Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus: bigger battery, faster chip and better photos
With the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus, Samsung prioritizes improvements that can make everyday tasks more convenient. Samsung debuted two new smartphones at its Unpacked event in San Francisco on Wednesday, along with the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy Book 3 lineup. The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus pack larger-capacity batteries, better sensors for selfies and a slightly updated design, while the Plus model has twice as much storage.
Available from Galaxy S23 959€and a larger Plus model is available 1219€. Both the devices will go on sale on February 17 and pre-orders are already available. These prices are similar to those charged by Apple for the iPhone 14 range, which starts at €1,019 for the regular version and €1,329 for the Pro version.
Included in the new pair of smartphones incremental updates Compared to the Galaxy S22 line. But those with a Galaxy S21 or earlier will benefit greatly from the improvements the S23 brings. It’s another sign that phone makers are focusing more on standard, pragmatic updates for their entry-level premium phones than making drastic changes. Apple took a similar approach with the 2021 iPhone 13, offering longer battery life and more storage.
Two new smartphones are equipped 200 mAh larger battery than last year’s devices, the capacity is 3900 mAh for the S23 and 4700 mAh for the S23 Plus. Hopefully this change will improve battery life significantly.
Charging speeds remain the same, with the Galaxy S23 supporting 25-watt wired charging and the S23 Plus matching 45-watt.
The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus are available in the same sizes as last year: 6.1 inches for the S23 and 6.6 inches for the S23 Plus. The base Galaxy S23 Plus model has more storage, now starting at 256 GB instead of the S22 Plus’ 128 GB. The classic S23 always starts with 128 GB of internal memory.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 smartphone increases storage capacity without increasing the price. Bobby Oliver/CNET
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus strikes a great balance in offering a large screen and longer battery life without overcharging. It’s nice to see Samsung putting more emphasis on the Plus model, making it stand out more than the regular version.
The S23 and S23 Plus generally look like last year’s devices, until you turn them over and see the photo block gone. Instead, Samsung has modeled the Ultra’s design by integrating the sensors directly into the chassis, which creates a bit more consistency across the range. All three phones are available in the same four colors: black, cream, green and lavender.
Left to right: Galaxy S23 Plus alongside Galaxy S22 Plus. Bobby Oliver/CNET
The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus’ camera hardware is largely the same as last year’s phones. It has a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens. It claims to be brought by Samsung some improvements under the hood should increase dynamic range and other capabilities such as flare reduction. The new phones are equipped with a new 12-megapixel front camera, which should better identify objects in the frame and optimize the image accordingly.
Photo part of the Galaxy S23. Bobby Oliver/CNET
This selfie camera improvement is partly due to the new chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 It sits in the S23 range and is responsible for some of the S23’s photo processing improvements. All three phones in the S23 series run on a special version of the processor that Samsung says is optimized for faster performance. It’s a unique version of the chip that’s different from what we’ll see in competitors like the OnePlus 11 5G.
The launch comes at a time when smartphone updates are becoming less monumental than in the past. Overall, the improvements on the Galaxy S23 look more like practical tweaks than game-changing innovations. This is a continuation of the trend we’ve seen in 2022, as companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung prioritize privacy, security, and longevity in their new products. The S23 Ultra, meanwhile, gets a more sophisticated upgrade with a new 200-megapixel camera, though we’ll have to test it before we know what a difference it makes.
All in all, the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus are likely best suited for Android fans who have updated their hardware for at least two yearsbut we’ll know more once we’ve had a chance to review them.
CNET.com article adapted from CNET France
