Samsung is poised to dominate the mobile gaming industry.

"Our primary priorities when launching the S23 were the camera and performance. We just want to pay attention to performance today. One of Won-Joon Choi's first remarks to me would be this. It seems like Samsung has a message for enthusiasts of mobile games.

Sitting at the Hotel Porta Fira Barcelona, I sip water from a wine glass as I wait for my appointment with Won-Joon Choi, Samsung's Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile R&D. After getting off a plane, I certainly appear more dishevelled than I should. However, because my purpose for being here is to discuss games rather than business, that should be OK.Adjacent to an enormous roundabout with a cube-shaped arrangement of billboards in the centre is the Fira Grand Via exposition facility. All four are promoting the Samsung Galaxy S23 series; one side has a racing game and a rival to Apple's AirPods, while the other highlights the two new phones' elegant backs. I'm sweating a little bit and it's sunny but chilly outside.

A little over 138 hours later, while I was strolling through the nighttime streets of Barcelona, I saw another Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra on the Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia. I called it the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia when I shared a picture of it on Instagram. I had a joke planned.

All of this to say, Samsung made a big splash at MWC 2023. Oppo may have increased the amount of its London Underground advertisements, but Samsung is making a message of a different kind. Largest mobile trade exhibition? That kind of stuff, "We own it."

I ascend some steps where a security officer had previously denied me access, presumably due to my dishevelled and perspiration-filled appearance. I enter the 24th floor elevator. How many floors are there, may I ask? Twenty-four are present.

I enter La Mordella, the gathering space. Inside are five individuals. Won-Joon Choi is one. Another is a kind of PR assistant who, when I ask him a question, will subsequently whisper something in his ear. Won-Joon is an interpreter as well; while part of her responses were in Korean, she speaks good English. Using the projector to display the slides is another. The last individual continues to type on their laptop without raising an eyebrow.

So, again, what was I supposed to be doing here? Yes, please pose some inquiries. As you can see, Samsung would want to remind everyone that their phones are quite powerful. It aspires to win over the gamers. The world's most popular mobile gaming website has been asked to discuss it.

Internally, the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is equipped with a unique Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Its primary Kryo CPU core clocks in at 3.36 GHz as opposed to 3.2 GHz, as it does in the regular chip. Furthermore, the Adreno GPU runs at 719 MHz rather than 680 MHz. Samsung and Qualcomm even claim to be able to do ray tracing.

The two have a unique relationship that is noteworthy. Won-Joon had a job at Qualcomm before. Samsung now claims to have the quickest processor found in an Android phone. In some instances, it even outperforms the iPhone 14 Pro. Did Won-Joon just give his friends at Qualcomm a call and request an additional special sauce? Alright, no.

"From the bottom up, we collaborate with all of the key chipset partners. That also applied to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. We've been engaged from the start of the planning process, informing them of our needs for both the architecture and the performance," adds Won-Joon. I look a bit further; it's not exactly an exciting story.

Is Samsung abandoning its practice of using internal processors in its flagship models, or is this an isolated incident? The success of Apple silicon in all of its products has been particularly noticeable lately. However, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's CPU is rivalled by Apple's most current flagship mobile chip, the A16 Bionic.

The short answer is no. "These big chipset manufacturers obviously have their advantages, so we'll keep enhancing our partnership with them," Won-Joon (above) states. Finally, we will work together to build internal solutions that can be made uniquely Galaxy, while also adding new ones.

Thus, this represents Samsung's current state of mobile power. The corporation is receiving what it needs from Qualcomm in an obviously successful collaboration. Additionally, it has produced a processor that can do ray-tracing, a capability that Apple was forced to remove from its most current professional phone at the last minute due to critical errors and being "too ambitious with adding new features"—a mistake that The Information claims is "unprecedented in the group's history."

Given that Apple was unable to get their next-generation pro silicon approved, is the ray-tracing promise merely a catchy headline? Or is it a reality that we ought to witness? Fortunately, Qualcomm and Samsung acknowledge the limitations of ray tracing on mobile devices.

