Samsung having released 2023’s flagship line of phones has everyone asking about what they’re capable of. Let’s go over just what the new Galaxy S23 brings to the table.
First thing to note about the new S23 is its size. Sitting at a measly 146.3mm tall and 70.9mm wide, it is the smallest of this year’s Samsung flagship line. Unlike most other smaller phones, however, the S23’s battery does not just run out so quickly. Packed with a 3900mAh battery and wireless charging support, the S23’s battery life is all day long. However, its bigger siblings, the S23+ and the S23 Ultra both boast faster wired charging as compared to the S23’s 25W.
The S23’s display is a 6.1in AMOLED, with refresh rates of up to 120Hz and a resolution of 2340 x 1080. It also has an IP68 dust and water resistance to boot, and is reinforced with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for maximized durability. Its maximum brightness of 1250nits [or 1750nits if you’re looking at some HDR content] make it comfortable enough to see in the day without needing to go under some shade. What it lacks for in size, it makes up in detail and vivid display capabilities.
As for the camera, it retains the same 50MP camera with dual pixel PDAF and OIS alongside a 12MP 120-degree ultrawide and a 10MP 3x telephoto with OIS as its predecessor, unlike its counterpart, the S23 Ultra, which gains an upgrade to 200MP. If it ain’t broke…
One upgrade it does get in the camera department is that it can now generate 50MP Expert RAW images, unlike the S22 that only did so in 12MP.
The 10MP 3X telephoto lens gets the job done if you can’t get up close to the subject of the image, and pushing it even further to 10X still gives you some pretty good shots. Cranking it all the way up to 30X isn’t really any good for much other than taking some nice-looking pictures of the night sky.
The front camera has been upgraded from 10 to 12MP, allowing for use of 60fps video recording and access to ‘Super HDR,’ one of Samsung’s many camera features. It holds up well enough in low-light conditions, but best to stick to the rear camera for better shots.
The S23 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy, a Samsung exclusive that has an edge over the non-Samsung Snapdragon 8 Gen 2s. It also has an Adreno GPU that’s a step above the standard model, meaning that this phone is most certainly not lacking in the processing department. Most graphics-heavy games you throw at this thing won’t leave so much as a dent in its performance.
The S23 runs on Android 13 with OneUI, Samsung’s own brand of Android OS. It features lock screen customization not too different to iPhones with iOS 16, minus the widgets.
Overall, the s23 is a solid choice for those looking for a compact but high-performance phone. However, if you have the change to spare you might as well get its higher-end counter parts S23+ or the S23 Ultra.
