News

Samsung Galaxy S23 Series: Price, availability in the Philippines

Switching to Samsung?

Published

February 2, 2023

Rodneil Quiteles

The Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra have just launched and are officially landing in the Philippines. Here’s how much it’ll set you back if you decide to grab the latest Galaxy.

Price and availability

The Galaxy S23 series is available in four colors: Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. Pricing are as follows:

Samsung Galaxy S23:

128GB — PhP 53,990
256GB — PhP 57,990

Galaxy S23+:

256GB — PhP 68,990
512GB — PhP 76,990

Galaxy S23 Ultra:

256GB — PhP 81,990
512GB — PhP 89,990
1TB — PhP 103,990 (samsung.com exclusive)

Pre-order details

Pre-order period is February 2 to 23, 2023. Those who pre-order any of the three smartphones can get discounts of up to PhP 76,000. This includes a FREE memory upgrade worth PhP 8,000. They will instantly get the higher memory variant for the price of the lower variant within the same model lineup.

Those who will trade-in their old devices can also enjoy savings of up to PhP 13,000 on top of their old phone’s residual value. In addition, they will get an e-voucher worth up to PhP 5,000, a 50% discount on the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, and 30% off on the Galaxy Watch5 Series. On top of this, they will also get a FREE 1-year Samsung Care+ coverage worth PhP 5,999, and earn double Samsung Rewards points.

As an exclusive samsung.com offer, the Galaxy S23 Ultra 1TB will be offered as part of a limited-edition Samsung Galaxy VIP bundle (PhP 119,378) with total savings of PhP 38,000.

The VIP bundle includes :

1TB Galaxy S23 Ultra
Galaxy Watch5 Pro 46mm
Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
Super Fast Wireless Duo Charger
Galaxy S23 Ultra Leather Cover
1-year Samsung Care+ coverage

The Galaxy S23 series is also available for pre-order through Samsung Experience Stores, Authorized Samsung Stores, Lazada, Shopee, Abenson.com and MemoXpress Online. Customers who pre-order through these channels from February 2 to 23, 2023 will enjoy as much as PhP 65,000 worth of discounts. This also includes the FREE Memory Upgrade, additional savings for traded-in devices, 50% off on the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, and 30% off on the Galaxy Watch5 Series.

Focused refinement

Samsung honed in a few improvements for this series. Specifically, they targeted “Nightography,” Gaming, Customization, and Sustainability.

The Galaxy S23 sports the first 200MP sensor on a Samsung smartphone. Working in tandem with their AI, the phone promises to produce images that appear well lit even in environments with poor lighting conditions. And this also applies to video.

For gaming, the entire Galaxy S23 series is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. That’s the best one for Android smartphones right now. It’s also accompanied by improved cooling for overall better gameplay.

Samsung is approaching customization on both hardware and software fronts. They have plenty of accessories that you can style in your own way for your Galaxy device. Meanwhile, ONE UI 5.1 is introducing perhaps the most robust software customization that Samsung has had yet. All these to make your smartphone Your Galaxy.

For sustainability, Samsung has made it a point to use recycled materials not only on the packaging, but also on the actual smartphones. The Galaxy S23 Ultra actually has 12 components made with recycled materials. That’s double of what the Galaxy S22 Ultra had.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Series Specs

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Display — 6.8-inch QHD+ Edge, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, Vision Booster, Enhanced Comfort
Processor — Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
RAM and Storage — 12GB+1TB, 12GB+512GB, 12GB+256GB
Battery and Charging — 5,000mAh, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, Wireless Powershare
OS — Android 13, ONE UI 5.1
Water Resistance — IP68
Cameras:
- 200MP f/1.7 Wide
- 12MP, f/2.2 Ultra-Wide
- 10MP, f/2.4 Telephoto, 3x optical zoom
- 10MP, f/4.9 Telephoto, 10x optical zoom
- 12MP, f/2.2 Front

Samsung Galaxy S23+

Display — 6.6-inch FHD+, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, Vision Booster, Enhanced Comfort
Processor — Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
RAM and Storage — 8GB+512GB, 8GB+256GB
Battery and Charging — 4,700mAh, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, Wireless Powershare
OS — Android 13, ONE UI 5.1
Water Resistance — IP68
Cameras:
- 50MP f/1.8 Wide
- 12MP, f/2.2 Ultra-Wide
- 10MP, f/2.4 Telephoto, 3x optical zoom
- 12MP, f/2.2 Front

