The Galaxy S23, smallest and youngest sibling of the S23 family comes in a smaller and lighter footprint. So, how does it hold up against the rest? Here’s our “1 month later” review and recommendation.
Let’s start with a quick overview first:
Design & Display
While the Samsung Galaxy S23 might look very familiar to its predecessor, the changes are also many changes that came this year. What immediately catches the eye is the camera layout, which is now without a housing frame, with just a vertical line of 3 cameras instead.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 weighs 168g, is super comfortable to hold and use, specially in one hand, with its 6.1-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and an FHD resolution of 1080 x 2340, with 425t PPI.
The display is made of Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and the device is IP68 dust and water resistant. The Galaxy S23 is capable of hitting 1,750 nits of peak brightness.
Overall Samsung did an excellent job with this smartphone, from the solid build quality, and attention to detail. The S23 is available in the same colours as the Plus and Ultra models, and comes in phantom black, cream, green and lavender finishes.
Hardware and Software
The fingerprint reader is embedded in the display and is lighting fast. Just like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung packed the S23 with its customised “Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy”.
The phone comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage, and the SIM card tray can hold two physical nano-SIMs cards. On the communication side, the S23 is packed with Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, USB Type-C port, and a 3,900mAh battery with 25W wired fast charging capability, and 15W wireless charging.
Software wise, the Samsung Galaxy S23 comes with OneUI 5.1, based on Android 13 out of the box, and which Samsung promises “four generations of Android upgrades” and five years of security updates.
OneUI 5.1 feels very fast and fluid, with no lag or issues we noticed as we used the device on daily basis. nOneUI 5.1 also comes with same welcome enhancements, such as the ability to remove objects and people from an images.
Battery life is solid, the 3900mAh battery is optimized well, and we were able to get around 7 hours of screen time, from a single charge with normal usage of emails, browsing, and your social media activities and YouTube. Tone down the usage a bit with less video or heavy apps, we got up to 10 hours of screen time. The battery can last and sometimes overpass a day between usage and standby mode.
Cameras
While the S23 Ultra gets an all-new 200MP snapper this year, the smaller s23 still spots a main 50MP camera with dual pixel PDAF and OIS, a 12MP 120-degree ultra-wide and a 10MP 3x telephoto with OIS. Having said that, the new Galaxy-edition Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 does change things, and boosts the overall output of images to a better level. The S23 produces great tuned, warm photos, with a powerful HDR output and very vibrant colors.
Here are some of the samples we took
1 month later verdict
Using the device for a bit over a month is super, the feel while holding and using this phone is great, small yet powerful enough to go through your daily tasks at work or home without a hitch. No hiccups, no lags, the phone is smooth and super responsive overall.
So the question is, in case you haven’t made the decision yet, should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S23?
Our verdict is YES, and here’s why:
1- The S23 offers most of the features that the S23 Plus does, at a more affordable price.
2- The compact size, yet powerful performance is a winner however you look at it for people with small hands or prefer one-handed usability.
3- The S23’s battery can last up to a day easily.
