We’ve been hearing a lot about the Galaxy S23 series and how it will allegedly look very similar to the ongoing flagship trio. Generally speaking, a samey design from one generation to the next isn’t a big deal, especially if the current looks are proven to work and if those saved efforts get redirected to improving the user experience in other ways beyond the phone’s facade. However, there’s no guarantee that Samsung will work twice as hard to make up for a monotonous design. On the contrary, a new rumor suggests that the company might approach hardware changes with great restraint.

It goes without saying that unconfirmed details surrounding the Galaxy S23 series are subject to change. But assuming that the latest rumors are true, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ will be nearly identical to the Galaxy S22 and S22+, respectively, except for an upgraded chipset, i.e., the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

In addition, the same Twitter leaker says that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will have an upgraded chip, screen, and 200MP primary camera but will otherwise remain unchanged from the 2022 model.

Is Samsung’s focus shifting towards experiences?

Although it’s easy to criticize the very idea that Samsung won’t put much effort into upgrading the hardware of the Galaxy S23 series, this change in strategy could signal the beginning of a critical chapter in Samsung’s mobile business. Namely, it could mean that the company is now willing to focus more on improving the user experience through software and services rather than relying on a list of raw hardware spec upgrades to sell its mobile products every six-to-twelve months.

The Korean tech giant established the E&I (Experience and Insight) Lab as a division of Samsung Research earlier this year with the purpose of creating human-centric experiences. The company is now more aware than ever that “products are not the experience in and of themselves; they simply help enable that experience.”

Realistically speaking, the Galaxy S22 is plenty powerful, and nowadays, camera experiences are more often than not defined by AI, software, and other advanced features rather than the sensor’s resolutions. Overall, smartphone hardware hasn’t gotten all that better over the course of one year, but the one way Samsung could make the Galaxy S23 series feel more special could be through software and services. We’ll have to wait and see if this is indeed the company’s plan for 2023. Any thoughts?