Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Big on specs, compact in size

Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Samsung launched the Galaxy S23 series earlier this month. While there are three smartphones under this series - Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23, the Galaxy S23 Ultra managed to steal the show with features like 200 megapixels camera, 5,000mAh battery, 45W superfast charging, and embedded S Pen. But it's Samsung Galaxy S23 that can be the dark horse. Instead of focusing on the camera, the South Korean tech major has tried to enhance the performance and upgrade the battery of the most compact phone of the series. Can this be the best option for those who are looking for a small Android device or it's worth upgrading from Galaxy S22? Let's find out.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Design

The Samsung Galaxy S23 has a very compact design. The screen size is just 6.1-inch and thickness of the device is 7.6mm and weighs only 168gm. All this makes the Samsung Galaxy S23 the most practical phone in the entire line-up. The device has a premium hand feel with slim bezels even at the chin. There is a triple-camera setup at the back and it looks very clean. You will have three camera rings standing individually and a LED flash. The device comes with aluminium framing which adds more grace to the device. But, it can also get some scratches that will make the phone look old quite sooner than expected. The unibody colour of the Galaxy S23 Ultra has an upper hand in this territory. This is not a slippery phone and can be operated with one hand. The volume rocker and power button are on the right hand and it has an inbuild fingerprint scanner and which is quite responsive.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 comes with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 panel both on the front and back. This makes the back of the device smudge and fingerprints resistant. This device has IP68 ratings and is therefore ready for even rough usage.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Display

The Samsung Galaxy S23 has a 6.1-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) 2X Display which offers a refresh rate of 120Hz. It also has 240Hz of touch sampling rate in gaming mode, not the best but sufficient enough. Also, there has been significant improvement in terms of brightness and it is now 1,750 nits. Let us tell you that this is the same for the entire Galaxy S23 series.

The content consumption on this device was nice as colours are well saturated and skin tones look natural. I watched The Mandalorian web series for a while and the visual experience was good. Talking about the sound quality, it is exceptional considering the small size of the device. Obviously, you cannot compare it with elder siblings like Galaxy S23 Ultra. But the sound quality is good and watching movies or playing video games are going to be fun.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S23 is powered by Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy chipset. This is exactly the same as used in Galaxy S23 Ultra. We have reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and you can read more about it HERE.

You can easily perform your daily task with ease and I did not notice any lag while switching apps. Even the gaming experience was good and games like Asphalt 9 ran smoothly for hours, even on maxed-out graphics. I have been using 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage variant as a review unit and for me it is sufficient. However, I would recommend you to go for the 256 internal storage variant. There are two reasons behind it - first is that the memory is not expandable and the second is that the 256GB variant has faster storage in general. This can come in handy if you are planning to use this device for a long time.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 boots on Android 13 with One UI 5.1. It is the most stable version of the skin and does not come with pre-installed bloatware.  

Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Battery and charger

This time Samsung is providing a 3,900mAh battery, 200mAh more than its predecessor. According to the company, this will offer 22 per cent longer usage than S22. Despite this, it is an area of concern. Especially when we see almost all devices - even in the mid-range segment - come with 5,000mAh batteries. The Samsung Galaxy S23 is capable of giving you backup for the entire day but it can become a challenge after a year of usage.

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Also, the maximum fast charging the Samsung Galaxy S23 can support is 25W. Hopefully, Samsung will address these issues in the next iteration.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S23 has a triple camera setup with a primary camera of 50 megapixels. It is complemented by a 10MP telephoto lens and a 12MP ultrawide lens. The images are clicked in default 12MP resolution. However, one can change that to 50MP with just a few taps.

Images are quite sharp and vivid in natural lighting conditions. The colours come out well and 50MP images are more detailed. The image files are definitely heavier but they are worth it.

Ultrawide images clicked by the Samsung Galaxy S23 in daylight conditions are satisfactory and well-balanced. But ultrawide images tend to lose some details in night mode.

For selfies, the Samsung Galaxy S23 has a 12MP camera. The Selfie camera performs well and it can click vivid and sharp images.

The portrait mode and wide angle shot with the selfie camera are also good. The phone starts heating when used continuously for clicking photos and recording video for 10 minutes or more.

Videos from both the primary and the front camera are solid and you can easily do vlogging or record some good videos.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Verdict

I really feel that Samsung should have given a 3.5mm audio jack in Galaxy S23 as it could have taken this compact device a step closer to being perfect. It also checks all the requirements in terms of performance. While there are some other good options for people who want to spend Rs 74,999 (for the base variant), this device is strictly for those whose top priority is to have a compact device with all the latest software and hardware.