Samsung Galaxy S23 FE review: Affordable flagship smartphone

After the success of the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung has now added the Galaxy S23 FE to the S series in India. The smartphone is available in Mint, Purple and Graphite colours. The Galaxy S23 FE is available in two variants of 8GB + 128GB and 8GB + 256GB and is priced at Rs 59,999 and Rs 64,999. However, there are some discounts and offers that can bring down the price of the base variant, our review unit, to Rs 49,999. Is this smartphone worth the price? Find out in 10 points.

1. The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is as close as possible to the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus in terms of design. The signature floating camera design easily helps you identify a Samsung smartphone in a sea of phones. 

2. The smartphone offers good in-hand feeling, thanks to metal frames and glass back with a glossy finish. Volume rockers and power buttons are placed well within the reach of your hand. However, the camera bump is a little prominent in this smartphone and it will wobble when lying on a table.

3. The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE has a 6.4-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X display and offers adaptive refresh rate of 120Hz. When compared to the Galaxy S23 Series, the device has thick bezels. It offers good brightness and vibrant colours. The presence of stereo speakers makes content consumption fun.

4. The smartphone is powered by an Exynos 2200 chipset which offers a good combination of of performance and power efficiency. It can handle all your daily tasks with ease. You can even play games but then it may heat up if you stretch the gaming session for long. 

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5. ‌I did not notice any lag while using the device for over two weeks. The overall experience was nothing less than using any flagship device.

6. ‌The Galaxy S23 FE runs on Android 13, with Samsung’s One UI 5.1 overlay on top. 

7. The smartphone comes with a 4,500mAh battery and supports 25W fast charging. It takes around 1:30 hours to juice up the device from 0-100 per cent.

8. The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with a triple-camera setup with a 50MP primary sensor. It is accompanied by a 12MP ultra-wide sensor and an 8MP telephoto lens. The primary camera clicks good images in various lighting conditions. The telephoto lens too does a decent job. Portrait images have decent edge detection and a rich bokeh effect.

9. For selfies, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE has an 8MP camera on the front. The camera captures good selfies with close-to-natural colour tones. Portraits are also worthy of social media sharing. 

10. The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is an affordable version of the flagship S23 or S23  Plus. However, it looks a bit expensive at Rs 59,999. But it becomes a good option if you can manage to get it for Rs 49,999.