Samsung has only just announced its new flagship series: the Galaxy S23. The new S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra bring the latest and greatest camera-centered experiences to Samsung’s portfolio. Powered by a customised version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with up to 12GB of RAM on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and up to 8GB on the Galaxy S23 and S23+, the smartphones are touted to bring new experiences and up the Nightography ante.
With the announcements done and dusted, Samsung is announcing pre-order packages the world over. In Malaysia, pre-orders will be kicking off starting now (2nd February 2023) until 23rd February 2023. Purchases of any of the Galaxy S23 series are entitled to a double storage upgrade for the same price worth up to MYR500. So, if you’re getting the 128GB version of the S23, you’ll be getting the 256GB instead. In addition, you will also get a 30% purchase-with-purchase discount on selected Samsung Accessories, Galaxy Tablets, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Buds and Samsung Care+. You can also get up to MYR600 rebate on trade-ins of your pre-existing device. (pssst… you’ll be able to stack up more than 1 device)
Purchases on Samsung Malaysia’s official website will entitle you to an MYR400 e-voucher. However, if you purchase your Galaxy S23 at Samsung Experience Stores or at Samsung Authorised Partners, you will also get free accessories worth up to MYR458.
Pricing Details & Model Availability
Together with the pre-order deals, Samsung Malaysia also announced the models and detailed pricing of the S23 series in Malaysia. Notably absent is the 128GB version of the S23 and the 256GB version of the S23+.
It’s that time again, Samsung has just unveiled their new lineup of flagships – the Galaxy S23 series. The new S23 series follows its predecessor in more than just the design – there are also three devices in the lineup. You’re going to quickly realise that that’s a theme that will be recurring throughout the series.
Like previous years, the Galaxy S23 series will come with a vanilla Galaxy S23, the S23+ and the Note-successor Galaxy S23 Ultra. This year, however, it seems like Samsung has chosen to focus on the Galaxy S23 Ultra rather than its two siblings. The vanilla Galaxy S23 and the S23+ seem to have a lot more in common with the S22 than we’re used to.
Let’s start off with what’s changing across the board, the first and biggest update coming to the series is its new processor. This time, Samsung hasn’t been coy about it. Instead, globally, the S23 series will be coming with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for GALAXY. This is a customised processor built specifically for Galaxy smartphones. Prepare to see more of the “Snapdragon for GALAXY” in this year’s Galaxy lineup. In addition to this, the Galaxy S23 series will be coming with a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with increased colour accuracy, a 120Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. This comes in a 6.1-inch size on the S23, 6.3-inch in the plus and 6.8-inch in the Ultra.
Is the Galaxy S23 Series Continuing an Iconic Design?
When it comes to the design of the S23 series, the series drops the iconic contour cut design from the Galaxy S22 and S22+ in this year’s iterations. Samsung claims that it’s doing this for the uniformity of design across all three variants of the S23 series. To achieve this uniformity, they’ve opted to adopt the minimalistic design language of the S22 Ultra – which has more or less been recycled for the S23 Ultra.
However, there are some iterative changes that are being introduced. As mentioned, the contour cut camera cutout is no more. Instead, the back is totally uniform with each camera sensor being highlighted by a silver ring. The same design is used across the series. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is slightly more different with the design being flattened out to enlarge the flat surface of the 6.8-inch display to take advantage of the S Pen.
Galaxy S23 Ultra Focused Leaving the S23 & S23+ Behind – at least in Hardware
The new series is very heavily Ultra focused. The Galaxy S23 and S23+ are more or less the same devices we’ve seen in the S22 and S22+. The only difference aside from the new processor is the improved selfie camera which comes in at 12 megapixels and the larger batteries – 3,900mAh in the S23 and 4,700mAh in the S23+. Aside from that, they come with the same 10-megapixel telephoto and 12-megapixel ultrawide sensors we’ve seen in the S22 and S22+.
