Samsung Galaxy S23+ review: Large, fast, and light!

People who are into large smartphones but don’t have the budget to buy the very expensive Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will surely look at the Samsung Galaxy S23+ when doing their research. This model packs the same hardware and features as the smaller Galaxy S23, but it offers a larger screen and increased autonomy. Is this enough to sway you into buying it? To find out, read this review, and see what’s great and not so great about the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus:

Samsung Galaxy S23+: Who is it good for?

This smartphone is an excellent choice if you:

• Want a large, solid, reliable smartphone
• Desire excellent performance and a beautiful display
• Are looking for a phone with great battery life
• You are invested in Samsung’s ecosystem

Pros and cons

Here’s what I like about the Samsung Galaxy S23+:

• Gorgeous, fast, adaptive display
• Beautiful smartphone design
• Excellent build quality
• It includes the same hardware in all markets
• Great camera system with improved low-light photography
• Better selfie camera than the previous model

There are downsides to consider as well:

• The operating system occupies a whopping 65 GB
• The phone’s fast charging is slow for today’s standards
• No expandable storage

Verdict

When you evaluate the Samsung Galaxy S23+ independently, it’s an impressive smartphone. It looks great, performs beautifully, has a solid camera system, and excellent battery life. However, other competitors offer much faster charging and a less bloated operating system for a price that’s generally lower. That said, if you’re a Samsung user based in Europe, upgrading to the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is a no-brainer due to the improvements brought by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy mobile platform, which replaces the traditional Exynos chips used in this region. If you’re based in the US, though, the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is a great choice only if you upgrade from a smartphone that’s at least two years old. Compared to last year’s Galaxy S22+, the S23 Plus doesn’t offer many improvements, so you’re better off keeping your existing phone and using it until the next generation arrives, in 2024.

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy S23+

The packaging of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus is made from recycled materials, and it’s even smaller and lighter than last year’s model. This is great news for people interested in lowering their carbon footprint. As you can see in the picture below, the cardboard box is all black, with a picture of the device you bought and the product name printed on the top. The packaging for Samsung Galaxy S23+ is quite small On the sides and the back, you find some stickers with information about the smartphone you just bought: its serial number, IMEI number, where it was manufactured, and details about the contents of the box. The minimalistic approach is continued inside the box. When you unpack everything, you find the Galaxy S23+, the usual leaflets (quick start guide, warranty details, etc.), the SIM ejection tool, and a USB-C cable. Unfortunately, there’s no charger included. Everything you find inside the box Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is a simple yet pleasant experience. Apart from the bare minimum, there are no accessories in the box. You won’t find a case for the smartphone, a charger, or a pair of headphones. On the upside, the packaging is sturdy and eco-friendly.

Design and build quality

The Samsung Galaxy S23+ is a large 6.6-inch smartphone with a size of 157.8 x 76.2 x 7.6 millimeters or 6.21 x 3 x 0.3 inches in width x depth x height and a weight of just 196 grams or 6.91 oz. Its frame is made from aluminum, with a tougher drop and scratch resistance than previous models from the Galaxy S family. In addition, the screen and the back are protected by the latest version of Corning Gorilla Glass - the Victus 2. The new version features improved toughness but is also made from an average of 22% pre-consumer recycled materials. Samsung Galaxy S23+ is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 On the front of the Samsung Galaxy S23+, you see a tiny cutout for the camera on the top. If you look closely, you may also notice the speaker slit above the camera, but overall, the front is as clean as it gets. Notice the tiny cutout for the camera The back of the smartphone features a triple-camera system, a LED flash, and the Samsung logo. The design of the camera system differs from last year’s Galaxy S22+: the camera island is gone. Instead, each of the three cameras protrudes from the back of the smartphone. This design choice makes this phone more similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, a plus in my book. Furthermore, the Galaxy S23+ has the same familiar silhouette with elegantly rounded corners and no sharp lines. I like the general aesthetic and especially how it feels to hold this phone in your hands. I love the aesthetic used for the camera system The right side of the Samsung Galaxy S23+ has the Volume rocker and the Power button. They’re responsive and provide good feedback. The buttons on the right side of Galaxy S23 Plus On the left side of this smartphone, you won’t find any buttons, only two inserts that facilitate signal reception. There are no buttons on the left The top side of the Galaxy S23+ has a hole for one of the microphones and an insert for the GSM antenna. The top side of the Galaxy S23+ At the bottom, you find a speaker, the USB-Type C charging port, the main microphone, and the dual nanoSIM tray. Unfortunately, there’s no support for expandable storage, which is disappointing. What you find on the bottom of the phone Color-wise, Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus shares the same colors as its smaller brother, the Galaxy S23. You can choose between four colors: Phantom Black, Green, Cream, and Lavender. The colors for Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus And if you buy your smartphone from Samsung’s website, you get access to two exclusive colors: Graphite and Lime. Colors exclusive to Samsung.com Lastly, Samsung Galaxy S23+ is IP68 certified for dust and water resistance. It can withstand being submerged for 30 minutes in up to 1.5 m of water. As expected, the design and build quality of the Samsung Galaxy S23+ are excellent. The smartphone looks similar to last year’s model, with a few important differences regarding the camera system on the back. Overall, the device feels sturdy and surprisingly light for a 6.6-inch phone, while Samsung’s design language is as elegant as ever.

