We’ve had some quality time with all three devices and would like to share some initial thoughts – how they feel, what’s new, and what isn’t. The Ultra is the no holds barred flagship phone, the Galaxy S23/S23+ are more affordable with a few “sensible” omissions. Size is also a factor – just like last year’s models, the Ultra is the biggest in more ways than one – physically, screen-wise, and battery-wise. The biggest one is the underlying chipset – all three models use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, this one a custom-tuned version for these three devices specifically.
Samsung and Qualcomm call it the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, and it’s basically a higher-clocked version of the familiar new chip. The Ultra still has the upper hand in performance, thanks to the option of 12GB of RAM, while the S23/S23+ max out at 8GB.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 brings moderate to big improvements to performance. Samsung steered clear from naming percentages, but games like PUBG Mobile cap at around 60fps on the Exynos 2200-powered Galaxy S22 Ultra, while Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 devices supports gameplay at up to 120fps.
Synthetic scores aside, the new chip is much more efficient and less prone to thermal issues. Finally, the new 200MP main camera could prove a generational upgrade over the old 108MP. And you can get those 50MP through the Expert RAW app, bringing prosumers a richer and sharper baseline. 6.80″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1750 nits (peak), 1440x3088px resolution, 19.3:9 aspect ratio, 501ppi; Always-on display.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support. The biggest upgrade is the move to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which will carry with it better general performance and battery endurance. 6.60″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 390ppi; Always-on display.
6.10″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 422ppi; Always-on display.
You get a mostly unchanged triple camera setup – wide, 3x, and ultrawide on the rear, and a 12MP selfie on the front, that’s shared between all three models. Samsung made the decision to remove the contoured camera island on the Galaxy S23 and S23+.
All three models come in four colors – Phantom Black, Cream, Green, and Lavender. There’s no addition as big as last year’s inclusion of an S Pen, but sometimes refinement is just as important as innovation.
Samsung Galaxy S23+ review
Instead, the S23+ delivers a new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, a new 12MP selfie camera and a slightly larger 4,700 mAh battery. These are pretty much all of the major changes over the S22+, with a few other minor details here and there that we’ll cover in the review.
6.60″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1750 nits (peak), 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 393ppi; Always-on display. Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.
This year the camera island is gone, and each snapper stands on its own on the back of the phone. Only this time around, Samsung decided to bump up the base storage of the phone to 256GB instead of 128GB.
A pretty sweet deal even before any other bonuses and rebates Samsung is running. It is shaping up as a solid refresh to last year’s model and hence a very “safe choice”. The slim two-piece box the phone comes in is made out of 100% recycled paper, except for the shrinkage vinyl wrap and the sealing label. Long gone are the days of bundled chargers, so be prepared to pick one up separately if you don’t have a decent Power Delivery unit of at least 45W, preferably with PPS.
Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus spotted on the FCC
The Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ have been spotted over at the FCC website, confirming some key details including the battery capacity.
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