Samsung Galaxy S23 Series Has a Chance to Humble Apple iPhones?
I had a chance to test all the phones in the new S23 series, and this is how it turned out
Samsung, that is, Apple’s biggest rival in the mobile phone field, has just unveiled its top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 series. It classically counts on three models, and although it has been improved, everything is in a whirlwind of slight evolutions.
But we’ve had a chance to try them out ahead of time, and here’s where you’ll find out if these are “finally” killer iPhones. Finally, it is in quotes not because we wish it but because Samsung, and perhaps its fans, have been wishing for it for years.
After all, even though Samsung is the biggest seller of mobile phones, it owes this not to its top-of-the-line but primarily to the more affordable Galaxy A series models. The premium segment is still ruled by Apple and its iPhones, making it the biggest earner in mobile phones of all manufacturers.
While Samsung has the advantage of introducing its top line at the beginning of the year, so it will overtake mainly Chinese manufacturers and set a certain performance benchmark, it has the disadvantage of completely missing the Christmas market.
The latter may have failed even for Apple due to the lack of iPhone 14 Pro, but who would buy the new Samsung Galaxy S22 when they know the new lineup is coming in a month? Samsung is not Apple, and the two do things very differently.
An iPhone display unsurpassed
It’s ironic that even though Samsung is supplying the displays for the iPhones, it hasn’t achieved the maximum brightness of 2,000 nits for its solution. So here, the iPhone 14 Pro still leads the way, as Samsung has only standardised the brightness across the range at 1,750 nits.
Real-world usage is questionable, but the language of numbers is clear. Otherwise, it’s a quality leader that can’t be faulted much. The size layout is perhaps more pleasing than Apple’s, as customers can choose from three sizes. If I’m not mistaken, the displays for the iPhones are supplied by Samsung, would there be some tacit agreement on the primacy for Apple?
Old design
The lineup again this year numbers to three models: the 6.1" Galaxy S23, the 6.6" Galaxy S23+ and the 6.8" Galaxy S23 Ultra. The first two are more apt to be compared to standard iPhone models, the Ultra, than to Pro models, due to their size, especially the iPhone Pro Max model.
Last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra bridged the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S series, having just adopted some elements of the defunct series, namely the curved display and the S Pen stylus integrated into the body.
The back lost the entire camera module, which only the smaller models retained. So even if you can’t practically tell this year’s Ultra from last year’s (a common flaw of iPhones, after all), you can clearly distinguish the Galaxy S23 and S23+.
They have changed the design of the Ultra, losing the outlet around the rear cameras, so only the individual lenses protrude from the body, protected by a steel ring against possible damage. It’s more appealing than Apple’s solution, which is extremely massive, especially on the Pro models. I like this and it on the whole trio of new releases.
Cameras and 200MPx
The clear draw of the Ultra is the new 200MPx sensor that replaced the 108MPx one. The company is building its marketing on it, too. Whether rightly so remains to be seen. Ultra still offers an ultra-wide-angle camera and two telephoto lenses (3x and 10x), but they have the same specs as last year.
However, after all the leaks, the cameras of the S23 and S23+ are duly praised. As far as paper values are concerned, nothing has changed here. It’s just that we all know that software now makes half the photos. But we’ll have to wait here, too, as well as for the possibilities of Samsung’s One UI 5.1 superstructure, which runs on Android 13.
That said, the software hasn’t been in its final version. The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s cameras were designed to outperform the iPhone. When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S23 series last week, its focus was on the camera, especially the Galaxy S23 Ultra cameras.
However, its focus on its new top-of-the-line “flagship” photo setup had a bigger purpose. Namely, he wanted to beat the iPhone in this area. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is Samsung’s first phone to boast a 200MPx sensor.
The Korean giant has also improved the other rear sensors (though it hasn’t increased their resolution), added new software features, and improved AI processing to enhance low-light shooting and shooting. Cho Sung-dae, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile division, joined the company as a senior researcher in 2004.
He was involved in developing camera technology for Galaxy phones. One of his biggest concerns was comparing the cameras of the Korean giant’s phones with the iPhone. “I’ve heard many people say things like: Samsung’s phone is good for taking photos and the iPhone is good for videos, or Samsung takes better landscape photos while Apple takes better portraits,” he said in an interview with The Investor website.
He added that Samsung had conducted global surveys to see what it has to improve in the camera area. Thus, many of the improvements that the Galaxy S23 Ultra got were made based on the responses of Generation Z and millennials in these surveys.
It’s probably not a complete surprise that these survey participants wanted better selfies, so Samsung added fast autofocus and a Super HDR feature to the selfie camera.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra also boasts that it can analyze and capture individual characteristics like hair and eyes using object-based AI. “This time, I’m sure users won’t be able to tell whether the picture was taken on the Galaxy S23 or on Apple phones,” Cho concluded.