Hardware specifications

The most important improvements brought by the Samsung Galaxy S23+ are in its hardware. First, the Galaxy S23 lineup is the first in many years to feature a Qualcomm processor in all markets. Gone are the Samsung Exynos chips of the past offered in European countries and other regions. We now get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy mobile platform, an overclocked variant made exclusively for Samsung. Only the main core out of the eight that make up this SoC is overclocked from 3.2 GHz to 3.36 GHz. As you’ll see later in the benchmarks section, this guarantees Samsung the performance crown in the Android world. Samsung Galaxy S23+ is available in versions with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB or 512 GB of storage. One unfortunate aspect is that the operating system has become very large on Samsung’s smartphones, now occupying around 65 GB. The version I received for testing had 256 GB of storage, which is very little, considering that you can record 8K videos with this smartphone. Expandable storage would have been welcome, but that’s missing. Details about the internal storage of the Samsung Galaxy S23+ The display of the Samsung Galaxy S23+ has a diagonal of 6.6 inches, a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, a density of 393 ppi (pixels per inch), and a ~87.6% screen-to-body ratio. It also uses an excellent AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and 1750 nits peak brightness. Furthermore, it supports HDR10+. The screen on the Galaxy S23+ is beautiful The Samsung Galaxy S23+ has the same rear camera setup as last year’s model. It includes a main 50-megapixel wide camera (f/1.8 aperture, dual pixel autofocus, and optical image stabilization), a 10 Megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom (f/2.4 aperture), and 12 Megapixel ultrawide (f/2.2 aperture). The selfie camera has been improved compared to the Galaxy S22+. We now get a 12-megapixel wide lens with f/2.2 aperture and dual pixel autofocus. The cameras on the back of the smartphone Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus features stereo speakers tuned by AKG and excellent connectivity options: a Wi-Fi 6E wireless network chip, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, dual-band GPS receivers, and A-GPS. Unfortunately, a 3.5 mm audio jack is lacking, and you only get a USB Type-C port. The battery is non-removable and has a capacity of 4700 mAh. It can be fast charged at 45 Watts using a proprietary Samsung charger. Unfortunately, one is not available in the standard packaging of the Galaxy S23+. Qi wireless charging is also available at 15 Watts, and reverse wireless charging delivers 4.5 Watts. By looking at these specs, it’s clear that Samsung is steadily falling behind the rest of the Android market, which offers bigger batteries on similarly sized smartphones and much faster charging. If you want to check this smartphone’s official specs, go to this page: Galaxy S23 vs. Galaxy S23+ vs. Galaxy S23 Ultra. Turn the page to see my experience using the Samsung Galaxy S23+ and learn more about the camera quality, performance in benchmarks, and bundled software.

