While Samsung has just launched the Galaxy S23, the first customers are already starting to receive their new smartphone. We bought our own copy at a reduced price, and we tell you about our experience.
Only a few days after the official presentation of the Galaxy S23 Ultra last Wednesday at Samsung’s Unpacked conference, we have already received the smartphone. The Korean giant had however assured that the smartphones would only be available from February 17, but several countries, including France, seem to have been entitled to flash availability.
Samsung assured us that the period between 1er February and February 16 would make it possible to pre-order the smartphone, as has been the case for years with Samsung and other manufacturers. Samsung even confirms on some press releases that the smartphones will only be available in two weeks. However, in France, the Galaxy S23 were finally marketed on Thursday in storesand the first customers have already received their orders.
The Galaxy S23 are already available at a reduced price in France
This year, Samsung customers were faced with bad news. Like Apple with its iPhone 14, the Korean giant has greatly increased the prices of its Galaxy S23. The basic model with 8 GB of RAM 128 GB of storage is available from 959 euros, i.e. 100 euros more than the previous generation. The increases even soar up to an additional 180 euros for the Galaxy S23 Ultra with 1 TB of storage (1839€).
To pass the pill, Samsung offers an offer during the famous period of 1er February to February 16 mentioned previously, which allows you to benefit from 2 times more storage, that is to say that it is for example possible to order a configuration with 512 GB of storage at the price of a version with 256 GB of storage. Luckily, that’s not the only deal available, as you can finally get the Galaxy S23s at a much cheaper price, and above all much faster than expected.
We expected to have to wait until February 17 to receive our copy, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra is already here. So we don’t really know why Samsung sent the smartphones directly after the conference in France, while you have to wait two weeks in other countries.
My Galaxy S23 Ultra Buying Experience
Determined to wait for the Xiaomi 13 Ultra in April to replace my Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, the leaks around the prices of the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro quickly made me consider buying a Galaxy S23 Ultra. A quick tour on the Internet quickly pointed out to me that the smartphone already benefited from offers of all kinds, which we detail in our dedicated article, and in particular from a more interesting promotion than the others.
If the operators or Samsung offer to give an old smartphone in exchange for a voucher, Fnac and Darty offer an even more competitive offer. At home, an exceptional offer allows you to reduce the purchase price by 150 euros once the product has been added to your basket, which brings the Galaxy S23 Ultra to just 1269 euros. For their part, the Galaxy S23 and S23 + benefit from a 100€ reduction for all models.
Even better, subscribers to the Darty or Fnac newsletters received a personal voucher for 150 euros in their mailbox, which reduces the price to only the device at 1119 euros. For those who were not subscribed, a workaround exists. Just call the sales department of one of the brands, and ask for a promo code. Many users on Dealabs have reported that Fnac and Darty still have a small stock of codes, but it’s unclear if these will continue to give out for much longer.
If you already think it’s hard to do better, think again. Samsung offers a takeover offer of 150 euros if you return any phone to them before next March 17th. The combination of these different promotions and offers therefore allowed us to buy a Galaxy S23 Ultra at only 969 euroseither 450 euros less than the official price at launch. For its part, the Galaxy S23 is available at only 559 euros by applying the same reductions.
While Samsung has been heavily criticized for raising prices in France, it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s generally always possible one way or another to get a cheaper new device than the recommended retail price. In a few weeks, we expect that smartphones quickly see their prices drop thanks to other promotionsas is the case every year for this series.