New Galaxy S23 case leaks reinforce S22 Ultra-inspired design for whole lineup

If you were holding out hope for a radically new design from next year's expected Samsung Galaxy S23 range, fresh leaks reinforce rumors that a visual upgrade is coming.

The most obvious thing that runs consistently between generations appears to be their overall forms, with three sizes of device (previous leaks suggest the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra will sport similar dimensions to their predecessors), along with the number of camera lenses on each device.

Long-time tipster, IceUniverse posted two separate leaks on Twitter across October 16 and 17 that included four images of supposed Galaxy S23 cases, and while looking to be from different accessory manufacturers, they all look to be working from a similar template; with straighter sides and cleaner camera modules than what's found within the current Galaxy S22 line.

The case photos show that the expected S23 and S23 Plus sport a vertically-aligned triple rear camera setup, with an offset LED flash at the top, while the S23 Ultra will adopt a near-identical layout to the quad camera array on the current Ultra.

It's already well-documented that 2022's Galaxy S22 Ultra is the oddball of this year's Galaxy S trio, from a design perspective; carrying across the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's pill-shaped, top-down silhouette and pairing it with a distinct water drop rear camera array that stands apart from the Contour Cut cameras first seen on the Galaxy S21 series and maintained on the S22 and S22 Plus.

That camera design will feature on all three models next year, it seems, along with straight sides on the S23 and S23 Plus, much closer in style to the aesthetic Apple brought to the iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 lines, in recent years.

Analysis: not quite 'case closed'

The relative simplicity of engineering and manufacturing phone cases (at least when compared to the phones they're protecting) means accessory makers can change and tweak case designs right down to the last second.

In the past, we here at TechRadar have received what seem like finished cases for unreleased phones, days before a device's release and despite the apparent complete nature of the product, the case makers have told us that they're prepped and ready to make additional modifications if needed, even once the phone the case is meant for has launched.

Even with numerous sources and leaks now pointing to a design upgrade for the S23 series as a whole, such flexibility means that design speculation based on case leaks like this doesn't hold quite as much water as you might expect.

That said, we're hoping the company does commit to a straighter-sided design for next year's Galaxy S phones, as although it might compromise the comfortable hand feel existing entries offer, the larger internal volume would allow Samsung to sneak larger batteries into these new phones; helping them find purchase in our rundown of the best phones out there.