I’ve completed my evaluation of the Galaxy S23 Extremely for NextPit, and I’ve this to say: Samsung’s flagship completely received me over regardless of its insolent worth of $1,199. That is the magnum opus from the producer and it’ll most likely stay the most effective Android smartphone of the 12 months. Uncover my ideas on this complete Galaxy S23 Extremely evaluation.
Good
- Excellent AMOLED QHD+ display screen at 120 Hz refresh price
- Extremely polished end
- Most versatile 200 MP digital camera module available on the market
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 makes all of the distinction
- Glorious battery life which is a feat for Samsung
- 4 years of Android updates + 5 years of safety updates
- The built-in S Pen is as cool as ever
Dangerous
- Nothing a lot new in One UI 5.1
- Similar design as final 12 months
- Archaic 45-watt charging pace
Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely in a nutshell
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely has been obtainable in most areas since February 17, 2023. It arrives in three reminiscence configurations of 8/256 GB, 12/512 GB, and 12 GB/1 TB, retailing for $1,199.99, $1,379.99, and $1,619.99, respectively.
On paper, the Galaxy S23 Extremely delivered virtually nothing new in comparison with the Galaxy S22 Extremely. I used to be even of an identical opinion throughout my hands-on session. Nevertheless, after placing it by means of the paces on this complete evaluation, I discovered the Galaxy S23 Extremely to be an actual winner.
Design
The Galaxy S23 Extremely carried over the identical design language from final 12 months’s Galaxy S22 Extremely, which itself share cues from the final
Galaxy Observe 20, sporting angles and a slot for the S Pen.
What I appreciated:
- Aluminum body and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in entrance and on the again
- Built-in S Pen nonetheless works brilliantly
- IP68 licensed
What I disliked:
- Iffy digital camera module (completely subjective)
- No 3.5mm audio jack
- Similiar design to final 12 months’s mannequin
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely has virtually no noticeable modifications when it comes to design in comparison with the Galaxy S22 Extremely.
The Galaxy S23 Extremely is available in 4 colours: Phantom Black, Cream, Inexperienced, and Lavender. The glass again is protected by Corning’s new Gorilla Glass Victus 2, as is the display screen. The body is fabricated from aluminum and the smartphone is IP68 licensed for each water and dirt resistance.
On the underside edge, we are able to see the S Pen slotted in properly, similar to in its predecessor from final 12 months. It does appear as if Samsung didn’t actually trouble with the design, however then once more, if it ain’t broke, why repair it?
Display screen
The display screen of the Galaxy S23 Extremely has not modified a lot in comparison with the final 12 months’s mannequin. We discover a 6.8-inch AMOLED slab with curved edges which are appropriate with HDR10+ and a most refresh price of 120 Hz.
What I appreciated:
- Good brightness similar to earlier than
- The QHD+/120 Hz combo nonetheless works nicely
- Display screen is barely much less curved
What I disliked:
We, due to this fact, discover a very comparable, if not equivalent, panel to final 12 months’s Galaxy S22 Extremely. The QHD+ decision of 3088 × 1440 p has not modified, and neither has the adaptive refresh price of 1 to 120 Hz utilizing LTPO 2.0 expertise.
The curved edges of the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s display screen will not be to everybody’s style. Samsung appeared to have anticipated this by decreasing the angle. The flat floor of the slab would due to this fact be barely wider than on the earlier mannequin. It is only a tiny change, however you may see it whenever you maintain the S22 Extremely and S23 Extremely facet by facet.
The display screen has a punch-hole that’s centered on the prime. The concept of a hidden digital camera below the display screen stays the prerogative of Samsung’s foldable smartphones. Contemplating the lack of picture high quality that this expertise brings with it, possibly it is all for the most effective.
Interface/OS
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely runs on
One UI 5.1, which is the most recent pores and skin from Samsung that’s primarily based on
Android 13. Among the many new options are Modes and Routines.
