Are the Samsung Galaxy S23 colors really lavender and green?

My unofficial beat at Mashable complains about Apple’s phone colors. The “deep purple” iPhone wasn’t purple enough for me, and I’m still waiting for the pink Barbie iPhone of my dreams.

Today Samsung stepped into the ring. Leaks of its new Samsung Galaxy S23 line speculated about four new colors:(Opens in a new window) Phantom Black, Botanic Green, Cotton Flower and Misty Lilac. And those are the names that come into play. Just by reading this I have a pretty good idea of ​​what they look like. Plus, they make me feel valued as a consumer, knowing that someone has taken at least a minute to think about what to call them.

The Galaxy S23 range: Green, Lavender, Phantom Black and Cream
Credit: Samsung

It turns out I trust too easily because today Samsung released the official color names and they are Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. I may not be a color expert, but I am a color enthusiastand I have feedback.

The Phantom Black and Cream are accurate enough, but Lavender and Green pack a punch.

First let’s look at the “Lavender”, which is more pink than purple and more purple than lavender (purple flowers are softer and pinker(Opens in a new window) than lavender flowers, which are more of a true purple). I tried matching the Pantone colors to the official photo of the S23 and found Samsung’s idea of ​​”lavender” to be a bit gray in its lightest form. In its darkest form, it is what Pantone calls “Orchid Ice”. Samsung, I can’t accept that.

Lavender was basically frozen out of this shade.
Credit: Mashable Composite: Samsung

“Green” is gone, Away too broad a color category. And remarkably, although the color green applies to at least a hundred shades, it hardly ever applies to this one. Gray? charcoal? Perhaps. The pantone color I found to match the top is called ‘Sedona Sage’ which is a stretch I think but would be a big improvement on ‘green’. Someone at Samsung had fallen asleep at the wheel during that conference call. Another L for Samsung.

Sage Schmage. this is grey.
Credit: Mashable Composite: Samsung

I’m picky about colors, but I have numbers on my side. A Forbes headline(Opens in a new window) Read “The Samsung Galaxy S23 series is beautiful despite its muted colors” and a Twitter user racked up more than 3,500 likes bemoaning Samsung’s perception of colors and lame names. Well, there’s always next year.

The tweet may have been deleted
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