Samsung hasn't exactly done a great job of keeping its flagship designs (and specifications) a secret ahead of the company's big product launch events in recent years, but even by that standard, it definitely feels a little unusual to see the Galaxy S23 and S23+ leaked in all their (factory CAD-based) glory in September.
Of course, the most logical explanation for Steve Hemmerstoffer's possibly record-breaking speed in revealing the subtle visual changes of Samsung's "next big things" is simply that yesterday's leaks are not as early as they seem.
That theory appears to be corroborated by none other than Ice Universe, whose inside knowledge of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 development suggests that the Galaxy S23 trio could be released earlier than previously anticipated.
Is a January announcement in the cards?
While it's certainly way too early for anyone (reliable) to answer that question with even a moderate degree of confidence, we highly doubt that Samsung will keep its most devoted speed-addicted fans waiting for the next Unpacked event until February 2023.
With the world's first new Android high-enders powered by Qualcomm's next-gen beast expected to see daylight as soon as November 2022, the Galaxy S23 family could theoretically be unveiled and released by the end of the year as well.
The S22 family went official and up for sale in February 2022.
But December is not the most conventionally accommodating setting for the launch of a mobile device primarily aimed at a Western audience, so even if the above info checks out, Samsung is likely to wait until January.
Although the S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra were both formally announced and commercially released in February 2022, a January launch wouldn't be completely unusual or unprecedented. It was only last year that the world's largest smartphone vendor took the wraps off the Galaxy S21 lineup on January 14, putting it up for sale a couple of weeks later, and the S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra could well follow a similar schedule.
In case you're wondering, the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 handset was unveiled by Motorola in December 2021, which adds to the soundness of a January 2023 Galaxy S23 announcement theory. It remains to be seen if Motorola will manage to beat the competition to the punch again in November by detailing and eventually releasing the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 smartphone around.
What else do we know about the Galaxy S23 series?
In short, a lot of things. Almost too many for a family of ultra-premium Android devices that's likely still more than two months away from an official announcement, but that's what happens when you can count the notable upgrades of a new flagship on the fingers of one hand... and you still leave a few fingers unused.
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The mobile industry's general lack of innovation nowadays also explains why the S23 launch timeline is closely connected to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 development. By all indications, the processing power (and related energy efficiency) improvement will be the biggest changes operated by Samsung to the existing S22 family for their already oft-rumored sequels.
The S23 Plus (rendered here in all its glory) could see daylight no later than January 2023.
The vanilla S23 and the S23+ in particular sound like largely unexciting upgrades, destined to more or less keep the camera systems of their forerunners unchanged, while the S23 Ultra is widely expected to rock an impressive-sounding 200MP primary shooter on its back.
Subtle battery capacity enhancements across the board are also possible, which could go a long way towards improving real-life endurance between (still-slow) charges if the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC proves to be as frugal as recently speculated, with pretty much nothing else to report on the upgrade front at the moment.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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