What I appreciated:
- 4 Android updates + 5 years of safety updates
- A Focus mode like on iOS with Modes and Routines
- A particularly fluid and exquisite consumer interface
What I disliked:
- Not many unique options (possibly that is factor)
- Loads of bloatware
I feel One UI is turning into a increasingly more lovely interface. On the Galaxy S23 Extremely, all the pieces is far smoother, particularly the animations.
I additionally liked discovering Samsung’s tremendous intuitive multitasking options. Having the ability to swap to separate display screen by swiping up with two fingers is one such instance.
Swiping from a prime nook of the display screen to modify an open software to windowed mode can also be a really good contact (pun supposed!).
I additionally just like the stacked widgets similar to on iOS. Having the ability to retailer a number of widgets in a single location opens up a whole lot of potentialities for customizing your property display screen.
Among the many most notable new options, I want to specifically point out the Routines and Modes capabilities. With Routines, you may automate a sequence of actions in your smartphone primarily based to your exercise. Mainly, it really works just like the routines of your linked objects in your good residence.
It can save you these completely different routines and affiliate them with Modes (sleep, sport, work) to modify from one mode to a different and apply the corresponding routines. For energy customers or digital detox fans, this could possibly be very related.
In the case of the S Pen, Samsung did not introduce something new nevertheless it’s nonetheless a pleasure to make use of. It is exhausting to dwell with out it for taking notes, capturing screenshots, or photograph modifying.
Let’s discuss photograph modifying. Samsung provides some choices in its Gallery that I discovered to be fairly helpful. The truth that you may “remaster” a failed photograph is fairly cool. And it is even cooler when doing so truly labored!
As a result of I am beginning to flip this evaluation right into a 500-page treatise on One UI, I will simply conclude with the “magic eraser” characteristic that permits you to erase undesirable components from a photograph. Personally, I feel it labored fairly nicely. However I can not say that it stacks up nicely in opposition to Apple’s and Google‘s options.
Efficiency
For the very first time in Europe, the Galaxy S23 Extremely is provided with Qualcomm’s
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. That is nice information for these of us exterior of the US, as Samsung beforehand included its much less highly effective Exynos chips on such areas.
What I appreciated:
- Large efficiency achieve of the SD 8 Gen 2 in comparison with final 12 months’s Exynos 2200
- Progressive thermal throttling
- As much as 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage and 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM
What I disliked:
In the case of benchmarks, we obtained scores in keeping with different Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered smartphones. On the identical time, there aren’t too a lot of these simply but. It did carry out higher than the OnePlus 11 5G (evaluation).
It’s, nevertheless, much less secure than the Xiaomi 13 Professional (evaluation) on the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Check benchmark that simulated 20 minutes of intensive gaming use. However that is actually as a consequence of the truth that Xiaomi operates with near no thermal throttling, which can finally outcome in overheating points.
| Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely (SD 8 Gen 2) |
OnePlus 11 (SD 8 Gen 2) |
Xiaomi 13 Professional (SD 8 Gen 2) |
Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Wild Life | Too highly effective | Too highly effective | Too highly effective | 5,682 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Stress Check |
Finest loop: 12,278 |
Finest loop: 12,784 |
Finest loop: 13,091 |
Finest loop: 5,741 Worst loop: 3,351 |
| Geekbench 5 | Single: 1,912 Multi: 4,981 |
Single: 1,170 Multi: 4,813 |
Single: 1,509 Multi: 5,006 |
Single: 1,155 Multi: 3,356 |
Nevertheless, the Galaxy S23 Extremely doesn’t overheat in any respect. It by no means exceeded 45° throughout our benchmarking efforts. This was made attainable courtesy of its thermal throttling which occurred in a progressive method. As quickly because the temperature rose, the smartphone pulled the handbrake with the dexterity of the late, venerable Ken Block. Every thing was accomplished easily and the framerate stabilized shortly.
