It’s time to show a bit of love to its slightly less expensive siblings, the Samsung S23 and the Samsung S23 Plus. One of them is big, one of them is not quite so big. They’re both powered by that beefy Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 as is also found crammed inside of the Samsung S23 Ultra. They come back in some pretty premium specs, but also have a rather hefty price tag. So let’s whip them out of the box, take you on a full on tour and do a side by side comparison. So first up, and I get the feeling this bit won’t take long, what do you get in these teeny boxes? Well, you get your choice of Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphone. You go to porky pin device to stick your SIM inside. You’ve got a quick start guide and some other paper guff and a USB cable. And as usual, that’s it. No frills, no flair, no plastic covers or actual adapters or anything. There you go, that was easy.
Samsung S23 / Samsung S23 Plus First Impressions
Alright, so here we have the Samsung S23 and the Samsung 23 Plus. No mixing these two up because there is quite a sizable difference between them. They are very much the little and large of the smartphone world. Galaxy S23 pleasingly hand friendly at 6.1 inches, one of the only compact handsets you’ll be able to bag yourself in 2023 compared with the 6.6 inch Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, more of a standard smartphone size. Once you get past those different dimensions, the design is very similar on the three and the Plus. They both feature a perfectly flat display rounded in the corners and those edges are completely flat. They are ever so slightly rounded they actually feel quite comfortable to clutch. especially the regular S23, with it’s pleasingly miniature form, even I, with my stubby fingers, can just about use this thing one handed. You actually have a dedicated one handed mode on both of these blowers too, and both the S23 and that Plus model are pretty Hardy buggers as well. You’ve got Gorilla Glass Victus 2 up front protecting that display, and around on the RN and sandwiched in between those two plates of glass is some armour aluminium. The good news is that Victus 2 screen and rear end has definitely done the job on the Samsung S23 Ultra. A couple of weeks on, still no scratches anywhere on that thing and that includes the armour aluminium frame as well. With a bit of luck the Galaxy S23 and Samsung S23 Plus should also stay completely mark free; so stay tuned for my full review to find out. Now thankfully while there is glass around the back, Samsung has at least gone for a Matt finish which seems pretty resistant to grimy
greasy fingerprints. Just give these blowers a bit of spit and Polish occasionally and they’ll be looking box fresh.
I’ve got to admit I did prefer the design on last year’s Samsung S22 series with that lovely camera cut out section. In comparison, just having those camera lenses poke straight out of the OSS like this just looks a bit bland. Still, I do like the colours that Samsung has gone with. You can pick up both of these blowers in the same hues, Phantom Black, Cream Green and Lavender. The cream and black models are very nice.
Colours – Samsung S23 / Plus
This is the Cream Samsung S23 Ultra just for comparison purposes. Look at how much of a monster is it’s so much bigger even than the Plus. The lavender has its charms as well, but I really like the green. I think that my favourite new Galaxy colour goes quite nicely with my desk plants, and both the regular Galaxy S23 and the S23 Plus pack plenty of recycled materials as well as you can kind of feel like you’re saving the planet by upgrading. They’re both IP68 water and dust resistant. So now let’s have a shifty at the software and unsurprisingly it’s identical on the Galaxy S23 and the Samsung S23 Plus. You’re basically running
the latest, greatest Android 13, with Samsung’s very own One UI 5.1 launcher slathered on top. If you’ve used a Samsung smartphone in recent times, you’ll know exactly what to expect when you see that it packs in lots of Samsung exclusive features, most of which are basically just replicas of stuff you already get in Android. You’ve got Samsung Health, you’ve got an Internet browser, you’ve got something to control your smart home buddies. You’ve got a Voice Assistant, albeit one that’s not quite as good as the Google Assistant, and you’ve got lots of extra bonus bits chucked on top of Android for instance, the Modes and
Teens section. That’s a damn good way of automating lots of stuff on your smartphone. You’ve got some bonus “always on display” options, and absolutely tonnes of widgets. I’ve already discussed the best bits of 1 UI 5.1 in my full Samsung S23 Tips and Tricks guides that is live right now, 17 minutes of absolute delight. It’s not difficult to check that out if you want to know more about the software.
