Samsung's next small thing, as the company is unexpectedly teasing the Galaxy Z Flip 4, only has a few more days to live in (theoretical) obscurity, which means that rumormongers, industry pundits, insiders, and leakers will soon need to choose another unannounced product to obsess over.
Even if Samsung will end up doing a similarly poor job of keeping its next big (mainstream) thing a secret this fall, it's clearly far too early to know exactly how any members of the upcoming S23 family might look. What's not too early for is the reveal of a number of key specs and features, especially when they're unchanged compared to the Galaxy S22 series.
Same old battery capacity, hot new processor
While no tipster can be right 100 percent of the time, Weibo's Ice Universe often comes incredibly close to the perfection mark with his predictions regarding specific unreleased Samsung devices.
Based on recent history, we definitely wouldn't be surprised if the latest Galaxy S23 Ultra prediction proves entirely accurate, as a 5,000mAh battery falls perfectly in line with what the S22 Ultra... and the S21 Ultra... and the S20 Ultra all offer in that department.
A 5,000mAh battery has been a staple of Samsung flagships since the S20 Ultra.
Of course, seeing the world's number one smartphone vendor fail to make any sort of progress in a field that continues to draw criticism from a lot of users could lead to quite a bit of disappointment among hardcore Samsung fans.
But before you swear off the S23 Ultra, you should keep in mind that mobile device makers appear to have hit a battery size ceiling of sorts. There's most likely a reason why the S22 Ultra, OnePlus 10 Pro, 10T, Motorola Edge+ (2022), Sony Xperia 1 IV, and Google Pixel 6 Pro all circle the 5,000mAh mark, and the 6,000mAh-packing Asus ROG Phone 6 basically drives that point home with a slightly too chunky body.
Samsung probably can't fit a larger than 5,000mAh battery inside the Galaxy S23 Ultra without making the premium phone look... not-very-premium with an overly thick profile and a bit of excessive weight in all the wrong places.
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Then again, battery life is never just a question of battery size, and with a next-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor all but etched in stone here, we're left hoping the S23 Ultra's real-world endurance between charges will be improved by the new chip's reduced energy consumption needs.
Other features will also go unchanged
We know it's hard to get excited for a future ultra-high-end phone when you constantly hear about things expected to stay the same, but it's important to remember we're still a loooong way from the official announcement of the Galaxy S23 series and major upgrades tend to come to light a little later in the pre-release news cycle.
For the time being, we expect the S23 Ultra to retain its predecessor's 10MP periscope telephoto sensor equipped with 10x optical zoom technology and continue to snub the cutting-edge but inherently flawed under-display selfie camera on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 (and Z Fold 4).
At least one of those S22 Ultra cameras will go unchanged while another could get a huge upgrade on the S23 Ultra.
A so-called "waterfall" display tipped for the first (and only) time all the way back in February also seems unlikely to materialize, as Samsung may not want to fix what ain't broken, further refining its current flagship design language rather than making any drastic (and some would say unnecessary) changes.
But the Galaxy S23 Ultra is also rumored to come with an insane-sounding 200MP primary shooter on its back, and together with a potentially massively upgraded Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, that could be enough to convince a lot of owners of the S20 Ultra, S21 Ultra, and even S22 Ultra to switch to the "next big thing."
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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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