Apple fans won’t be convinced
As we outlined in the introduction. Can the Galaxy S23 kill the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro? Here’s a bit of a subjective assessment. The design of the entire lineup is hilarious.
Never mind that the Ultra is the same. Apple has been practising this for three years, and here we have the same design for only the second time. The base models are more appealing than the massive camera outputs and, thus, very different.
They look fresh and modern. Even the colours do not offend. They are black, cream (white), green and purple. The green, in particular, is hilarious. The Ultra model has the advantage of the S Pen, which is fun to use, and iPhones will probably never see it.
You can think of it as a redundancy, but a redundancy that pleases. We can’t rate the camera improvements yet, but we know iPhones are the top of the line in photography, and everyone else has a hard time.
If any Samsung was going to “kill” the iPhone, it should have been last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra. This year one only improves on that, and in that regard, there’s not much of a charge to choose it over the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and that’s, of course, because of the price, where many would rather pay extra to have an iPhone.
The base models and the entry-level iPhones score points for camera variability with telephoto lenses. The main one is an extra 50MPx. But it’s the only thing that could make the difference. But let’s not address iOS and Android and One UI right now because that would be for another article.
However, suppose you discount the new design. In that case, this could be a repeat of the iPhone 14 situation, where it’s simply more economical to get the previous generation of phones in the form of the Galaxy S22 series. After all, there aren’t that many changes, and the financial savings are considerable.
Performance and memory
Samsung’s controversial Exynos chips have been replaced by the company’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy, specifically designed for top-of-range models.
It’s the current top of line in Android phones. We weren’t able to test the limits, it will only get to those in a sharp test, but since nothing better exists, it’s nice that Samsung isn’t skimping. But there’s probably no need to be completely worried about the A16 Bionic chip being compromised by it.
RAM, that is, what Apple doesn’t care about, is 8GB, 12GB in the case of the higher configurations of the Ultra. But where Samsung has heard the cries of iPhone users is internal storage. The 128GB variant is thus only available in the case of the Galaxy S23. The others offer 256GB, the Plus model bids 512GB, and the Ultra model even 1TB.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra has become the world’s fastest Android phone
As you know, Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy S23 series is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy chipset. This is a chip exclusively designed for the Korean giant’s smartphones that is faster than the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
This chip has now broken all records in a popular benchmark, making the Galaxy S23 Ultra the fastest Android smartphone worldwide. A Twitter user going by the name Golden Reviewer posted an image showing that the Galaxy S23 Ultra scored 1604 points in the single-core test and 5311 points in the multi-core test in the Geekbench 5 benchmark.
No Android phone has ever achieved such a high score before. This means that the Korean giant's new top “flagship” is extremely fast and will accomplish any task in no time. For comparison: the next fastest Android phone — Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro — in Geekbench 5 scored 1486 and 5211 points, respectively.
This smartphone is slower than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, though it features much more robust cooling for the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The Galaxy S23 series phones boast large evaporator chambers for an efficient heat dissipation mechanism.
Plus, the higher-clocked cores of their chipset work flawlessly and don’t throttle performance nearly as much compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. Thus, a faster chip, a more powerful cooling system and optimized software deliver unprecedented performance. Do you think something like this would be possible with Exynos?
iPhone 14 Pro crushes the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in performance tests
Despite betting on the same chipset for the first time globally with its Galaxy S series this year, namely the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Samsung flopped in tests conducted via the famed Geekbench 5 performance meter when compared to Apple’s flagships equipped with the A16 Bionic chipset.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra scores 1480 points in the single-core test, while the iPhone 14 Pro manages 1874 points in the same test. The smartphone from Apple is, therefore 21% faster in this respect, at least according to the measured values, which is not at all small.
As for the multinuclear score test, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra manages to score 4584 points here, the iPhone 14 Pro scores a whopping 5384 points, which is 14.9% more. So even a good quarter of a year to spare wasn’t enough for Samsung to outperform Apple and its flagships, even though it still had the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 tweaked into a special version for its Galaxy.
It will be extremely interesting to see which direction smartphone performance evolves in the coming years. There are already opinions that Apple will outrun the competition thanks to its 3nm A17 Bionic chipset, which is coming this year more than ever, and opinions that the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will finally catch up with Apple’s mobile chipsets.
So everything in this regard will only be revealed by time and the results of the work that manufacturers will reveal.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 — the ultimate chip with a new core mix and raytracing support
Qualcomm has unveiled its top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which will be the leader in Android phones next year. It is a clear competitor to the Dimensity 9200 and the upcoming Exynos 2300.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is made on a 4nm process with a different core configuration than last year. There is a primary Arm Cortex X3 clocked at 3.2 GHz with four power-efficient (2.8 GHz) and three efficiency cores (2 GHz).