Both the regular Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S23 Plus offer a choice of 256 or 512 gigs of storage. Plus there is a smaller 128 gig
for the Samsung S23. However, as you’ll see if you yank open the symmetry on either of these blowers, there’s no room in there for micro SD memory card. Only two SIM cards and both Galaxy S23 phones also support esim if you’d rather go down that route.
Samsung S23 / Samsung S23 Plus – Screen
Now when it comes to the display tech, the only difference between these two Samsung blowers is the size. You’ve got a 6.6 inch AMOLED display here on the Samsung S23 Plus model, compared with the weenie little 6.1 inch on the regular S23, but both of them
almost a full HD plus resolution 2340 by 1080 pixels. So technically, the Galaxy S23 display is sharper than the Plus size model. either way, you’re getting a gorgeous picture. Certainly on the Max style brightness you’ll have no trouble seeing exactly what is going on, even on a very sunny day. You’ve got full support for HDR 10 Plus content on here, but no love for Dolby Vision on either phone. I have to say that it’s supported HDR content looks absolutely stunning. Such lifelike images, and even though it’s not quite as crisp on the Plus model, it’s still perfectly sharp; fine details packed into every frame. Samsung has packed in the Advanced Vision Booster feature as well, which can tweak the colour and contrast of that display more effectively to suit the ambient light and in your room, so everything is nice and clear and easy on your peepers. |You’ve also got an adaptive refresh rate on both of these Galaxy S23 blowers, which ranges from 48 Hertz all the way up to 120 Hertz, so if you’re just kicking back with a movie or just browsing some photos, for instance, it will drop down to those lower levels, whereas if you’re playing a game that supports 120 Hertz refresh, it will be boosted all the way up. Although the Samsung displays are pretty tough, should you need a Samsung S23 Screen Replacement or a Samsung S23 plus screen replacement, we only replace with genuine Samsung Screens, so you phone will be like new.
Both Galaxy S23 phones sport a stereo speaker set up, complete with Dolby Atmos and Bluetooth 5.3 support. But just how good are those speakers? Is there a clear difference between the S23 and the Plus model? Let’s find out. So first up, the regular Galaxy S23. Samsung’s Galaxy S23 smartphones are a hit in the UK this week, and as always, one UI 5.1 is as dense as that Musk fella.
And now the Plus model. . perhaps unsurprisingly the Samsung S23 Plus has the more powerful stereo speaker output because it’s got more room to work with, it’s certainly louder on that maxed out volume. At least neither is particularly tinny, once you do max out that volume. You’ve got no headphone jack action on either model, so it is Bluetooth streaming all the way if you want to get some headphones or speakers on the go. And here’s that awesome tips and tricks guide I was telling you about. Definitely go check that out later, of course. So let’s glide our way onto performance. Samsung has stuffed the same chipset into both the Galaxy S23 and the S23 plus its Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and that’s backed in both of my review models by 8 gigs of RAM, which is kind of meagre compared with what some rivals are stuffing inside of their phones. We’re talking 1216 gigs, interestingly even though it’s the exact same chipset, power in both the Galaxy S23 and the Samsung S23 Plus, they’ve got the exact same amount of memory. I have found that in Geekbench 6, the Plus consistently outperforms the regular Galaxy S23, not by a huge margin by any means, but as you can see a slight uplift in the single and the multicore scores; and I’ve run this test multiple times Now. There’s always a slight uplift, so presumably it just comes down to the Snapdragon not being quite as efficient in that more compact frame, but the general everyday performance nice and smooth on both of these smartphones. And yes, if you are a gym at the Snapdragon, Hit Gen 2 can easily handle even the most demanding fair out there like Genshin Impact, even when you boost it all the way up to the maximum graphical settings, just to be absolutely sure. Of course, I did smash my weight through a good bit of tension on both the regular S23 and the Plus model as well. Even with an hour issue of action on both of these handsets, they both coped admirably. No noticeable drops in those frame rates, and they both seemed relatively cool as well.
