During a recent visit to Vietnam, TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics shared his thoughts on the state of the mobile industry, expressing confidence that continuous innovation and creation of unique experiences will be key in reinforcing Samsung’s leadership position.

Despite the current economic climate, global sales of the Galaxy S23 series have been highly positive. TM Roh believes that this was made possible with the coming together of several new mobile innovations developed based on consumer feedback, which sets a new standard in premium smartphone experiences. This includes the advanced camera features in the Galaxy S23 series smartphones, represented by Nightography; smooth gaming experience backed by the devices’ powerful performance; convenient, easy-to-use One UI 5.1; the use of environmentally friendly recycled materials in the Galaxy S23 series and optimization of third-party apps through open collaborations with global partners.

He reiterated that more than ever, consumers are now placing reliability on the top of their list of must-haves. TM Roh said, “Our consumers are looking for more reliable products, reliable brands, and premium high-end products that can provide a good experience.”

Three-pronged Approach to Lead in the Mobile Market

Noting that this user preference trend would be one for the long term, he laid out a three-pronged approach that Samsung is taking to effectively respond to challenges in the mobile market, and at the same time, pave the way for Samsung to reinforce its position as a market leader:

• Enabling New Experiences and Possibilities: Samsung is focusing its efforts on enabling consumers with new experiences and possibilities through their innovative line-up of Galaxy products by continuously creating and providing new innovations and experiences not just in hardware innovations, but also in software and AI, that only Samsung can provide.

For example, Samsung not only pioneered the folding smartphone category but also took foldables mainstream, with the product category growing in popularity globally. This focus on premium experiences is also being driven by features such as the large screen experience on the Galaxy Z Fold series, the enhanced pocketability and selfie experience on the Galaxy Z Flip series, as well as the excellent Nightography and camera capabilities of the Galaxy S23 series, made possible through innovations in AI technology.

• A Galaxy for Everyone: As smartphones are now a part of our everyday lives, there are still many consumers who have yet to own a smartphone. As such, Samsung wants to make Galaxy devices more accessible to all, therefore Samsung has monthly instalments plans and student discount to help more users to live their best lives.

• Premium Quality: With Samsung’s flagship mobile devices at the core of this strategy, Samsung is focused on continuously improving the product quality of all Galaxy devices, ensuring that they deliver not just on the user experience, but also in empowering consumers to work better the way they want to.

Delivering Great Mobile Experiences for All

“At the MX Business in Samsung Electronics, our goal is to provide a great experience to meet the needs of consumers, both now and in the future, through products of various segments,” emphasized TM Roh.

Guided by a firm understanding of the needs and preferences of consumers from different regions and segments, we want to ensure that we are delivering various quality mobile experiences that consumers want. This is especially important in the diverse markets of the Southeast Asia and Oceania region.

“For consumers who are looking for premium smartphones, we offer the Galaxy S series and foldable Galaxy Z Series devices. For those looking for something more affordable yet be able to enjoy mobile experiences powered by 5G connectivity, we have the Galaxy A series,” he explained.

Innovating for the Future

Looking ahead, TM Roh said that consumers across Southeast Asia and Oceania and globally are increasingly expecting a more seamless device experience, centered on the ubiquitous smartphone.

He cites the Galaxy ecosystem, with smartphones, wearables, and tablets, as an example of this unmatched, continued experience that can simplify consumers’ lives.  “We’ve strengthened our entire multi-device experience to allow Galaxy devices to better connect with our TV line and home appliances such as air conditioners, and refrigerators. This is one of our biggest strengths that differentiates the Galaxy ecosystem from competitors. We will continue to build a more powerful and seamless multi-device experience, including strengthening localization efforts to optimize how technology can blend into the everyday for our users through our SmartThings platform.”

TM Roh believes that there is still much potential to innovate in the mobile market across many areas. The innovation of form factors, such as foldables, will enrich the whole ecosystem, driving the development of third-party apps and new user experiences and that continue to redefine the limits of what a mobile device can do.

He also mentioned how the partnership with Google and Qualcomm, announced at Galaxy Unpacked 2023, will explore new possibilities for extended reality (XR) applications, while the creation of new AI-powered services and content, or intelligent in-vehicle experiences and even smarter home appliances, will also contribute towards smartphone innovation in the years to come.

