Samsung Galaxy F23 5G Review: Is It A Worthy Buy Under Rs 16000?

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G Review Summary

Editor’s Rating- 3.75/5

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G smartphone debuted in the country last week. This smartphone tries to offer good specs along with 5G connectivity at an affordable price. The Galaxy F23 is Samsung’s cheapest 5G phone in India with its price starting at just Rs. 15,999. It comes with a 120Hz display, triple rear cameras, and Snapdragon 750G SoC. But the question remains, is Samsung Galaxy F23 5G worth it? Read on to find out.

Price | Unboxing | Specs | Design | Display | Performance | Camera | Battery | Verdict

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G Price & Availability

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G comes in 2 storage variants-

• 4GB RAM+128GB storage- the introductory price of Rs. 15,999
• 6GB RAM+128GB storage- the introductory price of Rs. 16,999

The first sale was held on 16 March via Flipkart.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G Unboxing

Galaxy F23 smartphone comes in a regular white-colored cardboard box by Samsung. The box is sleek and weighs almost nothing if we remove the handset as the company has not provided a charger with the device. At the back of the box, you will find the specs of the F23, while the front has the smartphone’s name written in big font. The box contains-

• Samsung Galaxy F23 5G handset
• USB Type C cable
• Quick Start Guide
• SIM Tool

Specs

• Display- 6.4-inch FHD+
• Refresh rate- 120Hz
• Processor- Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G
• GPU- Adreno 619 GPU
• RAM- up to 6GB
• Storage- 128GB
• OS- Android 12 One UI 4.1
• Rear Camera- 50MP+8MP+2MP
• Front Camera- 13MP
• Battery- 5000mAh
• Fast charging- 25W
• Dimensions- 165.5x77x8.4mm
• Weight- 198 grams

Samsung Galaxy F23 Review: Deisgn

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G has a design that is very similar to the other budget smartphones from the company. The front has a 6.6-inch screen with moderate bezels. The smartphone has a waterdrop notch which looks outdated now making the front look rather ordinary. However, if you look at the back the phone looks good. The phone has a polycarbonate body and comes in two colors- Aqua Blue and Forest Green. The variant loaned to us was in Forest Green color and it looks stylish from the back. The rear panel has a matte finish and so doesn’t catch smudges very easily. The top left corner of the backside has a triple camera setup with LED flash. The camera bump is negligible, so keeping it on a flat surface doesn’t make it wobble much on the table.

The right side of the smartphone has a volume rocker and power button. The power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor. The left side has a dual SIM tray. The bottom side has a USB Type-C port, speaker grille, and a microphone. The phone also retains a 3.5mm headphone jack and one more microphone on the type edge of the device. Overall, the design of the Galaxy F23 5G looks and feels premium. For a price range of 17,499 and above, it comes with a TFT display which is also a bummer.

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Samsung Galaxy F23 5G review: Display and Audio

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G has a 6.6-inch LCD panel with a 120Hz refresh rate which gives smooth scrolling. The phone has an FHD+ resolution and the difference can be seen while watching videos. While other companies are offering AMOLED panels in this price range, Samsung has gone for an LCD panel. Having said that, Samsung’s LCD panel lives up to mark in terms of performance.

The visuals are vibrant, crisp, and lifelike. The display leans towards a colder tone that can be felt sometimes. It has an adaptive refresh rate feature which means the screen refreshes 120Hz to make everything fluid. Peak brightness is strictly average as the visibility in sunlight is merely ok.

If we talk about media streaming, then the Galaxy F23 5G comes with Widevine L1 support which means you can watch content from Netflix, YouTube, and other OTT apps in Full HD. Although you will not get AMOLED screen-level visuals, the LCD screen does its job well giving good contrast and brightness.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G review: Performance

The Samsung Galaxy F23 5G is powered by octa-core Snapdragon 750 SoC which has been found in other affordable smartphones lately. The phone comes with up to 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. For everyday usage, the phone works well. But this is when the phone works well but it is worth pointing out that we did experience a slight stutter while scrolling. It is possible that all this could be due to its RAM which is a mere 4GB. The 6GB RAM variant will hopefully not experience these issues.

While gaming on this phone, we played BGMI and Call of Duty which worked well even in high graphic settings. There were no lags or heating issues during gaming sessions. We ran some benchmark tests on the smartphone, results of which are-

Talking about the software, Galaxy F23 5G comes with Android 12 based Samsung UI 4.1. The software is the latest one and the user interface is pretty simple. Samsung has promised to give 2 OS updates and 3 years of security updates on this one. Otherwise, apps load quickly and effortlessly on F23 5G and the fingerprint sensor works well too. It does not have features like Always-On-Display which is found in high-end smartphones by Samsung. The phone comes with some bloatware but that can be easily removed if you don’t want it.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G review: Cameras

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G has a triple camera setup on the rear. The setup includes a main 50MP lens with an f/1.8 aperture. Along with this is an 8MP ultrawide with 123-degree ultrawide angle lens with f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP macro sensor with f/2.4 aperture.

The primary camera of the phone gives a good performance. The photos clicked in natural light are detailed and full of vibrant colors. Even when you zoom in on the photos you have clicked, the details don’t look blurred. The night performance though disappoints as the photos are neither clear nor detailed.

If we talk about the 8MP ultrawide lens, it also gives good clicks during daytime but detailing is not as accurate as of the primary lens. When you use this lens in artificial light, the colors look faded.

The third lens in the triple camera setup is the 2MP macro lens which seems more like a marketing gimmick than an actual use camera. The images clicked with this lens neither have to detail nor have proper focus.

The main camera comes with various modes like Hyperlapse, Super Slo-mo, Pro mode, etc. There is a Night Mode too which gives better brightness during night time but these images have a lot of noise.

The F23 5G has an 8MP selfie camera which gives detailed selfies with good background colors. The selfies in daylight have accurate focus as well.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G review: Battery

The Samsung Galaxy F23 5G packs a 5000mAh battery with 25W fast charging. This is an upgrade over the other budget Samsung offerings which have received a max of 15W fast charging support till now. This one though has got a 25W fast charging speed, its biggest drawback is that the charger itself is missing from the box.

To add to it the cable provided by Samsung in the box has Type C pin connectivity at both ends, which means your regular USB Type-A charger won’t connect to this smartphone. You will have to purchase a Samsung charger separately which will cost Rs. 2000. If your laptop doesn’t have a USB Type-C port, then you won’t be able to transfer data. You will have to use an older cable for this.

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With moderate usage, the battery lasts for 2 days flat. Charging the phone with a 25W charger took around 1 hour 25 minutes. If you are a heavy user, then the battery will last for one day.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G review verdict: Should you buy?

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G starting for Rs. 15,999 is a good smartphone if you are a fan of Samsung as a brand. But if you are someone who pays more attention to specs than the brand, then there are other better options as well. Galaxy F23 has a Full HD+ display, good chipset, 50MP main camera, and 5000mAh battery but there are downsides too in the form of a below-average secondary camera, no adapter in the box, average sound quality, and no IP rating.