Our hands-on review with the new Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra as we look on the new and similar features sporting these great flagship device
The most anticipated flagship phones from Samsung are now available in the market. We already witnessed the Samsung Unpacked live stream event and even attended the official launch here in the Philippines.
We also had the privilege to see it first and experience the new Galaxy S23 series during its NDA event. However, our priority that day was to shoot the devices to make our own content and we only tested the devices for almost 4 to 5 hours only.
But thanks to our friends from Samsung Philippines and Taro AOX, we had the privilege again to have a hands-on review of all three S23 series variants: the regular Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and the top-end Galaxy S23 Ultra.
So, let’s dive in as we check out the new features and share our initial thoughts on the new Galaxy S23 series.
Design and Build Quality
All of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Series will have four available colorways that you can choose from either in Phantom Black, Green, Cream, or Lavender.
As part of its sustainability efforts, Samsung has doubled its commitment to the environment by using recycled plastic materials in the production of the Galaxy S23 series such as recycled aluminum for the case or other parts made of repurposed plastics of discarded fish nets and recycled glass.
The Galaxy S23 series feels very solid and durable as it is more fortified with an armor aluminum frame and an upgraded Gorilla Glass Victus 2 at the back. They are still comfortable to hold.
All models sports the same design as its predecessors which is simple but stunning at the same time. It has slim bezels on the front and a tiny punch-hole design for the front-facing camera found at the top center. For biometrics, the S23 series will include face recognition and an in-display fingerprint sensor found at the bottom center of the screen.
The S23 Ultra sports an edge display that is gently curved, adding some aesthetic appeal and helping the bezels of the phone feel smaller and thinner than it actually is. Both the Galaxy S23 and S23+ have rounded corners with a flat design found on both the front and back.
The rear panels of the Galaxy S23 series are all getting a matte finish and it’s good that can help keep smudges away and it appears better too.
All Galaxy S23 series models will have a unified floating camera design taking out the contoured camera housing which is found on its last Galaxy S22 series models. It has an individual camera lenses all aligned in a row formation. The S23 and S23+ have a triple camera setup while the S23 Ultra offers a quad camera setup. All devices will have an LED flash found beside the camera with a Samsung logo and certification marks at the bottom.
Found on the glossy metal frame, all of the S23 series has a microphone on the top, a power button, and volume rockers on the left while the right side has nothing on it.
All phones have a speaker grille at the bottom side along with the USB-C port, microphone, and SIM tray except for the S23 Ultra which we all know has the S Pen.
The Galaxy S23 series come with an IP68 rating that can withstand water, dust, dirt, and sand. It can also survive submersion in up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) of fresh water for up to 30 minutes.
In general, the look of all three models of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 series is by far minimalist, sleek, and elegant.
Display
The display size for the Galaxy S23 series is similar to last year’s model with the S23 measuring at 6.1 inches while the S23+ at 6.6 inches both with Full HD AMOLED 2X screens.
As for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, it has a bigger screen at 6.8 inches with a much higher resolution at 3088×1440 pixels using a WQHD+ AMOLED 2X display.
All the S23 series models have a refresh rate of 120Hz for a smooth scrolling experience and an impressive 1750 peak brightness allowing more details when used outdoors in direct sunlight.
All three phones are also equipped with Adaptive Vision Booster making sure that the display’s brightness is uniform at every lighting condition and delivers users with the best viewing experience always.
To take care of your eyes for a long period of use. The S23 series features an eye comfort shield and a dark mode limiting the blue light. Using the dark mode can also extend the battery life of the phones.
For me, all three models offers the best displays as it brings out a bright screen with a bursts of colors, clear view from almost any angle and the overall image quality are well detailed. Even when we used it outdoors in direct sunlight I could see the display properly well.
Performance
All models of the Galaxy S23 series are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy octa-core processors with clock speeds of up to 3.36GHz.
The CPU is coupled with an integrated Adreno 740 for its GPU. Qualcomm claims that the Adreno 740 offers a 25 percent improved performance compared to its predecessor. For mobile gamers, it will be an advantage as playing on the S23 series with the new GPU supports Hardware Raytracing that enhances the visuals of the game for a more pleasing and immersive gaming experience.
It sports a new and bigger vapor cooling chamber to offer better thermal operation for less prone to overheating, especially when playing those heavy graphic-rich games on the phone.
The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus will both have 8GB RAM. As for the storage, the regular S23 will be available in 128GB and 256GB. The S23+ offers bigger storage capacities of 256GB and 512 GB.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a bigger RAM at 12GB and three storage options starting with 256GB, 512GB, and a massive 1TB.