“We will be kept busy bringing new innovations to our consumers. The whole smartphone and mobile industry will continue to evolve and grow in the future.”

Looking for a smartphone to power up your freedom and flexibility in your daily experiences? Samsung’s latest flagship Galaxy smartphones – the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 – are delivering new power-packed smartphone experiences that thoroughly transform your everyday pursuits and passions.

From streaming, gaming to content creating and more, the Galaxy S23 series is enhanced with the right mix of features to suit your individual needs, as a smartphone that can be customized to your personal taste.

Yours, Inside Out

It’s never been easier to design an everyday experience that’s truly yours. With an expanded range of customization features on One UI 5.1 that’s on every Galaxy S23 series smartphone, tailor your phone to suit your different lifestyle demands. Create your dream lock screen by effortlessly customizing your wallpaper, clock style, and notification settings with a live preview. You can also tailor your phone interface with new colors and graphic options, as well as more than 80 new emojis and 10 animation effects for added messaging fun!

Powered by One UI 5.1, the Galaxy S23 series unlocks greater user control with improved Modes and Routines to choose your own settings, style and layout for enhanced personalization and convenience throughout the day. For example, create an Exercise Mode that automatically plays your favorite workout playlist whenever physical activity is detected, or a Sleep Routine that is cued to silence all notifications when it’s time to wind down. From workdays to grocery shopping, improved Reminders keep you focused on the task ahead, showing customized to-do lists based on what you’re doing.

Read more about how One UI 5.1 is bringing new ways to create your own mobile experiences here.

Style It Any Way You Want

Express your personality with the Galaxy S23 series’ four nature-inspired colors: Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. Paired with a clean, linear, floating design that emphasizes the iconic Galaxy camera, these premium smartphones will elevate any style you choose to carry off.

To top that off, showcase your unique style with custom-made accessories at the Samsung Bespoke Studio. Located at the Galaxy Experience Space and Samsung Experience Stores in Singapore, customers can redeem a free clear case for their Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Buds2 Pro and Galaxy Z Flip4 to personalize with limited-edition Bespoke stickers.

Connect Whenever You Need

For those building their dream smart home, the Galaxy S23 series fits right into the SmartThings ecosystem of over 3,000 certified devices from 300 partners, to enable a seamless integrated living experience. Connect and optimize devices around your home for each family member to suit every individual’s unique routine and lifestyle.

With SmartThings, join 240 million registered users already benefiting from a connected experience, and even cultivate healthier habits by syncing up other devices, like the Galaxy Watch5 and Buds, with the Galaxy S23 series’ Health App to retrace steps on a hike, participate in guided meditation and more.

Harness the flexibility to work wherever and whenever with Samsung Multi Control^[1] that enables mouse and keyboards to connect to the latest Galaxy smartphones, or use your Galaxy S23 smartphone as an extended, additional desktop with Samsung DeX^[2].

Secure It Your Way

At Samsung, security and privacy capabilities evolve constantly to keep you safe and in control while you go about your day-to-day tasks with your device in hand.

Samsung Knox protects your Galaxy S23 smartphone’s chip and software end-to-end, and Knox Vault keeps your private data protected against data threats and hacks. With the new Security and Privacy Dashboard, you also get full visibility and control over access and use of your personal data.

Meanwhile, ensure all sensitive content is kept away from prying eyes with Private Share, a file-sharing function that allows you to control permissions such as expiration dates and read-only access, so your information never falls into the wrong hands.

Get Creative Wherever You Are

Inspiration can strike wherever and whenever. Whether during your daily commute, a gym session, or a night out with friends, pen down your thoughts on-the-go easily with the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s built-in S Pen^[3], part of the Galaxy Note experience built into the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Take advantage of the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s expansive 6.8-inch display^[4] by sketching and drawing with the low-latency S Pen that allows your creative juices to flow as naturally as it would with pen and paper.

More of What You Need and Love

Built on the promise of pushing beyond the limits of a premium smartphone, the Galaxy S23 series empowers you to make the most of life with new productivity, connectivity, and security features, as well as an expanded range of customization options. Unlock a whole new world of work, play and everything in-between as you take your passions to the next level with the power of Samsung’s most advanced mobile technologies.  

