MP ultrawide shooter and 10MP offered for the telephoto. The front facing selfie camera also gets a 10MP camera. These specs are as per the Galaxy S22 cameras.
Samsung Galaxy S23: Price & availability
There aren’t any leaks pointing toward price and availability yet, but we expect to see the phone launch on February 1, 2023. Samsung is likely to price the phone in line with its predecessor. Assuming pricing is similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy S22, we can expect it to start at around $799 / £769 / AU$1,249 (this was also the launch price of the Galaxy S21, too).
Obviously, the expected Plus and Ultra models will be more – potentially with the same price tags as the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus at $999.99 / £949 / AU$1,549 and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra at $1,199.99 / £1,149 / AU$1,849.
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Rachael is a British journalist with 18 years experience in the publishing industry. Since working on www.digitalcameraworld.com, she’s been freelancing, and contributing to some of the world’s best-loved websites and magazines including T3.com and TechRadar.com and has also had a book, iPad for Photographers, published. She's currently acting as editor of 5GRadar.com - a website specializing in the latest cellular technology.
- Lauren ScottFreelance contributor/former Managing Editor