First Samsung Galaxy S23 hands-on leak shows off the Ultra model

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in burgundy, held in a hand with the back showing
The Samsung Galaxy S22 is about to be replaced (Image credit: Samsung)

Spare a thought for the team tasked with trying to keep the Samsung Galaxy S23 leaks down to a minimum, because something new is emerging almost every day now, and the latest sneak preview we have to share with you is a hands-on video.

Reposted to Twitter by @sondesix from an Instagram source (via Notebookcheck), it looks as though the video has been shot by a retail store in Nicaragua. We get a good look at the Ultra model in a green color, and a clip of the phone's camera in action.

The hands-on video doesn't really tell us too much we didn't already know about the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, but it's interesting to see the handset in the real world – and it matches up with leaked renders we've already seen.

Choose your color

We also get to see photos of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in black, green, cream and lavender, the same colors that have previously been posted to the web by unofficial sources. In this case the advance information seems to have been largely correct.

The same source has also posted photos of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in cream, which seem to have been obtained from Facebook Marketplace. The phone is clearly making its way to retail stores around the world, hence the latest batch of leaks.

There's been a flood of Galaxy S23 leaks in recent weeks, and Samsung doesn't really have all that much left to reveal. We'll get our first official look at the new handsets, including the Ultra model, at the next Samsung Unpacked event on Wednesday, February 1.


Analysis: a well-leaked smartphone

We're used to reporting on leaks around upcoming handsets, from the Google Pixel 8 to the Apple iPhone 15 – but even by the standards of the phone industry, there has been an awful lot of Galaxy S23 information revealed in advance of the launch.

That may rankle with the executives at Samsung: they no doubt want to keep as much as possible under wraps until the phone gets its official unveiling. All these leaks can dilute the excitement around the big Samsung Galaxy S23 launch in February.

On the other hand, they're certainly a sign of interest in the flagship. Having so many leaks around the phone is probably slightly preferable to having no one talk about it at all – which is the case with plenty of other handsets on the market.

The trouble is that once a device is in production, rather than being developed inside a company, there are a host of third parties involved. That makes keeping a lid on everything very difficult, as Samsung is discovering ahead of the February 1 event.

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

TOPICS