Samsung Galaxy S23+ review
OneUI 5.1 on top of Android 13
The Galaxy S23+ ships with Samsung's latest One UI 5.1 on top of Android 13. As is typically the case, the new software version is iterative in its features and simply builds on top of the strong One UI foundation. This time around, we get new widgets, Expert RAW mode, various improvements in the gallery, connectivity options, and DeX mode.
Let's talk about the Android OS 13 core first. Samsung has always been diligent when it comes to implementing the new Android core features into its OS. This year's intrinsic Android 13 features aren't many, and most of them are focused on the visual aspect of Android's Material Design looks. And since those are not applicable to Samsung's own take on how Android should look, this leaves us with privacy and notification-focused improvements.
Notification control has been streamlined. Notification-related settings are now front and center around the top of the system menu. Also, app notifications are disabled by default. The first time you launch an app after installing, it will trigger a prompt asking you whether you want notifications from the said app or not. A direct shortcut to the app's internal notification settings can be found at the bottom of the notification panel. There is also more granular control over what types of notifications apps can send - badges, floating notifications and notification cards on the Lock screen.
Another newly-available option is per-app language control. It sounds like something that should have been part of Android for a long time now but is finally a thing in Android 13 and One UI.
In terms of privacy improvements, Android 13 now has an autodelete option for the clipboard. Many unscrupulous apps will still prompt for access to the clipboard to this day since it is a common attack vector for privacy and security penetration. Users tend to copy plenty of sensitive data like emails, passwords, credit card numbers and the like.
On to One UI 5 itself.
One of the biggest improvements One UI 5 brings to the table has to do with general performance and fluidity. Samsung has optimized the OS from its core up and worked hard on animations and transitions. Everything feels smoother and snappier now. The phone is more responsive.
Other visual changes include better contrast, new app icons and illustrations across the system menus, making it easier to recognize apps and read text.
Of course, most of these visual elements remain user-customizable. Accent colors, for instance, can be auto-generated based on your wallpaper. One UI now gives you a broader choice of color combinations than ever, and the palette can also be applied to app icons.
Widgets can now be stacked, and you can switch between stacked widgets with a simple swipe. Not all widgets support stacking, though, and that might require updates from developers to implement properly.
The default Samsung dialer now picks animated backgrounds for contacts by default, so you can easily see who is calling. These can, of course, be manually overwritten with a photo, sticker or AR emoji of your choice.
There are also a few improvements brought by the One UI 5.1 - new widget and wallpaper options, improved connectivity, multi-tasking and DeX experience, and we will discuss those on the fly.
The logic of One UI is unchanged. The lock screen looks the same as before, with two monochrome shortcuts - dialer and camera. The under-screen ultrasonic fingerprint reader will likely be the primary method of unlocking for most, as it is quite fast and reliable. You can still use face unlock either instead of or alongside it. It can be more convenient in certain situations, but it generally is less secure since it's just using the selfie camera.
Always-on display is available - it's the simplified version of One UI 3. You can choose between a few clock styles or opt for an Image Clock. Music info is also supported. The feature can be always-off, always-on, scheduled, shown only when new notifications are available, or you can opt for a tap to show for 10s.
The lock screen is largely unchanged, as mentioned, and has a lot of customization options available.
lockscreen and security options
You populate homescreens with app shortcuts, folders and widgets. The leftmost homescreen is Google's, as usual. App Drawer is present, too.
The new version of One UI - 5.1 - introduces a new battery widget, which combines the battery information for all Galaxy devices connected to your phone. An improved weather widget is also available.
There is an easier way to launch two apps in split screen mode - a short swipe up from the bottom edge of the display with two fingers. The same action can be done through the recent apps menu.
And while we are talking about quick access, there are also new quick shortcuts for minimizing/maximizing floating windows - just drag on one of the corners of the pop-up.
Multi-tasking and pop-up windows
We've already touched upon the new notification features that come bundled with Android 13. However, Samsung decided to improve upon the notification UI further still. The notification cards in the drop-down shade appear with bigger app icons and corresponding colors. Text alignment is also custom and meant to improve readability.
Notification area and controls
Samsung is introducing Modes and Routines, a feature similar to Apple's Focus. You can choose a mode based on what you are doing right now and execute certain actions, change sound profiles, display settings, notifications, etc. For instance, the Driving Mode can be set up to turn on DnD mode and launch Spotify automatically, for example. You can even trigger certain Modes with actions of your choice, such as turning on the hotspot or airplane mode - these you set up from the Routines menu.
