Samsung Galaxy S23+ review

9 February 2023


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Anonymous, 09 Feb 2023"Is there any reason for it to only be 8-bit besides p... more1. My bad, I expected the Ultra to do 10-bit. My opinion on even that phone has gone down now.
2. So who cares if it's cheaper? Is the price of the device cheaper? "Cheap" is justified only when the savings are given through to the consumer. This device has had a price hike of ~10K INR in India. Not exactly "Cheap". Don't make excuses for the corporate my guy.
3. Okay. There is so much wrong here. Please check out battery stats for pretty much any other device with a 10-bit or 12-bit display panel. Why is it easily on the same time range?

"Why do you think Apple uses 8-bit?"
Because Apple is a corporate so greedy they don't feel the need to innovate or adapt because people are paying? Why do anything when you're bottom line isn't getting hurt.

There are "fanboys" for every corporate out there. You trash Xiaomi for something, people come out to defend. You trash Realme, same result. You trash Apple, same result. Basically, there's always going to be a substrata of your audience who might be alienated by your review - and that's okay. I'd even go so far as to say, if that isn't happening, are you really being objective or are you pandering to the masses?

Just because this website "needs" to do it doesn't mean we as commentors are held to the same logic. And if you're website is just doing it to please your audience, you'll soon lose all credibility because by definition, you're not being objective.

Don't care about youtubers. Only one I follow and trust is Geekyranjit.

OP11 is probably being hyped because it's a singular device this year. No Pro/Vanilla duo like last year. It's something to definitely acknowledge. No vanilla device being artificially limited or priced high to justify the uber high prices of their pro device

Absolutely hard agree there on the last part. Both Apple and Samsung's flagship prices are laughable at. It's comical how nobody even tries to ask "But why do these need to be priced so high?".But that is how the market runs unfortunately. You see your competition doing some insanely anti consumer highly profitable move - and you have to copy it for your bottom line. Insanely diabolical.
But there's a clear line between midranger and flagship. If you're buying a mid ranger, you want practicality - battery life, calling experience etc - Hence there, reviewers approach from the angle of practicality and Value for money.
If you're buying a flagship, you're most probably a person for whom money isn't a concern, so then you approach the product from an angle of "bells a d whistles"
My god what a lengthy comment

    FarFan, 09 Feb 2023Oh wow! Just check this horrible photo quality in gsmarena ... moreYep, not amazed. Tested by myself today both S23+ and Ultra model.
    While Ultra with 200mp mode is really nice in daylight, nothing else have improved. Video processing is samely bad like on S22U. Only highlights restoration improved, likely doing similar way like apple does with HFR footage and combining frames.
    Seeing this review and another one of regular s23 model, it puts a smile to see different level of perception of each reviewer. One is amazed by 8K, which is total crap though, another reviewer is more objective from real side. Well it is what it is, but I would love to see some more experienced reviewer joining gsmarena team with some deeper knowledge of imaging tech (or lets say give him credit to do camera review section).

      at $1,000.00USD there are better options...maybe next time Samsung!!!!!!

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        • Anonymous
        • Lkg
        • 09 Feb 2023

        HopeFilledIdiot, 09 Feb 2023Gonna have to agree with you there. The review certainly fe... more"Is there any reason for it to only be 8-bit besides product segregation between this and the S23 Ultra? "

        1) No. Because Ultra is 8bit as well.
        2) 8bit is cheaper
        3) 8bit uses less power, guess why iphones use 8bit as well?

        People here do not understand. Majority use iphones and galaxy. If any website trash them, ppl will be getting offended and stop reading the articles.

        Why do you think some famous youtubers drool all over same phones but trash others?

        Look at OP11. Not even better than 8 Pro except the SoC. Being glorified by some.

        Have you seen any website say iphone 14+ for over €1100 was obscene? For this price, should be 256GB with airpods pro as gift.

          • j
          • jl
          • xyB
          • 09 Feb 2023

          Kudos to Sammy for eliminating the camera island protrusion, perhaps this will finally set off a new trend to get rid of them everywhere.

          While I expected the CPU to rank this well on charts, I couldn't help but notice how far down the Pixel 7/7 Pro Tensor2 is in terms of performance.

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            • Anonymous
            • Lkg
            • 09 Feb 2023

            Super Android 22, 09 Feb 2023How much is samsung paying you again gsm? So worst packa... moreAbout the cameras.

            GN3 is from early 2022, it is updated version of GN5.
            Imx564 is new.
            The third camera, has sensor from early 2022.

              Finally someone's talking about the supremely backdated 8 bit display.

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                • AnonD-758491
                • 56E
                • 09 Feb 2023

                Hello again!
                Completely inappropriate and hype camera reviews of these two Samsung S23 series.
                Hey there! These samples can't stand against any mid range.
                I've reviewing out all your reviews till date and found out several discrepancies in them.
                These two most expensive Samsung's phones are not as good as Vivo IQOO 11.