The Galaxy S23 Utlra, on the other hand, comes with a brand new 200-megapixel sensor complemented by a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 10x optical zoom. The new camera setup – particularly the 200-megapixel adaptive pixel sensor – comes with improved pixel binning. The new sensor combines 16 pixels into a single pixel when taking photos. Samsung is calling this “Super Quad Pixel”. This gives better light sensitivity and contrast while giving the AI more information for better bokeh and nightography. With the improved pixel binning, the AI is able to discern between features like skin, eyes and hair better and more accurately. It also allows for better autofocus as it allows the AI to use a larger 4×4 grid with more points of focus.
Stabilization on the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera has also been improved. The optical image stabilization (OIS) angles have been doubled from 1.5° to 3.0°. This is supposed to give the smartphone even better image and video stabilization. Keep in mind, this is a stabilization that comes from the hardware itself and not the software. Software-wise, the whole S23 series comes with improved VIDS. The improved VIDS is able to analyse and subdivide movement and recognise lighting conditions that allow for better software stabilization. The S23 series also comes with better multi-frame processing and AI.
A Focus on User Experience Starting with One UI 5.1
While the series is a little bit bland when it comes to hardware, Samsung promising a renewed focus starting with One UI 5.1. The new update to One UI will bring a new sense of personalisation which can be extended with apps like Good Lock.
One UI 5.1 brings a few new features including Modes and Routines. The new modes and routines feature allows users to string together settings, apps and even smart things devices into a “routine” or “mode”. This allows you to do things by simply saying “Hey Google” or “Hey Bixby” followed by the name of the routine or mode or even trigger it with an exercise or more.
Bixby Text Call is also coming for the ride. The new feature allows users to send text messages as replies to incoming calls. In addition to this feature, the S Pen functionality is extended to work in a series of Google Apps including Google Drive, Google Sheets and more. Users will also be able to collaborate more effectively with the Co-Edit feature in Samsung Notes over Google Meets.
Pricing & Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S23 series will be in Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. Prices for the S23 and S23+ start at MYR3,899 in Malaysia while the Ultra starts at MYR5,699.
The rights to repair bill in the United States (U.S.), believe it or not, is a big deal not just in that side of the world. The bill sort of encourages manufacturers to design products that can be easily repaired and serviced by end-users without going through a service center. It also requires manufacturers make parts of their devices available for end-users to purchase. While the bill is a requirement that has to be fulfilled for products being sold in the U.S. for now, the product design will make their way around the globe eventually.
Samsung has initiated their own self-repair program with a few of their older products like the Samsung Galaxy S20 series, Galaxy S21 series, and the Galaxy Tab S7+ tablet. They have announced that they will be starting to sell the parts to their Galaxy Book Pro 15”, Galaxy Book Pro 360 15”, Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 15” and Galaxy Book 360 Pro 15” are not technically available in the region, so that might not excite some of you. The Samsung Galaxy S22 family though, those are available here.
The program was kickstarted in collaboration with iFixit. There is the caveat, at least for Malaysia. The iFixit store currently only caters to the U.S. market. You can technically get them to ship the parts to Malaysia, but that means that you are paying quite exorbitantly for shipping charges on top of the parts. It still might make more sense if you go to a specialised repair shop down the road, at least for now.
Still, the addition of Samsung’s latest Galaxy S22 series and Galaxy Book line-up is good news. It shows that Samsung is serious and committed in supporting their self-repair program. As we mentioned, while the program is not made to cater the South East Asian market just yet, it will eventually make it here and we are excited for it to be available through official channels in the region. If you are interested to get genuine parts for your Samsung devices, you can check out iFixit. There are no guarantees that the warranty will be covered by Samsung Malaysia though.
Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2023 is happening in less than 2 weeks. They are set to launch their latest flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S23 series of smartphones in that event. With the new device, they are also expected to unveil a few new features on the device itself as well. One of them is a new camera sensor module.
Samsung has been leading the charge in the smartphone camera Megapixel war. They introduced their 108-Megapixel sensor a few years ago and Sony has not come up with an answer for that kind of resolution just yet. Sony does have their larger format 1-inch sensors shoehorned into their smartphones though, effectively making them proper compact point-and-shoot camera with smartphone built-in.