One UI 5.1 also allows you to change the wallpaper with each Mode - an option that wasn't available before.
Samsung also made connecting with nearby devices a tad easier. In the Connected devices sub-menu, you will find available devices for Smart View connection (read screen cast) or Samsung DeX, where available. Chromecasts are easier to discover and stream audio too. When you play sound from your phone, nearby Chromecasts will appear on the quick panel.
And once you cast the phone's screen on a TV, for example, you can choose to hide your notifications so others won't be able to read sensitive information from your phone.
Continue on PC is a new feature introduced in One UI 5.1. If you happen to use the Samsung Internet browser on your phone, you can set up a hand-off of sorts to your PC's default web browser.
Familiar proprietary Samsung features present in One UI 5 include the Edge panels - the panes that show up when you swipe in from the side and provide tools and shortcuts to apps and contacts. Game launcher, the hub for all your games, which also provides options for limiting distraction when gaming is here to stay as well.
Otherwise, the software package is similar to other Samsung phones, with an in-house Gallery app, the Game Launcher app, and a proprietary file manager. Naturally, Samsung's Internet web browser is also available.
Gallery • Game Launcher • File manager • Edge panel
The built-in photo and video editors get a couple of new functionalities. You can create a sticker from any picture; there are more ways to edit GIFs now, draw perfect shapes on top of videos and photos using the pen tool, and you can find 60 new emoji stickers to add to your stills and clips.
There is also a new AI Image Clip option in the gallery in addition to text lookup. It is quite similar to Apple's Visual Lookup. You can tap and hold on an object from a photo and then either copy it, save it as an image, or share it.
Some small new functionalities spread across the system include exceptions for DnD mode (apps of your choice won't be affected by DnD), RAM Plus can be completely disabled through Device care, auto background optimization that keeps the system running smoothly, set up more timers simultaneously, expanded search in the My Files app, redesigned Digital Wellbeing, etc.
Speaking of the Device Care menu, it is worth noting that the "Processing speed" menu within advanced battery settings has been reworked and now only features two performance profiles – Standard and Light, instead of the previous three ones. This might also have something to do with the switch to Qualcomm chipsets this generation.
The camera app has an Expert RAW mode, expanded with easy one-handed zoom controls. The watermark option is now highly customizable.
Last but not least, the S23+ supports the full Samsung DeX experience, including all of the wired and wireless connection modes now at up to 4K@60fps resolutions.
Performance and benchmarks
As we already mentioned, there is no Exynos chipset this year. Instead, the entire Galaxy S23 family in every market is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for Galaxy. That last bit is important since it signifies the overclocked nature of the chip. That's right, the Galaxy S22+ and its siblings don't use the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 but rather a slightly higher-clocked version. That includes both the Cortex-X3 prime CPU core, clocked at 1.36GHz instead of its regular 3.2GHz and the Adreno 740 GPU, clocked at 719 MHz instead of its usual 680 MHz. We aren't sure whether this particular chip will be the basis for the eventual Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2, but we can speculate as much.
Anyway, the new Gen 2 chipset offers 35% higher performance and 40% improved efficiency in the CPU department over its Gen 1 counterpart and 25% and 45% performance and efficiency bumps on the GPU side of things. It also has support for new, faster memory technologies (LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0).
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset has 1x3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510 CPU cores, and a 719 MHz Adreno 740 GPU, apparently capable of Ray Tracing. Whether and how that gets used in actual mobile games remains to be seen in the future. The Galaxy S23+ comes with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM in both its storage variants, 256GB and 512GB. Both of those use UFS 4.0 chips. Only the 128GB vanilla S23 packs slower UFS 3.1 storage this time around.
Samsung also reworked and improved the internal cooling system for the S23 generation. This time around, the vapor chamber cooling has grown in size. But we'll get to that in the CPU throttling section. First things first - some benchmarks.
