Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+ to be left behind as smartphone market pivots to 1.5K displays

Both the Samsung Galaxy S21 and S22 non-Ultra models launched with FHD+ displays. That looks set to carry over to the Galaxy S23 series next year, but it now appears Samsung's flagship phones may be superseded by next-gen entry-level and mid-range phones in that aspect.

According to Digital Chat Station, Chinese mid-range phones look geared to make the switch to higher-res displays next year. Purportedly, phones outside the premium space will offer 1200p+, 1300p+, and 1440p+ displays next year, with the marketing names of 1.5K, quasi-2K, and 2K displays. 2K displays—more accurately, QHD—have been a thing for a while, but there seems to have been a recent advent of 1.5K screens. The Redmi K50 Extreme Edition launched in China about a month ago with a 1.5K screen, and that display looks set to also appear on the Xiaomi 12T and 12T Pro globally. The regular Redmi K50 and Redmi K50 Pro, of course, feature QHD+ displays. 

Leaker Ice Universe reckons that this switch to higher resolution displays will see Samsung lagging behind with the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+. Up until the Galaxy S20 series, the company equipped its Galaxy S flagships with QHD displays, but that honor has remained exclusive to the Galaxy S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra since then. While this may be considered inconsequential to some, this change has seen a phone like the Galaxy S22+, for example, with a pixel density of 393 ppi. 

Samsung's biggest rivals, Apple, used to receive flak for its low-res displays but even that has changed. The iPhone 13 had a pixel density of 460 ppi,and the iPhone 14 Plus one of 458 ppi. The aforementioned Redmi K50 Extreme Edition and upcoming Xiaomi 12T phones? 446 ppi. If these reports are to be believed, sub-US$400 phones look prepped to land with resolutions that lend a pixel density in the 450 ppi range. Samsung will have to do better with the Galaxy S23 and S23+. 

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