While the 108-Megapixel camera still sits on top of its throne, it is getting a little outdated. There are new technologies to be explored, there are cleverer ways to cram more pixels in a sensor; there is always a new horizon to be explored. In that spirit, Samsung introduced the ISOCELL CP2 sensor.
Welcome to the world of super high-resolution photos coming from your smartphone. At 200-Megapixel, even medium format cameras from Hasselblad cannot compete in terms of theoretical detail. All this might come to your next flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (or whatever they want to call it this time).
The 200-Megapixel is packed in a 1/1.3” sized sensor, the same size from the previous 108-Megapixel ISOCELL you can find in your Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra today. That means you get nearly twice the pixel amount in the same amount of space. But it is not just a small sensor with added pixels.
The sensor packs Samsung’s latest advanced pixel-binning technology, Tetra2pixel. The HP2 sensor with the technology now can simulate different pixel sizes for different lighting levels. That means that the camera can basically combine the pixels into larger pixels to make 50-Megapixel or 12.5-Megapixel clusters for low-light conditions. The 50-Megapixel mode will also be used for 8K 30fps videos so that you do not have to crop too much out of the frame.
Getting a focus in low-lit environments is a challenge for most cameras. Because the Samsung camera can see better, auto focus in the environment should be less of a problem. With Super QPD, the 200-Megapixel available become part of the focusing mechanic. The technology allows for the pixels to be divided into four parts to recognise pattern changes to ensure that autofocus is more accurate and much faster than before.
In conditions where there is too much light, yes; you can have too much light, the HP2’s Dual Vertical Transfer Gate (D-VTG) technology can make the images vibrant still. The D-VTG is basically an added voltage transfer gate for the sensor to sort of increase its dynamic capabilities by up to 33%. This allows the sensor to cleverly reduce overexposures of photos while optimising colours. That all means you can take a photo on a bright day without worrying about getting washed out details and colours.
The Samsung ISOCELL HP2 should start making its way into flagships in the coming year. We are expecting the HP2 to make it first into Samsung’s Galaxy S23 series flagships. You can expect the usually suspects like Xiaomi capitalising and shoehorning the high-resolution sensor in their smartphones in year 2023 as well.
This should come as almost no surprise. It is 2023 and that means that Samsung’s flagship, the Galaxy S22 series is going to be a year old soon. In the world of smartphones, a year-old means that the device is outdated. It is time for an update in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S23. While Apple has not and will not be launching their latest iPhone 14 series flagship smartphone until toward Q3 of 2023, Samsung’s upcoming flagship will compete directly with Apple’s best.
Samsung’s flagship for 2023 has been anticipated since the inception of their Galaxy S22 flagship series. That is also because everyone knows Samsung’s product cycle, like Apple’s. Of course, everyone is expecting a more powerful device than before every year.
Samsung’s latest smartphone is touted to have Qualcomm’s most powerful System on a Chip (SoC) yet. It will come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. You no longer get Samsung’s very own Exynos option since Samsung has given up on that idea. Still, that does not mean that Samsung might not inject their own flavour on to the high-end SoC. Rumours points to Samsung customizing and overclocking the GPU to make it even more powerful than the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 you might find elsewhere.
Samsung’s mobile imaging department made some breakthroughs last year. They managed to manufacture a camera sensor that packs 200-Megapixels for smartphones. The sensor is a little larger than the regular mobile camera sensor, but it is still a feat to fit 200 million pixels in a tiny plate. Rumours points to the latest Samsung flagship packing that much pixel in their attached camera, at least for the S23 Ultra variant of the flagship, nearly double what their previous flagships pack.
In terms of design though, you can expect much of the same things from Samsung. You can expect the Samsung Galaxy S23 series to look pretty much like the Galaxy S22 series, just as the Galaxy S21 series. The Galaxy S23 Ultra will most likely share the same look as the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra instead of the S21 Ultra. It might still offer the S Pen attached within the body too.
