Samsung Galaxy S23, S23 Plus Camera System May Have Hardware Faults

The newly launched Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus have been reported to be having issues with the lens of their primary camera, resulting in blurry photos.

While it's normal for newly launched smartphones to have a few software glitches that are usually fixed quickly with over-the-air updates, hardware issues, on the other hand, are particularly hard to resolve, with users ending up with a sub-par experience.

Samsung Galaxy S23, S23 Plus Has Lens Issues

Multiple users of the Samsung Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S23 Plus have reported a banana or a ring-shaped blur in the photos taken from the primary camera. As a result, parts of the image appear blurry and out of focus.

The issue is most noticeable in pictures that include text, even though other subjects are not exactly immune.

That said, it is hard to spot the blur unless you are too particular about the image quality. Only by looking closer will a person be able to tell that parts of the images do not appear as sharp as the rest of the photo.

The issue originally surfaced on German tech forums, followed by an increasing number of complaints on Reddit and XDA forums. Even the Samsung Community forums are filled with similar complaints.

The issue was also highlighted by noted tech publication Notebookcheck, who claimed their S23 Plus unit has this problem.

Interestingly, the issue persists even when shooting in RAW, which delivers data straight from the sensor without adding the computational manipulations as in the auto mode. Because of this, experts have concluded that it is not a software issue.

Instead, this could be an issue with the camera hardware on the two smartphones. Reportedly, most of the units facing these issues have been manufactured in Vietnam where Samsung manufactures the bulk of its smartphones. However, user reports claim that a few Indian and South Korean variants also had the issues.