Samsung Galaxy Unpacked – February 2023 – What to expect from the first big launch of the year

Samsung is taking the wraps of something new this Thursday morning and in what has become their tradition, leading off the big-brand tech companies with their first big product announcement of the year.

Having restarted their Flagship “S” Series smartphone numbering system back in 2020 just before the pandemic, we can be pretty sure the new devices being announced this week in San Francisco are the Galaxy S 23 range.

Rumours have been strong, but also vague in some ways, but it’s clear there will again be thee models, the Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Samsung’s Ultra phones replaced the Note as the big-screen stylus included smartphone and it was very well received. Importantly, the S23 Ultra would be perfectly timed for upgrades for many Note users – so we expect a big demand for the S23 Ultra if it follows last year’s model cues.

But the real question is – what could be new?

Bigger cameras? Better cameras? Bigger screens?

We’ve reached peak smartphone – so it is really down to incremental and often unseen stuff.

Expect Samsung to talk about performance, to ensure Apple doesn’t get the beat on the “pro” level users. This could come in graphics for gaming or use of something like Dex for productivity.

Screens will be better, perhaps stronger, but quality wise – is there ground to make up there?

In reality, it’s going to be all about the camera.

That 200MP sensor announcement wasn’t for giggles, so we must assume something big is coming to the camera.

But is 200megapixels really a great camera? Depends how you benchmark it, depends on the size of the pixels and the light they can have let in.

Bottom line, we expect it all to be about camera, and that’s going to have to be big to impress.

New Watches? Tablets? Headphones?

It would be unusual not to see something else alongside the flagship phone.

So there’s some hope of new headphones, but again – the Buds 2 Pro announced with Flip and Fold last year are pretty darn amazing, so would they really be ready for more? perhaps something lower range?

As for watches – again, there’s been no leaks here, so hard to imagine it – only time will tell.

EFTM is in San Francisco as a guest of Samsung, we’ll have all the news on Thursday Morning Australian time.