In on a regular basis use, we are able to clearly run all conceivable video games from the Play Retailer with out lacking a beat. I used to be truly capable of run Name of Obligation Cell and Sky Youngsters of Gentle at 120 FPS. Sadly, I don’t have any video to point out you as a result of the display screen recorder mechanically drops the framerate to 60 FPS max. So you may must make do with the screenshots under.
I used to be additionally capable of run Fortnite at a continuing 60 FPS with the graphics turned up. Even Genshin Affect, a sport that eats up a ton of RAM, ran at 60 FPS with out kicking up a fuss. And at no time did the smartphone burn my arms. It is actually evening and day in comparison with the Galaxy S22 Extremely.
Photograph high quality
The Galaxy S23 Extremely embeds a quadruple digital camera module that’s spearheaded by its new 200 MP photograph sensor. The latter is mated to a basic 12 MP extremely wide-angle lens and two telephoto lenses at 10 MP every. Samsung has additionally lastly improved its selfie digital camera by throwing in a 12 MP lens.
What I appreciated:
- Most versatile digital camera module available on the market
- The primary lens of 200 MP works nice in the course of the day and at evening
- 3x and 10x zoom performs nicely
- Nice progress in low mild conditions
What I disliked:
- Portrait mode is a bit disappointing for this worth vary
- No huge enhancements in relation to selfies
- Focus remains to be a bit iffy (however I am kidding)
The digital camera module of the Galaxy S23 Extremely completely illustrated the consumer expertise with this smartphone. On paper, virtually nothing has modified. However whenever you step away from the specs and truly use the cameras, you may see the distinction straight away.
The photograph high quality of the Galaxy S23 Extremely is sort of impeccable in the course of the day
Let’s start with the obvious distinction: the principle lens with this new 200 MP Isocell HP2 sensor. I used to be fortunate sufficient to have a couple of hours of fine climate this week. And I discovered all my daytime photographs to be glorious. The extent of element captured is spectacular. Properly, the colours are nonetheless a bit saturated, however that has all the time been the case with Samsung, and I like this colorimetry.
The dynamic vary administration is great. Even in advanced photographs, we now have a balanced distinction. The 12 MP ultra-wide angle additionally does very nicely. Edge distortion is well-contained and I did not discover any main colour inconsistencies in comparison with the rendering of the principle lens.
The portrait mode of the Galaxy S23 Extremely
I simply discovered the portrait mode to be not so good as the Huawei Mate 50 Professional (evaluation) and the iPhone 14 Professional (evaluation). The cropping will not be all the time clear and the main target tends to run, particularly with non-human topics.
The 2 telephoto lenses with optical zoom of the Galaxy S23 Extremely are… ultra-efficient
The opposite nice level of the Galaxy S23 Extremely is its zoom functionality. We have now two focal lengths to function at 3x and 10x native zooms. There may be nothing a lot to say right here, other than the sharpness being there alongside the precise colours. I seen some unavoidable artifacts when switching to 30x zoom however I used to be additionally very pleasantly shocked by the outcomes at occasions.
Samsung cannot be overwhelmed in relation to the flexibility of its digital camera module. It is simply extraordinarily cool to have so many capturing potentialities with out having to bodily transfer. The digital camera app nonetheless provides a point of help that can assist you goal whenever you transcend the 20x zoom, which nonetheless works nice, by the best way.
The Galaxy S23 Extremely is a powerful performer at evening
At evening, the Galaxy S23 Extremely provides an computerized evening mode. It’ll activate itself when it detects the encompassing mild situations that require it. And with the principle lens, I discover that Samsung managed to seize the scenes very nicely, trying fairly pure.
There may be not an excessive amount of noise or abuse of digital smoothing occurring there. In fact, issues start to go downhill with the ultra-wide angle lens, as ordinary. The 3x zoom remained fairly usable more often than not. The Galaxy S23 Extremely additionally has a devoted evening mode, however I discovered it to be too unnatural and overexposed the scene an excessive amount of.
