Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: Affordable Never Felt So Compelling

Every year, Samsung launches three new flagship phones, and every year the Ultra version gets all the press. Up until now, that attention (or lack thereof for the non-Ultra versions) has been deserved. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is everything a power user could possibly want in a smartphone, while the other two have been more for the "normals." Unfortunately, in years past, the vanilla version of the flagship has been found lacking in photography chops, and certainly in the battery department. I'm happy to say at least one of those problems has been solved.

For a time, while using the S23, I can honestly say I worried that I had bought the wrong phone. I worried that the S23 might have been a better pick for me, and I had just flushed an extra $400 down the drain. As it turns out, I had not, though but I am one of the aforementioned "power users" that enjoys the extra that the S23 Ultra brings.

But what about you? There are very specific use cases where the S23 Ultra is necessary, but for most of the tasks I tested, the S23 more than holds its own. So, which one should you get? I'll help you explore that question. I've been using the Samsung Galaxy S23 (and S23 Plus) for two weeks on AT&T's network, and this is my full review.

A Samsung Galaxy S23 review unit was provided for the purpose of this review by AT&T.

One of the major factors that deked me into thinking I'd made a mistake by buying the Ultra is the size of the Galaxy S23. I have used phones of all shapes and sizes and the 6.1-inch, 19.5:9 aspect ratio is about as perfect as it gets. I have smaller hands for an adult, but as a result, I think this form factor is absolutely perfect for me. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I can't use larger phones, but I just prefer this size. It's delicious.

This year's S23 series all share the same back plate design (covered in Gorilla Glass Victus 2 with round camera protrusions. I'd say I prefer previous generations of the Galaxy S21 and S22 that had the camera bump molded into the side of the phone that looked a little like a pirate with an eye patch. Speaking of those side rails, they are aluminum with all the buttons on the right side of the phone.

This year's design is a bit more spartan or basic than those previous years. As always, it's a matter of taste as to which you'll prefer. I'm more in the eye patch camp, but if you're more utilitarian, this design has a lot going for it.

On the software side, the phone runs Samsung's latest OneUI 5.1 based on Android 13. If you've used a Samsung phone in the past year, you probably already know what that entails. Arguably my biggest gripe about the software is the app launcher. Samsung continues to use the side-scrolling app launcher that maddeningly doesn't wrap from Z to A and vice versa. It makes finding apps annoying. Beyond that, the software on the phone is just fine.

The most fun feature on the Galaxy S23 is the Samsung Labs feature which of course comes with a disclaimer that it may not work with all apps, as always. Right now, there are four features in there and I love all of them.

First, you can force all windows to work with a pop-up view of split screen which is something every Android phone should have. Sure, apps may not work right, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. You can also add swipe gestures for popup view and split screen view, which is handy. I particularly liked this when I needed to keep an app open for a pickup, but I also wanted to read.

The last item is a small touch, but really smart — when you go into split screen view, the top bar with notifications, time, etc disappears which gives you an extra 10 or so pixels to play with. It's not a ton of extra room, but it's Samsung recognizing that every little bit helps.

Now we get to the meat of why I love this phone. In previous generations, the battery life on the vanilla S23 has been...less than optimal. That has definitely changed with the S23. Granted, my use case is a work-from-home on Wi-Fi all-the-time scenario, which doesn't give you a great feel on battery life. But even on days when I was out and about, and using the camera a lot, this phone barely blinked, and I easily got two days out of the phone without trying super hard.

Some of those two-day sessions included navigation which can be hard on a battery due to GPS usage and the screen being on constantly. Some of those days included light game-playing sessions, which are brutal on a battery. All the same, you would have to try to not get a full day out of this phone, which is really impressive considering it comes with less than a 4,000 mAh power pack.

The phone only charges at 25W maximum which is really unfortunate, but given Samsung's history with batteries and heat, it's fair to see them hedge a little bit. If this phone had fast charging, I would love it even more, but as it stands right now, this phone is a battery champion.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 carries a triple camera setup on the back including a 50-megapixel main camera with f/1.8 aperture, a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom and f/2.4 aperture, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with 120-degree field of view and f/2.2 aperture. On the front is another 12-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture. During the day these cameras are all great, on both the photography and video side. Portrait mode is solid, just missing the occasional stray hair and that is also on both the front and back cameras.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

At night, things get more basic. Night shots are usable from the main sensor, but not really from the ultrawide sensor. Telephoto is a pretty mixed bag with some shots doing pretty well and others falling short. Video is not terrible as long as you're stationary and only your subjects are moving. If you start to move as well, your footsteps will cause judder. I noticed in a few shots, if the subject you were tracking happened to be pretty bright (e.g. walking past a light source) once the camera found enough data to focus on, electronic stabilization took over and cleaned things up. I wouldn't count on that though.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

Night performance on this phone is about as good as you'll get on a phone (that isn't the Ultra), which isn't to say it's great, but it's definitely not bad.

So where does that leave us? Bottom line, the Samsung Galaxy S23 is a solid buy, almost a steal at $799. At $999 the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus is a little bit on shaky ground. Yes, you get a bigger screen and a bigger battery. If you're into that, go for it. Personally, a 6.1-inch screen is my happy place. I'll still carry the Ultra because the cameras are objectively better in most scenarios and frankly it's the one I bought.

But if you're in a situation where you want to buy a phone and you can't manage the $1,200 needed for the Ultra (and no one will blame you) then the S23 is a very viable alternative for two-thirds of the price. That's not nothing. The only place where you'll be found wanting is night-time photography, which is universally hard to do, and a lack of S Pen which is another great feature of the Ultra.

There's very little reason to not like this phone, especially if you don't have an Ultra to compare it against. This phone easily stands toe to toe with its chief rival the iPhone 14, especially if you have a Windows PC, and let's face it, statistically speaking, you probably do. I would even go so far as to say that the iPhone 14 Pro might be the closer rival here because of its 3x optical zoom camera. When you compare those two, I'm not sure the Dynamic Island is worth an extra $200.

My only real complaint is with OneUI's app launcher, and I'd like to see Samsung do better at nighttime photography without the 200-megapixel sensor. Things are good, but not quite great, and in a 2023 flagship, great is expected across the board. Even so, this phone is very impressive and a very solid buy, even at its retail price.