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00:00Okay, the big question, if you fancy yourself a new Samsung Galaxy S23, is which one should
00:04you go for?
00:05The little S23?
00:06It's bigger whether the Plus or the Daddy?
00:11The Ultra?
00:13The Big Daddy?
00:14That sounds less weird.
00:15Let's start with what's new, and also what they have in common.
00:18And most importantly, all three get the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, with all the speed,
00:22battery, and camera processing upgrades that brings with it.
00:25And the best bit is that is everywhere, globally.
00:28There's no more Exynos versus Snapdragon across all three phones, everywhere.
00:32Which is actually worth celebrating, because here in the UK, and a ton of places outside
00:36the US, we were always getting a bit short-changed by the Exynos chips.
00:39They did get better last year with the S22s, they weren't that different, but over time
00:44we were paying the same money for what we thought was the same phone, but the battery,
00:47the performance, and the camera were never quite as good.
00:50So all three use the same chip, and they all come with the faster LPDDR5X RAM, and on models
00:55with 256GB or more of storage, we also get the new and faster UFS4 storage.
01:01As for cameras, all three share the exact same and upgraded 12MP selfie camera, as well
01:06as the same ultra-wide, which doubles as a macro, the same 3x optical zoom, and they
01:11can all now shoot 8K at 30fps, up from 24.
01:15But of course, the Ultra takes everything a step further with its extra 10x telephoto
01:19lens, as well as a new 200MP main camera that also uses a better sensor.
01:24Across the board, we get the new slightly tougher Gorilla Glass Victus 2, front and
01:28back, and they also all use the new LTPO3 screen technology, which dynamically adjusts
01:32the refresh rate a little bit quicker and more efficiently than before, so it should
01:35save some battery.
01:36Although, to be fair, you're not really going to notice that.
01:39What you will notice is the design change.
01:41This is how the S22 and also the S21 looked with this little camera module, bumpy thing,
01:46that's the technical term, they've dropped this now in favour of a more unified design
01:51across the line-up.
01:52So now it's just a sticky-outy lenses, no more big camera module, which I think does
01:56look smarter, and at least from a design standpoint, going for a non-Ultra feels a bit less of
02:00a step down.
02:01Now, as I mentioned in my S23 Ultra hands-on impressions video, the Ultra really is the
02:07Note in all but name, flagship specs with more RAM and storage, the S Pen, and also
02:12the bigger, boxy design.
02:14But I must admit, I really do prefer the rounded corners of the regular S23s.
02:18I think they're much more comfortable to hold and also have in your pocket.
02:21And actually, the S23 Plus may end up having the best battery life.
02:26All three should last longer thanks to the more efficient chip and screen, but where
02:29the S23 Ultra's battery has stayed the same at 5,000 mAh, both the S23 and the Plus have
02:35had an upgrade, now 3,900 and 4,700 mAh respectively, a bump of 200.
02:41Which is a very welcome boost, especially for the small one, but since the S23s top
02:45out at Full HD rather than Quad HD, we could be looking at a new battery champ with the
02:50Plus.
02:51So rather than just waffling on, let me bring in a side-by-side spec sheet.
02:55And while they have a fair amount in common, including the same One UI 5.1 and Android
02:5913 software, there are also a few notable differences.
03:03And the Ultra in particular does stand out with the bigger and brighter Quad HD screen,
03:08the S Pen, more storage options, the more versatile camera, and of course, the price.
03:13Let's talk about price because Samsung have switched things up a little bit.
03:17They've actually dropped the base 128GB model for both the Plus and the Ultra, which means
03:22they are more expensive, but the same price as the previous 256GB versions.
03:27So actually, in real terms, they're not any more expensive, but they do have a higher
03:30starting point.
03:31What is more expensive though is the regular S23, now starting at £849, which is a lot,
03:38and £80 more actually than last year's S22, and that's for the same 128GB storage.
03:43I obviously need to spend more time with all three before I give my final conclusions,
03:46but looking at the specs and the pricing, I think the S23 Plus is looking like the best
03:51choice.
03:52I mean, it's only £100 more than the regular S23, but it gets double the storage, much
03:56longer battery, faster charging, and a bigger and brighter screen.
04:00Although aside from those things, they are identical.
04:02To be honest, I'd really only consider the regular S23 if you do want a smaller phone.
04:07The 6.1-inch screen is a good deal smaller than the 6.6 on the Plus and the 6.8 on the
04:12Ultra.
04:13It's a lot more pocketable, much easier to use one-handed, and to be fair, it is actually
04:16quite nice to have a flagship-level phone in a smaller form factor.
04:20The thing is though, just using the phones, any of the three, it all feels very iterative.
04:25If you've used a Galaxy from the past couple of years, you'd be hard-pressed to notice
04:28the difference, but that's where I think these hands-on events can be a bit disingenuous.
04:33Because actually, all three, and particularly the S23 and the Plus, will have substantially
04:37longer battery lives, not something you'll notice until you've bought one and started
04:41using it, although sadly charging speeds haven't changed.
04:43But I'm also really excited by the cameras.
04:46Especially the Ultra in particular, with the 200 megapixels and the HP2 sensor.
04:50But really this year, it's more about the software, the processing, because while on
04:53a hardware level, except for the selfie, the S23 and the Plus cameras are identical to
04:58last year, same 50-megapixel main lens, same HP3 sensor, which confusingly is actually
05:03a lower tier than the HP2.
05:04But even from my brief hands-on, I did still notice an improvement in detail, colour, especially
05:09skin tones, as well as just overall quality with zoom, portraits and low-light shots.
05:15That's a horrible marketing word, but nitography is a big focus this year.
05:19And also the selfie, now 12 megapixels across the board, up from 10 on last year's S22
05:24and Plus, and also now with dual pixel autofocus.
05:28And also as I mentioned in my S23 Ultra hands-on video, all these camera processing and software
05:33upgrades will also apply to third-party camera apps, including Instagram and TikTok and Snap.
05:38Although like the Ultra, if you do want to get the most out of the camera, then you're
05:42really going to want to use their Expert Raw app, which you can download for free from
05:45the Galaxy Store, and it's a bit more of a fully fleshed out Pro mode.
05:48So if you want to get the best out of the cameras, whichever one you go for, definitely
05:52use Expert Raw.
05:54So yes, picking it up, swapping around a home screen and using it for a couple of hours,
05:57my first impressions were a bit meh.
05:59It's all very familiar.
06:00But coming away, I'm actually really excited for all three and I can't wait to share with
06:04you my full reviews.
06:05The downside of course, is they are all very expensive, plus there's some strong competition,
06:10the Pixel 7 Pro, the OnePlus 11, the Xiaomi 13 series, Vivo X19, the iPhone 14 and so on.
06:16So we'll have to see how Samsung's latest stack up against those.
06:19But if you do fancy ordering yourself a shiny new S23, I will leave my affiliate link below,
06:24which takes you straight to Samsung's own website.
06:26And actually there are some pre-order bonuses right now where you can double your storage
06:29on select models.
06:30So definitely check that out.
06:31But what do you make of the S23s?
06:33If you are going to upgrade, which one are you going to go for or none of the above?
06:37And also if you have any questions or anything you'd like me to test in my full review with
06:40the new phones, let me know in the comments as well.
06:42Thank you so much for watching guys.
06:43Don't forget to hit that subscribe button if you haven't already and I'll see you next
06:46time right here on The Tech Chat.