In any case, we are able to see a transparent distinction, and there may be surefire progress in low mild situations in comparison with the Galaxy S22 Extremely which was a bit poor on this level, as I famous in my evaluation.
Battery life
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely encompasses a large 5,000 mAh battery. This is similar battery capability as final 12 months whereas the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus benefited from bigger batteries in comparison with their predecessors.
What I appreciated:
What I disliked:
- Charger will not be included within the field
- No enchancment in relation to quick charging
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely is ultra-durable in relation to battery life. I put it by means of the PCMark Work 3.0 benchmark. I set the show to QHD+ decision, refresh price to 120 Hz, and brightness to 200 nits. Regardless of all that, the Galaxy S23 Extremely lasted for 13:09 earlier than dropping under the 20% battery life notch.
I will do an extra check tonight with the display screen in Full HD+ and at 60 Hz. I am positive the Galaxy S23 Extremely can hit 15 and even 16 hours of battery life.
I simply assume it is a disgrace that Samsung nonetheless does not have the will to do higher when it comes to quick charging. As you may see, you may must take care of 45-watt wired charging and 10-watt wi-fi charging once more this 12 months. The 4.5-watt wi-fi reverse charging remains to be a part of the ensemble, too.
And like final 12 months, the charger will not be included within the field since it’s well-known that promoting chargers individually in devoted packaging helps save the planet.
There may be one saving grace although, a minimum of Samsung does not use proprietary charging expertise implies that you should utilize any charger that’s appropriate with the USB PD 3.0 normal.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely technical specs
| Specs Desk | |
|---|---|
| Machine | |
| Picture |  |
| Design | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 entrance and rear aluminum body with IP68 curved display screen |
| Display screen | AMOLED 6.8 inch | QHD+ (3088 x 1440 p) | refresh price 1-120 Hz (LTPO 2.0) |
| Reminiscence | 8 or 12 GB LPDDR5X RAM | 256 GB/ 512 GB/ 1 TB UFS 4.0 |
| CPU/ GPU | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | 4 nm | Adreno 740 GPU |
| Photograph |
Important: 200 MP | f/1.7 | OIS | autofocus |
| Video | 8K at 30 FPS |
| Interface/OS | One UI 5.1 primarily based on Android 13 | 4 Android updates + 5 years safety updates |
| Battery | 5000 mAh | wired charging 45 W | wi-fi charging 15 W | reverse wi-fi charging 5 W | charger not included |
| Audio | ND |
| Dimensions & Weight | 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9 mm | 233 g |
| Connectivity | 5G | Wi-Fi 6E | Bluetooth 5.3 |
Conclusion
On paper, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely doesn’t convey a lot in comparison with the Galaxy S22 Extremely. However in actuality, I can safely say that that is probably the most profitable flagship from Samsung for the reason that Galaxy Observe 10+.
In reality, the Galaxy S23 Extremely is what the Galaxy S22 Extremely ought to have been. It’s THE mannequin that completes the merger of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Observe sequence. It’s THE mannequin that lastly places an finish to the disadvantageous remedy of European customers by integrating the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC worldside. It’s THE Samsung mannequin that lastly provides glorious battery life that was all the time a disappointment from the South Korean producer.
If I needed to summarize this evaluation that might simply have been 6,000 phrases lengthy, I would say that Samsung has three nice arguments to excuse the completely insane worth of the Galaxy S23 Extremely: The efficiency of the brand new Qualcomm SoC, a superb battery life, and probably the most versatile digital camera module available on the market.
Sure, the value is extraordinarily prohibitive for most individuals. And sure, the Galaxy S22 Extremely has come down in worth fairly a bit. However the Galaxy S23 Extremely will stay way more aggressive, and for for much longer. So even in the event you’re ready for worth drops, go for the S23 Extremely after a couple of months fairly than its predecessor.
