Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus

Introduction

Samsung's Galaxy S23 flagship trio for 2023 consists of the base S23 model, the S23+, and the Ultra variant. As usual, the Galaxy S23+ fits in between its siblings in terms of size, features, and pricing.

The Galaxy S23+ looks like an oversized S23. It has the same design language with individual camera cutouts for each of the rear-facing cameras, but it also burrows some capabilities from the pricier, Note-like Galaxy S23 Ultra. It represents the perfect balancing act between the compact S23 and the Ultra model.

Design

Samsung's new design philosophy for 2023 is all about minimalism. The Galaxy S23+ has three beautifully-cut rings around the rear-facing cameras, with no contour cut-out.

The phone has a flat Infinity-O display, an equally-flat back panel, and a slightly rounded metal frame for better grip. Its body is IP68-rated for dust and water resistance and measures 157.8 x 76.2 x 7.6mm while weighing 196 grams. Samsung announced the Galaxy S23+ in four color options: Phantom Black, Cream, Green, and Lavender.

Display

Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S23+ with a 6.6.-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. The panel has a 48-120Hz refresh rate and can top 1,750 nits of brightness.

Color accuracy is helped by technologies such as Vision Booster and Enhanced Comfort, and the panel has a 240Hz touch sampling rate in Game Mode, which should help reduce the delay when playing 3D mobile games.

Specifications

Like the rest of the 2023 flagship series, the Galaxy S23+ is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset in every market. And it's an overclocked variant of the SoC, boasting higher CPU and GPU frequencies for improved gaming performance.

There's no division between Exynos and Qualcomm for the 2023 flagship models. The Galaxy S23+ uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 everywhere. It's an equal playing field for every market, and this consistency may improve firmware support in the long run.

The phone gets 8GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of fast UFS 4.0 storage. The Galaxy S23+ relies on a 4,700mAh battery with 45W fast-charging capabilities. Connectivity-wise, the device supports Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3, and 5G connectivity.

Camera

The Galaxy S23+ uses the same camera configuration as the base model. It includes a 50MP wide camera with an f/1.8 aperture and 85-degrees FOV, a 12MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.2 and 120-FOV), and a 10MP telephoto camera (3x optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture, and 36-degrees FOV).

The selfie camera is a 12MP unit with an f/2.2 aperture and 80-degree FOV. It supports Super HDR video recording.

Software and Features

The entire Galaxy S23 series launched with Android 13 and One UI 5.1, and the Plus model is no exception.

One UI 5.1 improves upon One UI 5.0 with additions including an Effects button for selfies, improved shadows and reflections processing for the Gallery app, a Shared Family Album, better image search with face recognition, and more.

This One UI version also introduces new battery and weather widgets, Samsung DeX multitasking improvements, separate wallpapers for Modes and Scenarios, AR Zone and AR Emoji improvements, and better connectivity through Samsung Notes Collaboration, Wi-Fi speakers output, continuous surfing on connected PCs, and cross-device accessory compatibility with the Galaxy Book laptop series.

The Galaxy S23 lineup is eligible for four major Android OS upgrades and five years of security updates. The first major update, which includes Android 14 and One UI 6, was released for the Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra in late October, 2023.

Availability and Price

The Galaxy S23+ was announced at Unpacked on February 1 and Samsung scheduled the phone for release on February 17. The base model with 256GB of storage has a launch price of $1,049.