Kicking things off, we have some CPU runs and GeekBench where the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy really shines. We can clearly see the effects of the overclock. So much so, in fact, that the Galaxy S23+ and its siblings are getting closer and closer to finally closing the gap with Apple's Bionic line of chips.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
-
iPhone 14 Pro Max
5423 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
5211 -
Samsung Galaxy S23+
5073 -
OnePlus 11
4899 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
4878 -
iQOO 11
4803 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
4300 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
4265 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
4081 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
4021 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
3981 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
3913 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
3839 -
Xiaomi 12T
3756 -
Poco X4 GT
3719 -
Oppo Find N2
3670 -
Xiaomi 12
3652 -
Galaxy S22+
3528 -
vivo X80 Pro
3505 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
3458 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
3433 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
3403 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
3395 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
3187
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
-
iPhone 14 Pro Max
1890 -
Samsung Galaxy S23+
1551 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
1550 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
1486 -
iQOO 11
1479 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
1337 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
1336 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
1324 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
1277 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
1276 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
1270 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
1238 -
Xiaomi 12
1187 -
vivo X80 Pro
1184 -
Galaxy S22+
1165 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
1160 -
OnePlus 11
1150 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
1073 -
Oppo Find N2
1057 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
1056 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
1002 -
Xiaomi 12T
925 -
Poco X4 GT
917 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
894
AnTuTu paints a very similar picture where the new Galaxies score very highly on the chart for overall system performance, basically only outpaced by a margin of error worth of points by other phones rocking the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. We can also clearly see just how substantial the uplift in performance is from the Galaxy S22+ and its Exynos 2200 chipset.
AnTuTu 9
Higher is better
-
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
1288866 -
iQOO 11
1281665 -
Samsung Galaxy S23+
1234077 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
1231075 -
OnePlus 11
1140661 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
1074722 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
1045876 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
1039412 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
1032185 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
1012896 -
vivo X80 Pro
1002570 -
Xiaomi 12
985115 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
979921 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
964530 -
Oppo Find N2
962082 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
955884 -
Galaxy S22+
886916 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
838832 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
827929 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
800001 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
796369 -
Xiaomi 12T
780204 -
Poco X4 GT
747871 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
718351
The Adreno 740 chews through graphical tasks like a real champ as well. Even in the toughest of benchmark runs in GFXBench, the S23+ manages to exceed the 60fps mark, which is quite an achievement.
GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)
Higher is better
-
Samsung Galaxy S23+
89 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
75 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
65 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
60 -
Xiaomi 12
59 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
59 -
iQOO 11
54 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
52 -
Galaxy S22+
50 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
50 -
OnePlus 11
49 -
Oppo Find N2
49 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
43 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
43 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
43 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
39 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
38 -
Poco X4 GT
38 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
35 -
vivo X80 Pro
34 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
26
GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
-
Samsung Galaxy S23+
62 -
iQOO 11
62 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
61 -
OnePlus 11
61 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
46 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
46 -
Oppo Find N2
46 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
46 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
45 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
45 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
45 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
43 -
Xiaomi 12
41 -
vivo X80 Pro
41 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
40 -
Galaxy S22+
31 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
29 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
26 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
26 -
Poco X4 GT
26 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
26
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)
Higher is better
-
Samsung Galaxy S23+
93 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
79 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
62 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
62 -
Xiaomi 12
59 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
59 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
58 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
55 -
iQOO 11
55 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
54 -
OnePlus 11
53 -
Oppo Find N2
52 -
Galaxy S22+
51 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
42 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
40 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
39 -
Poco X4 GT
38 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
36 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
35 -
vivo X80 Pro
34 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
31 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
25
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
-
Samsung Galaxy S23+
69 -
iQOO 11
69 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
68 -
OnePlus 11
68 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
52 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
51 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
51 -
Oppo Find N2
51 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
50 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
50 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
50 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
45 -
Xiaomi 12
45 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
44 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
43 -
vivo X80 Pro
37 -
Galaxy S22+
34 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
30 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
26 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
26 -
Poco X4 GT
24 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
23
Going further down the difficulty ladder in GFXBench starts yielding results in the triple digits. Close, in fact, to maxing out and saturating the 120fps on-screen render cap of the Galaxy S23+.
