Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+: Custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, bigger batteries

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Just days before the one year anniversary of the Galaxy S22 series debuted, Samsung has now launched their successor, the Galaxy S23 series. If you want to know more about the Galaxy S23 Ultra in particular, you can head on over here, but do read on to know more about the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+.

Samsung Galaxy S23 specs

Starting with the smallest of the litter, the Galaxy S23 will at first glance seem mostly unchanged from the previous generation Galaxy S22. In fact, it does come with the same 6.1-inch, Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with an FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It is able to push out 1750nits of peak brightness, as well as HDR10+ support and Samsung’s Vision Booster and Enhanced Comfort features. You’ll also find a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 over it for scratch resistance, making it the first lineup of smartphones to use it.

The most notable upgrade here though is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 under the hood. But this isn’t the regular ol’ Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that we first saw debut in November last year that has since powered the likes of the iQoo 11 5G. Instead, this is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, which is an overclocked version of Qualcomm’s flagship mobile chipset. Specifically, it’s prime CPU core is clocked at a higher 3.36GHz instead of the usual 3.2GHz, while the Adreno GPU is also clocked faster now at 719MHz.

Furthermore, the Galaxy S23 will also come with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage; do note though that the 128GB storage option will be using the slower and older UFS 3.1 standard instead. It will also of course come with Android 13 out of the box running One UI 5.1 over it, with four years of major Android updates and five years of security patches.

In the camera department meanwhile, the Galaxy S23 appears to be keeping the same triple rear camera setup as before, with only the Galaxy S23 Ultra getting the fancy new 200MP shooter. This means a main 50MP, f/1.8 main camera flanked by a 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide shooter with a 120° field of view and a 10MP telephoto shooter offering a 3x optical zoom.

There are however some new features, such as Astrophoto and Astro Hyperlapse shooting which allows users to take pictures and videos of the night sky, as well as improved Nightography low light mode and an Expert RAW app for ‘DSLR-style image shooting’. Upfront meanwhile is a 12MP, f/2.2 camera with autofocus for all your selfie needs, a mild bump over the 10MP selfie shooter in its predecessor.

Elsewhere, keeping the lights on is a 3,900mAh battery which is a solid upgrade over the smaller 3,700mAh battery in the Galaxy S22. It still however only has 25W fast charging which is a little disappointing, but you do still get 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging, with Samsung claiming that it is capable of a 50% charge in just half an hour. You’re also getting an IP68 dust and water resistance rating on the Galaxy S23. Other features of note include Samsung Multi Control allowing you to sync with Samsung computers and tablets, as well as their Samsung Knox and Knox Vault security features.

The chassis is also built out of recycled material, with the frame using 80% recycled PET and 20% recycled ocean bound plastic, and the glass layers made of 22% recycled glass. There’s an in-display fingerprint sensor too, along with stereo speakers and support for 5G, WiFi 6E, NFC and Bluetooth 5.3. Weighing in at 168g and measuring 7.6mm thick, the Galaxy S23 will come in Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender colourways.

Galaxy S23+ specs

Meanwhile, for those of you who prefer a larger device, Samsung also has the Galaxy S23+. It’s pretty similar to the standard Galaxy S23 in terms of design though, keeping the rounded corners and the flat front and back look. Of course, you do get a larger display, with Samsung packing a 6.6-inch, FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, a 240Hz touch sampling rate along with Vision Booster, Enhanced Comfort and HDR10+. You also again get the layer of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for scratch resistance.

Under the hood, things are mostly the same as the Galaxy S23, with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy system-on-chip the star of the show here along with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, double that of the Galaxy S23. There’s also One UI 5.1 out of the box as usual, along with the promise of four major Android OS upgrades and five years of security patches. Another major upgrade the Galaxy S23+ has over its predecessor is in the battery department, with a larger 4,700mAh battery. It comes with support for 45W fast charging, 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.

Other than that though, the Galaxy S23+ keeps mostly the same hardware as the Galaxy S23 itself, with the same triple rear camera setup on the back housing the main 50MP shooter, the 12MP ultrawide camera and a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, along with the 12MP front camera. It also comes with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, an in-display fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers, Samsung Knox and support for 5G, NFC, WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

It measures the same 7.6mm in thickness too, though it’s of course heavier at 196g. The Galaxy S23+ will come in Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender colourways (along with the online-exclusive Lime and Graphite), and while the full local pricing and availability details of the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ will be available later, we do know that it will start with a recommended retail price of RM3,899.