Samsung Galaxy S23+ Review: Loaded with specs, Packed with power

Samsung Galaxy S23+ Review Summary:

Editor’s rating: 4/5

Samsung recently launched its flagship Galaxy S23 Series of smartphones in the Indian market. The series includes Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones and since we have already talked about the top-end Ultra model earlier (Galaxy S23 Ultra review), this time we will be talking about the otherwise neglected middle member of the S23 Family.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus shares almost all its specs with the base Galaxy S23 model. The only difference is between the size of the two models as Galaxy S23+ is slightly larger than the vanilla model. It comes with powerful specs like Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, a bigger battery, a better selfie camera, and more, but is it worth spending 1 lakh rupees? Let’s find out.

---

Jump To..

• Unboxing
• Price and availability
• Design
• Display
• Performance
• Camera
• Battery
• Should you buy Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus?

Samsung Galaxy S23+ : Price & Availability In India

The Samsung Galaxy S23+ comes in the following storage configurations-

• 8GB RAM+256GB storage- Rs. 94,999
• 8GB RAM+512GB storage- Rs. 1,04,999

It is available in 2 colors- Phantom Black, and Cream. There are 2 special colorways- Graphite and Lime for Galaxy S23+ that are available through the Samsung website. The smartphone is up for order via Amazon and Flipkart.

Samsung Galaxy S23+ Specs

Specs	Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
Software	Android 13 One UI 5.1
Display	6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED FHD+, 120Hz refresh rate
SoC	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
RAM	8GB
Storage	up to 512GB
Rear cameras	50MP+12MP+10MP
Front Camera	12MP
Battery	4700mAh
Charging	45W
Thickness	7.6mm
Weight	196 grams
Connectivity	5G, 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 5,3, NFC, and more

Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Unboxing

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus comes in a slim black cardboard box. It consists of-

• Samsung Galaxy S23+ handset
• Sim ejection pin
• USB Cable
• Manual

ALSO READ: Motorola Edge 30 Review – 5G ready phone for everyday needs

Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Design

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus looks similar to its predecessor when you look at it from the front. However, when you turn the device around, you will find a revamped design that looks clean and classy. There is no camera island and all 3 lenses are placed vertically one below the other. All 3 lenses stick out individually and feel slightly protruded. However, this protrusion is not felt when the device is kept on a flat surface.

The smartphone is currently available in black and cream colors and I received the cream variant for review purposes. Although the device has a smooth finish for the rear panel and the design is minimal with only 3 lenses, LED flash, and Samsung branding, the shade of the back panel is boring for someone like me who is a fan of new colors and stylish designs. Samsung does bring out some special colors available via the official website, but I still think bright colors should be launched as a part of the main selling catalog.

The Galaxy S23 Plus is flat on the front and back, making it look sleek (7.6mm). It is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and has an aluminum frame that assures one of its sturdy build quality. Although the weight of the smartphone is just 196 grams, It felt bulky when I held it in my hand during a phone call. Moreover, operating it with one hand was also slightly tricky as the device felt slippery and my thumb could not access the entire screen.

The right edge of Galaxy S23+ houses the power button and volume rockers while the left edge is left vacant. The bottom edge houses a USB Type-C port, SIM tray, microphone, and speaker grille. The device has slightly curved aluminum sides which look different from the back panel. The smartphone comes with an IP68 rating for protection against water and dust. All in all the design is quite minimal which works but the shade is too boring for those who love vibrant colorways.

ALSO READ: Realme 10 Pro 5G Coca-Cola Edition Review: Nostalgia overloaded for the lovers of Coca-Cola

ALSO READ: Motorola G82 5G Review – A mid-ranger that widens your horizon

ALSO READ: Motorola G62 5G Review: Same old package with a new name

Samsung Galaxy S23+ Review: Display & Sound

The display has been one of the strongest areas of Samsung’s flagship phones and Galaxy S23 Plus is no different in that regard. It sports a 6.6-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel with a whooping 120Hz refresh rate that makes scrolling ultra smooth and convenient. It has a peak brightness of 1750 nits it works well as the screen is clearly visible even under direct sunlight.

The visuals on the screen are crisp, vibrant, and detailed. Viewing angles are decent while playing games, watching videos, or just scrolling your social media accounts. The refresh rate is adaptive which saves battery life. It can come down to 48 Hz when needed. There is a single front-facing camera placed in a small circular cut-out at the top of the display but honestly, you will notice that lens only when you are watching videos in landscape and full-screen mode.

Coming to the sound quality, there are dual stereo speakers that fire through the earpiece and the bottom grille. The sound is immersive and has depth to it. There is a character in the audio that you hear and that thus good audio+ video experience automatically accounts to a great content consumption experience for the user.

Samsung Galaxy S23+ Review: Camera

The camera setup on the Galaxy S23+ is similar to what Galaxy S22+ had last year. The smartphone has a triple-lens setup at the back that includes a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a 10MP telephoto lens. The only change that has been seen is at the front where a 12MP selfie camera has been given.

