The Galaxy S23 and S23+ are finally unveiled as Samsung’s latest refinements to its flagship S series. As always, there are only incremental upgrades and minor design changes. This begs the question, is it really an upgrade over the S22 series?
We now have new camera setups and chipsets for each 2023 phone at least. Let’s have a look.
Design and Display
Like the cameras, the displays have undergone upgrades while retaining the same basic design as the previous year. The displays are flat Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels with 1080p resolution and a refresh rate of 48-120Hz (with a touch sampling rate of 240Hz in Game Mode).
The Galaxy S23 has a 6.1” display, while the Galaxy S23+ features a larger 6.6” screen. Both models feature a centered punch hole for the selfie camera and have a fingerprint reader located underneath the display.
This year, new features have been added, including Vision Booster, which adjusts colors and contrasts to match the ambient lighting. Enhanced Comfort does the same in the evening to minimize eye strain, which means it’s just a fancy blue-light filter. Samsung seems to be taking a page out of Apple’s book for its newest “features.”
Internals and Software
The only significant improvement for this generation is that all S23 phones will feature a customized Qualcomm chipset, named the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, much to the relief of European and Pakistani customers stuck with Exynos chips for ages.
This chipset boasts faster clock speeds compared to other Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsets available. The phones come with various storage options, but the RAM remains fixed at 8 GB, as it has been in previous years.
Unlike the leaks, the two phones do have a 128 GB starter variant, but it is limited to UFS 3.1, while higher-up models (256 GB/512 GB) will bring you faster storage speeds with UFS 4.0.
Samsung is promising 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security patches yet again.
Cameras
The cameras remain the same with only minor changes over last year. One example is the Camera RAW app’s increased ability to capture photos in 50MP (from 12MP on the S22 series), which is nice to have if you’re one of the few people that edit your smartphone’s photos later in Photoshop.
The main camera still has a 50MP sensor and, with the new chipset, can now shoot 8K video at 30fps a huge upgrade over the 24fps in the previous model. The ultra-wide camera, which has a 12MP sensor and 120° field of view, and the 3x 10MP telephoto camera remain unchanged.
A noteworthy change is the new lower-resolution 12MP front camera, which is common among the three models. The camera’s video capabilities have been enhanced with Super HDR at 60fps.
The resolution is a downgrade over the S22 series, only benefiting from the new chipset’s improved AI processing for better skin tone accuracy.
Battery and Pricing
The S23 and S23+ have batteries that are 200 mAh larger than the previous models, resulting in capacities of 3,900 mAh and 4,700 mAh, respectively. The S23 supports 25W wired charging (50% charge in 30 minutes), while the S23+ supports 45W wired charging (65% charge in 30 minutes). Both devices still offer wireless charging as well as reverse wireless charging.
These phones are not available in Pakistan as of yet but should roll out soon. Further pricing details will be available soon, but here are the starting prices: The S23 (8/128 GB) starts at $800, and the S23+ (8/256 GB) starts at $1,000.
Both models will be available in Cream, Green, Lavender, and Phantom Black colors.
Specifications
| Samsung Galaxy S23 | Samsung Galaxy S23+ | |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| CPU | Octa-core (1×3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510) | Octa-core (1×3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510) |
| GPU | Adreno 740 | Adreno 740 |
| OS | Android 13, One UI 5.1 | Android 13, One UI 5.1 |
| Supported Networks | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G |
| Display | 6.1″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1080 x 2340 pixels, 120Hz, HDR10+ | 6.6″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1080 x 2340 pixels, 120Hz, HDR10+ |
| RAM | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Storage | 128 GB (UFS 3.1) 256 GB, 512 GB (UFS 4.0) | 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB (UFS 4.0) |
| Card Slot | No | No |
| Main Camera | 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm (telephoto), 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, 3x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Super Steady video |
50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm (telephoto), 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, 3x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Super Steady video |
| Front Camera | 12MP | 12MP |
| Colors | Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender | Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender |
| Battery |
3,900 mAh, 25W wired charging, 10W wireless charging, 4.5W reverse wireless | 4,700 mAh, 45W wired charging, 10W wireless charging, 4.5W reverse wireless |
| Price |
$800 | $1000 |
