Should I Buy A Black Friday Samsung Deal Or Wait For The Galaxy S23?
© Courtesy of TechRadar nullIf we find a good Black Friday deal on the iPhone 14 or Google Pixel 7, it's easy to recommend because these phones are so new. We know you won't be disappointed if you don't buy a newer and better phone tomorrow. It's a completely different story if you're looking to buy one of Samsung's best phones.
The world of phones works on two calendars. There is a solar iPhone release calendar where the New Year comes in September every year when Apple releases its latest iPhone. Google aims to release Pixel phones around the same time. This launch phase sees the phone hit store shelves in time for the holidays.
Then there's the lunar calendar of tech events, as the season between January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and late February's Mobile World Congress (MWC) tugs at the oceans of the mobile industry, sometimes causing a tsunami.
This is the time when Samsung Galaxy S devices usually come ashore. Therefore, we expect the next Galaxy S23 to overtake the current Galaxy S22 flagship in early February, as nine of the last thirteen Galaxy S devices have been released around this time.
Waiting for the Galaxy S23 or taking advantage of the Black Friday offer?
Samsung has really complicated the holidays. When you buy a new iPhone, you know that the best iPhone won't be available for almost a year. You have guaranteed bragging rights. If you bought a Pixel 7 phone, you know that the next Pixel will likely be the Pixel 7a, which costs less than your phone and is skimpy on features. You'll be happy with this Pixel 7 for at least another year.
If you bought a Galaxy S22 Ultra today, how would you feel in February when the Galaxy S23 Ultra comes out? If you bought the Galaxy S22, would you miss the new colors of the Galaxy S23? Would you be complaining about your phone's camera bump if the rumors were true and the Galaxy S23 looked neat from behind?
It depends on the Galaxy S23, and we don't know much about the upcoming phone, but we do know enough to give some tips on Black Friday phone deals this year.
Will the Galaxy S23 be better than the Galaxy S22?
The Galaxy S23 will have a better camera than the Galaxy S22. You can copy and paste this statement every year from now until the end of time because cell phone photography gets better every year. How much did it grow? The jumps are small overall, but we're hearing it could be a stellar year for Galaxy S photography.
The best camera will definitely go to the more expensive Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung is cutting costs on low-end models by removing lenses and sensors and offering them less camera capabilities. However, the Galaxy S23 will surely have a better camera than the Galaxy S22, or something is wrong.
How much can the camera improve? Of course, it can get smarter, as Google taught us with the Google Pixel 7. The phone uses artificial intelligence to enhance and improve images, but those improvements happen mostly in the editing of Google Photos, not in the camera. Samsung usually does camera repairs themselves.
While the new Galaxy S23 gets a perfect 10 out of 10 for the camera, the Galaxy S22 is a 9 out of 10. We expected improvements, but the Galaxy S22 Ultra is already our pick for best camera phone, so we have to say the lazy camera is our favorite. Do not buy. If you're a true camera fan, you might want to wait, but as great as the next-gen camera improvements are, you'll be sure to take great photos with the Galaxy S22 today.
What the Galaxy S23 can't do better than the Galaxy S22
If you ask us about the best improvements we want in the Samsung Galaxy or any future phone, we want better battery life. We will not take it. We haven't seen a noticeable improvement in battery life in recent years. As soon as phones could last a whole day without recharging, manufacturers stopped making durability a priority.
Battery technology improves more slowly than other phone technologies. The only way to significantly increase battery life is to make the phone larger or reduce power-hungry features. Samsung can't do both.
Instead of a larger battery, we may also see much faster charging, but Samsung has avoided the super-fast charging used in phones like the OnePlus 10T and other devices. Perhaps due to Samsung's rocky history with battery issues, the company has stuck to a reliable USB power standard in the 35W range, well below the 100+ watt batteries of OnePlus phones.
There are other tricks Samsung can use to extend battery life, but they likely won't translate into hours or days of use. The next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is likely to power all Galaxy S23 devices, could show us improved power savings, but this change wouldn't surprise us.
Are there any Samsung Black Friday deals worth buying?
If you've been looking at Samsung phones these days, they're great prices, and Samsung has an offer on its website that drops prices to the lowest we've seen. Samsung also aims to give you double the storage for the same price, which makes a big difference when you go from 128GB to 256GB, especially with phones with great cameras that produce huge image files.
Other retailers can't match these low prices, but some retailers like Amazon offer great accessory bundles like the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro at a deep discount when you buy both.
If you have a phone to trade, this is a reason to run. While we don't expect the price of the Galaxy S22 to drop when the new phone arrives, we do expect the price of your current trade-in to drop. Samsung and other retailers offer great value and even break screen bonuses. Take advantage of this and get rid of your broken old phone.
In the past, we've advised you to wait for new models to arrive and wait for a discount on the older Galaxy S22 family. It didn't happen as we expected with the launch of the phone and other phones this year. Older models stay lower and newer models take the top spot.
If you're in the market for a new phone and love the latest Samsung gadgets, keep an eye out for Black Friday deals. You can expect the next Galaxy S23 a month after the New Year, but you can also expect to be happy with the phone that's on the phone launch calendar.