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
-
Samsung Galaxy S23+
110 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
110 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
97 -
Xiaomi 12
75 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
74 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
74 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
73 -
Galaxy S22+
68 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
68 -
iQOO 11
67 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
65 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
62 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
60 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
59 -
Oppo Find N2
59 -
OnePlus 11
57 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
54 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
51 -
Poco X4 GT
46 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
44 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
44 -
vivo X80 Pro
44 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
34
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
-
Samsung Galaxy S23+
130 -
iQOO 11
128 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
127 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
127 -
OnePlus 11
126 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
118 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
104 -
Oppo Find N2
104 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
103 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
102 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
101 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
100 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
94 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
93 -
vivo X80 Pro
90 -
Xiaomi 12
84 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
83 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
79 -
Galaxy S22+
76 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
63 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
63 -
Poco X4 GT
52 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
46
We were kind of hesitant to even post the Manhattan GFXBench runs since the scores are so ridiculously high. So much so that the phone has its refresh rate fully saturated by the on-screen tests.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
-
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
121 -
Samsung Galaxy S23+
120 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
120 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
119 -
Xiaomi 12
117 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
116 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
113 -
iQOO 11
112 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
97 -
Galaxy S22+
94 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
93 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
91 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
82 -
vivo X80 Pro
82 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
72 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
60 -
OnePlus 11
60 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
60 -
Oppo Find N2
60 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
60 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
57 -
Poco X4 GT
54
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
-
Samsung Galaxy S23+
224 -
iQOO 11
222 -
OnePlus 11
220 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
219 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
212 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
192 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
182 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
182 -
Oppo Find N2
180 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
179 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
178 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
174 -
Xiaomi 12
164 -
vivo X80 Pro
164 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
162 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
126 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
121 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
108 -
Galaxy S22+
105 -
Poco X4 GT
103 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
97 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
96 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
81
GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)
Higher is better
-
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
121 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
121 -
Xiaomi 12
121 -
Samsung Galaxy S23+
120 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
120 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
120 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
120 -
iQOO 11
120 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
118 -
Galaxy S22+
118 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
118 -
vivo X80 Pro
113 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
103 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
100 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
93 -
Poco X4 GT
65 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
61 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
60 -
OnePlus 11
60 -
Oppo Find N2
60 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
60
GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
-
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
328 -
OnePlus 11
327 -
iQOO 11
321 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
320 -
Samsung Galaxy S23+
319 -
Oppo Find N2
269 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
268 -
Realme GT2 Explorer Master
267 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
266 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
264 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
262 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
262 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
244 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
236 -
Xiaomi 12
236 -
vivo X80 Pro
226 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
186 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
178 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
170 -
Galaxy S22+
168 -
Poco X4 GT
146 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
137 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
99
The Galaxy S23+ also manages to ace the 3DMark test across the board. It literally maxes out the Slingshot and Slingshot Extreme tests, just leaving Wild Life.
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
-
iQOO 11
12738 -
Samsung Galaxy S23+
12654 -
Samsung Galaxy S23
11109 -
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
10533 -
Oppo Find N2
10517 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
10468 -
Galaxy Z Fold4
10382 -
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
10248 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
9894 -
Sony Xperia 1 IV
9794 -
vivo X80 Pro
9778 -
Oppo Find X5 Pro
9758 -
Xiaomi 12
9535 -
Galaxy Z Flip4
8460 -
Galaxy S22+
7405 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
6470 -
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
5797 -
Oppo Reno8 Pro
5668 -
Poco X4 GT
4301
3DMark Wild Life Extreme (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
-
Samsung Galaxy S23+
3830 -
ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro
3643 -
OnePlus 11
3594 -
iQOO 11
3514 -
iPhone 14 Pro Max
3341 -
Oppo Find N2
2823 -
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
2753 -
Xiaomi 12T Pro
2740 -
Google Pixel 7 Pro
1835
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is an excellent performer. It pulls no punches and chewed through every test and task we threw at it. The phone also manages to be smooth and snappy in menus while launching and navigating apps. Gaming is a real pleasure on the S22+ as well, with many of the high-refresh-rate-capable games we tried making proper use of its 120Hz display and ample rendering power. The S23+ never got uncomfortably hot during testing, either.
Unfortunately, this does come at the expense of major thermal-throttling. The Galaxy S23+ and its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 dropped to 67% of its maximum performance during an intense one-hour-long torture test.
Such a scenario is, of course, totally unrealistic in real usage and meant to purposefully saturate the phone with as much heat as possible as quickly as possible. Despite the major loss in total performance, we are at least happy to say that the S23+ throttles down gracefully without any major dips that would result in stutters in game. In our opinion, Samsung managed to strike a good balance between sustained performance and surface temperature/hand comfort.
Reader comments
- cozxta
- 14 May 2024
- JsT
Charger included in the box isn't gone everywhere, in Brazil all Samsung phones comes with charger in the box, S series comes with 25W brick included.
- Gqx
- 11 Apr 2024
- dQT
What dolby vision and 10 bit color really makes? Copl that, it's one of the most compact phone with this size of screen 😃