Although the main camera of Galaxy S23 Plus is not as powerful as the 200MP lens on Galaxy S23 Ultra, but that doesn’t mean it’s no good. The 50MP lens at the back takes some really impressive shots irrespective of lighting conditions. The images are vibrant, rich, accurate and full of details. Whether it is humans, nature, animals, or non-living objects, everything is captured well and shows character. By default, the main camera clicks 12MP shots, but there is an option to use 50M mode as well. OIS makes sure images are not blurred even if your hand are shaky.

The 12MP ultrawide lens takes good shots in most lighting conditions. The edges are sharp, the colors are true to life and the pictures cover a good amount of area. It is during low light that it struggles a bit so use the main sensor when the light is low.

The 10MP telephoto lens takes pleasing shots. Edge detection is accurate and background blur looks like it’s a part of the picture and not something that has been deliberately done. Close-up shots in indoor conditions come out well as they are detailed and clear.

There are many modes like Pro Video, Night, Panorama, Super slow-motion, Slow motion, hyper-lapse, single take, Expert Raw, and more. One mode that I found fun to play with was the ‘Food’ mode. This was mainly because true to its name, it took delicious shots of any kind of food.

Coming to the selfie camera, this one packs a solid punch as well. The selfies are slightly better than what was possible with Galaxy S22 Plus. They are sharp and detailed with the focus being kept on the people in the frame. The skin tones looked natural and the frame around was vibrant adding cheer to the photographs.

One can shoot good quality video footage from the main lens at up to 8k at 30 frames per second. Moreover, Super Steady mode helps people like me who have shaky hands while filming a video.

ALSO READ: Realme 9i 5G Review: Stylish, Dependable, Affordable

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: Meaningful upgrades streamline experience

Samsung Galaxy S23+ Review: Performance

Just like Galaxy 22+ was powered by Snapdragon Gen 1 chipset, the Galaxy S23 Plus is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. The chipset is paired with 8GB RAM and up to 512GB storage on board. I received the 256GB storage model and thus storing all the important documents, videos, and photos was convenient. The latest power-efficient chipset makes the smartphone fast and efficient. The Samsung Galaxy S23+ can handle anything you throw at it. A huge number of apps run smoothly in the background and switching between them is seamless and lag-free.

Everyday tasks are performed with ease, be it social media scrolling or watching movies. The animations are super smooth and its performance while gaming is praiseworthy. Heavy games like Free Fire Max, and Apex Legends ran well at the highest graphic settings and there are no stutters or frame drops even when gaming sessions are long.

We ran certain benchmark test results which are attached below. One thing I noticed was the improvement in thermal performance. Last year, Galaxy S22+ got heated up even if a played a game like Ludo for an extended time (2 hours in my case), however, this time Galaxy S23+ didn’t heat up even after heavy gaming sessions. The only time, it heated up was during the CPU throttling benchmark test. The area around the camera lenses was a little warm while the rest of the backside was normal.

Coming to the software performance, the smartphone runs One UI 5.1 skin based on Android 13 out of the box. There are a bunch of customizations and personalization options that make the UI fun and user-friendly. Any app can be opened via Lockscreen shortcuts while the long press of the lock screen allows you to change the overall look of notifications and clocks. The app icons change shape when you change the theme.

There are many Free Themes to choose from so even if you don’t want to pay, you will get plenty of options to decide the look of your device. Samsung promises 4 years of major software updates and 5 years of security patches. The UI is ad-free but comes with little bloatware as apps like LinkedIn, Spotify, Netflix, and Outlook come pre-installed. Although you can remove them as per your usage, it would have been better if a device costing 95k comes with absolutely no bloatware.

ALSO READ: Moto G42 Review: An all-rounder that lasts all-day

ALSO READ: Oppo Reno8 T 5G Hands-on: First Impression

Samsung Galaxy S23+ Review: Battery

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus packs a 4700mAh battery this time, which is 200mAh more than what Galaxy S22+ had last year. Thanks to this minor bump up in battery size, and well-optimized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy the battery performance has improved. The battery now lasts a day and a half with regular usage and with heavy usage as well, it lasts the entire day. For those who have long gaming sessions, fortunately, the battery doesn’t drain very fast. Playing FreeFire Max for almost 40 minutes drained the battery just by 12-14% which is not considering the demanding nature of the game.

The charging speed is the same as last year which is 45W fast charging. I mentioned slow charging speed as a drawback and that still continues as it takes more than an hour to charge completely. There is no charger inside the box which is also a bummer. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus also supports 15W reverse wireless charging so you can also flip the phone and charge other phones or Qi charging accessories like earbuds. This feature sure comes in handy, but really Samsung should work on improving fast charging speeds now.

Review Verdict: Should you buy Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus?

The Samsung Galaxy S23+ is the middle member of the flagship S23 Series and it shares almost all its specs with the other two members of the family. It does come with some upgrades that make it better than its predecessor. These include a larger battery, better thermal performance, and a better selfie lens which makes it a comprehensive package that you can’t simply ignore. It still has 45W charging and the same display. Although the device looks and feels premium the price tag is quite hefty. If you prefer compact phones then going in for Galaxy S23 would be better as it would give the same specs but is almost 20,000 cheaper and compact to hold.

However, if you want a device that is neither too small (Galaxy S23) and neither too large (Galaxy S23 Ultra) and also doesn’t need S-Pen support, then Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus can be your go-to smartphone. It is perfectly sized and comes with top-of-the-line specs to meet all your needs.