If you’re a heavy gamer and like to play on the go, you can do much worse than a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Just a quick glance at the specs shows there’s so much to love, from the 6.8″ QHD+ curved display to the choice of 8 or 12 GB of RAM. The cellphone’s “Game Booster” settings also include the Pause USB Power Delivery feature, which allows the charger to power the CPU directly, meaning no thermal throttle due to the battery heating up. Given Samsung’s push to show the S23 as its ultra-gaming device, it’s hardly surprising that the company has launched a dedicated online store for gaming.
While the Samsung Gaming Hub has existed on the company’s smart TV’s since 2022 (offering users access to popular titles via GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Utomik, and Amazon Luna), the new Samsung Game Portal is a very different beast — it’s touted as an online store specifically for gamers, offering products like smartphones, TV’s, gaming monitors and high-performance SSDs. The store is due for launch in over 30 countries, starting with the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Brazil in late June (via Samsung Newsroom).
It’s clear that Samsung intends for the S23 Ultra to be the Portal’s flagship gaming device. Aside from emblazoning a picture of the smartphone in the Samsung Game Portal announcement, the company mentions it specifically as one of its “notable” products that will be available there, citing its high-performance Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform. This is underscored when visiting the US version of Samsung Game Portal, which features the S23 Ultra under its “very best” gaming gear.
We can’t help but feel that Samsung missed a trick here, given its claims to offer discounts on bundles of gaming devices to celebrate the launch. If you currently click on the S23, you’re just redirected to the regular Samsung online store to purchase the phone at its usual price. We also found the same to be true for other products, meaning right now, the Samsung Game Portal isn’t so much a standalone online store; it’s simply a more elegant way for gamers to find the Samsung devices they need. And as far as Samsung’s concerned, it clearly wants you to start with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
