Since the rumors began a few months ago, it was always said that the Galaxy S23 would not be a great evolution of the Galaxy S22. Yes, there would be changes on the way, especially in the Ultra version, but they wouldn’t be anything revolutionary.
Now that the Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra have been officially presented, we can see if this is true and start from now. In this article we will compare the Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S22 to answer some common questions among the company’s users: «Is it worth the change? How big is the leap in the new generation? Will I notice the difference?».
Find out below, and if you ask yourself the same question with the top-of-the-range model, you can go through the comparison of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Comparison table of specifications: Samsung Galaxy S23 vs. Galaxy S22
|
Specifications |
Samsung Galaxy S23 |
Samsung Galaxy S22 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions and weight | 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6mm. 168 grams. | 146 x 70.6 x 7.6mm. 167 grams. |
| Screen | 6.1″ Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) with Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, refresh rate up to 120 Hz, 442 ppi, maximum brightness of 1750 nits, HDR10+ and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection. | 6.1″ Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) with Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, refresh rate up to 120 Hz, 442 ppi, maximum brightness of 1300 nits, HDR10 + and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection. |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy with Adreno 740 graphics. | Global: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with Adreno 730 graphics. Europe: Samsung Exynos 2200 with AMD Xclipse 920 graphics |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR5X. | 8GB LPDDR5. |
| Storage | 128GB (UFS 3.1) or 256GB (UFS 4.0). | 128 or 256GB (UFS 3.1). |
| Rear camera | Triple:
LED flash and recording at 4K at 60 fps or 8K at 30 fps. |
|
| Frontal camera | 12MP with f/2.2, pixel size: 1.12 μm and 80° field of view. Dual Pixel AF. | 10MP with f/2.2, pixel size: 1.12 μm and 80° field of view. Dual Pixel AF. |
| connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E tri band, Dual SIM 5GBluetooth 5.3 LE, NFC, USB-C 3.2, GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou, BDS, stereo speakers signed by AKG, IP68 water resistance, fingerprint reader under the screen, 2D facial unlocking and Samsung DeX. | Wi-Fi 6 dual band, Dual SIM 5GBluetooth 5.2 LE, NFC, USB-C 3.2, GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou, BDS, stereo speakers signed by AKG, IP68 water resistance, fingerprint reader under the screen, 2D facial unlocking and Samsung DeX. |
| Battery | 3900mAh with 25 W fast charging, 10 W wireless and 4.5 W reverse. | 3700mAh with 25 W fast charging, 10 W wireless and 4.5 W reverse. |
| OS | Android 13 with One UI 5.1. | Upgradable to Android 13 with One UI 5. |
| Price | From €959. | From €620 (€859 at launch). |
| buy it here | ||
The design of the Galaxy S23 raises the bar of minimalism and its screen is brighter
One of the main changes to the Galaxy S23 line is that the two simplest models they adopted the design of the Ultra version. The camera module, which was already quite minimalist in the Galaxy S22, officially disappears.
Now, the back of the Galaxy S23 only shows the lenses of its three cameras (which are larger), taking simplicity to a new level. Some may not like it, it is subjective and not decisive, but the design unification seems like a step forward.
Something similar happens with the screen of the Galaxy S23, as it is a simple evolution of the view on the Galaxy S22. Samsung uses the same 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with Full HD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+. However, the Galaxy S23 screen reaches a maximum brightness of 1750 nits, much more than the 1300 nits of the Galaxy S22. There are no improvements in many sections, but 450 extra nits of brightness are very noticeable.
Protection against drops and scratches is taken care of by Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the Galaxy S23. Meanwhile, the previous version (Gorilla Glass Victus) is used in the Galaxy S22. Yes, it can be considered a novelty, but resistance tests have shown countless times that new versions of Gorilla Glass do not offer much more than those of previous years.
The power jump of the Galaxy S23 is very good thanks to the new processor, LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0
The great news of the Samsung Galaxy S23 is inside, since they make the most of all the hardware that gives them life. So much so that Samsung ensures that the performance jump between the Galaxy S22 and S23 is this big (on average): up to 34% more powerful CPU, 41% GPU and up to 49% neural processing.
