In recent times, many tech specialists have questioned the place we’d transcend the attain of smartphone {hardware}. Whereas we proceed seeing some good points in smartphone efficiency, these enhancements have slowed down. This has made upgrading your machine annually much less and fewer interesting, with stats exhibiting that many customers have prolonged the time between upgrades to a few years. Samsung lately launched its vary of Galaxy S23 smartphones specializing in next-generation pictures. Having acquired the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely for assessment, I used to be eager on experiencing what this seems like.
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The colossal speaking level trending in all spheres of life has been the exponential rise of synthetic intelligence. It’s not a brand new expertise, with the idea going again many years, solely lately world consideration because it filters into on a regular basis life. Smartphones have additionally embraced AI for a while, with many options marked towards improved battery life and environment friendly utilization. Though it technically qualifies as AI, it was not till this yr that it grew to become a notable dialogue, with Samsung veering into its use inside its pictures, not simply in scene detection however the way it presumably produces pictures. This can be a subject of nice significance and one thing I’m glad I can discover with the S23 Extremely assessment.
Construct and Design
As with the Galaxy S23 Plus reviewed final month, the Extremely, too, doesn’t stray from the tried and examined. It’s a quintessential Galaxy S smartphone and appears the half. Given some hits and misses from different manufacturers making an attempt to shake up their smartphone designs, I favor the minimalist strategy that Samsung has all the time adopted in its flagship vary.
Not like the S23 Plus, which switched from a protruding digital camera island to a cleaner design, the Extremely sequence already made this change on the S22 Extremely. Moreover, you’ll have issue recognizing the variations when evaluating the S22 and S23 Extremely.
There are modifications, nonetheless slight they seem. General, the Galaxy S23 Extremely is simply 0.2mm thinner whereas 6g heavier. That’s nearly negligible. Probably the most important change between the 2 iterations of the flagship is that Samsung has switched from Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ to the brand new Gorilla Glass Victus 2. This is applicable to each the entrance and rear glass panels, rising the extent of safety for homeowners.
There’s one other small change added to the brand new vary. These are the color choices. Samsung retains the Phantom Black possibility, which is almost certainly fashionable for many customers. Moreover, colors are all new, together with Inexperienced, Cream, Lavender, Graphite, Sky Blue, Lime, Purple, and a novel BMW M Version.
General, there’s not a lot to debate on the design entrance year-on-year. That’s not an enormous subject. Because the saying goes, it’s the within that counts.
Display screen and Show

Samsung has constantly delivered glorious viewing on its screens, whether or not on a smartphone or TV vary. The identical applies in 2023 with the Galaxy S23 Extremely. It continues to offer nice visuals with vivid color stability and crystal readability.
That stated, the display is one other side that hasn’t been upgraded relating to the {hardware} specs. It nonetheless sports activities a 6.8″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with 120Hz and HDR10+ help and 1,750 nits of peak brightness. Relating to the show, it additionally retains its 1,440×3,088px decision with a 500ppi pixel density.
It has a powerful rating on DCI-P3 and Delta-E testing relating to viewing qualities. It achieved a rating of 112% on the DCI-P3 exams (increased is best), together with a 0.3 rating on the Delta-E check (decrease is best). Moreover, you possibly can improve your visible customisations additional with the Imaginative and prescient Booster performance. This permits customers to regulate the color and distinction to their choice, sustaining glorious picture high quality beneath varied lighting circumstances.
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Specs
Samsung flagships all the time carry strong {hardware} specs. That’s no completely different with the Galaxy S23 Extremely. As well as, the smartphone receives slight updates over its predecessor.
Beginning with the chipset, it contains a Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm) SoC. It has an Octa-core (1×3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510) processor. Moreover, it additionally consists of an Adreno 740 GPU.
The model has dropped its 128GB variant for this yr’s mannequin, which now is available in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB variations storage choices. That’s numerous information storage capability, which will likely be a lot wanted if you happen to take high-resolution images with its 200MP digital camera.
Relating to the reminiscence choices, its base 256GB mannequin presents 8GB RAM. The remaining choices all embody 12GB RAM. That is nice for multitasking or processing these images.
Samsung hasn’t elevated its battery capability on the Extremely, maintaining the same Li-Ion 5000mAh, non-removable battery. Nevertheless, its specs have modified barely. It helps 45W wired quick charging, providing 0-65% in half-hour. It additionally helps 15W wi-fi charging and 4.5W reverse wi-fi charging on your Buds or different units.
Lastly, the unit comes put in with Android 13 and runs Samsung’s One UI 5.1. Whereas the {hardware} hasn’t modified drastically year-on-year, its up to date firmware has elevated its capabilities, making it extra highly effective but environment friendly.
Efficiency and Battery Life
The efficiency of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely has been vastly improved. The reason being two-fold. For starters, there are enhancements to the processing energy of the Qualcomm SoC. Nevertheless, most good points are derived from the newly launched One UI 5.1. This additionally implies that any of the older models getting the 5.1 updates can even expertise a lift in energy and effectivity from the firmware.
Samsung has all the time excelled at offering multitasking performance and has taken that to new heights with the firmware replace throughout the S23 vary. Switching between apps and leaving apps open in reminiscence doesn’t scale back any efficiency on the machine. Actually, you need to use a number of apps concurrently with the “twin display” operate and replica textual content and extra between the 2 apps.