Galaxy S23

Display — 6.6-inch FHD+, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, Vision Booster, Enhanced Comfort
Processor — Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
RAM and Storage — 8GB+256GB, 8GB+128GB
Battery and Charging — 3,900mAh, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, Wireless Powershare
OS — Android 13, ONE UI 5.1
Water Resistance — IP68
Cameras:
- 50MP f/1.8 Wide
- 12MP, f/2.2 Ultra-Wide
- 10MP, f/2.4 Telephoto, 3x optical zoom
- 12MP, f/2.2 Front

Apps

Canva teams up with SB19 to turn A’TIN’s passion into creativity

Campaign lets fans access assets, editable templates, more

Published

August 8, 2026

GadgetMatch

Canva Philippines has joined forces with SB19 and Sony Music Entertainment to launch the “Kaya sa Canva” campaign.

This first-of-its-kind initiative is aimed at transforming the popular Filipino boy band’s fanbase into creators by giving them access to official design assets, exclusive templates, and powerful creative tools.

That’s of course as fans have a way of creating artwork, banners, and more outputs to honor their idols.

As such, the partnership enables the A’TIN (SB19’s fanbase) to access the Canva-exclusive SB19’s Creative Hub.

This dedicated space lets fans access assets, including SB19-inspired sticker packs, custom typography, and editable templates inspired by the group.

Fans around the world will initially have access to templates for photo-booth strips, wallpapers, posters, and videos.

The campaign will then expand with Canva-exclusive assets celebrating the group’s New Era, as well as their latest single, “Lawless”.

Meanwhile, the original song “KAYA” is accompanied with an upbeat music video, doubling as a love letter to A’TIN and a masterclass in Canva’s tools.

Every visual and animation is fan-inspired, a celebration of the creativity, passion, and dedication that’s defined in the community from day one.

News

The iPhone 18 might sell out for an unexpected reason

The ongoing shortage might play a part in the phone selling out earlier than expected.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

An iPhone selling out is not news. Because of how popular the phones are, it’s within the realm of probability that Apple runs out of stock at some point. According to a new report, this year won’t be any different… but it’s for an entirely different reason.

First reported by analyst Tim Culpan, Apple is reportedly struggling to meet its demand for semiconductors for the iPhone 18 and the foldable iPhone. The ongoing memory shortage is cutting off Apple’s ability to deliver the required supply of smartphones in a timely fashion. The report even claims that TSMC, which helps produce the iPhone, is sitting on a shipment of processors, worth US$ 1 billion, that don’t have memory chips.

Now, Apple is still confident that it can weather the launch. However, if the shortage persists, the iPhone 18 generation will likely sell out much more quickly than expected.

It’s an interesting time for Apple to experience such a shortage. It’s been heavily rumored that the company will launch its very first foldable phone next month, creating a new market for the brand. Apple definitely wants this attempt to succeed after the tepid response to its last new product, the Vision Pro.

News

These “smart” glasses just sold out in under a week

DuckDuckGo touts that these glasses have zero AI, zero cameras, and an infinite battery life.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Smart glasses are in a weird place right now. While a chunk of the population views them as cool and innovative, another significant chunk sees them as a privacy nightmare. If you’re in the latter group but want to see what life is like on the former, DuckDuckGo has a new product: a pair of anti-surveillance glasses with no camera or AI, otherwise known as just normal sunglasses.

If it’s not obvious, yes, it’s a troll product. DuckDuckGo is a search engine famously known for pushing privacy as a priority, opposing Google’s penchant for advertising and AI. Now, the search engine is taking on the smart glasses market.

Partnering with Knockaround, DuckDuckGo released the Paso Robles, a pair of sunglasses touted as having zero cameras, an always-offline mode, and a battery life of infinity.

It’s a statement piece. The rims have a logo mark, similar to the Meta’s glasses. The packaging also states that the glasses are “designed to block the sun, not send data to the cloud.”

Now, if you want a pair, they cost only US$ 35, as opposed to Meta’s US$ 299 price tag, but they are already sold out.

Which says quite a bit about today’s sentiment against AI and for privacy. Of course, to be fair, DuckDuckGo’s supply is certainly less than Meta’s stock for their smart glasses. It does, however, prove that the sentiment is there.

As of now, the world is slowly realizing that unimpeded smart glasses aren’t such a good idea, leading to people concerned about their privacy. In fact, some states have already started banning the technology in certain public spaces.