Samsung Galaxy S23(+) hands-on: Ultra on the outside, S22 on the inside

Samsung launched its first flagships of the new year with the Galaxy S23 series. NextPit already had the opportunity for a short time with the new Samsung smartphones and reveals what makes the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ special in this hands-on.

Good

Finally, a Qualcomm flagship SoC
Great workmanship and chic design
Proven and excellent camera system

Bad

More expensive than its predecessor with very little that is new
Fast-charging at a maximum of 25 (S23) or 45 watts (23+)

The Galaxy S23(+) in a nutshell

Luckily for US customers, Samsung has managed to keep the prices for both the Galaxy S23 and the S23+ at a constant level. Hence, the "small" S23 starts from $799, while the larger S23+ costs at least $999. Just for the sake of completeness: The Ultra model will set you back at least $1,119, of which you can read more in our hands-on of the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

As usual, there are a few goodies in store for those who decide quickly. Those who place an order for the smartphone by February 17 will receive a memory upgrade to the next tier for free. If you trade in your old phone, you'll also get a $150 cash voucher from Samsung in addition to the trade-in value.

Price (MSRP)	128 GB	256 GB	512 GB	1TB
Samsung Galaxy S23	$799	$899	-	-
Samsung Galaxy S23+	-	$999	$1,099	-
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra	-	$1,199	$1,299	$1,499

What else do you get for your hard-earned cash? All S23 models are also powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, and Samsung has finally listened to the gripes of its customers outside of the US and ditched the much-criticized Exynos SoC. Furthermore, both the S23 and the S23+ now have 200 mAh additional battery capacity. Do take note that the display format and resolution have not changed compared with the predecessors.

Like the Galaxy S22, the Samsung Galaxy S23 is pleasantly compact. / © NextPit

Samsung also retained the same triple combination of 50, 12, and 10 MP resolution for its main camera, ultra wide-angle and telephoto camera in the Galaxy S23 and S23+. Heck, even the sensors are identical to both predecessors. Nevertheless, the selfie cameras have now received a slight bump with a 12MP resolution across the board for the entire S23 series, and there are a few new shooting modes, such as for starry skies.

Design and display

The Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+ broke away from the design language of their predecessors and are now more oriented towards the Ultra. What does this mean? The camera island has now disappeared and the lenses are integrated individually into the back instead. While the display sizes and casing formats are identical to the predecessors, there is at least a welcome innovation in terms of the display.

What I liked:

Great workmanship and chic design
Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in front and back
More components made of recycled plastic/glass
IP68 certification

What I disliked:

No technological improvement in the display

In 2023, the S series models are starting to converge in terms of design. Like the S22 Ultra, all S23 variants now have camera lenses that are individually embedded into the chassis at the back. In the S22 and S22+, they were still positioned within an island on the upper left.

Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ und S23 Ultra — The design of the Samsung Galaxy S23 and the S23+ is now based on the S23 Ultra model. / © NextPit

Samsung once again relied on a mixture of glossy edges and matte back for the back and the bezel. The new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is now used on the back and also offers screen protection above the AMOLED panel. According to Samsung, the glass is made of 22% recycled material.

Speaking of recycled material: With a dozen components, the S23 series has twice as many plastic components made from recycled materials as its predecessor. According to Samsung, the biggest difficulty here is having parts made from recycled materials meeting high requirements, such as in terms of temperature resistance or strength. This is essential to be able to meet the IP68 protection standard once again in 2023.

Samsung Galaxy S23 auf Tisch mit Eis — Even if these ice cubes could melt, there would be no need to worry: the Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+ are protected against water and dust thanks to its IP68 certification. / © NextPit

The Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+ have the same displays as their predecessors. They measure 6.1- and 6.6-inches respectively with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, 120 Hz refresh rate and 240 Hz touch sampling rate. As mentioned above, the new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is the biggest display innovation.

Samsung Galaxy S23 software

The Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ will arrive with Samsung's tried-and-tested Android skin known as OneUI 5.0, which has already made it to various Samsung smartphones with the Android 13 update. Since we have already dealt with OneUI 5.0 in detail elsewhere, we do not want to dive further into the operating system here.