Battery Performance the Samsung S23 /S23+
Please do come back for my full in-depth Samsung S23 and my “That’s 23 plus” review to see how that performance holds up over time with everyday use. And yet something does OfferUp a basic game and mode on all of its Galaxy smartphones, which does give you the priority mode so that can dedicate all the resources to the game and make sure you’re not disturbed in the middle of some really frantic action. Now Samsung has managed to increase the battery size in both of these Galaxy S23 blows, even though the dimensions remain more or less the same as the previous generations. You got a 3900 milliamp power battery cell in the regular S23 and a 4700 milliamp parcel here in the Samsung S23 Plus. So fair enough, only a small increase in the capacity for both of these batteries, but bear in mind that the previous Samsung S22 generation that I reviewed here in the UK was powered by a Samsung Exynos chipset that turned out not to be particularly energy efficient. In comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has been holding up really well on that front, so I’m hoping the change in chipset as well as the slightly increased size for the battery means greater longevity for both of these blows in particular the Galaxy S23, because the Samsung S22 Plus was fine anywhere that Samsung S22 from last year. My God, if you lasted a day, you were lucky, or you just left it wedged firmly in your pocket all day long. And it’s the same wired and wireless charging tech on both these handsets as well, so not particularly nippy when you do plug them in. But to be fair, especially here on the S23, it’s not a massive battery anyway, so it won’t take long to charge since the newer batteries are fast charge, but don’t last like 5 years like many of the older Samsung S20 batteries would, which means you may need a Samsung S23 Battery Replacement or a Samsung S23 Plus battery replacement sooner than you may think.
Samsung S23 / plus Camera Review
So let’s finish up this unboxing with the squint at the camera tech. And while the Samsung S23 Ultra sported all new hardwear
around back, unfortunately here on the regular S23 and S23 Plus it is recycled camera tech from last year. So what we’re dealing with here is that self same 50 megapixel shooter from last year once again with optical image stabilisation and both Galaxy S 24 ones also dish up a 12 megapixel ultra wide angle shooter if you want a more pulled back view of the action as well as a 10 megapixel telephoto shooter. And that’s with a three times optical zoom. And here’s just a few sample shots that I’ve snapped with the Galaxy S 23 and 23, plus my first 48 hours. There has been no discernible difference in the photo quality between the two, as you’d expect, as it’s the same hardware and software and I can’t really notice much difference compared with the previous generation To be honest, in low light its definitely not as good as that ultra model, and any movement subjects will often come out blurry as well. But stay tuned for a full in-depth review to see how the Galaxy S 23 and 23 plus camera tech really stacks up. You’ve got the same set of bonus modes on here as well, including a bit of portrait shenanigans which as you can see
this is the telephoto lens by default and all the usual extra Samsung bits including the obligatory food mode. You’ve got a night mode as well for those low light shots of all this is active by default in auto mode you got the single take, which I rather like if you’ve got kids or cats or whatever. You can also access the expert role model directly through the camera modes now. And with this you’ve got the option of shooter in in 12 megapixels or use an all 450 megapixel bits of action from that sensor. If you’d like to shoot a bit of video, well that’s one area where Samsung smartphones usually excel, and as usual, it’s in full HD by default. You can boost that U to Ultra HD 4K here at 30 or 60 frames per second, and you’ve now also got the option of shooting AK AT30FPS. again, here’s just a quick look at some of the sample 8K footage that I shot using the S23 and the S23 Plus in the first or 48 hours. , Stay tuned for my in-depth review for a full analysis. And last up, flip around to the front of the Galaxy S23 and the S23,
thus both serve up a 12 megapixel selfie shooter with wide angle action. Such a difference it makes, and the selfie camera seems to hold up well even in a really bright light and in dim light as well as it does do a good job of locking onto your face and keeping you sharp. A bit too much detail if anything in fact, And core Blimey governor… If you wanna shoot a bit of vlog action with that selfie snapper, well, you can shoot up to 4K resolution video at 30 or 60 frames per second. Again, a bit of a blinder audio pickup.
Perfectly acceptable as you would expect, and there you have it, my lovelies. There is my unboxing and full tour of the Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus and as you can see beyond the dimensions and the obvious increase in battery capacity, not exactly much between them at all. All of that and maybe a couple of £100 as well I guess. So what do you reckon? are you tempted by either of these lovely Samsung handsets? Which one would you go for and why? Stay tuned for my in-depth reviews. I’m already got my SIM card slapped into the regular S23, and I’m hoping to bring you a review of the Samsung S23. If you prefer to listen to a video review, you can head over to Youtube for a comprehensive comparison