Best of all, Samsung does not exaggerate, as the average AnTuTu score of these two phones confirms it: the Galaxy S22 averages about 890,000 points, while the Galaxy S23 averages 1,250,000 points. We are talking about more than a 40% difference, something that seems sensational to us.
In fact, we had a long time without Samsung offering so much difference of power between two immediate generations, but there are several reasons for this:
- The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy– A custom overclocked version that boosts performance beyond what the standard model offers.
- LPDDR5X RAM: which is the fastest currently on the consumer market and an evolution of the LPDDR5 memories that were used in the Galaxy S22.
- UFS 4.0 storage: which is also the fastest standard for non-volatile storage chips. Although the 128 GB one continues to use UFS 3.1 (same as the Galaxy S22).
- Next-generation Hexagon DSP: according to Qualcomm itself, Samsung is the only company that is getting the most out of the NPU of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Of course, the improvements introduced with Android 13 and One UI 5.1 play a role, but this software will also be on the Galaxy S22.
The rear cameras repeat and the front receives a small improvement, although the AI could make a difference
If there is something in which the Galaxy S23 is not new compared to the Galaxy S22, it is in its cameras, a feature that weighs a lot when choosing one. We can’t even tell that they look alike, because they are exactly the same three rear cameras:
- 50 MP main camera with f/1.8 (Samsung GN5), Dual Pixel AF and OIS.
- 10MP telephoto lens with f/2.4 (Sony IMX772), PDAF and 3x optical zoom.
- 12 MP ultra wide angle with f/2.2 (Sony IMX564) and viewing angle of 120º.
What does improve a bit is the front camera, which on the Galaxy S22 was 10 MP and on the Galaxy S23 it is 12 MP. Both have a focal aperture of f / 2.2, Dual Pixel AF and HDR10 +.
Now, the hardware may not have evolved much, but Samsung ensures that the cameras of its Galaxy S23 are superior, especially in night photography. We still need to see some photographic comparison to verify that this is the case, but it could easily be true.
As? Thanks to AI-powered computational photography (the one that has brought Google to the throne of photography). Remember that the new Hexagon DSP of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (Galaxy S23) is far superior to the previous generation, but there is also another surprise.
The 18-Bit Spectra Triple ISP of this SoC features cognitive AI and the Galaxy S23 are the first to take advantage of this feature. When capturing a scene, the ISP separates the elements of the scene and individually enhances them with AI. The result? More realistic photos and videos than enhancing the entire scene as a whole, and all in real time. Qualcomm calls this technology “Semantic Segmentation,” but Samsung renamed it as «AI Object-Aware Engine”.
Conclusions: the Galaxy S23 is an incredible mobile, but the price of the Galaxy S22 plays against it
There are still two things to compare between the Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S22, but we will not dedicate a separate section to them when everything can be explained quickly. The first has to do with the energy system, where the Galaxy S23 exhibits a larger capacity battery than the Galaxy S22 (200 mAh more), although they use the same charging system.
The second is the starting price, something where the Galaxy S23 receives a huge setback. The reason? After a year on the market, the Galaxy S22 has dropped its price a lot in the shops. In fact, you can currently get them on Amazon Spain for these prices:
- Samsung Galaxy S23 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 + 8GB + 128GB): 959 euro.
- Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos 2200 + 8GB + 128GB): 620 euro.
The Galaxy S23, in general, represents a good leap from the Galaxy S22, especially in power. However, we are talking about a difference of more than 300 euros between the two mobiles, which is not a small thing. What could we conclude after analyzing everything? Only the following:
Choose the Samsung Galaxy S23 only if money is not an issue for you, whether you come from a Galaxy S22 or if you are thinking of buying one of the two. Yes, the improvements are there and you will also get an extra year of support, which is great. However, a difference of 300 euros in stores is not so justified. On the contrary, if money is tight and you already have a Galaxy S22, rest assured that its performance will continue to be spectacular in every way.