One of many nice leaps ahead has been the battery life. Though the machine has the identical 5,000mAh battery, it has a a lot better life. Throughout my testing, I might effectively full a full day’s use and nonetheless have ample battery to play video games or edit. Below regular load, you possibly can go so far as two days between prices, which is spectacular. Even with the extra highly effective digital camera, you received’t have any points working round all day snapping photographs and worrying whether or not you’ll must recharge.
That AI-Enabled, Quad-Lens Digicam

It’s a wierd idea that we proceed to hunt higher and extra from our smartphones year-on-year with the proclivity of throwing increasingly {hardware} at it. Nevertheless, in lots of instances, having nice software program and environment friendly options could make a distinction in efficiency. Relating to the digital camera, the identical applies to each the {hardware} and software program.
The quad-lens digital camera has the next specs:
- 200MP, f/1.7, 24mm (large), 1/1.3″, 0.6µm, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
- 10MP, f/4.9, 230mm (periscope telephoto), 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, 10x optical zoom
- 10MP, f/2.4, 70mm (telephoto), 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, 3x optical zoom
- 12MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Tremendous Regular video
Samsung has packed numerous {hardware} into its quad-lens digital camera setup to offer the most effective outcomes on your imagery wants. As well as, nonetheless, the model has accomplished a lot work on the behind-the-scenes software program to enhance the outcomes additional.
For starters, it presents RAW picture recordsdata. This permits superior customers to enhance the picture in put up after copying it onto their PCs. With the 200MP RAW recordsdata, there’s room for enhancing and enhancements to get that completely colourised picture you’re on the lookout for. And it scales properly, too, permitting it for use in posters and huge prints. That is nice for professionals when there isn’t any time to achieve for his or her DSLR.
The second of the software program enhancements comes from its use of synthetic intelligence. Samsung has integrated AI to enhance the picture, the way it units it up and in processing the consequence. Among the options it utilises are scene optimiser, object recognition, brightness and distinction management, and the right way to handle picture stabilisation methods. The latter is helpful when taking pictures utilizing its 100x zoom capabilities.
These methods are nonetheless extremely controversial, as many counsel that Samsung is utilizing AI to imitate higher photographs of the moon, for instance, and superimposing this over your picture. The model launched a prolonged rationalization of the behind-the-scenes of its AI expertise relating to moon imagery. You possibly can check out that right here.
I used to be impressed most with the nighttime pictures and photographs of the moon. Understanding the claims offered by just a few, I used to be positive to take as many alternative photos of the moon, even just a few with foreground interference and cloud cowl, to make sure that my picture was appropriate. Most often, I might zoom in and align the shot, and it will signify what I noticed with my eyes (nonetheless flawed they’re). Nevertheless, I picked up that on the crescent moon photographs, it struggled to regulate accordingly. This was as a result of there wasn’t sufficient gentle from the moon in these phases to be captured on the digital camera. To get a greater try at a shot on this occasion, you’d must mess around with the skilled settings.
It was nonetheless in a position to handle an acceptable picture. For me, it was clear then that the digital camera wasn’t merely detecting the scene and on the lookout for leads to its information supply to match and mimic when you’ve hit the snap button.
I totally loved taking images with the Galaxy S23 Extremely. I’ve taken probably the most pictures in the previous few weeks than I did for many of 2022, making an attempt to get probably the most out of my time with the smartphone and perfecting every shot.
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Is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely Value It?
As with the earlier assessment of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, the Extremely doesn’t have all that many modifications on the floor degree. Nevertheless, on the identical time, the model has spent fairly a little bit of R&D on its software program and supporting providers to make the Galaxy S23 Extremely really feel like a tool gentle years forward of its predecessor. In consequence, it’s extra highly effective, extra environment friendly and a pleasure to make use of for day by day duties.
If there’s one true standout amongst another Galaxy smartphones, it’s the digital camera. Samsung has made important strides in pushing the envelope of what’s attainable on a tool that matches in your pocket. Not solely has it added extra highly effective {hardware}, nevertheless it has additionally considerably impacted picture high quality and outcomes with using AI. It might nonetheless be controversial, however evaluating pictures will make you respect its efficiency in all circumstances.
You possibly can choose up the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely for round R24,999, relying on the place you look. In comparison with many different smartphones in the same or increased value vary, the unit presents rather more and is arguably the most effective smartphone available on the market at present. As such, it’s well worth the buy and comes extremely beneficial.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely is the most effective smartphone I’ve ever skilled. It might not supply the large soar as some predecessors for his or her respective eras, nevertheless it gives glorious enhancements resulting from improved firmware. Its 200MP digital camera, which helps AI enhancements and RAW pictures, makes for nice enjoyable in all lighting circumstances. It’s a superb smartphone properly value its value.
The Overview
Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely
PROS
- Subsequent-generation images with AI help
- 200MP digital camera and uncooked pictures
- One UI 5.1 delivers an enhanced expertise
- GPU is lastly competing towards trade leaders
- Nice battery life
CONS
- A bit expensive for many customers
- Lags on fast-charging capabilities