Earlier this week, after months of rumours, Samsung finally confirmed that it will hold its Unpacked event on February 1.
And while the audiophile readers on this page may be unceremoniously shrugging off the news, given that the cheap Galaxy Buds 3 earbuds are the only relevant release expected at the event, it’s a big deal for most gadget enthusiasts for one main reason : Samsung’s highly anticipated Galaxy S23 smartphone family of phones is expected to make its debut.
Catching up with people who don’t follow the phone market religiously, the Galaxy S23 is expected to be one of Apple’s iPhone’s biggest rivals this year and a direct successor to the Galaxy S22, which we gave five stars after rigorous testing last year .
And if pre-release rumors are to be believed, the S23 will be a big step forward with a few key changes, the biggest of which are expected to be upgrades to the phone’s zoom capabilities, longer battery life and a move to using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon silicon in every market.
To be clear, as a tech fan, these upgrades are not to be sniffed at. The Ultra version of the S22 we tested last year offered the best zoom photography capabilities we’ve seen on a smartphone.
A switch to using a flagship Snapdragon CPU should also – based on our time with the Exynos variants Samsung shipped to the UK – pave the way for better battery life and faster overall performance. This has certainly been the case with previous Samsung phones I’ve tested, with the Snapdragon models of the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S20 sold in the US all offering superior battery life compared to the UK’s Exynos powered equivalents (Exynos is Samsung’s own range of mobile CPUs).
But for me, there’s a gaping hole Samsung needs to close if it wants to get me interested in the Galaxy S23, based on the pre-release rumblings I’ve heard so far.
Notably, from what I’ve heard, Samsung has no plans to improve the audio performance of its Galaxy phones.
This may sound like a minor gripe, but to me – an avid Tidal subscriber who, due to my budget, can’t afford to invest in a dedicated hi-res unit like the Astell & Kern A & norma SR25 MKII featured on the top spot is in our best portable music player guide – it’s a big deal.
All too often I’m forced to use my phone as my primary music player and after testing handsets for over a decade I can safely tell you that audio quality varies wildly between devices.
Last year this was clearly demonstrated by the S22 Ultra. Using the phone for over a week just before Christmas, I fell in love with the device’s camera, wonderfully accurate screen, and solid gaming performance. But after my testing period ended, I couldn’t wait to replace my SIM card with another device, as the sound quality simply wasn’t as good as competing flagships.
Listening to a variety of tracks on Apple Music, Tidal and Spotify, the S23 Ultra couldn’t deliver the same consistency and clarity I experienced with the Apple iPhone 13 and Sony Xperia 1 IV.
That’s why I really hoped that Samsung would focus on improving the audio of its flagship handset this year and finally deliver a device that I could comfortably use in the long run.
In an ideal world, for me personally, this would take the form of a music-focused variant of the S23 alongside the base model and more expensive Plus and Ultra models that Samsung is expected to launch on February 1.
In my head, this would be a modern version of the 2017 Onkyo Grandbeat, which was basically a portable music player with its own built-in DAC and specialized circuit design focused on audio quality. Or the five-star LG G5 with Hi-Fi Plus DAC that we tested in 2016.
But honestly I’d settle for a more modest improvement on the line overall, and that really should be an easy win for Samsung given the big R&D budget it has and the wealth of audio companies it owns, including the Harman Kardon group, home of AKG, JBL and Arcam.
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