We might be days away from the February 1 launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23 series — but at this point, there could be very little that Samsung could surprise us with, going by the number of leaks and rumors around the phones. Now one leaked hands-on video of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra further shows us exactly what the phone could look like from all angles.
A few retail units of the S23 series were recently leaked in a mobile store in Nicaragua. The hands-on video apparently stems from that but has been uploaded online by Twitter user Alvin.
Galaxy S23 Ultra in Green. pic.twitter.com/OEMkAEaKiGJanuary 21, 2023
The video shows a sleek looking dark green S23 Ultra. Samsung is tipped to launch the phones in four colors: Phantom Black, Botanic Green, Cotton Flower, and Misty Lilac. Samsung could of course give the colors different marketing names, but the video probably shows the new Botanic Green color.
The S23 Ultra could have a S Pen holder located next to the SIM card tray. Unlike Apple’s iPhone 14 series in the US, it seems like Samsung could still retain the physical SIM card tray for its Galaxy S phones.
Overall the design of the phone ties in with all the leaks and renders of the Ultra model we have heard of before. The company may not be making big changes to the phone design and it looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The premium flagship could have a matte finish and it looks pretty svelte.
The only big difference from the S22 Ultra, in this hands-on video, is that the S23 Ultra looks like it has larger camera lenses. It’s no secret that the Galaxy S23 Ultra could get a 200MP camera upgrade and the sensor is probably bigger to capture more light to help in low light and night photography.
Previous rumors said that the camera lenses would be flush with the body of the phone but the video does show that the lens bumps are visible and are more protruding than what was first thought.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera app leak
What’s even more interesting is that we have what could be our first look at the camera app of the S23 Ultra in action. Posted by the same leaker on Twitter is a video of the camera app that shows the zoom capabilities of the phone.
Galaxy S23 Ultra.The store who has the phone is already making a few camera tests. 👀This one is a zoom test. pic.twitter.com/Ei7jzaqQUjJanuary 21, 2023
The S23 Ultra is rumored to have 3X optical zoom, 10X zoom and 100X digital zoom and the leaked video shows the zoom capability of the phone.
There are also leaked images that show the 200MP camera mode and 8K video recording at 30 fps that the phone could come with. There is also an image hinting at a portrait video mode.
Samsung recently launched the ISOCELL HP2 camera sensor, which could be the camera we eventually see on the S23 Ultra. The company gave details on the specs of the lens including the fact that it can produce 200MP, 50MP and 12.5MP images via a process called pixel-binning and that it can record 8K video at 30fps or HDR 4K video at up to 60fps. This ties in with the leaked images of the camera app and also shows that this could in fact be the S23 Ultra.
Camera samples allegedly taken from the 200MP camera on the S23 Ultra also just leaked that show its impressive photography performance. Twitter user Edwards Urbina who shared the leaked samples declared the S23 Ultra to be the "the new king of the night."
Samsung seems to be promoting Space Zoom and Night mode for the S23 Ultra and it looks like the focus with this year’s flagships could be on the improved low light shots and camera. We just hope there is some room for other camera features as well and that the company doesn’t just focus on the megapixel jump this year.
