The latest leak of the Samsung Galaxy S23 indicates a significant increase in performance
The grand unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy S23 could be just a month and a half away, and leaks surrounding this flagship smartphone continue to pour in. The latest rumor carries encouraging news about the potential performance boost of the new phone it intends to bring with it.
According to the tipster Ahmed Qwaider (opens in a new tab)The Galaxy S23 series – standard model, Plus model and Ultra model – will boast a 36% increase in CPU speed, a 48% increase in graphics performance and a 60% increase in neural processing (AI-related tasks such as voice recognition and smart photo editing).
These improvements are thanks to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which we hear could be fitted to Galaxy S23 phones in any region. Usually, Samsung uses a Snapdragon processor in some parts of the world and one of its own Exynos processors in others when it comes to the Galaxy S series.
Early arrivals
While we already know a lot about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, we haven’t heard any specific percentage improvements for the Galaxy S23 phones. The performance boosts the chipset intends to bring to phones in 2023 will vary depending on how manufacturers optimize it to work with their own hardware and software.
It seems that OnePlus 11 will be the first phone to go on sale with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 on board. Its grand unveiling is scheduled for China on Wednesday, January 4, with a global calendar launch a month later on Tuesday, February 7.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 family looks set to launch in early February, based on what we’ve heard from insiders, so we don’t have long to wait until things are official – and no doubt Samsung will be sharing some of its own performance data as well.
Analysis: the need for speed
We expect the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor to be available in several flagship Android smartphones during 2023. Perhaps the only notable exception will be the Google Pixel 8, which will likely use a custom Tensor G3 processor.
You could argue that smartphones are already fast enough – in fact, the iPhone 14 is stuck with the same Apple A15 Bionic chipset that was in the iPhone 13 a year earlier – but keep in mind that the demands we place on our phones are always increasing too.
Apps and games are getting more complex, photos and videos are getting bigger and more detailed, and of course there’s a wealth of AI tricks our phones can now perform (like recognizing the sound of your voice). All of these portable computers require a chipset that can keep up.
Also, keep in mind that chipset upgrades like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 aren’t just performance improvements: they also bring increased performance, which should mean less battery power.