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                  • Anonymous
                  • n$F
                  • 09 Feb 2023

                  Without SD card, not for me

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                    • AnonD-758491
                    • yZv
                    • 09 Feb 2023

                    Hello GSMArena team!
                    I've observed pretty close Samsung S23+ photos taken at 12 MP and 50 MP modes. I found out that the photos are quite smeared.
                    For and example I took the clock tower photo for better understanding, S23+ including venila 23's clock tower photos aren't clear in object details in comparison to other low price flagship phones.
                    But you've have declared these photos as a flagship camera samples I think this is not good idea.
                    You should rather look at this matter one more time to review.

                      Super Android 22, 09 Feb 2023How much is samsung paying you again gsm? So worst packa... moreGonna have to agree with you there. The review certainly felt a bit "fanboyish", for lack of a better word, in certain areas.
                      Excuses for everything it lacks even though they're all artificial limitations. Is there any reason for it to only be 8-bit besides product segregation between this and the S23 Ultra? Is there any reason for it to not have better speakers? etc etc

                      The best reviews are entirely subjective, but that doesn't mean you throw objectivity out the window.
                      I understand that it's how the market works and these products are priced according to what the market is willing to pay, but it doesn't seem like this is a review for a product costing 1 Lakh INR with how the reviewer is willing to make those compromises as if he bought a device that was marketed as "flagship killer" at a much lower price

                        Oh wow! Just check this horrible photo quality in gsmarena photo comparison tool for the photo in low light! It is noisy as hell for all the plain parts of the photo, especially on the grey background. These artificial sharpness improvements should stop at some point.

                        Having much worse photo quality than S22+ while everything else is pretty much the same, it has 4.5 points? 🤨

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                          • Anonymous
                          • n}u
                          • 09 Feb 2023

                          Anonymous, 09 Feb 2023Bigger S23, still no room for expandable storage apparently.Expandable storage... LOL. Haven't used SD cards in 6 years. You also still use CD-ROM and burn CDs on your desktop PC?

                            Super Android 22, 09 Feb 2023How much is samsung paying you again gsm? So worst packa... moreThe experience matters than the spec and Samsung delivers there tbh. Sure you'll find phones with better value like the OnePlus 11 but what separates this from the OnePlus is the experience, this is a proper flagship

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                              • Anonymous
                              • nxw
                              • 09 Feb 2023

                              Not sure why you're reviewing these in reverse order. The S23 Ultra actually has some changes worth reviewing, the others don't

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                                • Anonymous
                                • Lpg
                                • 09 Feb 2023

                                Samsung Display division created Hdr10+ to be free alternative to dolby vision , this one that requires fee to use.
                                Still the site is angry samsung is not paying for it when they have for free something to do same.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • Lpb
                                  • 09 Feb 2023

                                  Why cant gsmarena staff admit galaxy S series has inferior screen and calibration compared to all other expensive phones?

                                  Since when delta 2.8 means " nailed it"?

                                  Looks like to them quality means high peak brightness. Nothing else.

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • n{k
                                    • 09 Feb 2023

                                    Super Android 22, 09 Feb 2023How much is samsung paying you again gsm? So worst packa... moreGet a life

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • n%H
                                      • 09 Feb 2023

                                      It really is absolutely stunning how Samsung has been claiming 45w charging on phones since 2019 on a standardized specification and STILL isn't even close to getting it right.

                                        How much is samsung paying you again gsm?

                                        So worst packaged phone still, average screen thats still only 8 bit (just because in very specific and unique situations it can reach 1750nits means nothing, why are you so hyper about this fact?), one of the worst HDR compatible phones (most £1000 phones now offer dolby vision or bt 20.20 on top of all those HDR formats, again youre completely overhyping false facts), barely better battery than my oppo find x5 with SD 888 and 100mah more battery capacity (108h vs 111h and basically the same video playback endurance).

                                        Still awful charging, still using 5 gen old cameras that werent that good when they came out, only 1080p screen for that price, doesnt offer the 200mp main sensor from the ultra on the s23 and this (other companies do in their flagship lines and have done for years) or ufs4, super basic/bland design with not very premium materials (just because its recycled anything doesnt mean they should be praised, they create the most e-waste in the 1st place and other companies will be using recycled materials they just dont need to be pat on the back every 5 seconds like Samsung does).

                                        Also stop just going on only about prices in USA when in the rest of the world its well over a thousand in their countries (if it was a 1:1 with other currencies and it started at $1100 then it should be less than 1100 in other countries, about £907 uk or €1050 europe for example which it actually costs more than that, USA are getting insane levels of savings vs everyone else) so thats a serious negative and needs addressing.

                                        4.5/5 though... Hmmmmmmm.