Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event on February 1 is just over two weeks away. However, you would be forgiven for thinking that we know exactly what Samsung will be unveiling in the new Galaxy S23 model, thanks to leaks and rumors.

If the leaked rendered images are anything to go by, we are expecting three phones that look a lot like last year's models. It is almost certain that these phones will run on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. Also, the Galaxy S23 Ultra with a 200MP main camera, which Samsung is expected to include, will be the centerpiece of this release.

While enough details have been revealed to know the differences between the Galaxy S23 vs. Galaxy S23 Plus vs. Galaxy S23 Ultra, we are still waiting for Samsung to give us the full picture of these devices and why they deserve to rank among the best phones you can buy! We're still waiting to hear from Samsung.

Here are the big questions we have about the Galaxy S23, which will be at Galaxy Unpacked on February 1.

Given the conflicting rumors about the Galaxy S23's onboard storage, this may be one spec that is still up in the air. Leaker Ahmed Qwaider claims that all three Galaxy S23 models will have 256GB of storage, double the storage Samsung has on the Galaxy S22. However, this claim was quashed by fellow leaker Roland Quandt (open in new tab), who has a solid track record on the details of upcoming Samsung phones.

We are not one to pick sides, but we hope Quandt is wrong. Giving each S23 model 256GB of storage while keeping the current price would be a great move for Samsung.

It would also not be an unprecedented move among the best Android phones. The OnePlus 11, which will make its U.S. debut about a week after Samsung unveiled the S23, will come with 256GB of storage in the base model. The Samsung Galaxy S23 vs. OnePlus 11 decision will be about more than storage capacity, but the OnePlus phone's larger capacity (assuming Samsung sticks to 128GB) will work in OnePlus' favor.

Keep an eye on this as the storage capacity may give us a clue as to how aggressive Samsung wants to be with this update.

Brightness was a big selling point for the Galaxy S22's display a year ago and helped Samsung's flagship come out on top in our display showdown against the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7. With a peak brightness of 1,300 nits, it is understandable that the Galaxy S22's panel received rave reviews. The Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra, on the other hand, had a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. And tests with a luminometer showed that these models were much closer to these marks.

The Galaxy S23 may be even brighter. At least one leaker claims that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a panel that delivers more than 2,000 nits of brightness. Samsung just announced its Ultra Dynamic Range (UDR) panel, the world's first smartphone display to achieve 2,000 nits brightness certification. Unfortunately, the UDR panel was introduced too late to be used in the Galaxy S23 model.

Will Samsung stick with last year's display iteration? Or can the phone and display maker find a way to make it even brighter for the Galaxy S23? If possible, we'll be keeping our eyes peeled to see what happens.

That Samsung plans to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to power the Galaxy S23 model is not a closely guarded secret. And unlike previous years, this new chipset could be found in all Galaxy S models, not just those released in North America and Asia. In the recent Galaxy S22, Samsung used its own Exinos silicon in the European model.

Past Exynos chips have failed to match the performance of Snapdragon chips, so adopting a one chipset to rule them all approach will be great news for European users. Cell phones using Qualcomm's latest silicon showed significant performance gains when the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 benchmark was run on a reference device.

But while improved performance and power efficiency are part of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 story, the potential benefits of the new chipset go beyond that: the AI engine in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is also faster, enabling more The Spectra ISP, part of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, has its own AI engine, which could lead to better photo processing, such as calling out individual details in a photo. Potential.

If the rumors are correct and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will be included in all Galaxy S23s, not just for some markets, we expect Samsung to be able to take more advantage of this chipset's capabilities. The increase in power is welcome, but we look forward to seeing if the Galaxy S23 can take advantage of more than that.

We have an idea of what camera hardware each of the three Galaxy S23 models is going to feature; the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus will feature the same optics as last year, namely a 50MP main camera with a 12MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 10MP telephoto lens, most likely. The ultra-wide and telephoto lenses should remain unchanged on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but the S22 Ultra's 108MP main camera is likely to be replaced by a 200MP sensor.

We have heard a bit about how this camera will work, allowing users to take photos at full 200MP resolution or crop 50MP and 12.5MP shots when choosing detail and brightness. But other photo features (whether they are ultra-exclusive to the Galaxy S23 or available on all three phones) have yet to be discussed. We are eager to see how Samsung improves the photography process so that the new phones can compete with the best camera phones.

It is likely that the front camera has changed on all three models as well, with a 12MP selfie cam suggested to be on all Galaxy S23. It is an upgrade from the 10MP shooter on the standard phone nd S22 Plus, but a downgrade from the 40MP sensor Samsung used on the front of the S22 Ultra. To make up for the megapixel drop, Samsung may add a pro mode to the front camera and add support for low-light and no-light images like it did with the Galaxy S22's rear camera last year.

So far, rumors about the Galaxy S23's price have been mostly speculative, with rumor mongers offering their best guesses as to how much each of the three models will cost. There is a good chance that this could change before February 1 if more concrete information becomes available, but at this point the prices seem to be up in the air. [The Galaxy S23 is $799, the Galaxy S23 Plus is $999, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra is $1199. We like to think that Samsung is pondering whether to lower the price of the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus.

A more likely scenario is that prices will rise as a result of higher costs for smartphone components. One leaker predicts that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will be up $50, starting at $1,249.

It is not clear whether Samsung will follow Apple's example and keep the price unchanged even as component costs rise, or whether it will raise the price until the February 1 Unpacked event. If the latter, we hope that Samsung can show that this year's Galaxy S23 model, whatever it is, is worth the cost.