The bottom Galaxy S mannequin from Samsung has loved the privilege of being the one compact Android flagship in India for the previous few years. Nonetheless, issues are completely different now as Google confirmed up out of nowhere and determined to convey its premium Pixel smartphones to India. The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Professional are particular too as they’ve their very own custom-designed SoC which powers the ‘Pixel expertise’. This consists of good options, well timed software program updates, characteristic drops, and its imaging expertise.
Samsung has upped its sport by going with a barely customised Qualcomm SoC this 12 months for the Galaxy S23 collection, however majority of the options of the Galaxy S23 are just like final 12 months’s mannequin. Does the method of a ‘small flagship with massive energy’ nonetheless apply in 2023, or would you be higher off with one thing from the competitors? We discover out on this evaluation.
Samsung Galaxy S23 value in India
The Samsung Galaxy S23 is accessible in 4 finishes and two configurations. There’s Phantom Black, Cream, Inexperienced, and Lavender finishes to select from. The 2 storage variants embrace the bottom variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage which is accessible at Rs. 74,999, whereas the second variant with 256GB of storage is priced at Rs. 79,999. I acquired the Lavender unit with 256GB of storage for evaluation.
Samsung Galaxy S23 design
The Samsung Galaxy S22 (Overview) converted from the extra rounded design of the Galaxy S21 (Overview), and added a contour cutout for the digital camera module which gave it a novel look. With the Galaxy S23, Samsung has recycled a significant a part of its predecessor’s design however changed the contour digital camera module with three particular person cutouts for every digital camera, similar to the Extremely. Samsung calls this its ‘floating digital camera’ design. The whole lot else just about stays the identical as earlier than and this contains the skinny bezel across the flat show on the entrance, and the IP68 score for mud and water resistance.
The cellphone doesn’t really feel any completely different within the hand, in comparison with the earlier mannequin. In truth the Samsung Galaxy S23 has almost the identical dimensions because the S22. Whereas the brand new rear digital camera design does assist one distinguish the brand new mannequin from the previous one, it does not assist the S23’s premium enchantment when Samsung’s new mid-range choices (Galaxy A54 and Galaxy A34) present up with a really comparable design.
The Samsung Galaxy S23’s show is just like the earlier mannequin
No matter what has modified or unchanged, there is not any denying that the Samsung Galaxy S23 is the one different flagship within the Android camp that is as compact as Apple’s iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Professional. The S23 may not supply the capabilities of the Galaxy S23 Extremely, however compact Android flagships are a tough discover in the present day and people with small or medium-sized palms will respect its dimension and kind issue which might simply slip into a thin denims pocket. Its dimension additionally permits higher one-handed utilization, which is once more uncommon in terms of premium Android gadgets and is one thing that is not even potential on the smaller Pixel 7.
Samsung Galaxy S23 specs and software program
Just like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S23 presents a 6.1-inch full-HD+ Tremendous AMOLED show with a most refresh price of 120Hz and a contact sampling price of 240Hz. The fingerprint reader is embedded within the show and is sort of dependable. Identical to the Galaxy S23 Extremely, Samsung presents the identical customised “Qualcomm Snapdragon eight Gen 2 Cellular Platform for Galaxy” SoC within the Galaxy S23.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 will get a brand new floating digital camera structure, whereas the remainder of the design stays just like the Galaxy S22
Samsung presents the cellphone with a most of 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage, nevertheless, remember that Samsung presents the quicker UFS 4.zero storage solely on the top-end mannequin, because the 128GB variant comes with UFS 3.1 storage. The SIM card tray can maintain two nano-SIM playing cards and the cellphone helps a number of 5G radios with dual-5G standby as nicely. Nonetheless there is no such thing as a expandable storage obtainable with the Galaxy S23.
