I’m at a crossroads. Just some weeks in the past, I reviewed Samsung’s Galaxy A14 5G, calling it an exceptional cellphone that prices a mere $200, proving that you just actually don’t have to pay heaving wads of dough to get a nice smartphone. Now I’m reviewing Samsung’s top-tier $1,200 Galaxy S23 Extremely and $800 Galaxy S23—and dang it, generally it’s good to splurge, you recognize?

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 lineup (which additionally consists of the S23+, a mannequin I haven’t examined but) are usually not game-changing units within the least—and most of the people don’t want all these high-end cameras and large horsepower. However I’ve to remind myself that generally it’s OK to pay up for the better of the very best. It’s good not having to squint at a dim display on a sunny day, and to have the flexibility to play a demanding recreation at its highest constancy.

In the event you’re coming from a Galaxy S22 or S21 or some other flagship machine launched inside the final two years, these new Samsung handsets do not actually offer you a purpose to improve. However in case you have one thing older in your pocket, or a extra wallet-friendly machine that you just really feel presents a compromised expertise, then it is best to undoubtedly have a look.

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I received’t bore you with the nitty-gritty specs on these telephones. As a substitute, you may learn my explainer on how the Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Extremely are all completely different and the way they’re comparable. (Heck, you may learn final yr’s S22 sequence evaluation to get the gist on what most of those new units are about.) What you may’t fairly discover out by studying specs are how these telephones really feel—the 6.1-inch S23 is my private favourite as a result of it matches my arms and a lot of the display stays pretty accessible after I wish to use it one-handed. The S23 Extremely’s 6.8-inch show is not terribly unwieldy, however whereas utilizing it, I discover my thumbs stretching farther and farther till my different hand has to affix in—and I’ve massive arms.

The perfect change is the S23 Extremely’s edges, that are far flatter than final yr’s curvy S22 Extremely. The sides are usually not as flat as the sides on an iPhone 14, however the Extremely nonetheless feels nicer to carry than its predecessor, and my grip virtually by no means interrupts the display. Outdoors this, colour me whelmed with how the Galaxy S23 lineup seems. I nonetheless assume Samsung’s S21 sequence supplied a sharper design language with the Contour Minimize digital camera module in an accent colour. These new telephones with their understated and accent-free digital camera array appear like the textbook definition of a “smartphone”—they’re little question elegant, however there’s not a lot character.

The three handsets share lots of the identical traits, like how the 120-Hz AMOLED screens can every now hit 1,750 nits of peak brightness. This can be a characteristic that is usually missed; a excessive brightness makes it a lot simpler to learn the display whenever you’re exterior on a sunny day. Too usually my fiancée has to squint at her Pixel cellphone, and that is by no means an issue right here. (It additionally will get fairly darn dim for anybody who appreciates low brightness at bedtime.)

They’re all powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 “for Galaxy” chipset, which is barely quicker than the base-level Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 you will discover on different flagship Android telephones just like the OnePlus 11. My benchmark checks bore that out, but it surely’s not an enormous leap. This chip is particular in two methods. 12 months over yr, it is actually exhausting to note significant beneficial properties in efficiency as of late, however I’ve observed that telephones with this processor really feel extra responsive and snappier than ever earlier than.