This year’s first Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event was presented in front of an audience in San Francisco’s Masonic Auditorium, marking the first in-person event for Samsung in three years.
It started on Wednesday, February 1st, at 1PM ET / 10AM PT, with some exciting announcements.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra leads the updated lineup with a lightly-tweaked formfactor, 200-megapixel main camera sensor, and more bang for your buck, as its $1,199.99 is unchanged from last year but provides double the storage with 256MB onboard.
Meanwhile, the standard Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus have similarly-updated specs, plus they now share the floating camera design of the Ultra, with MSRPs that also match last year’s phones.
On the laptop side, Samsung’s new Galaxy Book3 Ultra leads the way with a 16-inch, 120Hz OLED screen, an H-Series Core i7 or Core i9, and an RTX 4050 or 4070 GPU. We’ll have to wait to find out how its battery life measures up, but Monica Chin notes it’s slightly thinner and close to a pound lighter than the 16-inch MacBook Pro that Apple just released. The Galaxy Book3 line’s standout new feature is the new “Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display,” and it comes with an Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU inside.
If you’re already sold on the new hardware and can’t wait to read a review first, we can also help you find out where to pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy devices.
If you’re looking to stay up to date on this year’s Galaxy Unpacked, The Verge will keep you posted on all the news and product announcements from the event.
Here’s how Samsung’s Galaxy S23 lineup stacks up against the iPhone 14
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How to preorder Samsung’s new line of Galaxy Book3 laptops
The Galaxy Book3 Pro, Book3 Pro 360, and Book3 Ultra aren’t set to arrive until later this month, but you can already preorder them starting at $1,449.99.
Where to preorder the Samsung Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra
There are currently some solid deals and incentives for being an early adopter, including smartwatches and free storage upgrades.
- A“It’s more of a declarative announcement.”
I’m as intrigued by a Google/Samsung AR/VR teamup as the next person, but these are some of the most impressively inane statements I’ve ever read. Meaningful plans! The spatial internet! A new generation of immersive computing experiences! It’s the XR hype equivalent of foam packing peanuts. Somebody’d better show up to the next Samsung Unpacked in Google Glass.
- SSamsung phones will again get one more year of updates than Google Pixels.
Samsung just showed up Google yet again, promising “four generations of OS upgrades and five years of security updates” for its new Samsung S23 phones on the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 stage. Google’s phones still only give you three years of new features.
- ATM Roh, send us home.
The live presentation has just wrapped up in a tidy 59 minutes. Now... more hands-on device time. There’s an “experience” waiting, and it’s just a five block shot straight downhill from the auditorium. Better than up I guess?
- DSamsung and Google and Qualcomm are doing something with XR.
Both Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon and Google SVP Hiroshi Lockheimer came on stage to talk about a new partnership with Samsung related to AR, VR, and XR. But there are no further details other than “this is happening”, so I guess it’s not yet a reality.
Everything announced at Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Unpacked event
From the Galaxy S23 to the Galaxy Book3, here’s everything you missed at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked.
- ABuddies!
We've got Qualcomm and Google execs on stage with TM Roh talking about the integrations between their products and XR.
- NIt’s a phone charger and a smart home controller.
The Samsung SmartThings Station is a 15W wireless charger for Samsung phones, with a whole SmartThings hub in it, plus a Matter controller, Thread border router, and Zigbee. Jennifer Tuohy has the full review coming later this week.
The SmartThings Station is a wireless charger and a smart home hub. Samsung - ALock screens are so hot right now.
Samsung is highlighting the customizability of One UI 5.0's lock screen. That was kind of iOS 16's thing too. Custom lock screens are fun and good, fwiw. More of them, please.
- DWe’re just making up Ks now.
Samsung boasts that the new Book3 line has “3K” displays. Not 4K, not 2K, but 3K. (They are 2880 x 1800 pixels.)
- MThe Galaxy Book3 Ultra takes the stage.
Intel H-Series, Nvidia RTX, OLED screen, the works. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra has the chops for professional work and gaming in a lightweight (as workstations go) chassis. As I write this, Samsung is demonstrating rendering, gameplay, and phone connectivity features at its Unpacked event.
- AOoooo flashy lights!
Galaxy Book 3 Ultra got a big, flashy introduction on stage. We're hearing all about the specs right now and it's pretty clear that Ultra means "no compromises" in Samsung.
- AI’m impressed with how deep we’re going on camera.
Full-well capacity, ISP, we’re talking about it all. I guess with not much else changing on the phone elsewhere, it makes sense to do more of a deep dive. Also, I’m a nerd, and 100% here for it.