"We're not referring to any specific figures. However, I believe that part of the problem is working with the game creators to realise that, well, not all scenes use ray tracing. What are the scenarios that will really have an effect on the user and that we really want to optimise? I attended a roundtable with Mike Roberts, the Vice President, Head of Global Product, Partner, and Technology Marketing at Qualcomm—whoa, what a mouthful—a few days after I met Won-Joon.

He said, "Hardware-based ray tracing is something we've been chasing for many, many years, and it's going to get better and better today." "I don't think there will be such a big gap between Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo's next-generation consoles when it comes to consoles," said the speaker.

Yes, this is an excellent goal. However, in practice, we common people don't get to employ hardware-based ray tracing simply because it's theoretically feasible. Indeed, to the best of my knowledge, not a single completely published game makes use of it. Yet, I like Samsung's aspirations mixed with reality and a clear realisation that, in the end, it is up to the developers to put them into practice.

Won-Joon informed me, "We've been looking at and providing this ray-tracing feature in-device with chipset partners for many years." Consequently, we were able to include in our current iteration of S23 a chipset that can do hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Not only must hardware power enough, but game creators must also create games that use ray tracing. We don't want to do nothing but observe the situation passively in this regard. We have started working with a few game creators since we want to be actively engaged.We are helping them with game development by optimising their content. Thus, we should be able to see ray-tracing games on the market whenever this work matures. Alright, so who are those partners? Is it kept a secret? Yes, it's forbidden to know. Yes, we will find out in due course.

Anyhow, we understand about this hardware that. This new chip has quick speed. However, the brief presentation I was given prior was mostly concerned with "performance," which is derived from both hardware and software. Furthermore, Samsung is eager to discuss the latter.

Adapting its AI system to the kind of game you're playing, the business created efficiency benefits. I'm not very smart, so I couldn't even begin to grasp how it all works, but I'm curious as to if there's ever a situation in which it doesn't function as intended. May a game cause an algorithmic glitch?

"It took time for the adaptive algorithm to develop. Glad we were able to clarify that. "It is the outcome of our extensive development and cooperation. Naturally, you cannot state that it is always 100% optimised; certain titles may have bugs or glitches in the software." Of course, Samsung promises to fix the problem if this does happen.

Samsung has always placed a strong emphasis on gaming performance, but it seems like a deliberate effort is being made to show consumers that these gorgeous, glossy phones with large, superb cameras are also capable of handling demanding gaming situations. Though I don't anticipate RGB and a Doritos collaboration, how does Samsung intend to continue marketing the S24 to appeal to this market?

As an engineer, there is always something that I wish I could have included in the development process. However, given my track record of launching a wide range of products, I can say with confidence that S23 is extremely close to what we had in mind when we began our planning. Naturally, however, it will never be flawless.

Cards then seal the chest once again. Won-Joon responds that Samsung pays attention to what customers want when I push harder. All I could say was don't anticipate any features centred on games, such passthrough charging. At the end of the day, they are still all-around players and flagships.

Thanks to this Qualcomm cooperation, Samsung has been able to outperform its main Android rivals, making it the de facto leader versus Apple based on the statistics of its flagship model. Though discussing other Android phones is fine and all, it is well knowledge that Samsung produces high-quality phones (simply search for "best Android phone 2023" on Google). Thus, the comparison's primary emphasis must be Apple.

Furthermore, how does Samsung intend to compete given that Apple is reportedly the market leader among Gen Z consumers (34 percent of US iPhone owners are Gen Z, compared to only 10 percent for Samsung)? I belong to Generation Z. Using my iPhone, I taped this interview. Is Samsung concerned about winning over the younger demographic?

Well, it's difficult to say. According to Won-Joon, "Galaxy's philosophy is to cover all of the needs and wants of all age groups, not just Gen Z, and all of their values." "We always listen to Gen Z's feedback, just like we do with any other age group, so that we can meet their needs and deliver the values they need to love us even more." Samsung thus aspires to satisfy everyone. How goes that expression once more? Master of all crafts...?

Perhaps it is a little harsh. For the most part, the Samsung S23 Ultra excels at what it does. It's most likely the greatest smartphone on the market right now. It's difficult to go further into this, however, given there are no strategies or plans for Galaxy's future—just a reassurance that the company's new venture is formidable. At least you know that power exists, even if there aren't many games that use it. Tucked aside. All set for the great day.