Communication requirements embrace Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, USB Sort-C port, and assist for the same old satellite tv for pc navigation techniques. The Galaxy S23 now presents a barely bigger 3,900mAh battery which is a welcome transfer over the earlier 3,700mAh unit. Nonetheless, wired charging speeds stay the identical at 25W and the identical goes for wi-fi charging, which stays at 15W. As typical, Samsung doesn’t supply a charger within the field anymore.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 comes with OneUI 5.1 out of the field, which relies on Android 13. Samsung guarantees “4 generations of Android upgrades” and 5 years of safety updates, which is spectacular. Certainly, that is one space the place Samsung has excelled over time because it has been racing to replace latest and older handsets to the most recent Android 13 software program.
Updates apart, OneUI 5.1 feels fairly fluid and comes with some new methods resembling the power to take away objects, folks and pets from a picture within the Gallery app, two new battery widgets, and an improved dynamic climate widget. Broader updates additionally permit Samsung Galaxy E-book laptop computer house owners to make use of their trackpad and keyboard with their telephones.
Whereas there’s so much to love about Samsung’s OneUI, it nonetheless ships with numerous third-party apps resembling Microsoft 365, OneDrive, LinkedIn, Outlook, Fb, Spotify and Netflix, which isn’t the form of bloatware you count on on a smartphone that prices upwards of Rs. 70,000. Extra so, as a result of Google’s Pixel 7 collection manages to keep away from this completely.
There are many Samsung-branded apps that come preinstalled on the Galaxy S23
Add to this, Samsung’s variations of the default Google apps and you’ve got sufficient choices to confuse the informal consumer as to which one they need to go together with. Nonetheless, I am glad to report that none of those Samsung-branded apps throw spammy notifications and most of them (aside from the core Samsung ones) may be uninstalled.
Samsung Galaxy S23 efficiency
The Samsung Galaxy S23’s Tremendous AMOLED show presents punchy colors on the default ‘Vivid’ setting which was to not my liking, so I switched to ‘Pure’ for higher color accuracy. The show will get fairly vibrant outside throughout the day and in addition manages colors and distinction nicely in such conditions.
The 120Hz refresh price does are available in use whereas taking part in sure video games, however the 240Hz contact sampling price did not really feel prefer it was alleged to, particularly when taking part in Name of Responsibility: Cellular and Genshin Impression. It was arduous to precisely level and purpose when taking part in each titles, which might be problematic should you play such titles. The show additionally has an HDR10+ certification and playback of supported streaming content material appeared as anticipated.
Taking its new and customised processor into consideration, the Samsung Galaxy S23 really managed larger benchmark scores than the Galaxy S23 Extremely, primarily as a result of its decrease decision show. It scored 1,944 and 5,008 factors in Geekbench 6’s single and multi-score assessments, and 1,186,610 factors in AnTuTu. Regardless of its larger scores, the cellphone didn’t warmth up as simply because the earlier mannequin below load, nevertheless it throttles so much quicker than the Galaxy S23 Extremely when working the CPU Throttling app.
Battery lifetime of the Samsung Galaxy S23 has positively improved over final 12 months’s Galaxy S22
Final 12 months’s Galaxy S22+ and the Galaxy S22 Extremely fashions had been upgraded with vapour chamber cooling techniques, however Samsung ignored the Galaxy S22, utilizing simply graphite sheets as a substitute. Now, for the primary time ever, Samsung claims to have used a vapour chamber cooling on its smallest Galaxy S collection mannequin and the outcomes are noticeably higher. The cellphone does warmth up when utilizing the digital camera on a sunny afternoon, however it’s nonetheless fairly manageable in comparison with the recent mess the Galaxy S22 was final 12 months.
The identical applies to gaming, the place the cellphone manages sustained efficiency and runs so much cooler than the earlier mannequin. Nonetheless, the Galaxy S23 will nonetheless warmth up when maxing out the visuals in video games like Genshin Impression as it’s a very graphically demanding title that is higher fitted to extra gaming-centric gadgets just like the Asus ROG 6 (Overview).
