Review: Samsung Galaxy S23 – Compact Top Performance with Long Battery Life and Premium Finish

The smallest member of the Samsung Galaxy S23 family is one of the few smartphones that offers top performance in a small package.

Take our review of the Samsung Galaxy S22 from last year, add a better battery, slightly faster chip and a higher price, and you’re done. A little too short-sighted? Not really, because the Samsung Galaxy S23 (949 euros including VAT) hardly differs from its predecessor.

The main pain point, battery life, has been eliminated this year thanks to a larger battery and more energy-efficient chip. The difference is so great that we prefer to recommend this device over its predecessor, despite the higher suggested retail price.

Since the device is almost identical to the S22, I suggest you read our extensive review for details around photos, screen quality and overall finish. In this review of the Samsung Galaxy S23, we take a closer look at the details in which the two differ greatly. If you are curious about the top model, you can read our Galaxy S23 Ultra review here.

Gone Exynos, hello Snapdragon

The most important improvement is without a doubt the chip change that Samsung implemented. Last year, we were the only one in the world in Europe to receive an Exynos chip in the S22 devices, a chip from our own stable. The rest of the world got a chip from Qualcomm.

Over the years, Samsung could not keep up with Qualcomm’s pace of development, resulting in a performance difference at the graphics level and lesser battery optimizations. This year, Samsung is throwing in the towel and working worldwide only with Qualcomm chips in the S23 devices.

Inside there is now a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that gives a significant boost compared to the S22, especially with its GPU. In addition, the chip is also a lot more economical thanks to the integrated 5G connectivity instead of a separate 5G chip in the Exynos models last year.

By the way, don’t be fooled by the label that Qualcomm has optimized these chips specifically for the Samsung Galaxy S23. It is about a slightly higher clock speed in one core (out of eight). You hardly see this in the benchmarks, let alone feel it.

Top performance

In terms of performance, we can hardly comment on the latest Qualcomm chip. Just as was the case with the S23 Ultra, the S23 performs excellently. Just like the rest of the Android top devices this year that all (will) embrace this chip.

Do you need that much computing power? No, unless you also like to use your device to play graphically intensive 3D games. With each new top chip, Qualcomm implements performance improvements, but also tinkers with efficiency. The combination of both means that a phone has to work less hard for the same work, and is therefore more economical. You can read how much more economical later in this review.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 heats up very quickly when you demand maximum performance. After a few minutes, we notice that the S23 drops back to 75 percent of its performance to limit the maximum temperature. Still more than enough in almost every situation.

As we mentioned, the Qualcomm chips deliver better 3D performance than Samsung’s Exynos variant in last year’s S22 range. Handy for those who like to play high-end 3D games, everything else has little to worry about because the performance today is more than high enough for daily use.

Excellent camera quality

A handful of photos in this review, for more details see last year’s S22 review. The Samsung Galaxy S23 uses identical cameras: 50 MP main camera (f/1.8, OIS), 10 MP telephoto (f/2.4, 3x optical zoom) and 12 MP wide-angle camera (f/2.2).

Samsung has implemented a number of software extras for the S23 models, but these are currently largely rolling out to the previous generation, so that both perform almost identically.

Last year’s results were already excellent. The S23 continues that line and delivers the best result of all in the limited playing field of a compact Android phone with its 6.1 inch screen.

Loading way too long

The biggest change, besides the new Qualcomm chip, is the larger battery in the Samsung Galaxy S23. There is now room for 3,900 mAh, more than 200 mAh more than its predecessor despite the fact that both have the same size. Optimization work on the inside by Samsung provides extra battery life. That, coupled with a more efficient Qualcomm chip, results in a significant step forward compared to the S22.

For a small phone, the S23 delivers excellent battery performance. Unfortunately, we are less enthusiastic about the charging speed, which is (again) dramatic. In an era where a budget phone of 300 euros charges three times as fast as a top device of almost 1,000 euros, we cannot understand this. Samsung has been calling 25 watts ‘fast charging’ for years, something that always makes us laugh at the editors.

Anyone who gives this budget to a telephone should not have to wait half an hour to reach the 50 percent mark. Every other smartphone manufacturer that supplies Android devices in this price segment does (much) better. The fact that Samsung does not include a charger in the box should not be an excuse not to support a higher charging speed.

By far the biggest drawback of this device, especially for people who have tasted the faster charging technology. Instead of charging at night, you can quickly plug your device into the socket for fifteen minutes before breakfast. With any other Android top device, you can easily get to the next day. Not with the Samsung Galaxy S23, which sends you back to more traditional ways. Quickly refueling some battery in an emergency is also not an option.

Conclusion

So we end the review of the S23 on a negative note. We are very fans of this device, but that slow charging is a thorn in the eye. If you don’t know better, you don’t miss anything. If you have ever tasted it, this is unacceptable in a top device that costs almost a thousand euros.

Can you settle on that? Then the Samsung Galaxy S23 (949 euros including VAT) is the best ‘small’ Android smartphone you can buy today. Especially for professionals, there is no competition with the secure Knox environment. The better battery life wipes away the one major pain point of its predecessor. It’s a shame that the other major pain point of the slow loading speed is ignored.