Samsung Galaxy S23 long-term review

6 January 2024


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  • 06 Jan 2024

darkich, 06 Jan 2024It's a complete travesty that this phone is kind of ov... moreVery true as far as compact flagships go the non pro or+ versions of the S23 and the Xiaomi 13/14 are always the best in class for a reasonable price (meaning sub 1000€ and often sub 900€) without omitting anything expected of flagship phones, performance, cameras, IP rating and wireless charging, I'd give the S23 the edge here for the value added features in software like Dex, longer software support and more available peripherals

    darkich, 06 Jan 2024It's a complete travesty that this phone is kind of ov... moreI agree, this one is very underrated. Hope it had the press the Google Pixel models have.

      This phone should've been called the S23e and the S23+ should've been called the S23e+, their specs differ vastly from the Ultra phone and these just look more or less like the A54 which is horrible for the price. The worst part is the fact that the S23 STILL gets 128 gb, that's some midranger typa thing why put it in a FLAGSHIP. Didn't expect this from Samsung now, after so many years of making killer flagships. The sad part is this phone's telephoto lens is smaller than even the S9+'s, yeah this is 3x and that was 2x but still, it just shows Samsung's complacency. Apple used to be FAR inferior to Samsung and now they're getting closer and closer by the day.

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        • darkich
        • nyc
        • 06 Jan 2024

        It's a complete travesty that this phone is kind of overlooked even in the tech media.
        It should be winning most of "phone of the year" awards because it is probably the best device for MAJORITY of people

          LoneOwl, 06 Jan 2024Galaxy S23 will be relevant in 2024 too outside of US, due ... moreMy mother said she wants to switch from her iPhone 12 to a Samsung Galaxy. I told her to avoid S23 FE (overpriced, throttling garbage) and to consider S23+ when it gets cheaper.

            Rikka, 06 Jan 2024Tried Zenfone 10, even while the OS support sucks (2 OS upg... moreFwiw, the issues with Sonys 5 series of panels wasn't the display itself but something inside the phone. It's been fixed now and haven't seen anyone complain since the 5 iii

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              • Rikka
              • AVw
              • 06 Jan 2024

              Tried Zenfone 10, even while the OS support sucks (2 OS upgrades for a phone starting at 849 euro here)

              I loved the 3.5mm, the display and physical FP sensor are good, camera was meh and battery was same as S23 for me.

              But got rid of it, my motherboard got same issues Zenfone 8 were plagued by and Asus their phone support sucks (funny enough their desktop parts warranty is great)

              Didn't bother going Pixel 8, I don't care about AI and that is the first thing I would turn off, and Pixel 8 it's Tensor does focus a ton around that, stock Android would have been great.

              Nearly got a Xperia 5 V, the battery of that thing is stupidly good, and I could live with the throttling and 2 OS upgrades if I didn't discover Sony is still using the same displays on it, the Xperia 5 II used.

              And those have a high chance of green line issues in the end, and Sony their "anything not Playstation" support sucks here, I am suprised a 999 euro device is still using such a flawed display (1 V doesn't have that issue because different panel, but I would be crazy to spend 1449 euro at launch for that phone)

              Went S23, hate the added Microsoft and Facebook bloatware (ADB does wonders) but the battery is solid.

              Camera was fine until OneUI 6 made a saturated mess out of it, so you need to use RAW to get around that now.

              For the rest a no nonsense device, very balanced for it's size but I do hate the fact Samsung and all chinese brands are very agressive with app killing in the background, 8gb of RAM is plenty for Android, but Samsung and chinese brands would still do this even if we had 128gb of RAM.

                You forgot to mention anything about the Bananagate blur in the S23 and S23+ versions. ONE Ui 6 seems to have reduced it but it still exists. That, I think is the biggest issue with the S23s, everything else is really good with this phone. Especially for me since I jumped from a One Plus 6, which was a 5 year old phone.

                  RustyDroid AppleRot, 06 Jan 2024Just keep smaller form factors around. Give them some love.... moreBase S23 was the 2nd most popular among the 3 S23's in 2023. S23+ was last with a big difference from S23.

                  Also keep in mind that not just people with small hands like smaller phones. We see with iphones too(regular and pro 6.1 models),that many people actually appreciate carrying a smaller device with them, thats easier to hold and use in 1hand.

                    This kind of makes me want to get a 6.3"-6.5" phone next time I change phones. 6.1" is too small for me, especially with my larger hands, but my 6.7" Google Pixel 7 Pro feels like it could do with a slightly smaller width. I'm not overly concerned about its height, though a very slight reduction in that would be good too. It almost feels like companies have gone just over the threshold of what's acceptable for a phone's size, and now it's getting worse when Apple seems to want to do 6.9" for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. I don't want something as small as the S23, but something slightly larger like 6.3"-6.5" sounds better, and unfortunately that doesn't seem to be likely (though there will allegedly be a 6.3" version of the Google Pixel 9 Pro alongside a regular 6.7" version).

                      Galaxy S23 will be relevant in 2024 too outside of US, due to the return of Exynos(ffs).

                      Not only that but the camera hardware seems to be the same in S24,which is rather disappointing, and lets not forget the garbage S23FE that recently launched,for almost the same price as base S23.

                      Also Samsung Galaxy S device long term pricing show us once again why people should avoid buying day one,unless they find a crazy promo/discount. They tend to drop in price really fast , so the best time to pick them is like 6+months later.

                      Keep in mind though, S23 is the only S device that start from 128gb(FE too).
                      This means that they can drop even lower in price, but this also means UFS 3.1, since UFS 4.0 is 256gb+only.
                      If you want UFS 4.0, you have to choose S23 256gb.

                        Just keep smaller form factors around. Give them some love.

                        Small hands need loving too.

                        Typed on my 15PM.

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