Tech Train

The Galaxy S23 has just been announced, and beyond the new camera one would be hard pressed to find a difference between it and last year’s S22. If that sentence rings a bell, it’s because it’s remarkably similar to what I said about said S22 last year. This time Samsung updated the design a little, removing the housing for the triple camera array, and equipping that array with a 50 megapixel main sensor. The thing is, that still doesn’t make the S23 the most interesting phone, even in Samsung’s lineup.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 are much more fascinating, as they can fold in half. Looking beyond Samsung, device makers like Motorola, OPPO, and Microsoft are providing foldable devices with more stylistic and functional differences. The Microsoft Surface Duo 2, for example, uses two disconnected screens to promote multitasking. The Moto Razr 2022 provides a larger cover display. The OPPO Find N2 fits between the large-format foldable, which are closer to tablet size when open, and the flip phone foldable, which is closer to a normal phone size when open. The foldable space has even more products on the horizon, such as the rumored Pixel Fold.

It may come as no surprise, then, that the standard slab phone isn’t seeing much change. Even Google, which used to try something different every year, has released a minor upgrade with the Pixel 7 line. The best we’ve seen is the Nothing Phone 1 with its LED-laden back. The people who are still buying slab phones don’t want experimentation, or something new. They want a phone that works, and maybe has a better camera. The S23 provides just that.