The smartphone experience on the Samsung Galaxy S23+

The thing I noticed as soon as I started using the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is just how snappy it is. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is much better than the Exynos chips of the past, which lowered the quality of the user experience for users in Europe and other markets. The new chip provides excellent performance in everything you do, from running all the basic apps to the more demanding games, and delivers improved battery life. Samsung Galaxy S23+ is great for watching high-resolution movies As expected from a premium smartphone, phone calls were of high quality, and so was the signal reception. The audio is clear and you can set it to reach a high volume. Talking with someone on the loudspeaker is also a great experience, with no sound distortions and plenty of volume. Samsung Galaxy S23+ uses an under-display ultrasonic fingerprint reader, which is accurate and reasonably quick. The face-unlock feature also works well and fast, including for people wearing glasses, like myself, who have to record their faces with the glasses on and off. The fingerprint screen reader works great Gaming is a highly satisfying experience on the Samsung Galaxy S23+. On this smartphone, you can play anything, at the best available image quality, with an excellent frame rate. Popular games Diablo Immortal, Fortnite, or Elder Scrolls Blades run very well. You’ll be happy with the responsiveness of the phone, its refresh rate, and image quality. Gaming on the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is a blast Another area where the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus performs great is the audio experience. This smartphone is quite loud, with a rich bass and excellent mids. Listening to music is an enjoyable experience, as is watching movies, due to the superb display that complements the speakers. The screen looks great, is fast and responsive, and offers great visibility, even when using your phone outdoors. To make things even better, the panel supports HDR10+, making everything look nicer and more realistic. Galaxy S23+ offers a good audio experience too However, one area where Samsung Galaxy S23+ is way behind its competitors is fast charging. Even though I used a Samsung 45W fast charger, the charging speeds I got were very slow. Other websites reported charging the Samsung Galaxy S23+ from 0% to 100% in one hour. However, in my testing, it got from 0% to 100% in 83 minutes, which is a lot for today’s standards. Even mid-range smartphones like the Motorola Edge 30 Fusion go from 0% to 100% in just 42 minutes. Others phones charge completely in just 30 minutes or less. Charging the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is slow While there may be an issue with my fast charger (for the last year, I’ve been using it daily to charge my Galaxy S22), it’s still disappointing that Samsung has made no improvements on this front for so many years. On the upside, the autonomy offered by Samsung Galaxy S23+ is excellent. This phone easily lasts one day and a half in normal use. If you’re a light user, you can expect up to two days of autonomy on a single charge, which is great. Samsung Galaxy S23+ is an excellent smartphone with an elegant and satisfying user experience. The display looks great indoors and outdoors, and its performance and autonomy are superb. The only important weakness of the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is how slow it charges compared to its competitors.

The camera experience on the Samsung Galaxy S23+

The Camera app offered by Samsung remains as easy to use as ever. It’s chock-full of features and works great, no matter what you want to capture. One important addition is the tight integration with the new Expert RAW app, which lets you use advanced controls for taking professional pictures. The results are saved using the RAW format, and you can then tweak them in Adobe Lightroom and similar image editing products. The Camera app on the Samsung Galaxy S23+ The only thing I dislike about Samsung’s Camera app is the lack of a dedicated Macro shooting mode. However, the Samsung Galaxy S23+ can take macro pictures, as you’ll see in the sample album below. The images captured with the main 50 Megapixels camera are binned down by a factor of 4 to 12MP, though you can choose to capture 50MP photos if you wish. However, you won’t notice a substantial uptick in image quality if you do so. Moreover, your pictures will take up a lot more storage space. Quality-wise, it doesn’t matter whether you use the main camera or the ultrawide one; colors are vibrant and sharp, the contrast is well-balanced, and highlights don’t get blown out. Simply put, your pictures will look great in any lighting conditions. Night photography has been boosted, and video recording in low-light conditions also works great. Here’s a sample I’ve recorded in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second: Video stabilization is very good. You can find a sample, with the Super steady mode turned on, in the clip below: The selfie camera has received a welcome upgrade this year, which results in sharper images, including in low-light conditions. Selfies are sharp and look great The camera experience on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus is great in all lighting conditions. Night mode works even better than on the Galaxy S22+, the Camera app is a pleasure to use, and the new Exper RAW app will be appreciated by users who are into professional photography.

Android 13, OneUI 5.1, and bundled apps

Samsung Galaxy S23+ comes with OneUI 5.1 preinstalled, which is based on Android 13. In addition, this version features some nifty new features like the Battery widget, which is integrated with Samsung’s ecosystem of smartphone accessories. One of the best things about buying this phone is its excellent software support. The company promises four generations of its OneUI interface and five years of security updates. You get awesome software support One downside of Samsung’s ecosystem is that it can include many apps and Samsung clones of Google’s default Android apps. However, you can choose to install only some of them. In case you allow Samsung to install all the apps its wants, the full experience includes the following:

