Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+ arrive with new design, bigger batteries

The Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ are the latest refinement of long-running the S-series formula. Yes, refinement – Samsung improved the major hardware and software features, but there are no radical changes.

Samsung Galaxy S23

The biggest upgrade for this generation is that all S23 phones sold around the world will exclusively use a bespoke Qualcomm chipset, officially known as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (you can hear the cheers coming from Europe). This features higher clock speeds compared to the other 8 Gen 2 chipsets out there. The phones come with several storage configurations, but RAM is fixed at 8GB (as it was last year and the year before that).

The cameras have been revamped too. It’s not as big an upgrade as the Ultra got, but there are some impactful changes under the hood. For example, the Camera RAW app can now shoot in 50MP resolution (up from 12MP on the S22 series), making full use of the main camera.

That camera still has a 50MP sensor, which (thanks to the new chipset) can record 8K video at 30fps (up from 24fps last year). The 12MP ultra wide camera (120° FoV) and the 3x 10MP telephoto camera remain largely the same.

One upgrade is the move to a 12MP selfie camera, which is shared across the three models. Its video recording capabilities now include support for Super HDR at 60fps.

Like the cameras, the displays have been enhanced but still follow the same overall formula as last year. This means flat Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels with FHD+ resolution and 48-120Hz refresh rate (240Hz touch sampling rate in Game Mode).

The smaller Galaxy S23 has a 6.1” display, the Galaxy S23+ has a 6.6” screen. The both of them have centered punch holes for the selfie camera and have a fingerprint reader tucked underneath.

New additions this year are Vision Booster, which adjusts the colors and contrast to match the ambient lighting conditions, and an Enhanced Comfort feature, which does the same in the evening to to reduce eye strain.

The batteries on the S23 and S23+ are 200mAh larger than their predecessors, bringing the totals to 3,900mAh and 4,700mAh, respectively. Wired charging for the S23 is rated at 25W (30 minutes to 50%), for the S23+ at 45W (30 minutes to 65%). Wireless charging and wireless power sharing is still supported, of course.

Samsung Galaxy S23+

The new chipset brings improved connectivity. This includes support for the new 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E as well as Bluetooth 5.3 (up from the original Wi-Fi 6 and BT 5.2).

For this generation the Galaxy S23 and S23+ have adopted the styling of the Ultra by removing the Contour Cut camera housing and leaving just the three camera lenses. The dust and water resistance rating is IP68 (1.5m of water for 30 minutes like last year). The phones are the first to adopt the new Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is more durable and includes recycled materials. Some of the plastics are recycled as well, as is 100% of the paper used for the packaging.

All four models will be available in these four colors: Cream, Green, Lavender and the traditional Phantom Black.

Samsung is already accepting pre-orders for the Galaxy S22 and S23+, sales will start in a couple of weeks. We will have more detailed pricing shortly, but here are the starting prices: the S23 (8/128GB) is $800/€950/₹80,000, the S23+ (8/256GB) is $1,000/€1,210.

If you want to know more about the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ we suggest you check out our Galaxy S23 series hands-on where you can find live photos and first-hand impressions.