Galaxy S23 first impressions after 36 hours: the mini flagship

After I had to send the Galaxy S23 Ultra back after three days, I used the Galaxy S23, the smallest model of the new series, for 36 hours. I am hugely impressed by this small performance monster. It is a first impression after 36 hours.

Size and feel

I love the size and the low weight: the Galaxy S23 weighs just 168 g. If you are coming from an S21, S22 or S23 Ultra, a Z Fold 4 or an iPhone Pro Max, that feels like a relief. With the matte glass back made of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and the shiny Armor Aluminum frame, it feels smooth, a real pleasure to hold. I think that is the selling point: it fits in any pocket without you having to give up good specs.

Compared directly with the S23 Ultra, I don’t have the feeling of holding a less premium smartphone. I found that surprising.

Display and design

The 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED display has 120 Hz and, like that of the S23 Ultra, gets up to 1,700 nits bright. The base model of the iPhone 14 series, which costs just as much, has only a 90 Hz panel and a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits, according to me.

I think the design is nicely done. The evenly narrow display bezels look symmetrical. On the back there is no raised camera module anymore, the lenses come straight out of the body, as on the S22 and S23 Ultra. That looks elegant and futuristic, especially on the Cream version, because the contrast between the lenses and the body comes out so well. One small downside: dust quickly collects between the lenses.

Camera

The camera is really good and thoroughly solid. There are differences from the S23 Ultra in detail sharpness and a bit in contrast, but photos and videos are really good and usable.

• 12-megapixel selfie camera
• 12-megapixel ultrawide
• 50-megapixel wide (200 megapixels on the Ultra)
• 10-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical and 30x digital zoom (100x on the Ultra)

What surprised me is that the S23 also records 8K video at 30 fps and that it runs really smoothly, pretty impressive for a small device.

Performance and battery

The S23 has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside, and the device is really blazing fast. Face recognition is blazing fast too, and the fingerprint scanner works well and reliably.

The battery impressed me hugely across the whole S23 series. With the S23 I get almost 8 hours of screen-on time. That is insane and proves to me that the S23 smartphones belong in the flagship segment.

Everything I have said about the S23 also applies to the S23 Plus. Apart from a larger battery and a slightly larger display, there are no notable differences. The only question is whether you want a larger display or even more battery life.

Criticism and price

I had to dig deep to find points of criticism: the speakers could be a bit better. Unlike at Apple, the S23 series has, alongside a few visual changes, a very clear upgrade over its predecessors. Samsung has raised the prices, though. The smallest model with 128 GB has an RRP of €949, for the S22 it was €899. I gladly spend the extra €50 for so much more performance.