Both the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy S23 are rumored to have the Galaxy S22 Ultra's design. But a subtle change could be made to the look of the Galaxy S23 Ultra's cameras.
A new tweet from long-time Samsung leaker IceUniverse says that the cameras on the back of the Galaxy S23 Ultra may look similar to the face of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, with a raised "bezel" in order to avoid scratches to the lenses.
In a later tweet, IU compares it to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's camera block, which has recessed cameras within a rectangular bump on the back of the phone. This isn't quite the design we expect to see on the Galaxy S23 Ultra though, as its rumored design (as well as that of the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus) is said to be like the Galaxy S22 Ultra's, with individual cameras embedded in the back glass.
The cameras on the Galaxy S22 Ultra already have metal frames surrounding the lenses. From what IU's saying, it sounds like these metal parts will be taller on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which would be a subtle but important change.
Raised bezels will mean it's far less likely that the glass of the lens will come into contact with whatever surface you're placing the phone on, which would indeed limit the risk of scratches. However, it also sounds like a design that could gather a lot of dust and fluff from your pocket.
And you'll want to be taking lots of photos with the Galaxy S23 Ultra if the rumored 200MP camera upgrade turns out to be true. That plus a new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or Exynos chipset and an upgraded display seem to mark the S23 Ultra as a refinement of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, rather than a major rework of it.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra, and the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus, are expected to arrive early next year. That could happen as soon as mid-January according to one source, so we may see a big shift in our best phones and best Android phones rankings pretty quickly into the new year.
