Galaxy S23 proves that Samsung is very much in love with the iPhone after years of anti-Apple propaganda

The new Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra are less than two weeks away from their official unveiling now (February 1, save the date), and to no one’s surprise, we’re still getting renders of the newly leaked official-looking phones.

Well, one of those official-looking renders seems to have sparked what phone nerds would call “an outcry” on Twitter. The image shows a side view of Samsung’s new Galaxy S23 phone, which is very reminiscent of the iPhone 14 Pro marketing material we saw last fall when Apple’s flagships were unveiled.

In fact, it’s not just the way the Galaxy S23 is positioned within the image, but also how the phone’s glossy aluminum frame gives off a similar glow to the iPhone 14 Pro, with muted but premium-looking colors. In all fairness,

I wouldn’t pay as much attention to it, if it weren’t for two things:

• People (and I mean tech enthusiasts) really seem to care about the little details (I’m always surprised by the way)

• As a company that received numerous “nudges” on Apple and the iPhone with some overtly targeted ad campaigns, Samsung surely doesn’t shy away from taking inspiration from the way Cupertino does certain things.

Still, this story is not based on this marketing picture alone. Instead, let’s talk about Samsung’s strange (probably one-sided) “love-hate” relationship with Apple and the iPhone. It turns out that many Twitter users find them a bit “bland”, and while I really like some aspects of Samsung’s design, I think I can see why some Android users are disappointed…

The design of the Galaxy S23 shows that Samsung has firmly embraced Apple’s idea of ​​”slow innovation”; forget about Android competition

Galaxy S22 (left) and Galaxy S23 (right).

As someone who does whatever I do (we’re not sure yet) for a living, it’s not hard to see that Samsung has been mimicking Apple’s “incremental upgrade” strategy for 2-3 years now. And as I have shared in recent stories, I actually think this is the right move as it gives the South Korean company enough time to pay close attention to certain user experience details and successfully deliver the exceptional Galaxy flagships. (which Samsung has been doing for a few years).

Having said that, what I certainly don’t mean by that is that Samsung should put itself in an “Apple box” and give us nearly identical looking phones for 2-3 years in a row. Before you ask, yes, Apple can (and does) get away with it, but that’s only because the iPhone is the only phone in the world that runs iOS.

Samsung, on the other hand, is competing with many other Android phone makers, and lately it seems that some of them have gotten really good at… design.

As I said earlier, phone buyers make their choices primarily with their eyes, and therefore this aspect of phones could turn out to be much more important than some might have thought:

• Google has been delivering some of the freshest and most well-received Pixel phones for two years, thanks to the Pixel 6 Pro, which (to me) is also the best-looking smartphone I’ve ever owned. like the Pixel 7 series, which everyone seems to like (not as much as I liked the Pixel 6)

• As a different example of going all-in on looks, there’s the Nothing Phone 1, which, in essence, isn’t that different from any other $400 phone on the market; his special power is that he happens to be dressed in a very shiny suit; founder Carl Pei addressed Nothing’s choice to rely on design as a selling point as a way to make the Phone 1 stand out in a sea of ​​similar-looking slabs; judging by how well the device was received, this could have been a successful experiment

• Another example of “forward thinking” in the world of phones comes from Xiaomi, namely the Xiaomi 13; what’s interesting here is that the Chinese phone maker is trying to steal the show from Samsung by giving us the phone with the thinnest bezels around (a title that used to belong to the Galaxy S22); Xiaomi is also leaning towards the idea of ​​making phones that not only work but also look like…proper cameras; of course, the “live” test is the Xiaomi 12S Ultra (heart emoji; perfect for me)

Seat belt! Twitter users react to the new design of the Galaxy S23; find it “boring”; too similar to cheaper Galaxy phones

Now, I didn’t mention the aforementioned design examples (Pixel, Nothing Phone, Xiaomi) for no reason; as I eluded, these are all phones/designs that the general public seem to like and often praise on social media. They’re flashy, but they also stand out in very different ways… Meanwhile, the new Galaxy S23 series of phones looks almost identical to its predecessors, if not a bit more bland, then at least if we look at the back. of the new Samsung flagships.

Another topic that has been being discussed in tech on Twitter is why Samsung isn’t “afraid” to make its flagship phones look like its mid-range devices, and while this is probably good news for those buying Galaxy phones more affordable, I can see why. Samsung fans want the company to differentiate the $1,000 “S” series from the $300-500 “A” line.

The new Galaxy S23 and A54 are expected to look almost identical, not just from the back but also from the front. Again, awesome news for those looking to get a Galaxy A54, but perhaps something to make users who are willing to spend more feel a little less “special.”