Here are the benchmark scores of each S23 models:
Samsung S23
- Geekbench 6 – 1894 Single Core / 4797 Multi-Core
- 3DMark – 3707 Wild Life Extreme
- PCMark – 15649 Work 3.0 Performance
Samsung S23+
- Geekbench 6 – 1705 Single Core / 4891 Multi-Core
- 3DMark – 3012 Wild Life Extreme
- PCMark – 15465 Work 3.0 Performance
Samsung S23 Ultra
- Geekbench 6 – 1909 Single Core / 4806 Multi-Core
- 3DMark – 3685 Wild Life Extreme
- PCMark – 16997 Work 3.0 Performance
All three devices have built-in stereo speakers that deliver a good overall sound quality as well as support for Dolby Atmos.
You get clear vocals, a nice pitch, and a deep powerful bass, making the S23 series a great option to listen to your music playlist or binge-watch your favorite episodes.
For connectivity, the phones have support for Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and 5G ready. The Galaxy S23+ and S23 Ultra both support Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), though the regular Galaxy S23 doesn’t.
Battery
Some models of the Galaxy S23 series will have a slight battery upgrade with the Galaxy S23 now having a 3,900mAh and the S23 Plus a 4,700mAh battery. The Galaxy S23 Ultra will retain its previous battery of 5,000mAh.
All models will have fast wired charging capability and wireless charging support. It can do a reverse wireless charge on another phone, watch, or Galaxy Buds by placing the two devices together.
In our charging test, an initial 15-minute charge juiced up the battery of the Galaxy S23 at 21 percent, the Galaxy S23+ at 23 percent, and the S23 Ultra at 20 percent.
Charging from 0 to 100 percent on all phones took us around 1 hour 42 minutes for the regular S23, 1 hour 39 minutes on the S23+, and the S23 Ultra at 1 hour 41 minutes.
To further extend the battery life, you can turn on the power-saving mode. However, you may need to choose additional limits on the performance of the phone like limiting the CPU speed to 70%, turning off the 5G, decreasing the display brightness, etc.
Camera
For the cameras on the new Galaxy S23 series, the S23, and S23+ sport a triple camera setup comprising a 50MP wide-angle lens, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP telephoto camera. They also get digital zoom capabilities of up to 30x.
Meanwhile, the S23 Ultra has a quad-camera setup which gets the new 200MP Samsung-made ISOCELL sensor to take better photos or video at night with more accurate and faster autofocus, as well as higher resolution images. You also get 12MP ultra-wide lens, 10MP telephoto camera with up to 10X optical zoom, and a secondary 10MP 3X telephoto camera.
The digital zoom on Galaxy S23 Ultra can go up to 100x to capture those detail not visible to the eye. Using the 100x digital zoom will have image quality that is soft, fuzzy, and pixilated.
Same as with the previous flagship model, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is capable of capturing moon shots using its 100x space zoom which is mind-blowing. We were not convinced at first but when we tried it we were amazed with the result.
For your selfies, all models have a 12MP front-facing camera.
Opening the camera app, you’ll have three shooting modes ready for use either in Photo, Video, or Portrait modes. Clicking the more options will access 12 more additional shooting modes with Expert RAW, Pro, Pro Video, Night, Food, Panorama, Super Slow Mo, Slow Motion, Hyperlapse, Portrait Video, Director’s View, and Single Take.
The Expert RAW shooting mode is a free app that offers professional-grade controls over camera settings like the ISO, shutter speed, white balance, etc. The RAW is saved in Digital Negative or DNG file for you to edit later like in Photoshop or Lightroom.
At the top right corner of the Expert RAW mode is the Astrophoto mode that allows any user especially professional photographers to capture pro-level images of the night sky. There’s also a Sky Guide to pinpoint the location of constellations or groups of stars as you set a timer to shoot the duration of exposure between 4 to 10 minutes. I would suggest bringing along a tripod should you use this feature.
I’m impressed with how the photos come out using the 50MP main camera on all the Galaxy S23 series. But using the 200MP of the S23 Ultra will produce images with much more detail, accurate colors, lighting, and excellent HDR quality.
The telephoto camera and the 10x optical zoom are very reliable as well. It can generate close-up shots with sharp details, less noise and accurate colors.
Although, we also got some photos with the colors too much saturated or facial features a bit too smooth.
Here are some photos that were taken using all of the Galaxy S23 series models.
For video, you can now record with resolutions up to 8K at 30 frames per second as well as 4K and 1080p videos at 30 or 60 frames per second.
It also has improved optical image stabilization (OIS) and a Super Steady mode. So even while you walk or panning from left to right will be much clear, more stable, and offers a smooth glide. I liked how the OIS is generally very good on all three devices.
Software
The phone ships in with its latest One UI 5.1 skin based on Android 13 plus all Galaxy S23 series phone will have up to 4 major Android OS versions upgrades and 5 years of security updates.
It has some few pre-installed apps like Facebook, Spotify, Netflix, GCash and Samsung’s very own proprietary apps (Samsung Global Goals, Samsung Free, Samsung Members, etc.)
With the One UI 5 you have some new features to customize the S23 series. You can easily trim a video clip to create a lively wallpaper on your lock screen. It has more color palette options up to 16 color themes and greater number of wallpaper choices.
