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Monday, December 11, 2023

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE review

 Samsung Galaxy S23 FE review

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is a more appealing price, without too many compromises – but the mid-range competition is fierce and in many cases provide better value. Samsung’s Galaxy phone line-up has always stretched further than a few handsets, but it’s only recently that fan edition versions have brought the “best of S” to a price point normally occupied by the Galaxy A series. Actually the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is a recipe for the perfect mid-range smartphone; similar styling to the fully-fledged S23, a bright OLED display, a proficient trio of rear cameras and a chipset that can keep pace, and a long-lasting battery, at a price that won’t be very heavy on your wallet. It lands early enough in the launch cycle not to be overshadowed by the next generation – and even more impressively. Galaxy S23 FE closest competition is the Nothing Phone 2, and the now two-year-old iPhone 13.

Technical specifications

Screen        6.4in, 2340×1080 AMOLED w/ 120Hz

CPU          Samsung Exynos 2200 octa-core (international) / Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1                     (USA)

Memory        8GB RAM

Cameras      50MP, f/1.8 w/ PDAF, OIS + 8MP, f/2.4 telephoto w/ PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom                        + 12MP,  f/2.2 ultra wide rear 10MP, f/2.4 front

Storage         128/256GB on-board

Operating      systemAndroid 13

Battery           4500mAh

Dimensions    158x77x8.2mm, 209g

Design & built

With flat front and rear glass, an aluminium frame and a trio of protruding camera lenses, the S23 FE is the archetypal modern Galaxy smartphone. The 6.4in S23 FE to sit neatly between the 6.1in Galaxy S23 and 6.6in Galaxy S23+, but it’s actually the largest of the three – although not by a lot. At 209g it’s also more than 10g heavier. You get a brushed aluminium frame and more reflective rear glass panel, instead of the full fat S23’s chrome frame and matte glass back. The SIM tray has also been relocated to the top edge instead of the bottom one, but everything else (USB-C port, speaker grille, punch-hole selfie camera, power and volume buttons) are where you’d find them on others. The phone looks suitably high end and feels pretty premium in the hand.

You can grab one in Mint, Graphite and Cream colours similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 5, or the more distinctive Purple and Indigo. It’s great to see IP68 water and dust resistance, and Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides, should be fairly resilient to scratches, even if it falls short of the S23 proper’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection. You still get an under-display fingerprint sensor, but it’s an optical one, rather than ultrasonic. It was perfectly speedy to recognise digits, but it sat a little too close to the bottom edge of the phone for perfectly balanced one-handed unlocking. Face unlock is an option too, though it’s not secure enough for banking apps.

Screen & sound

Another Samsung smartphone with an epically colourful, impressively bright display with unparalleled contrast. The Galaxy S23 FE’s AMOLED panel is a treat for the eyes, with accurate yet impactful colour and consistently great viewing angles. The 2340×1080 resolution is par for the course in a non-flagship phone, and looks perfectly crisp from all distances. HDR10+ content is wonderfully vibrant. The adaptive refresh rate hovers between 60 and 120Hz, depending on the on-screen action. It was always quick to kick in when scrolling through web pages or playing games that support higher rates. It’ll use more battery power than a fully variable screen would, especially if you engage the always-on display option, but not so much you’ll want to switch it OFF while away from a plug socket.

The S23 FE can’t quite match the Galaxy S23 on display brightness, in manual mode. When left to its own devices, the panel boosted high enough that things look reasonably clearly while outdoors on a fairly sunny autumn day – but those living in warmer climbs where sunglasses are almost a necessity may be a little underwhelmed. Impressed with the front-facing earpiece and down-firing main speaker; the potent combination can really pump out sound, getting louder than some bigger flagship phones. They’re not going to rival a Bluetooth speaker for bass, but vocals were clean and high frequencies weren’t overly sharp. It’s more than OK for catching up on YouTube clips or listening to podcasts.