• Samsung Internet Browser - while I prefer to use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, the Samsung Browser is fast and has the advantage of being fully tested on Samsung devices
• SmartThings - Samsung’s app for the management and automation of smart devices. One of its most useful features is the ability to locate missing Galaxy devices with SmartThings Find
• Bixby - Samsung’s intelligent voice assistant in the cloud, ready to help
• Samsung Health - a health & fitness app for Samsung wearables like the Galaxy Watch5
• Galaxy Wearable - helps you pair and configure Samsung wearable devices with your smartphone
• AR Zone - allows you to play with augmented reality emojis, doodles, and other items
• Galaxy Store - Samsung’s app store. I can’t help but wonder: Are there any people using it instead of the Google Play Store?
• Samsung Calculator - a simple app that helps you with math, unit conversions, and more
• Samsung Voice Recorder - a simple voice recording app that does what you expect it to do
• Samsung Members - helps you connect with other Samsung Galaxy device owners and get help when running into problems
• Spotify - the popular music streaming service
• Gallery - Samsung’s alternative to Google Photos
• Samsung Notes - a good and easy-to-use app for note-taking. You might enjoy using it.
• Game Launcher - a mix between a game store and a gaming platform, allowing users to play games without installing them. It also allows tweaking performance settings for games.
• Samsung Global Goals - an app that enables users to donate money to charity by viewing ads or donating directly
• Samsung Free - Samsung’s alternative to Google Discover. I find it an inferior choice to Google’s product.
• Smart Switch - a migration tool that helps move all your files, apps, and games from your old smartphone to your new Samsung Galaxy S23+

Samsung bundles many apps The default configuration includes several Microsoft apps (Microsoft 365, OneDrive, LinkedIn, and Outlook) and the usual Google apps. The Samsung Galaxy S23+ also has several productivity-oriented features like Samsung DeX (which allows you to use the phone like a PC) and Edge Panels for quick app access. If you opt for the default configuration, the Samsung Galaxy S23+ can be filled with many unnecessary apps. However, it’s just as easy to deselect them in the initial setup. Furthermore, you can uninstall most of them. On the upside, it’s great that Samsung will provide updates for five years to its excellent albeit bloated software.

Performance in benchmarks

In this review, we’ve seen how the Samsung Galaxy S23+ looks and what it’s like using it, both from a hardware and software perspective. To get a better idea of its power, I also ran some benchmarks: The first one I ran was Geekbench, a benchmark that measures the processor’s performance both on single-core and multi-core. The Samsung Galaxy S23+ got impressive results: the Single-Core score was 1937 points, and the Multi-Core one was 5104 points. The GPU Compute test also revealed a high score of 9113 points. These scores are much better than those reached by the Exynos 2200 chipset used on the Galaxy S22 lineup. Geekbench results Next, I installed PCMark for Android, which simulates a wider range of tasks (browsing, text editing, etc.). In the Work 3.0 test, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus scored 13258 points, making it one of the best-performing smartphones in the Android world. The score in PCMark for Android To evaluate the potential for gaming performance, I ran 3DMark. In the standard Wild Life test, it maxed out and proved too powerful. However, in the Wild Life Extreme test, it scored 3460, 65% higher than what last year’s model got, equipped with an Exynos 2200 chipset. This proves that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy mobile platform is a much better fit for the Galaxy S lineup. The scores in 3DMark The GFXBench scores were also excellent, up to 50% better than those reached by the previous generation, based on the Exynos 2200 mobile platform. The scores in GFXBench I used the Battery Life 3.0 test from the PCMark suite to see how long the battery lasts. It ran for 20 hours and 46 minutes of continuous use. This is a great result, confirming that efficiency and battery life are a strength of the Samsung Galaxy S23+. Battery Life 3.0 test 5G mobile reception isn’t great with my current carrier, so I didn’t test the speeds you get when using 5G mobile networks. I did measure the Wi-Fi 6 speeds, though, using Ookla’s Speedtest. The results were excellent: 825 Mbps for the download speed and 792 Mbps for the upload (the maximum allowed by my internet connection is 800 Mbps). The speed you get on Wi-Fi 6 Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus performs beautifully, offering the most performance you can get from a smartphone that’s part of the Android ecosystem. All the benchmarks I’ve run confirm that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy mobile platform is superb.

Do you like the Samsung Galaxy S23+?

Except for true fast charging, there’s little more one could ask from a 2023 flagship smartphone. Using the Samsung Galaxy S23+ is a great experience, and I love that it’s equipped with the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy mobile chip in all markets, providing excellent performance and battery life. The camera experience is also better than last year, and that’s another area I appreciated when reviewing the S23+. Before closing this article, let me know your thoughts: Do you like the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus? Would you like to buy it, or are you considering other alternatives? Comment using the options below and share your perspective.