Samsung Electronics announced on April 6 that it will introduce the “Galaxy S23” series to Japan. As in 2022, the release of the “Galaxy S23+” will be postponed, and two models will be prepared: the “Galaxy S23”, which can be said to be the reference point of the flagship model, and the top model “Galaxy S23 Ultra”. The release date is April 20th. Docomo and KDDI handle two models, and Rakuten Mobile handles only the Galaxy S23.
Samsung seems to be following its usual strategy, but there are changes in its sales strategy, such as preparing online-only colors. It is the first time in about three and a half years to deliver the Galaxy S series to Rakuten Mobile. Here, we will explain the features of both models and explain the company’s sales strategy.
Samsung Electronics will release the Galaxy S23 series on April 20 through docomo, au, and Rakuten Mobile
Galaxy S23 Ultra, which greatly enhanced dark place shooting with a 200 million pixel camera, and the design is also unified in the series
Needless to say, the Galaxy S23 series is the flagship model of Samsung Electronics. The global version was announced on February 1 (local time). Three models, the Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra, were unveiled at the company’s product launch event “Galaxy Unpacked” for the first time in about three years since it was held in 2020. Samsung Electronics is renewing the top model of the Galaxy S series in 2022, effectively reviving the Galaxy Note. The Galaxy S23 series also follows this route.
Galaxy S23 series announced at Galaxy Unpacked. The three-model configuration is the same as before, but the Galaxy S23+ (left) below the photo will not be released in Japan
On the other hand, the Galaxy S23 series strengthens the “series feeling” by making the design more common. The back is iconic. In the Galaxy S22 series, only the “Galaxy S22” and “Galaxy S22+” adopted a camera unit similar to the phantom mask that appeared in “The Phantom of the Opera”, whereas the Galaxy S23 and S23+ have that appearance is closer to the top model Galaxy S23 Ultra. The design looks like the lens is directly attached to the rear glass, which greatly changed the impression.
In contrast to the square-shaped Galaxy S23 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 has rounded corners that give a gentle impression, but the appearance around the camera has a commonality.
In terms of functionality, the 200 million pixel camera installed in the Galaxy S23 Ultra will be the selling point. In addition to being able to significantly increase sensitivity by bundling 16 pixels into one, it also supports super quad pixel autofocus that uses 4 pixels horizontally and vertically to detect phase differences. You can shoot brightly even in dark places, and focusing is also faster. In addition to the power of such hardware, AI with improved processing capacity has greatly improved the performance of night scene photography.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra uses a 200 million pixel sensor for the main camera.Pixel binning allows you to take brighter photos
A photo taken with a digital camera with a brightness close to what it looks like (left) and a photo taken with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.Taken with brightness as if the surroundings were lit up
The telephoto camera has an optical 10x magnification, but it can be expanded up to 100x by combining digital zoom and AI.I actually shot the moon with 100x zoom
Underpinning this AI is the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy”. As you can see from the fact that this chip is labeled “for Galaxy”, it has higher processing power than the usual “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2”. It is unknown to what extent special customization has been added, but perhaps by adopting selected products for CPU and GPU, the performance of CPU and GPU should be improved. Taking advantage of its high performance, Samsung Electronics is promoting the series as a gaming smartphone.
Two models, the Galaxy S23 and S23 Ultra, will be introduced in Japan. The specs are almost the same as the global version, but it is equipped with an Osaifu-Keitai, and the same customization as before has been added, such as matching the corresponding band to the frequency of Japan. It also supports the eSIM installed in the “Galaxy Z Fold4” and “Galaxy Z Flip4” released in September 2022. As the Galaxy S series, it will be the first physical SIM / eSIM dual SIM model. The differences in the frequencies supported by each carrier have been filled in, making the terminal easier to use in a multi-carrier environment.
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