There are still plenty of unknowns on Samsung’s upcoming 2023 flagships too. All we can do is wait for them to finally take the Galaxy S23 to stage on the 1st of February 2023. For more information on Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event and their latest flagships, you can refer to their website.
Xiaomi’s latest flagship devices, the Xiaomi 13 series, have been announced in China and challenges to be a top device in 2023.
Xiaomi 13 series aims to be at the top of the 2023 smartphone line. Image source: Weibo Xiaomi via Android Authority
Xiaomi’s announcement revealed two devices, the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro as part of the series. Both devices will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for top-of-the-line performance. Shared features between the devices include the Android 13-based MIUI4 out of the box, 50W wireless charging, IP68 rating, Dolby Atmos sepakers and WiFi 6E support.
True flagship experience of the Xiaomi 13 Pro
The Sony IMX989 50MP sensor gives the Xiaomi 13 Pro the edge. Image source: Weibo Xiaomi via Android Authority
The Xiaomi 13 Pro offers the true flagship experience, with a 6.7-inch, 120Hz curved OLED with QHD resolution. The display features an LTPO panel, which allows dynamic adjustment of the screen refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz to save battery. There is also support for HDR10+, Dolby Vision and has good visibility with 1900 peak nits of brightness. Rear cameras are a 50MP 1-inch Sony IMX989 main sensor with Leica lenses, 50MP 3x telephoto lens and 50MP ultrawide. The front camera is a 32MP shooter that sits in a punch hole cutout in the front. The battery has 4820 mAh capacity with 120W wired charging, 50W wireless charging and capable of 10W wireless reverse charging. All devices come with ceramic backs colors options of Ceramic Black, Ceramic White, and Wilderness Green.
The Xiaomi 13 concedes in hardware but still packs a punch
Smaller,, more affordable but no less a flagship. Image source: XiaomiUI
The standard Xiaomi 13 has a smaller 6.39-inch flat OLED panel with FHD resolution with no LTPO panel. Cameras are a slight step down too with a 50MP IMX800 main shooter, a 12MP ultrawide sensor and a 10MP 3x telephoto lens. The battery is understandably lower capacity with 4500 mAh and has 67W wired charging. Overall, the standard variant only falls behind the Pro by display, cameras and to a lesser degree, battery life. It does however offer a smaller form factor with a flat design that some may prefer to the curved design of the Pro, along with a smaller price tag. Color options are Black, White, and Wilderness Green, but with glass backs this time. Both the standard and Pro variants will also be available in a sky-blue color with a leather finish.
Pricing and availability
Both Xiaomi 13 phones get 3 colours and a fourth leather finish option with sky blue colour. Image source: Weibo Xiaomi via Android Authority
The standard and Pro variants of Xiaomi 13 is currently available in China only. Both devices come in four memory configurations: 8 GB RAM +128 GB storage, 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage, 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage and 12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage. Pricing for the Pro variant starts at 3999 yuan (approx. RM2534) and the standard variant at 3999 yuan (approx. RM3168) for the respective 8 GB + 128 GB variant.
Buying a new smartphone is not necessarily the biggest decision of your life. There is still a long list of considerations though when you want to invest in one. There is the basic problem of budget.
There is more at stake in choosing the right smartphone for than your budget though. You need to think about manufacturer support for your smartphone. That means you want to ensure that they have official presence in your region. You also want proven track record and consistency from the manufacturer of your chosen smartphone.
We are not necessarily talking about Apple or Samsung. We are pointing to OPPO really. While OPPO have not exactly been sitting in the same limelight as Samsung and Apple, they have a proven track record of making quality smartphones that are reliable and lasts forever. They can also be proud of the fact that they have been consistently making great smartphones in every market segment at an accessible price. In our opinion, their smartphones offer some of the best value for your money.