Samsung Galaxy S23 performance

We can hear thousands of long-suffering Samsung fans outside of the US breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to the performance and SoC of these latest models. The South Korean manufacturer finally bade goodbye to the Exynos SoC and relied on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 instead. In any case, you should at least think twice about which storage variant you choose.

What I liked:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

What I disliked:

128 GB version of the S23 with UFS 3.1

All the new S23 models rely on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in a special "For Galaxy" version. The difference compared to the regular 8 Gen 2 is an increased clock frequency of the main core. Compared to its predecessor, Samsung promised a performance increase of 34% for the CPU and 41% for the GPU. During our first short hands-on with the S23 series with pre-release software, the entire interface ran smoothly as butter.

Samsung Galaxy S23 und S23+ — In addition to the Green and Lavender colors shown here, the S23 series is also available in Cream and Phantom Black. / © NextPit

Samsung offers the S23 and S23+ in both memory variants this year. The S23 is available with 128 or 256 GB, with the S23+ with 236 or 512 GB capacity. You should at least think twice if you want to choose the smallest capacity variant. Not only is 128 GB very little space for a camera that records up to 8K resolution, it is also the only one in the series that still uses UFS 3.1 storage, while the 256 GB models offer the faster UFS 4.0 storage technology. According to Samsung, the reason is simple: 128 GB memory modules are currently not manufactured using UFS 4.0 technology.

Samsung Galaxy S23 camera

The Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ offer the same camera setup as before. Both feature a 50 MP main camera, a 12 MP ultra wide-angle camera, and a 10 MP telephoto camera. Samsung has at least caught up in terms of selfies and the shooting modes.

What I liked:

Proven camera system from the S22 and S22+
Selfie camera in the S23 and S23+ now take 12 MP shots
Shoots RAW photos at 50 MP resolution

What I disliked:

Practically no innovations in the camera

At least in the US, Samsung has been able to maintain the same pricing for the S23 lineup as for the S22 models. Nevertheless, it is a shame that Samsung delivered smartphones with a virtually identical camera setup as their predecessors. Perhaps throwing in an upgrade to a larger 108 MP sensor would have been a nice addition, or at least improved on the telephoto zoom.

Thus, the S23 and S23+ are stuck with a 50 MP main camera, which already provided very nice results in their predecessors, especially during the day and under artificial light conditions. Samsung also praised the somewhat disappointing night photos and even added an astrophotography mode to the new S series. There is also a 12 MP ultra wide-angle camera and a 3x telephoto lens with 10 megapixels.

The video mode offers 4K video recording at 60 fps. Whether this makes sense or not, 8K resolution will still be reserved for the Ultra model in 2023. Samsung is unfortunately still far away from the iPhone's Cinematic Mode when it comes to shooting portrait videos with bokeh effect, and cropping from the background is not reliable enough in the new S23 and S23+.

Samsung Galaxy S23 und S23+ Selfie-Kameras Detail — Good news for selfie fans: The front cameras in the Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+ now have a resolution of 12 megapixels. / © NextPit

At least the selfie fans out there can look forward to a new 12 MP selfie camera. Thanks to the enlarged sensor, this should be a bigger leap forward than the two additional megapixels compared to the S22 models would suggest.

Last but not least, Samsung has integrated the Expert RAW function, which was previously available as a separate app, into the smartphone by default. The S23 series also supports RAW shots with a full 50 MP. However, the resulting file sizes are massive: You have to live with almost 150 MB per picture.

Battery life

Samsung's new Galaxy S23 series increased the battery capacity across the board. This means an increase of 200 mAh for both the base model S23 and the Plus version. Unfortunately, there is little movement in terms of fast charging and wireless charging, which causes Samsung to fall further and further behind the competition from China. But is that actually a bad thing?

What I liked:

Battery capacity of 3,900 and 4,700 mAh, respectively
Wireless charging

What I disliked:

Slow Fast Charging?
No power adapter included

First, the plus side: Samsung's Galaxy S23 and S23+ both increase the battery capacity by 200 mAh. That means 3,900 mAh for the S23 in the end, the S23+ brings it to 4,700 mAh. How this will ultimately affect the battery runtime with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will only be seen in the final review. The "small" 2022 model in particular repeatedly struggled with short runtimes in our review of the Galaxy S22.

