Samsung announced three smartphones during its Galaxy Unpacked event in the form of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

While the Ultra sits at the top of the pack and features a slightly different design, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ are identical to each other in terms of appearance, bar their physical sizes.

You can read our first impressions on the Galaxy S23 Ultra in our separate feature, but here we are focusing on the regular Samsung Galaxy S23.

Subtle design changes

  • 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6mm, 168g Phantom Black, Lavender, Cream, Green IP68, Armor Aluminium

The Samsung Galaxy S23 shares a very similar design to its predecessor - certainly from the front anyway. There’s a flat display with a centralised punch hole camera at the top and slim bezels surrounding the screen.

  • Premium design Lovely display Power upgrades

  • No huge changes

There are some subtle differences, the edges of the glossy frame feel flatter than previously, the weight of the Galaxy S23 is refreshingly light, and the matte glass rear feels pleasant to hold. The most notable change compared to the Galaxy S22 can be seen in the rear camera setup though.

Moving from the three lenses being encompassed within an island, the Galaxy S23 has standalone lenses, like the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It’s a much cleaner approach that looks surprisingly better than the Galaxy S22, though it’s so simple that it’s almost a little boring.

When the Samsung Galaxy S8 launched in 2017, we remember feeling genuine excitement for what it had achieved. The Infinity-O display, the curved edges, the sleek design. While the Galaxy S23 looks and feels great - the 168g weight really is very refreshing - it’s not Samsung’s most exciting design to date. Ultimately, it plays it safe this year round, much like Apple did with the iPhone 14 in 2022.

Colour options for the Galaxy S23 series are the same across all three models, with four choices: Phantom Black, Cream, Lavender and Green. Our favourites were the Green and Lavender options. The Green has lovely depth, while the Lavender option is a lovely subtle shade.

Bright display

  • 6.1-inches, Super AMOLED, Infinity-O Full HD+, 425ppi 1750nits peak Gorilla Victus 2

While the design of the Galaxy S23 has a couple of subtle differences, the display remains largely the same as the Galaxy S22. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, Samsung displays are some of the best in the business and the Galaxy S23 continues with this accolade from what we could tell.

Colours appeared vibrant and punchy, with blacks full of depth - as is typical for AMOLED panels. The flat 6.1-inch screen is a little brighter than its predecessor though - offering an outdoor peak of 1750nits, which is around 250nits brighter than the Galaxy S22 and represents around the same jump the Galaxy S22 took from the Galaxy S21.

We of course couldn’t test this in our brief time with the Galaxy S23, especially given we weren’t outside, but it will likely help with cutting out reflections and helping you see your screen in bright conditions - like when you’re on that beach.

Viewing angles appeared to be decent too across the screen, and details appeared sharp from what we saw of the display. There’s a Full HD+ resolution delivering a 425ppi, which is a higher pixel density than the Galaxy S23+, though you’d be hard-pressed to tell this with the human eye.

Elsewhere, there’s an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz. You’ll also find support for the usuals like HDR.

Hardware and performance

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy 8GB RAM, 128/256GB 3900mAh battery

The Samsung Galaxy S23 runs on a custom-version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that was revealed in November. This is supported by 8GB of RAM and there are choices of 128GB and 256GB storage options - the same as offered by the Galaxy S22.

We couldn’t test the performance of the Galaxy S23 during our time with it, though based on the small amount we did play with it, everything was slick and fast, as you would expect.

There’s a 3900mAh battery under the hood, which is slightly larger than the Galaxy S22 and Samsung has said the Galaxy S23 supports Fast Charging. It didn’t specify the charging capabilities, though rumours had previously said it would top out at 25W - which although is fine, is quite a bit slower than the likes of OnePlus and Oppo are now offering.

Elsewhere on the hardware front, the Samsung Galaxy S23 has Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 - though again there are no specifics as to the speed. The Galaxy S23 supports sub6 and mmWave 5G and there’s a Wi-Fi 6E support too.

Camera capabilities

  • Triple rear camera (50MP+12MP+10MP) 12MP front camera

The Samsung Galaxy S23 features a triple camera on the rear - which as we previously mentioned now sees standalone lenses rather than lenses within a camera housing. Resolutions remain the same as the Galaxy S22 though, with a 50-megapixel main sensor with f/1.8 aperture, a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor with f/2.4 aperture.

There are a couple of new features on the Galaxy S23, including Expert RAW allowing for a 50-megapixel RAW image file instead of the previous 12-megapixel file, as well as an AstroHyperlapse mode that takes pictures of moving stars. This is a separate app that you have to download from the camera settings though as oddly it isn’t pre-installed.

The Galaxy S22 will also get updated to offer the Expert RAW feature so older devices will get some of the newer features - it’s not clear if they will get the AstroHyperlapse mode. They won’t get the upgraded front camera though, which moves to a 12-megapixel sensor on the Galaxy S23 compared to the 10-megapixel sensor on the Galaxy S22.

We couldn’t test the camera capabilities of the Galaxy S23 during our time with it, but we will be sure to test this out properly when we come to review it. Based on Samsung’s previous efforts, we’d expect good things from it as Samsung has always been great at delivering good results from a simple point and shoot.

The camera app did seem a little overcomplicated - something Sony used to do on its phones - making some of the features like the AstroHyperlapse difficult to find, but we’re looking forward to seeing how it performs.

Software

  • Android 13 One UI

The Samsung Galaxy S23 launches on Android 13. That’s obviously modified with Samsung’s One UI over to top, piling in additional features and services. Samsung is promising four OS updates for Android - so it will end on Android 17 - as well as 5-years of security updates. That’s about the best you’ll find in Android phones at the moment.

On the software front we haven’t explored all the features, but much of the focus is now on developing the Samsung ecosystem, for example getting you phone to communicate better with your Galaxy Book you might have. There are of course services like Samsung Pay and Samsung’s own finding service integrated into SmartThings in Samsung’s thorough reworking of the user interface.

First impressions

The Samsung Galaxy S23 appears to deliver a premium build quality, plenty of power and a good feature set based on the listed specifications and our first impressions, though it’s certainly not groundbreaking.

Improvements appear to have been made compared to the Galaxy S22, and the design has been refined slightly, helping you distinguish between them, but we can’t help but feel like Samsung has played it just a little too safe.

We suspect the Galaxy S23 will be a great device in use, and we really did like how light and comfortable it was, but there could well be an argument for saving some money and buying the Galaxy S22 instead. The Samsung Galaxy S23 will start from £849 (128GB) with pre-orders now open from Samsung.com and other retailers.