Samsung Galaxy S23 long-term review

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S23 is a very, very good phone, and one of a dying breed of more compact devices that should appeal to people who don't value screen real estate above all else in their experience. It's also obviously the most comfortable to hold and use out of all the S23 family members, thanks to its size. It's not very small, though - just smaller, but for people with smaller hands, that might be all that's needed.

Additionally, the Galaxy S23 is a very good deal nowadays, with prices going down significantly since its launch - as it usually happens with Samsung's flagships. That's bad news for people who bought at RRP and want to sell now, but it's great news for you if you want to purchase one today. This is a very good phone that's easy on the pocket (or bank account), so what's not to like?

As it turns out, not much. There are a lot of things about the S23 that deserve praise. The screen is the best we've ever encountered, it's well-tuned, and its top brightness makes this the first phone we've reviewed long-term that can be used comfortably, with zero squinting or repositioning required, even when the sun is directly hitting the display. That was an unimaginable feat mere years ago, and yet here we are.

Performance is excellent, and smoothness is the best we've ever experienced on a Samsung and surprisingly close to what the OnePlus 11 delivered - that's our second smoothest phone ever reviewed long-term, and very close to the Xiaomi 13 Pro that's No.1. So the S23 takes the bronze medal currently, and that's the best any Samsung has ever managed in this totally subjective evaluation. Props for that, too.

Battery life has been great overall, if compared to any other phone out there, and actually outstanding when factoring in how small its battery capacity is compared to most mainstream flagships today. With our use case, we never had an issue making it through a day with no need for random top-ups throughout.

The in-display fingerprint sensor is by far the fastest we've ever used (if you turn some pointless animations and transitions off), and in terms of accuracy on par with the best ones out there. The speakers are great in both maximum volume (for the size) and quality (for a phone). The vibration motor is as good as you can get these days.

One UI 6 very clearly improved perceived smoothness in operation, while modernizing the skin's looks (including the default font). It's still very recognizable as One UI, but updated here and there to keep it in tune with the times. The update arrived for our unit only a few weeks after Google started sending out its update to Android 14, and Samsung is still among the fastest non-Google companies to put major Android updates out - and not just for its flagships either. The South Korean company updated dozens of devices in the span of a few weeks, and the scale of its update operation is unmatched.

Monthly security updates generally arrive both monthly, as they should, and in the appropriate month, unlike what we see a lot in some competing devices. We've encountered no bugs during our time with One UI 6, and that speaks highly of Samsung's software quality control in recent times.

So after all this praise, you may be wondering whether there is a catch. Well, there are a few bits and pieces. While being very good, rear cameras are simply reused from the S22 is kind of a weirdly low effort in a mobile space where other companies keep innovating in terms of camera hardware every year. There are also zero software processing improvements compared to the S22, but Night Mode captures have become faster, which is definitely nice to see. For what it's worth, the selfie camera is new, and it's among the best out there at the moment.

Charging is too slow compared to the competition, and you don't even get a charger in the box. Thankfully, the great battery life alleviates the first issue if you aren't among the top 1% of heavy users. Finally, while some of those picking up an S23 might be used to One UI, for others it could feel like just a bit much, with its millions of settings and tweaks for everything, and some uncommon choices for default behavior (not showing notifications on the lock screen, scrolling the app drawer horizontally and not sorting it alphabetically - this sort of things).

But really, these are more nitpicks than anything that would substantially ruin your experience. If you are okay with the size and with not getting the absolute best rear cameras, then we can wholeheartedly recommend you pick up an S23, especially at the current prices. It's closer to a 'no brainer' than any other smartphone we've ever reviewed long-term.