- DSamsung sure is proud of the S23 Ultra’s video capability.
We’re 20 minutes into this event and Samsung’s already told us that all of the vignettes for the event were filmed on the S23 Ultra and we’ve gotten cameos from Ridley Scott and Na Hong-Jin.
Video performance on smartphones has been dominated by the iPhone for years, we’ll have to see if Samsung’s latest changes that.
- ANightography isn’t going anywhere.
Our least favorite word for low-light photography is back. Samsung’s highlighting the low light video capabilities of the S23 Ultra with... another film by another director. And it looks dark.
- DThe Galaxy S23 Ultra is a little more ultra this year.
Samsung’s event just started a few minutes ago, but you can read about all of its news already. Leading the pack is the new S23 Ultra, which looks a lot like last year’s S22 Ultra, but comes with a 200-megapixel camera. Here’s Allison Johnson’s first look.
- JI’m not convinced Samsung knows who Ridley Scott is.
Apparently Ridley Scott, the director of Alien and Blade Runner, is best known for... Alien Covenant. (Alongside, yes, Gladiator and The Martian.)
- AThey said full-well capacity.
Welp, I was wrong. Samsung’s new 200MP sensor in the S23 Ultra features some under-the-hood updates to better gather light. I was betting that Samsung wouldn’t get into the weeds in this presentation, but they sure did. Guess I owe you all $5.
- AWe’re live!
Galaxy Unpacked is underway and we’re on the ground in SF. I’m sensing big megapixel vibes... stay tuned as all is revealed.
Samsung’s S23 and S23 Plus look a little more Ultra
The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus ditch the contour camera bump for a minimalist design borrowed from the maximalist Ultra. Otherwise, they’re practically the spitting image of the S22 and S22 Plus.
The Galaxy Book3 Ultra is Samsung’s shot at the MacBook Pro
Can an RTX 4070, a Core i9, and an OLED display court creative professionals?
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a minor update to a spec monster
The kitchen sink of phones gets a 200-megapixel camera this year, a souped-up Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, and a slightly boxier design.
Samsung’s Galaxy Book3 gets new chips and a big display upgrade
The Samsung Galaxy Book3 now has a 2880 x 1800 120Hz AMOLED display and 13th Gen Intel chips.
- JIt’s not just you.
This livestream pre-show music really does sound like a Sims loading screen.
- DOnce a blogger, always a blogger.
Former Verge Executive Editor and current Google employee Dieter Bohn is on the ground at the Samsung event, which warms my blogger heart.
Current Verge reviewer Allison Johnson is also there too, stay tuned for reports from the ground from her.
- DSamsung’s event live stream is right here.
We expect to see some new phones and laptops from Samsung today, which it will announce during its first in-person event in three years. But you don’t have to be there in person to see it all, there’s still a live stream that anyone can tune into for the news. The show starts at 1PM ET / 10AM PT.
How to watch Samsung’s February Unpacked event
The company plans to launch a variety of new Galaxy phones and laptops in 2023.
- RGreen light.
This one’s pretty simple — it’s Galaxy S23 Day. Samsung will show off some new hardware (including stuff that’s already leaked) during its event that will start at 1PM ET.
We have all the info on how to watch the livestream, and if you just want to keep up with the announcements as they happen, you can follow our storystream for the event.
Then later this afternoon, we’ll hear an earnings report from Meta.
Anker launches cheaper USB-C fast charging options for Samsung Galaxy phones
These new 45W and 25W GaN fast chargers are compatible with Samsung’s Super Fast Charging 2.0 tech to quickly fill up the batteries in Galaxy phones.
- TSamsung’s Galaxy S23 series specs.
The official reveal is only a few hours away but Evan Blass, better known by his @evleaks Twitter handle, is spoiling the party with tons of pics, video, and even a full spec sheet. Check out his feed if you just can’t wait.
Samsung Unpacked specs (Click here for a bigger image). EvLeaks (Twitter) The stage is set for Samsung’s Ultra pep rally
As in-person tech events have returned, phones have kind of been a no-show. And it doesn’t look like Samsung will be an exception.
Here’s a last unofficial look at the Galaxy S23 series before the event, as a treat
Photos of all three phones have leaked ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S23’s launch event on Wednesday.
You can still get a $50 credit when you reserve Samsung’s Galaxy S23
You can also get $50 in credit when you reserve a new Galaxy Book and up to $100 in credit when you opt for both.
What to expect from Samsung’s February Unpacked event
Three new phones plus as many as five new laptops could await us on February 1st.