The launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23 is imminent, with a January or February release being the most likely scenario. Either way, the rumors are coming fast, and while most of the upgrades are expected for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the basic model also looks set to get some solid improvements.

We've rounded up the five biggest changes you can expect to see if you choose the Samsung Galaxy S23 or Galaxy S23 Plus next year. While we do not report leaks coming from questionable sources, it is worth stressing that these remain rumors until proven otherwise.

Aside from this disclaimer, these are the five biggest Samsung Galaxy S23 rumors so far.

No new Samsung flagship is possible without a processor upgrade, and this time Samsung is said to be adopting Qualcomm worldwide.

Well, that's one theory. There is a persistent opinion in some markets that the Exynos 2300 could be on the way. [But in the U.S., it appears that it will be upgraded to Qualcomm's latest chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. And the reference device provided by Qualcomm has Geekbench scores that are extremely close, suggesting that it will take on Apple this year:

Remember, this is a reference device, and it could be even better. Rumors suggest that Samsung may be using a powered-up version of this chip. According to leaker Ice Universe, this chip will be mildly overclocked, rated at 3.36 GHz (instead of 3.2 GHz) and GPU speeds of 719 Mhz (up from 680 Mhz).

All of this means that Galaxy buyers can expect a significantly faster device than the previous model.

While the rear camera of the base Galaxy S23 model is expected to remain the same (as opposed to the Ultra version), the front-facing sensor is expected to be upgraded considerably.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus are likely to be upgraded to a 12MP selfie camera. Indeed, this is only 2 MP more than the previous model's 10 MP module, but it will be the first time the front-facing camera has been upgraded since the Galaxy S10 was introduced in 2019.

One potential upgrade that has been touted is the introduction of Qualcomm's 3D Sonic Max fingerprint reader. This reader is 17 times larger than the current under-screen reader used by Samsung and can even scan two fingerprints at once for added security.

While this sounds like an upgrade that Samsung would reserve for the Ultra model as an upsell, the rumor is that it will hit all ranges. If you treat the rumors of one of this list with a pinch of salt, make it this one. After all, this has been suggested for past Galaxy phones without arriving.

Earlier this year, the iPhone 14 introduced emergency SOS via satellite communication and it looks like Samsung could follow suit with the Galaxy S23 lineup.

Like Apple's implementation, this is clearly set to be limited because for voice and high-speed data, you will need a much larger antenna than will fit comfortably in a sophisticated phone. For Samsung, this reportedly means SMS and low-resolution images. The latter would presumably be to help locate the exact position by highlighting identifiable landmarks for rescue.

Samsung has traditionally offered a choice of three to five colors for the basic Galaxy S smartphone, but this time there will apparently be four:

Samsung has historically been a bit more descriptive ("cosmic gray" and "bora purple" will be " sound a bit more exciting than "gray" and "purple"), it's a safe bet that these won't be the actual names, but it sounds like there's an appropriate choice for traditionalists and those who want something a bit more playful.