The telephoto lens is quite slow to react when you switch to it, and sometimes there’s a strange delay when tapping the shutter button that I can’t explain. The chip also seems to be slowing down the camera experience as well. However, in daily use, there seems to be something stopping this phone from cranking out the same reliable performance we saw in the S22 last year. I ran some benchmark tests in Geekbench 6 to see how it stacks up against the competition, and it ranks just as well as any other Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-equipped phone, and it remains competitive with this year’s smartphone selection. Performance can be spotty despite a powerful chip While I would’ve liked to see slightly faster wired charging, it’s fast enough that you can recharge from zero to 50% in about a half hour. You’ve got 25W wired charging to juice back up when needed, as well as wireless charging. It doesn’t quite keep up with the Galaxy S23+, which lasted over 20 hours, but it surpasses other flagship smartphones like the Pixel 8, which didn’t last more than 12 hours. In our lab test where we loop a 4K video at 50% brightness with airplane mode on until it dies, the phone lasted about 15 hours and 30 minutes, which is on the longer side of the spectrum. I will admit, the battery drained a bit faster when I started pushing it while gaming or watching a lot of HDR content, but for the average user, this phone can easily last all day with about 20% left at bedtime. I generally listen to a lot of Spotify over Bluetooth, take a few photos and manage my inbox during the day, and this phone was more than enough for that without conking out early. Need a phone that’ll reliably last a full day on a charge? The Galaxy S23 FE will give you just that.ĭuring my testing, the 4,500mAh battery could easily get through a full 16-hour day with mixed use. Is it as long as Google’s commitment to seven years of software updates for the Pixel 8? No, but at $600, it’s hard to find other smartphones that’ll get three years of upgrades, let alone four. It’s the same level of support that the high-end Galaxy S23 Ultra and Z Fold 5 are getting, which makes it all the more sweet. The S23 FE will receive four years’ worth of major OS upgrades (think, up to Android 17 or 18) and five years of security patches, which is more than most other Android devices in this price range. It’s snappy and comes with all sorts of features like Edge panels and Routines, helping to automate common tasks when connected to certain Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices.īut the real kicker is the extended software support that Samsung is providing. A lot of folks are fans of Samsung’s skin, as am I. It doesn’t do anything wildly different from what it does on the regular S23, but that’s perfectly fine. Samsung ships the S23 FE with One UI 5.1 based on Android 13. Since the S23 FE is only available in one size, a 6.4-inch screen strikes a good balance between “big enough to watch ‘Oppenheimer’ on” and “small enough that it doesn’t get annoying to text too quickly.” I’d also like to add that the size is a good middle ground. There’s nothing about this design that feels cheap or otherwise compromised by the phone’s lower price tag, and that’s really great to see. Soft corners, flat edges and big camera bumps round out the design, as does the handy IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating. It’s not totally my thing, but if you’re a fan of deep purple, you’ll dig it.Įlsewhere, this looks just like any other member of Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup. I got the latter color and … it certainly looks like a color Grimace would be proud to rock. For colors, you’re looking at Mint, Cream, Graphite, Indigo, Tangerine and purple. The sides are home to the power and volume buttons, the bottom houses the USB-C port and loudspeaker and the earpiece works for stereo sound (like most phones). It still looks great, and most people will be throwing a case on it anyway. The aluminum sticks out a bit more on the S23 FE since Samsung didn’t blend it with the back and front for a seamless seal, but it’s no big deal. The design is very similar to that of the regular S23, with its Gorilla Glass 5 back, poppy colors and aluminum sides. Samsung didn’t reinvent the wheel with the Galaxy S23 FE’s design, and that’s perfectly fine. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account
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