The 50MP camera on the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is an enhancement over the model year’s top chipset.
Is the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE truly that much better than the S21 FE from last year, even though Samsung has advanced two generations in just one year? No and yes. The CPU and camera have seen some significant improvements, but overall, it still falls short of the real S23 devices (or even something like the S22+).
Addressing the chipset, the proverbial “elephant in the room.” Typically reserved, Samsung simply states “Advanced 4nm Processing” in response to questions. We are aware of the either-or nature of the scenario; depending on where you live, you will either receive the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or the Exynos 2200. Although not as remarkable as the 2023 phones’ “for Galaxy” CPUs, the Snapdragon 888/Exynos 2100 of the S21 FE is still a significant improvement.
This year’s base configuration replaces the previous 6GB option with 8GB of RAM. More than 8GB is not allowed, although the S23 and S23+ have the same restriction. No extension slot, 128GB or 256GB of storage are available.
After we’ve covered it, we should talk about the updated main camera, which now has a 50MP sensor instead of the previous 12MP. The S23 FE still includes lower resolution ultrawide (10MP, 123°) and telephoto (8MP, 3x) cameras, so this does not imply that it is on par with the S23 or even the S22 phones. Additionally, the selfie camera’s resolution mysteriously drops to 10MP following two generations of 32MP sensors in the FE devices.
As anticipated, the display is a flat 6.4″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with FHD+ resolution and a refresh rate of 60-120Hz.
The phone weighs 209g and has dimensions of 158 x 76.5 x 8.2mm. With dimensions of 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9mm and a weight of 177g, it is bigger than the S21 FE. Pre-consumer aluminium, glass, and post-consumer plastic (obtained from used fishing nets, water barrels, and PET bottles) make up the phone’s body and interior components.
The Galaxy S23 FE follows other premium Samsung devices in terms of lifetime, receiving 4 OS updates and 5 years’ worth of security updates (note: the phone ships with Android 13/One UI 5.1 out of the box). The phone has an IP68 rating for water and dust protection, and you can sign up for Samsung Care+ for less expensive accidental damage repairs.
Despite being larger than its predecessor, the battery capacity of this new model stays at 4,500mAh, and cable charging still stays at 25W (0-50% is completed in 30 minutes). Additionally, wireless charging is supported.