Recently OPPO has verified that they have delivered their ColorOS 13 update to 33 of their smartphone models universally. In the timeframe that ColorOS 13 existed, there are 3 times more device covered with ColorOS 13 than ColorOS 12 globally. For them, it is a big win – ColorOS 13 is their biggest and fastest distributed Operating System (OS) update they ever had.
The next thing to do is to extend their update policy and they might be able to compete with the best in the industry. That is what they are about to do 2023 onward.
They have just made a commitment to updating ColorOS for selected flagship models for up to four ColorOS iterations. That also means that you get at least three Android iterations for OPPO’s flagships that announced in 2023, most likely the next OPPO Find X model. At the same time, you can be assured that your smartphone will remain relevant for the next five years with up to five years of security update support.
Why is this important? Buying a flagship smartphone is not a small decision. A flagship smartphone in is not exactly the cheapest thing you can buy. You want to make sure that you get your money’s worth when you spend that much on a small slab of electronics you carry around in your life. In that case, you want to ensure that you can stretch your budget out as much and long as you can. That also means that you need to ensure that you can hold on to your smartphone for as long as you can. That also means consistent updates for as long as the smartphone manufacturer supports it. In this case, you can hold on to your next OPPO flagship for at least the next 5 years before it becomes obsolete, and that is a mighty good thing for your wallet.
Android 13 will be available soon to Sony smartphones according to a leak from Reddit.
Android 13 rollout begins for Sony Xperia devices. Image source: Sony
A post on r/SonyXperia has named at least five flagship Sony devices to be receiving Android 13 thought no dates have been specified. The devices are Xperia 1 IV, Xperia 1 III, Xperia 5 IV, Xperia 5 III and Xperia Pro-I. The availability of these updates for the devices are also confirmed on update tracker website Xpericheck.com. No specific dates on availability have been mentioned yet. As pointed out by 9to5Google, these updates are region-limited by Sony, so expect different varying arrival periods.
New features for Xperia with Android 13
A new Quick Panel feature improves management of apps and functions. Image source: Sony
Sony themselves have announced the release of Android 13, highlighting some of the new features it brings. The update features a new Quick Settings panel is to manage running apps, helping to improve efficiency and battery life. There is also a dedicated button on the panel to access the QR code scanner. Customization is also diversified with color theming now available to change your icon colors to match your wallpaper.
Use your Xperia as a viewfinder and now stream with it on the External Monitor app. Image source: Sony
A new livestreaming feature is now available to the External monitor app too, allowing you to share live video from your compatible Sony camera. With the Bluetooth LE Audio feature, you can share audio wirelessly to multiple compatible headphones and receive audio from another Bluetooth LE enabled device. Language settings have also been simplified with a unified language settings option that applies immediately to all Xperia apps. No more changing the language individually for each app. While not as feature packed as expected, the new Android 13 update brings good quality of life improvements for Xperia devices.
If you are in the market for a foldable smartphone today, you will find about two eligible devices that suits your fancy. If its compact you are looking for, you have the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. For the larger form factor that features a larger, tablet like display, you have Samsung as well with their Galaxy Z Fold 4, and HUAWEI with their Mate Xs 2. We mentioned three devices but if practical is what you are looking for, you are probably going to end up with either the compact Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Now though you might have a proper third choice. You now can choose between a Samsung, or an OPPO. To be fair, there is no practical competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 at this point of time. The new OPPO Find N2 that they just launched is more of a Galaxy Z Fold 4 competitor instead.
The OPPO Find N2 is really as successor to the very interesting OPPO Find N that was launched very late in 2021 as well. In some sense, we want to consider the Find N2 a 2023 device. At the same time, the OPPO Find N2 packs hardware more comparable to 2022 flagship devices, hence.
Source: OPPO
Inside, you find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 powering the Android 13 based ColorOS 13 user interface (UI). You have up to 16GB of RAM to play around with, so the device will never feel slow even if you max out your tab limit on Google Chrome or have more than 20 apps open at the same time. With the larger display, you might want to have a few apps open in multiple windows too. At the same time, if you are counting on the Find N2 to be productive, you get up to 512GB of storage to work with for all sorts of documents and even photos.
