TheSamsung Galaxy S23 serieshas some of thebest Android phonesin it, but this isn’t enough for everyone. Specifically, the military and other organizations concerned with security, extra features, and rugged exteriors may not be happy with the standard edition. That’s where Samsung’s new “Tactical Edition” Samsung Galaxy S23 comes in. And no, it doesn’t come with a camouflaged or extremely rugged exterior.
The badass Tactical Edition name comes with some pretty badass capabilities. Well, badass if you’re deployed on a mission, that is.It was announced by Samsungduring the Special Operations Forces Week 2023 (basically CES for the military), and it comes with software that will come in handy for military personnel (viaSamMobile). There are apps such as ATAK, or Android Team Awareness Kit, to enhance situational awareness, and BATDOK, or Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed Observation Kit, to monitor the vitals of patients and have a complete outlook of them, with quick ways to act and distribute information.
Otherwise, this is pretty much the same Galaxy S23 device you have in your pocket, with some small tweaks to make it more durable in the field. It retains the IP68 certification of the regular model, but it’s protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+ rather than Victus 2, and it has an “Armor” Aluminum metal frame. So really, the biggest things changing here are on the software side, meeting the strict requirements of the NSA and the military. Samsung didn’t even show any photos or renders of the device, other than an obscure front view of the phone with the words “Galaxy S23 Tactical Edition.” It will, however, come with a rugged, military-grade case that can be chest-mounted or forearm-mounted.
It’s not the first time Samsung launches a Tactical Edition of one of its smartphones. Samsung has also launched one for the Galaxy S20all the way back in 2020, and a few others have preceded it. If the case for the S23 is anything like the one in the S20, it’s actually pretty cool. In the meantime, you’ll have to stick with the regular consumer-grade S23 phones.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
If you’re looking for the best of the best out of Android in 2023, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is it. It’s the only one in the S23 lineup to feature the company’s flagship 200MP ISOCELL HP2 camera sensor, the only one with a 5,000mAh battery, and the only one to push the storage envelope up to 1TB. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy should run fast and easily. Everything on that 6.8" Dynamic AMOLED 2x display (the only one in the series with adaptive refresh rates between 1 and 120Hz) should look smooth and beautiful. And who can forget about all the note-taking features and the added convenience the S Pen brings? This is Samsung’s all-out effort for the Galaxy S nameplate.