The Samsung Galaxy S23’s battery has elevated by a small margin, nevertheless it is sufficient to make a distinction. The cellphone simply obtained me by way of a complete day’s price of heavy utilization on one cost, which additionally included some gaming. Nonetheless, the latter exercise does find yourself draining the battery quicker. In our HD video loop take a look at, the Galaxy S23 ran for a stable 17 hours, 56 minutes.
Whereas the Galaxy S23’s battery life has improved over the Galaxy S22, it is nonetheless a one-day-use smartphone solely. Competing smartphones which might be larger in dimension additionally pack larger batteries, and might simply deal with a day and half (or extra) of utilization. Charging the Galaxy S23 from empty to full can be just like its predecessor (round 1 hour, 30 minutes), which is a bit disappointing.
Samsung Galaxy S23 cameras
Persevering with the streak of restricted {hardware} adjustments, I discovered that solely the selfie digital camera has been up to date from a 10-megapixel sensor to a 12-megapixel sensor, which is similar one used on the Galaxy S23 Extremely. Based on Samsung, this improve permits HDR10+ recording on the entrance digital camera. The remainder of the digital camera {hardware} stays just like the earlier mannequin and it features a 50-megapixel major, 10-megapixel telephoto (3X optical zoom), and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide. Identical to the Galaxy S23 Extremely, the Professional RAW app now has a shortcut inside the principle digital camera app. The remainder of the digital camera interface is similar as earlier than.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 is priced just like the Google Pixel 7 Professional
Sine the Pixel 7 Professional is the Galaxy S23’s closest competitor, it simply made sense to do just a few comparability photographs. The Galaxy S23 captured high quality photos with loads of element and good dynamic vary in daylight. However the colors seemed a bit oversaturated regardless of conserving the cellphone’s ‘Scene Optimise’ AI enhancement characteristic disabled. In comparison with the Pixel 7 Professional, the Galaxy S23 fell a bit brief when it got here to resolved element, dynamic vary and color accuracy.
Capturing close-ups of objects is the place the Samsung delivers significantly better particulars (dare I say extreme) than the Pixel. The Pixel 7 Professional alternatively nails it in terms of color accuracy and dynamic vary, which the S23 simply can’t match.
Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 7 Professional daylight digital camera samples. High: Major digital camera, backside: Extremely-wide digital camera (faucet to see full dimension)
With the ultra-wide digital camera, Samsung manages to copy the color tone of its major digital camera fairly nicely which is sweet for consistency, however these images look a bit saturated. Dynamic vary is superb on each smartphones and the identical goes for particulars, which is sort of good.
Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 7 Professional low-light digital camera samples. (Faucet to see full dimension)
In low mild, I used every smartphone’s auto-night mode letting every cellphone’s digital camera resolve whether or not it wanted to fireplace up Night time mode or not. The Samsung Galaxy S23 had the identical issues which I observed when evaluating the Galaxy S23 Extremely to the iPhone 14 Professional, the place it captures barely dreamy wanting images in dimly-lit scenes, and with a noticeable halo impact round objects. Nonetheless, in contrast to the S23 Extremely, the Galaxy S23 lacks the excessive decision sensor, so the resolved particulars aren’t pretty much as good. The Pixel 7 Professional alternatively has minor issues with vibrant lights however manages significantly better images with higher particulars, color accuracy and dynamic vary than the Galaxy S23.
Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 7 Professional daylight zoom samples (Faucet to see full dimension)
When it got here to zoom, Samsung’s Galaxy S23 captured barely oversharpened images at 2X magnification, whereas Google’s Pixel managed images with higher resolved particulars. At 3X, which is the Galaxy’s optical zoom restrict, each telephones handle an analogous stage of high quality, which was stunning as a result of the Pixel’s images are digital crops from the first digital camera. At 5X zoom, which is Pixel’s optical restrict, it managed higher high quality images, whereas the Galaxy S23’s images appeared a bit flat with some oversharpening (as a result of they’re digitally cropped images). In low mild, the Samsung Galaxy S23’s 3X telephoto digital camera’s optical zoom efficiency is not spectacular and is unable to focus correctly. In the meantime, the Pixel 7 Professional does a significantly better job at 5X optical zoom.
Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 7 Professional low-light samples (Faucet to see full dimension)
Selfies in Portrait mode from the entrance digital camera look nice from each smartphones, however Samsung’s Galaxy S23 has an edge due to its newer sensor. The Pixel 7 Professional additionally showcases pure pores and skin tones whereas the Galaxy S23 produces a barely reddish look. The Galaxy S23 additionally captures sharper photos due to its PDAF system, however the Pixel has a a lot wider discipline of view, which is helpful when you have many individuals within the body.
Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 7 Professional daylight and low-light selfie digital camera samples (Faucet to see full dimension)
Capturing selfies in low mild is the place the Samsung Galaxy S23 comes out on prime, when used with the display flash switched on. The Pixel’s photos look fairly messy with the identical settings. Nonetheless, each cameras present comparable high quality when capturing selfies with their respective Night time modes.
When capturing video, I caught to 4K setting as each smartphones are equally able to capturing the identical. The Galaxy S23 captures barely sharper wanting video whereas the Pixel 7 Professional has a extra reasonable look when recording at 4K 60fps. The Pixel additionally managed extra correct colors whereas the Galaxy had extra cooler tones. Each telephones managed a gradual bitrate and good stabilisation when panning and transferring round.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 can be able to capturing 8K video. Whereas it isn’t as detailed because the footage captured from the Galaxy S23 Extremely, it does an excellent job at it and manages a gradual bitrate. Nonetheless, do remember that 8K recordings take up numerous space for storing.
I additionally tried HDR video recording on the Samsung Galaxy S23. Whereas the Pixel’s HDR capabilities have not improved since my final shootout with the iPhone 14 Professional, Samsung did a significantly better job, albeit with saturated colors. In low mild, each smartphones did a good job when capturing at 4K 60fps, however Samsung managed to manage noise so much higher than the Pixel. Nonetheless, the Galaxy S23’s aggressive noise discount comes at the price of weaker particulars.
Verdict
Samsung is at the moment the one smartphone model in India to supply a very compact flagship cellphone, 12 months after 12 months. Most producers withdrew from this type issue within the premium house as show dimension and battery life turned larger priorities amongst consumers. This holds true as even a model as inflexible as Apple, introduced it is second XL-sized smartphone within the type of the iPhone 14 Plus (Overview) final 12 months.
Whereas final 12 months’s Samsung Galaxy S22 nearly lower it when it got here to battery life, this 12 months’s Galaxy S23 does a greater job. It improves on that one paint level most consumers have with compact flagships and this ought to absolutely assist it discover much more takers. If you’re available in the market for a compact flagship and are keen to dwell with the compromises these telephones are identified for (comparatively smaller battery and show), then get a Samsung Galaxy S23 by all means, as there is not any competitors.
Nonetheless, in terms of worth, it will get actually arduous to justify the Galaxy S23’s Rs. 74,999 value. Samsung’s personal Galaxy S22 (Overview) comes fairly near the S23 by way of options and efficiency, together with that compact kind issue. Because it’s greater than a 12 months previous, now you can discover it for roughly Rs. 57,999 and even lesser in on-line shops.
If you’re comfy with one thing barely bigger, Google’s Pixel 7 is a worthy competitor. Whereas it cuts down on the variety of rear cameras and is simply obtainable in a single storage possibility, it is also priced so much decrease than the Galaxy S23 at Rs. 59,999. The larger Pixel 7 Professional (Overview) provides a 3rd digital camera with stable telephoto efficiency at a value that’s just like the Galaxy S23’s 256GB variant. Google’s Pixel gadgets are additionally the primary to get software program updates and it is all inventory, minus the bloatware that Samsung nonetheless masses on its smartphones. Additionally obtainable on the identical value is Vivo’s X80 Professional (Overview) which at Rs. 79,999, presents unimaginable digital camera functionality together with higher battery life.
This text was initially revealed by ndtv.com. Learn the unique article right here.
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