To protect important sensitive data, it has its very own proprietary security and management software with the Samsung Knox. It also has some privacy care and maintenance mode settings for additional security on the S23 series.
S Pen
The S Pen is another unique feature of the Galaxy S23 Ultra that the other models don’t have. The S Pen has a thin, flat body and a button on one side. When pressed, it functions as a remote. The top of the pen has a clickable button that helps you remove the pen from the phone. But accidentally, I found out how satisfying the clicks are acting as a fidget toy.
The S Pen hosts some other features to look forward to aside from taking notes or drawing on the S23 Ultra. The S Pen supports handwriting-to-text input when using Google apps, a mini remote control for the camera app, editing photos, text extraction, and smart select that can convert the selected image as a sticker adding it to your gallery.
What We Like
- AMOLED Screen
- Elegant Design and More Durable
- IP68 Rating
- 120Hz Refresh Rate
- Large Vapor Cooling Chambers
- Impressive Camera
- Better Optical Image Stabilization
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
- Expert RAW Mode with Astrophoto
- 8K Video
- 200 MP with 100x Zoom and S Pen on the S23 Ultra
- Longer Battery Life
- Sustainable Device and Packaging
- Fast, Reverse and Wireless Charging Support
- Wi-Fi 6E
- 5G Ready
- Payment Plan Offers (Trade-In or Installment)
What We Want
- Expandable Storage
- Limited-Edition Colors Available On Store
Conclusion
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S23 series gets a few enhancements in terms of its appearance and design. I like the overall look it’s simple, more durable, sleek yet elegant. The display on the S23 series is bright, vivid, and full of detail having no worries about using the screen under direct sunlight.
But with some improvements under its hood such as an upgraded camera, more battery life, highly efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor, and newer One UI 5 software the performance will be much faster and more efficient.
If you want a compact phone with a manageable form factor you can get the Galaxy S23 model at a lesser price on all of the S23 series.
The Galaxy S23+ is like the standard model device built with a larger 6.6-inch display and equipped with a bigger 4700mAh battery that holds comfortably in your hands, it’s perfect for doing your social media browsing, watching your favorite movies, and playing online games.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the much more Pro model built with the most advanced camera system and the S Pen that can take notes or scribble on the display plus functions as a remote control. If you have the extra cash or an unlimited budget I would suggest you go for the S23 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Series Specifications:
Samsung Galaxy S23
- Price: Php53,990 / Php57,990
- Phantom Black, Green, Cream, Lavender
- 1-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X
- 2340 x 1080 pixels
- Gorilla Glass Victus 2
- 120Hz Refresh Rate
- Rear camera: 50MP f1.8 dual-pixel (wide) + 12MP f2.2 dual-pixel (ultra-wide) + 10MP f2.4 (3x telephoto)
- Front camera: 12MP F2.2 dual-pixel
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- Phantom Black, Green, Cream, Lavender
- Android 13-based One UI 5.1 interface
- 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB
- 3,900 mAh
- Super Fast Charging 2.0, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, and Wireless PowerShare
- Bluetooth v5.3
- Wi-Fi 6E
- 9 x 146.3 x 7.6 mm
- 168 grams
Samsung Galaxy S23+
- Price: Php68,990 / Php76,990
- Phantom Black, Green, Cream, Lavender
- 6-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X
- 2340 x 1080 pixels
- 120Hz Refresh Rate
- Rear camera: 50MP f1.8 dual-pixel (wide) + 12MP f2.2 dual-pixel (ultra-wide) + 10MP f2.4 (3x telephoto)
- Front camera: 12MP F2.2 dual-pixel
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- Gorilla Glass Victus 2
- Android 13-based One UI 5.1 interface
- 8GB + 256GB, 8GB + 512GB
- 4,700 mAh
- Super Fast Charging 2.0, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, and Wireless PowerShare
- Bluetooth v5.3
- Wi-Fi 6E
- 2 x 157.8 x 7.6 mm
- 196 grams
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
- Price: Php81,990 / Php89,990 / Php103,990
- Phantom Black, Green, Cream, Lavender
- 8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X
- 3088 x 1440 pixels
- Adaptive refresh rate – 1Hz up to 120Hz
- Rear camera: 200MP f1.7 quad-pixel with OIS (wide) + 12MP f2.2 dual-pixel (ultra-wide) + 10MP f2.4 dual-pixel (3x telephoto) + 10MP f4.9 dual-pixel (10x telephoto)
- Front camera: 12MP F2.2 dual-pixel
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- Vapour cooling chamber
- Gorilla Glass Victus 2
- Android 13-based One UI 5.1 interface
- 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB, 12GB + 512GB, 12GB + 1TB
- 5,000 mAh
- Super Fast Charging 2.0, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, and Wireless PowerShare
- Bluetooth v5.3
- Wi-Fi 6E
- UWB (Ultra wideband)
- 1 x 163.4 x 8.9 mm
- 234 grams