Cameras

The S23 FE’s trio of rear cameras is made up of a 50MP main snapper, a 12MP ultra wide, and an 8MP telephoto good for 3x optical zoom. Both the main and zoom lenses get optical image stabilisation, and all three get treated to Samsung’s familiar image processing treatment. Expect saturated colours, plenty of sharpness, and a preference for highlights over shadow definition. In good light, the main sensor captures clean, detailed shots. It copes well with distant subjects, even where fine details such as foliage or brickwork are concerned, and dynamic range is very good. Noise is kept to a minimum too. Sample shots just lean into unrealistic territory in terms of colour vibrancy, but they are undeniably easy on the eye, which is apparently what Samsung’s customers like. Even during the day it could struggle with fast moving subjects in a way the equivalent Google Pixel doesn’t. The auto night mode did a great job with static objects. Noise was well controlled and there’s a decent amount of detail on display. Colours still look a little unrealistic.

The 12MP ultra wide is a decent secondary snapper, with just a little softness at the frame edges and exposures largely consistent to the main lens. Detail drops off as your subjects get further away, but otherwise it’s on par with many rivals at this price. It's true in low light, although the night mode image processing has to do more heavy lifting. It’s all well and good when a phone offers 3x optical zoom, but only if it produces results better than what rivals can manage by cropping and digitally enhancing their main sensors. At least contrast, colour and exposure are consistent with the other sensors. Still, the cheaper Pixel 7a does a better job with Google’s Super Res algorithms. The 10MP selfie cam up front is just fine for video calls, and takes a decent self-portrait in almost all lighting conditions.

Software features

The S23 FE lands with Samsung’s OneUI 6.0 interface, which is based on Android 14. It’s as full-on with custom icons, a heap of pre-installed apps and the Bixby voice assistant. Pop-out menus can be handy for setting up pairs of apps in split-screen view, and the optional Good Lock app offers more personalisation options than virtually any rival manufacturer’s default skin, so there’s plenty to play with. Samsung also offer its usual onscreen navigation buttons – which are reversed from the old Android norm. The 128GB of on-board storage is respectable for a mid-range phone, with about 110GB available to use out of the box. Four years of OS updates and five years of security updates is about as good as it gets for a Samsung phone right now. Rivals including Google offer more, and the equivalent iPhone can probably expect seven major iOS revisions.

Performance & battery life

US S23 FE handsets use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – not the newer plus variant – which is renowned for running hot and being demanding on battery life. Turns out an Exynos 2200 wasn’t a bad choice after all. Synthetic performance is up there with other current mid-range phones, and can give last year’s flagships a run for their money. Temperatures seemed largely under control even under sustained load, and you would never see any issues with scrolling. Samsung Galaxy S23 FE felt more than responsive enough for liking, opening apps quickly and keeping several in memory at once (thanks to the 8GB of system memory). Simpler games run pretty much flawlessly. A 4500mAh battery felt a little conservative given how big the phone was, but can still manage to last all day on a single charge. The Galaxy S23 FE can drain its cells much quicker when you’re thrashing the CPU or GPU, but for daily duties (social scrolling, calls, messaging, web browsing, music streaming and photography) it has no issues. Wireless charging is a welcome inclusion, as it’s not a guaranteed inclusion on a mid-range device, but wired speeds of 25W are pretty basic.

Advantages

Styling and screen match top-tier phones

Decent performance and all-day battery life

Very capable main camera

Disadvantages

Telephoto camera not very impressive

Rivals offer similar hardware for less price

The Galaxy S23 isn’t that much more expensive either

Conclusion

It takes the best features from the full-fat S23 and significantly lowers the price of entry. The styling is on point, battery life is dependable, and it takes a very good snap with its main camera. There are multiple rivals out there for similar cash that compete on performance, photography and battery life. It’s not quite a case of “only Samsung disciples need apply”, but the true fans, this device claims to be for have probably already picked up a regular S23.





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