Samsung Galaxy S23 Review: The Best Compact Flagship Phone In India 

Bite-size entertainment. Compact. Palm-friendly. One-handed. Those are just some of the adjectives and phrases one can use for Samsung’s Galaxy S23, the smallest of the trio of smartphones launched by the South Korean giant a few weeks ago. 

What Exactly Is The Galaxy S23? 

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 features a 6.1-inch AMOLED display (1080x2340 pixels and a 20.5:9 aspect ratio), 120Hz refresh rate, 422 PPI, a 3,900mAh battery, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and a 1,750 peak nits brightness.  

The Galaxy S23 weighs just 168g and comes in at 7.6mm thick. The smartphone is IP68 rated and has Qualcomm's 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 (fingerprint sensor). There's Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy chipset under the hood. The Galaxy S23 has a triple-camera setup on the rear—50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP telephoto (3x zoom)—and there’s a 12MP selfie on the front.  

The Galaxy S23 runs on OneUI 5.1 (based on Android 13) out of the box. There’s 8GB of RAM with options for 128GB or 256GB of storage. The Galaxy S23 supports the latest 5G networks and wireless charging (along with reverse wireless charging).  

At the moment, the 128GB variant isn’t available in India. Samsung is offering the 256GB storage model for the same price of ₹79,999. 

Finally, A Compact Smartphone Worthy Of Your Money 

Yes, we Indians have missed out on the goodness of Asus’ Zenfone 9, for many months now. The smartphone was supposed to release in August, but then never made it to the Indian market, for no known reason. Nonetheless, Samsung is here to the rescue with the Galaxy S23. The Galaxy S23 is a true one-handed marvel. Its 6.1-inch AMOLED display is a sight to behold.  

The fact that Indians on both sides of the spectrum—iOS or Android—have access to a fully featured compact phone is something to celebrate. The look of all three models of the S23 series is very similar, a move that is likely to bring out a number of fans. Each of the models has individual camera rings at the back and that screams premium. The new design language looks absolutely excellent. The design is cleaner and more polished. Even the Samsung logo, at the bottom, is barely visible in a lot of lighting conditions. The smartphone is less prone to scratches and smudges. 

I’ll just say this. If you want the perfect balance of premium/flagship experience, but do not want a phone that will protrude out of your pocket, the Galaxy S23 is for you! 

You get colour options of “Cream”, “Phantom Black”, “Green” and “Lavender”. 

An AMOLED Display To Beat 

I’m just going to get this out of the way. Samsung is the company to beat when it comes to smartphone displays. They are slaying the AMOLED competition. A bright, vivid and sharp display with great viewing angles. What more can one ask for? The Galaxy S23 features all this and more! It comes with a 6.1-inch Dynamic 2X AMOLED Full HD+ display (120 Hz refresh rate) and a peak brightness of 1,750 nits! The Galaxy S23’s display features 425 pixels per inch. 

Simply put, it’s a pleasure to use the Galaxy S23 indoors and outdoors and I had no issues reading things on the screen while out under the sun. Watching videos, reading articles, taking photos, it’s all a wonderful experience. Even scrolling was super smooth. The display may lose out to the iPhone 14 on paper (slightly lower screen resolution, lower PPI and a smaller adaptive refresh rate range) but on a day-to-day basis, you won’t even notice it. 

Furthermore, the display is protected by the latest Gorilla Glass Victus 2, so you needn’t worry about dropping it here and there. 

The New Processor Is Remarkable 

The dividends are paying off for Samsung. All three smartphones in the Galaxy S23 lineup feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. It’s a custom and overclocked version of the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 found in phones like the OnePlus 11. There are no more Exynos processors in these phones anywhere in the world. The Galaxy S23 feels snappy in day-to-day usage. Apps launched instantly, almost all mobile games played smoothly on their highest settings, and there wasn’t any lag when multitasking. 

There were no hiccups. No stutter. The phone was very responsive. You’ll want to avoid the 128GB storage model as that comes with the old UFS 3.1 specification instead of the new UFS 4.0. 

Cameras: Is It The Best In This Price Range? 

Yes, for those asking, the shutter lag still exists. The rear camera setup is almost identical to the one on the Galaxy S22 from last year. The three main cameras are a 50MP f1.8 main (with OIS) and 85-degree FoV, a 12MP f2.2 ultrawide with 120-degree FoV and a10MP f2.4 telephoto (3x) (with OIS) and 36-degree FoV. 

One wishes that last year’s 108MP sensor on the Galaxy S22 Ultra trickled down, but alas. Since hardware is almost the same, it all boils down to image processing. Safe to say that thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, the cameras have improved, especially with respect to low-light photos.  

During daytime photography, with everything set to default, the photos can sometimes come out oversharpened (to look more vivid). The photos that come out feature a lot of detail and have good dynamic range.  

Samsung has done a good job with portrait mode as image separation remains one of the best in the game. Video stabilisation has also gotten a boost. Overall, the camera systems are pretty good, especially in low light, but there is strong competition from the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7 Pro. 

Battery Life: Much-Improved 

The Galaxy S22’s weak spot was its battery life. Thankfully, Samsung has gotten to the root of the problem and vastly improved it. There’s a slightly bigger battery, 3,900mAh in the Galaxy S23 as compared to the Galaxy S22’s 3,700mAh battery. 

I easily got more than a day of battery life and 5+ hours of screen-on-time. Charging speeds are still slow, with a 25W (peak wired charging speeds) charger, and that’s a bummer. 

The One-Handed Smartphone To Beat! 

Yes. If you’re in the market for a compact smartphone, then there’s nothing like the Galaxy S23. It’s got longer battery life, fast and fluid performance, and a good set of cameras. If you’re coming from a recent smartphone (anywhere under twelve months old), then there is no reason to upgrade.  

The competition is fierce, as the Pixel 7/Pixel 7 Pro, with its best-in-class cameras, retails for around the same price. Samsung offers five years of security updates, and four years of major Android OS upgrades. That’s something to keep in mind.  

The Galaxy S23 ticks most boxes and should be near the top of your shopping list.