News

Samsung Galaxy S23 Series: Focused refinement

‘Nightography,’ Gaming, Customization, and Sustainability

Published

February 2, 2023

Rodneil Quiteles

Refinement and polishing continues to be the theme for the Samsung Galaxy S Line. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Series has officially launched and consists of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra.

If you’re looking for bombastic changes, you might not find that here. Instead, Samsung is doubling down on the things they’re already good at while improving in certain areas that they hope would make them more appealing to today’s young crowd. To do so, they’re highlighting four core pillars: “Nightography”, Gaming, Customization, and Sustainability.

Nightography

Samsung started using this whole “nightography” branding with the Galaxy S20 series and have since stuck with it. Essentially, this is their approach to producing clear, quality images even in dark shooting environments or situations.

It’s quite a treat to behold as the phones actually take a few seconds to process an image. At first, you’ll see the image as seen on the viewfinder. It shows a photo that looks like it was properly lit after the the software image processing kicks in.

On the Galaxy S23 Ultra, this is achieved, in part, thanks to the new 200MP Pixel Sensor — a first for Samsung. What it does is combine 16 pixels into one large pixel to make brighter shots in low light environments.

They’re applying the similar output effect to videos too. They’re calling the tech Adaptive VDIS which analyzes and subdivides movements and recognizes lighting conditions. Paired with the now 2x wider OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), Samsung is confident you can record at night and still come out with clear looking videos.

Mobile Gaming

No doubt, mobile gaming has picked up steam over the past few years. And more and more developers are creating mobile games that — at least looks-wise — can go toe-to-toe with those made for last generation consoles. Pair that with the wider exposure due to easier accessibility, it’s easy to see why so many people have turned to it and why Samsung is highlighting the phones’ gaming capabilities.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is powering this series. Yes, that’s across the board in all markets. It’s the the most advanced chip for smartphones right now.

However, gaming needs more than a powerful processor because a heating chip affects performance. To address that, Samsung took special care in improving the cooling system. Combined with the improved battery capacity for the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+, this should ensure a smooth, immersive, and extended gaming experience.

Customization

Your Galaxy. That’s essentially the central idea behind Samsung’s whole customization approach. And they’re doing it on both hardware and software fronts.

For hardware, they have this whole BeSpoke thing going on. It’s essentially a bunch of cases, accessories, stickers, and whatnot that you can equip on your Galaxy device to make it truly yours. Other than global partners like CASETiFY, they also have country-specific partners to truly appeal locally.

Sustainability

Samsung has been pretty loud about their sustainability efforts especially during media presentations. With the Samsung Galaxy S23 series, they’ve taken things up a notch.

First, the packaging is made up of 100% recycled paper. Naturally, it doesn’t stop there. Recycled plastic was also used to craft the phones. The top speaker module, side key, and volume keys are made with recycled water barrels. Then, the back glass (deco film) and case front were made with recycled PET bottles. Meanwhile, recycled discarded fishing nets were used for the S Pen inner cover (for the Galaxy S23 Ultra) and bottom speaker module. Lastly, one of the layers for the front screen and the back cover were made using pre-consumer recycled glass.

For the Galaxy S23 Ultra, 12 internal and external components used recycled materials. That’s double the six from the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

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

YouTube is getting a redesign

The update looks a bit like Liquid Glass.

Published

October 15, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

What’s your favorite YouTube design? I still hold a bit of nostalgia for the silver era, but the practicality of the current minimalist design is remarkable. Now, it’s time for a change. YouTube is refreshing its design starting this week.

Much like Apple with Liquid Glass, YouTube is going for a more transparent approach. The new design lets more content through the interface. It also features rounder buttons, in contrast to today’s blockier features.

The comments section is also getting a bit of an upgrade to allow for more structure between original posts and replies.

For engagement with actual videos, some videos will now have custom like animations. The update gives an example of a music video which puts out a musical note when liked. Adding a video to a custom playlist or the Watch Later list is also more natural.

YouTube is rolling out these updates starting this week. It will also be available for web, mobile, and TV users.

News

Pixel 10 Pro Fold explodes during a bend test

It’s the first smartphone to do so.

Published

October 15, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

The purpose of a bend test is to determine how much pressure a phone can withstand before bending and breaking. The battery isn’t something you’d usually look at when performing these tests. That said, the new Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold now has the unfortunate distinction of being the first smartphone to explode during a bend test.

Here at GadgetMatch, we don’t really do bend tests. We leave it to the professionals like JerryRigEverything. If you’ve watched a bend test in the past, it’s likely from the renowned YouTuber. In the decade he’s been doing the test, he’s never experienced an explosion.

Today is a first. Putting through the foldable through his usual slate of stress tests, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold surprisingly exploded during the iconic bend test. Upon bending the foldable past its natural folding angles, the battery started swelling and expelling smoke. It eventually causes his smoke alarm to go off. Though it didn’t result in a catastrophic explosion, the phone still looked like a crime scene afterwards.

Via The Verge, iFixit says that the incident shouldn’t be a cause for concern. It’s possible that the exploding phone wasn’t properly discharged before testing. A moderately charged phone can potentially cause heat to run away and cause an incident.

Additionally, regular users don’t usually bend their own phones to the point of breaking. Replicating the phenomenon. Unless the user intentionally tries to replicate the feat, a potential explosion shouldn’t be a concern.

News

Samsung will debut its Vision Pro rival next week

Project Moohan is coming.

Published

October 15, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

It’s not often that other brands are trailing behind Apple on an innovation; usually, it’s the other way around. But that’s not the case with the Vision Pro. However, given how lackluster the headset is, it’s no surprise that Apple’s rivals aren’t quickly jumping on the new segment. Now, more than two years since Apple’s debut, Samsung is ready to unveil its own mixed reality headset.

Today, Samsung has officially issued invites for an upcoming event on October 21. There is no mystery as to what’s coming next week. The company has explicitly stated that the event will reveal “a new category of AI-native devices”. The announcement even names Project Moohan, the current codename for the brand’s mixed reality headset.

In contrast to Apple’s native software, Samsung’s headset will run on Android XR, Google’s newest platform for mixed reality hardware, co-developed with Qualcomm. It will also, predictably, infuse the platform with AI-based features.

Looks-wise, the invite comes with a tiny sneak peek at what the headset looks like. Half of the graphic has the familiar dome shape of a typical headset, made to look like the curvature of the globe.

Other than that, we’ll just have to wait a week for the headset’s launch. If anything, the segment is finally warming up. A few months ago, vivo unleashed the Vision, its own take on mixed reality headsets. There’s also some expectation that Apple might finally update the Vision Pro in a more consumer-friendly way.