^{[1] Samsung Multi Control works on Galaxy tablets with One UI 4.1 or above, Galaxy phones with One UI 5.1 or above and Galaxy Book series devices launched in 2021 or later with either Samsung Settings v1.5 (Intel) or Samsung Settings v3.3 (ARM). Some models may have limited feature support and both phone and PC must be signed into same Samsung account.}

^{[2] Samsung DeX wired connection is available via HDMI compatible display. Wireless connection is available on Smart TVs that support Phone Screen mirroring only. For optimal experience, use on Samsung Smart TVs launched in 2019 or later.}

^{[3] S pen support is only available on Galaxy S23 Ultra among Galaxy 23 series.}

^{[4] Display measurements are diagonal. Actual viewable area is less due to rounded corners and camera hole.}

Samsung Electronics Singapore today announced One UI 5.1, which was newly unveiled with the Galaxy S23 series at Galaxy Unpacked 2023, will begin to roll out worldwide for other Galaxy devices starting with the Galaxy S22 series^[1], Z Fold4, Z Flip4, S21 series^[2], and S20 series^[3]. With One UI 5.1, Galaxy devices will deliver a more visually appealing interface with new features that enable greater creativity and personalization for a more convenient experience overall.  

“One UI 5.1 is the up-to-date example of Samsung’s commitment to providing Galaxy users with the latest innovations as soon as possible,” said Janghyun Yoon, EVP and Senior Executive, Software Office. “Over the past several weeks, we have worked closely with our service providers and carrier partners to bring One UI 5.1 to current Galaxy smartphones and tablets around the world within a few short weeks of the Galaxy S23 series announcement.”

Professional-Quality Camera and More Engaging Gallery

One UI 5.1 expands upon the recently upgraded camera features announced with the Galaxy S23 series. Galaxy users now have greater flexibility to create professional quality photos with Expert RAW^[4] features now available directly as part of the Galaxy Camera app. Simply select “More” while taking a photo to capture high-quality shots in their raw format. Additionally, enhanced AI-based Photo Remaster automatically improves deteriorated details of images by improving brightness, fine-tuning details and making color corrections even in backlit scenes. It also removes unwanted shadows and reflections for a picture-perfect photo.^[5]

▲ Enhanced Photo Remaster

New navigation improvements also make it easier than ever to find photos within the Gallery app and create shared family albums^[6]. Simply tap a person’s face in a photo to conduct a search for more images while the Gallery app searches for faces of loved ones to recommend for family photo albums.

A Unique Mobile Experience Personalized for Every User

Samsung has long been focused on giving Galaxy users greater control over their devices by customizing various user interface aspects. One UI 5.1 delivers several exciting new features that allow people to fine-tune nearly every aspect of the mobile experience – from appearance, to communications, actions, and more. Samsung introduced new features that can understand how devices are used and make recommendations accordingly. For example, the new dynamic weather widget analyzes current conditions and creates a custom design that reflects the climate. Modes and Routines have expanded to enable custom wallpapers, ringtones, touch sensitivity and fonts that can personalize specific activities for even more convenience. One UI 5.1 also improves the Smart suggestions widget^[7] by adding the ability to recommend Spotify^[8] tracks and playlists based on users’ activities, such as music for road trips or relaxing.

▲ The new dynamic weather widget

▲ Smart suggestions widget integrated with Spotify ^[9]

Availability

One UI 5.1 software update starts to roll out for the Samsung Galaxy S22 series¹, Z Fold4, Z Flip4, S21 series², and S20 series³. Software updates for additional Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 will be available in the coming weeks.

^{[1] The Galaxy S22 series includes Galaxy S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra.}

^{[2] The Galaxy S21 series includes Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra, and S21 FE.}

^{[3] The Galaxy S20 series includes Galaxy S20, S20+, S20 Ultra, S20 FE, and S20 FE 5G.}

^{[4] Expert RAW app is available on selective models including Galaxy S22, S22+, S22 Ultra, Z Fold4, S21 Ultra, Z Fold3, S20 Ultra, Note20 Ultra, and Z Fold2. Availability of functions may vary depending on the device model.}

^{[5] Object eraser has supported shadow and reflection eraser feature, and they become firstly available at Photo Remaster from One UI 5.1.}

^{[6] Samsung account based family group required.}

^{[7] Smart suggestions availability may vary depending on region or device.}

^{[8] To get suggestions, users need to sign in to a Spotify account in the latest version of the Spotify app.}

^{[9] Image simulated. UX/UI subject to change. Valid only with Spotify Premium.}