Folded, the device features an expansive and rather regular factored display that is a 120hz 5.54-inch AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio. It offers Full HD+ in resolution and up to 1350 nits brightness for when you want to work with it under the sun. Unfold it and you will find a large 7.1-inch LTPO AMOLED display greeting you. It is smaller than the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s 7.4-inch display, but hey it is a little more sensible in your hands. It also offers up to 120Hz in refresh rate, HDR10+ colours, and up to 1550 nits in peak brightness which, in any way you look at it, is really bright. It is smaller and more modest compared to its Samsung competitor with only 1,792 by 1,920 pixels packed in.
Out the back, you will find a 50-Megapixel shooter. That main shooter is backed up by a 32-Megapixel telephoto shooter and a 48-Megapixel ultrawide camera. You also get the clever Hasselblad calibration, obvious with a large Hasselblad branding at the camera bump this time. What they did not brand on the device is the MariSilicon X they put into the device for image processing. Of course, the camera can also do 4K video recording, which should not be a surprise anyway. Out the front, when folded, you find a 32-Megapixel front facing camera on the cover display. Inside, you find another 32-Megapixel camera.
Source: OPPO
It packs a 4,520 mAh battery to keep everything running for the day. It is larger than its competitor’s, but not by so much that it gets a significant advantage in battery life. Still, you can charge it at 67W with OPPO’s clever SUPERVOOC technology, which is a clear advantage over Samsung’s charging implementation. There is no wireless charging though, bummer.
What separates the OPPO Find N2 and its competitors apart is something you can hardly see. They call it a Flexion Hinge technology. Its aim? To minimize the display crease that is infamous with foldable devices today. It is also designed to be lighter than before with less moving parts for added reliability.
In fact, OPPO claims that they have reduced the number of moving parts within the hinge by 38 parts. There is now about 100 moving parts within the hinge. Less moving parts also means less things might go wrong. It is supposedly more rigid and stronger in construction too thanks to exotic materials like Carbon Fibre and high-strength alloy used in its construction. All these adds up to a weight saving of 42g over the older Find N.
The hinge also allows OPPO to reduce the stress on the folding display. Less stress also means less visible crease than before. OPPO claims that the visible crease has been narrowed by 67%, which sounds like a larger improvement, but we cannot confirm anything until we see the device ourselves.
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
The OPPO Find N2 is currently only available in China. Prices starts at CN¥ 8,000 (MYR 5,072*) and tops out at CN¥ 9,000 (MYR 5,705*). If the current conversion rates are anything to go by, the OPPO Find N2 is priced at a much more accessible price range than its competition too. There are no confirmations on its availability and official price range in Malaysia just yet. More on the OPPO Find N2 can be found on their website. It is in Chinese though, since the device is currently only available in China.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of CN¥ 100 = MYR 63.40 as of 19/12/2022 on xe.com
A known security vulnerability in Mali GPU could affect millions of Android devices as it remains unpatched as reported by Google.
A known Mali GPU security vulnerability remains unpatched and puts your Android device at risk. Image source: Forbes
As reported first by 9to5Google, Google Project Zero has highlighted a security vulnerability known as CVE-2022-33917 affecting only Mali GPUs. The platform is found on non-Snapdragon Android devices most notably Samsung Exynos chipsets, and Google’s Tensor chipsets. Mediatek Dimensity devices from OPPO, Xiaomi. According to developer ARM, this vulnerability allows attackers to gain access to freed memory. Google added that “…by forcing the kernel to reuse these pages as page tables, an attacker with native code execution in an app context could gain full access to the system…”.
ARM has already been informed of the vulnerability by Project Zero as early as July this year. On their official site, ARM has stated that they have already fixed the vulnerability on their end. However, security measures are yet to been taken by smartphone developers like Samsung, Google and the rest. A statement on 27th November by both Android and Pixel teams stated a fix is currently under testing. It was stated that the fix will be available to all “in the coming weeks”. Two weeks on since then, no further updates have been provided.
