The Galaxy S23 Ultra costs much more than the Galaxy S23, and the upgrades are not worth the price difference
When the first iPhone launched in 2007, there was just the iPhone. There was no Pro, or Plus, or Ultra. At Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023, we knew there wouldn’t just be one new Galaxy S23, there would be three. This year, though our Galaxy S23 Ultra review found the phone very exciting, Samsung has made a great argument for sticking with the most affordable member of the Galaxy S23 family.
The first time we got a model mix at a phone launch was with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Apple needed a bigger iPhone to compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Note, which wasn’t a huge seller but was getting a ton of accolades and attention for its shockingly (at the time) large screen.
Samsung didn’t need a Plus model because it had the Note. If you wanted a smaller phone, you bought the water resistant Galaxy S5. If you wanted a larger phone, you bought the formidable Galaxy Note 4.
When Samsung launched the Galaxy S6, it also announced the Galaxy S6 Edge. It was a slightly different look, with dramatically curved sides and a higher price tag, but no other difference. It was the same size as the Galaxy S6.
Later in the year, when the Galaxy Note 5 was released, Samsung also gave us a stylus-free version of that phone and called it the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. It had the large screen form factor of the Galaxy Note, but the curved glass edges of the Galaxy S6 Edge. It didn’t have an S Pen.
Okay, Samsung calls its phones the Galaxy S6 Edge+, not ‘Plus’, but a ‘+’ sign is horrible for search traffic and it looks bad in text, so we made the editorial decision to spell it out. The + looks great on a phone logo, not in a phone story.
The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus began the trend of multiple variations on the same theme. The next year came the Galaxy S7 and the slightly larger S7 Edge. Then we got the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus, and thus the Plus moniker was solidified across the brands as the larger version of the same phone.
