Samsung Galaxy S23 5G (Phantom Black, 8GB, 128GB Storage)

This phone is a pefect upgrade from my old One plus. I had to make a hard choice between s22 and s23. I came to the conclusion that processor used in s22 (Snapdragon 8 gen 1) is inefficient. Infact it was one of the most inefficient processors produced by snapdragon+samsung in last 5 years in premium segment. That combined with low battery was just worse. So I decided to spend more money for this phone. Snapdragon 8 gen 2 is an actual successor of snapdragon and gives enormous battery life.

After first charge, I was getting 8 hours SOT. Which is double from my old Oppo Oneplus (Haha). Plus I got upgrade on the first day, using 120 hz refresh rate with light performance mode while battery set to adaptive. I think I can push for 10 hour screen-on-time if I want to.

Screen is perfect, samsung right now is the biggest supplier of screens in mobile market, so that’s no doubt. Speakers are stereo and have dolby digital mode. The UI is top tier, samsung right now has the best UI in the market. The amazing things is the bloatware are so well integrated into samsung ecosystem that it doesn’t even feel like bloatware. I am using samsung internet/notes instead of chrome and google keep. There is also a vapor chamber in base variant of s23, which you will not find in s22. Ram booster was turned on by default, giving me 8 GB of virtual RAM but I turned it off because I heard it reduces performance. All medium-end games run at 120 FPS, and samsung has their own app for real time monitoring. You will also get 6 months spotify premium (from Amazon) and 4 months of youtube premium (from samsung) with this.

I use spigen ultra hybrid case with Glazedinc tempered glass. Protip – Glazedinc.com tempered glass is compatiable with fingerprint sensor. I use their s23 tempered glass-real curved which works perfectly and costed me around ₹675 (not sponsored).

Phone is expensive and price should be set around 65K, but samsung is trying to become apple of android world. Whats worse is discount is there, but they will not give it to you directly, you have to use 3 different discounts to lower the MRP which is a scummy behaviour from Samsung. No reason to give additional 7K exchange bonus, if MRP itself was lowered by 7K. Also bank credit card discount are insane (around 8K). This will bring MRP in the range of 60K instead of 75K. My point is to give discount directly instead of bypassing it from somewhere. Also availing warranties and sales after service is bad, I still have to manually find out about youtube premium membership because samsung never mentioned it anywhere.

So, this is the best phone is premium segment apart from s23 ultra. If you are looking for a handy premium smartphone and can’t manage big screen on s23 ultra, this is the way to go.

Edit 1. People should not use Samsung Smart switch to restore their data to new phone. I have heard it reduces battery life. Instead manually copy photos, contacts everything etc.

Edit 2. Moonshots on higher model i.e. s23 ultra are kinda fake since it uses ai scene optimizer to place a picture of moon on real moon. But nothing to worry about this model.

Edit 3. Don’t use samsung smart switch to transfer files to your new phone. It is bugged and keeps draining battery. Manually transfer big files. If you had used it, you can factory reset your phone if you notice your battery life is not up to the mark. I didn’t use smart switch and easily got 8 hours.

Bought 256GB variant for ₹73,500. Got same day delivery.
Packaging could have been better. There were no bubble wraps. But the contents were intact.

Now coming to the phone, since most people will be concerned about battery life, I will start with that, there is no need to worry. It comfortably lasts for a full day, provided that you are mostly on Wi-Fi. I have added screenshots of battery stats. For the first 3 stats the phone was connected to Wi-Fi for about 80% of the time. For the last one phone was on mobile data for 90% of the time. The phone takes around 1hr 15 mins to charge when using a 20 watt power adapter.

Other aspects of the phone are also superb, like camera, smoothness of the UI. I hope Samsung doesn’t mess that up with software updates.

PS: I am using the Ringke Fusion-X case with the phone.

Every review that you have seen about this phone is true to quite an extent.
Great camera, good features, and premium quality and is the perfect size for me. I would prefer a 6″ phone but that’s the best you can get. It’s a little on the heavier side but it doesn’t really matter if you are using headphones.

The cons:
1 – Battery drains really fast. The reviews I saw did not warn about it. This is my biggest grudge, having gone a bit over budget.

2 – Samsung’s boring UI. BTW I never imagined I would buy a Samsung product. But seeing the comparos with iPhone 14, I felt I should give it a go. One Plus, for instance, gives a swipe option to go back to the previous page. Samsung still depends on the back button at the bottom of the phone. After using One Plus, this seems prehistoric and inconvenient. It would request Samsung if they make this small change.

3 – For some weird reason, it takes very long to start. It’s a costly phone. I do not expect it to be so slow

4 – Again, the reviews I watched said it only warms up a bit only if after heavy usage like gaming. This one heats up at times to the point of getting uncomfortable. However, it does get cooled down if you just close the apps.

5 – 25W charging at this price is quite low but I understand. The heating issues of the previous models might have to do something with it.

Hope my review will help you make an informed decision.