There are no changes in fast charging: The S23 still offers 25 watts via cable, while the S23+ manages 45 watts, just like the new S23 Ultra. In an interview with NextPit, Samsung stated that the battery's longevity and the compact design have a higher priority than a faster charging standard. Is that disappointing? I charge my smartphone 99 percent of the time at night, so I'll say no, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter in the comments.

Samsung Galaxy S23 technical specifications

	Samsung's Galaxy S23 series	Samsung's Galaxy S22 Series
Device	Samsung Galaxy S23	Samsung Galaxy S23+	Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Image
MSRP	from $799	from $999	from $1,199	from $799	from $999	from $1,199
Technical data	6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2,340 x 1,080 pixels Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 128 / 256 GB ROM 8 GB RAM Triple camera Main camera: 50 MP Ultra wide-angle: 12 MP Telephoto camera: 10 MP 3,900 mAh February 2023	6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2,340 x 1,080 pixels Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256 / 512 GB ROM 8 GB RAM Triple camera Main camera: 50 MP Ultra wide-angle: 12 MP Telephoto camera: 10 MP 4,700 mAh February 2023	6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 3,088 x 1,440 pixels Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256 / 512 / 1024 GB ROM 8 GB RAM Quad camera Main camera: 200 MP Ultra wide-angle: 12 MP Telephoto camera 1: 10 MP Telephoto camera 2: 10 MP 5,000 mAh February 2023	6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2,400 x 1,080 pixels Exynos 2200 (Europe) 128 / 256 GB ROM 8 GB RAM Triple camera Main camera: 50 MP Ultra wide-angle: 12 MP Telephoto camera: 10 MP 3,700 mAh February 2022	6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2,400 x 1,080 pixels Exynos 2200 (Europe) 128 / 256 GB ROM 8 GB RAM Triple camera Main camera: 50 MP Ultra wide-angle: 12 MP Telephoto camera: 10 MP 4,500 mAh February 2022	6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 3,088 x 1,440 pixels Exynos 2200 (Europe) 128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB ROM 8 / 12 GB RAM Quad camera Main camera: 108 MP Ultra wide-angle: 12 MP Telephoto camera 1: 10 MP Telephoto camera 2: 10 MP 5,000 mAh February 2022
Pros	Not yet reviewed	Not yet reviewed	Not yet reviewed	Really nice to look at Great display Adequate performance Excellent cameras The selfies are just right Four years of OS updates and five years of security patches	Solid design and excellent materials IP 68 certification Mature software and great update policy Versatile camera configuration	Excellent 120Hz QHD+ display Very elegant sleek and square design More consistent S Pen integration Still the champion when it comes to versatile photos Unrivalled Android update policy
Cons	Not yet reviewed	Not yet reviewed	Not yet reviewed	Dysfunctional shape Heats up easily 3700 mAh is not enough Very slow charging Few changes from the S21	Limited battery life of only one day Slow charging capability	Disappointing Exynos 2200 performance Poor battery life Fast recharge is not fast enough and the $60 charger is not included Expensive price Basic 8 GB RAM/128 GB storage configuration is too limited
Rating
Check offer*	Coming soon...	Coming soon...	Coming soon...	Buy now	Buy now	Buy now
Smartphones with contract*	Coming soon...	Coming soon...	Coming soon...	Galaxy S22 at: T-Mobile	Galaxy S22+ at: T -Mobile	Galaxy S22 Ultra at: T-Mobile

Early Verdict

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is a great update for the S23 series, no question. The increased battery capacity, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and the improved selfie camera are also welcome innovations. However, that is basically it. While Samsung has at least kept the prices at a constant level in the US, the innovation of the S23 series is very limited, even though the manufacturer increasingly addresses issues like sustainability.

We only had half an afternoon with the smartphones for this first hands-on experience. You can read how the Galaxy S23 and S23+ perform in real life in a detailed review on NextPit very soon. Stay tuned!