The optimization is that two efficient cores support 64 and 32-bit operations, so even older applications can still run appropriately and efficiently with it. Up to 16 GB of LP-DDR5x 4200 MHz RAM is supported.
Qualcomm says this Kryo processor is up to 35% faster, as its new microarchitecture delivers 40% more power efficiency (compared to 8 Gen 1). The Adreno GPU offers up to 25% faster performance and 45% better power efficiency with Vulkan 1.3 support, while “Adreno Display” includes “OLED Aging Compensation” to combat image burn-in.
Another highlight is hardware-accelerated ray tracing for gaming, which better simulates how light behaves in the real world, from accurate reflections to better shadows. However, the Exynos 2200 also brought this, and its usage is practically nil.
It supports 5G+5G/4GDual-SIM Dual-Active, while the FastConnect 7800 gets along with low-latency Wi-Fi 7, and dual Bluetooth is present. Other features include support for Snapdragon Satellite two-way messaging, for example. There’s also audio support with dynamic head tracking.
Another big highlight is the Qualcomm AI Engine, with up to 4.35X more AI performance thanks to a 2x larger tensor accelerator. This features a special power delivery system that doubles the connection between the Hexagon processor, Adreno GPU, and Spectra ISP for more bandwidth and lower latency.
For AI tasks, the faster connection reduces dependency on system DDR memory. There is also support for the INT4 AI format for a 60% performance boost for persistent AI inferencing. The Sensing Hub features two AI processors for audio and other sensors with double the performance increase and 50% more memory.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 also features what Qualcomm calls “Cognitive ISP”, which can trigger real-time semantic segmentation through the camera to identify and then optimize faces, hair, clothing, the sky, and other common objects in a scene.
Also present is support for Samsung’s ISOCELL HP3 image sensor (200 MPx) and AV1 codec for video playback at up to 8K HDR at 60 FPS. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is expected to appear in smartphones before the end of 2022.
Improved cooling system
Samsung’s new Galaxy S23 flagship models may be the best android smartphones for mobile gaming yet. Thanks to a special version of the high-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, an overclocked main processor core and graphics chip, and the Galaxy S23’s improved cooling system.
Initial 3D benchmarks suggest that the Galaxy S23 series performs almost twice as well in 3D applications as the Galaxy S22 series with the Exynos 2200 chip. However, such high performance and higher frequencies logically require adequate cooling.
We haven’t seen either of the new series phones disassembled yet. Still, legendary leaker Ice universe has published rough sketches that reveal that the series has better cooling than last year’s.
Judging by these sketches, the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra have significantly larger evaporator chambers than their predecessors. The evaporator chamber is a flat cooling device that can spread heat more efficiently than traditional copper heat pipes.
Inside the evaporator chamber is a liquid that turns into a gas and later condenses on specially designed surfaces, dissipating heat. The Galaxy S23 series uses the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in every market, so there are no Exynos versions to worry about this year.
The chipset, dubbed Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, features an overclocked main processor core running at 3.36 GHz instead of the standard 3.2 GHz and an Adreno 740 graphics chip running at 719 MHz instead of the usual 680 MHz.
In addition, the new phones use faster UFS 4.0 storage (up to 128GB in the base model variant) and LPDDR5X operating memory, which boasts 8.5 Gbps compared to 6.4 Gbps for LPDDR5 memory.
We'll have to confirm whether the evaporator chambers in the Galaxy S23 models are larger by first analyzing one of them. As well as whether Samsung has taken inspiration from the cheap Galaxy A14 5G and fitted the new “flagships” with adhesive battery cases to make them easier to replace and increase the repairability score.
Charging of S23 series
Samsung has a revolutionary new approach to charging. This is what we want in all our phones
The feature is Pause USB Power Delivery, and you’ll find it in the Game Booster settings in the Galaxy S23 series. It simply allows the phone to deliver input power directly to the chip, which means the phone’s battery won’t charge.
Diverting power directly to the battery into the chipset generates less heat, leading to better-sustained performance and helping the battery reduce charge cycles. The feature is currently only available on the Galaxy S23 series, and we’re not sure if it’s limited to newer hardware, the newer version of Game Booster or One UI 5.1.
As the image above shows, the Galaxy S23 Ultra consumes 6W of power when the feature is enabled, but when it’s turned off, the smartphone consumes 17W of power. It’s rather strange that Samsung didn’t mention this feature when it introduced the new line of phones, nor anywhere in the accompanying materials, such as the changelog for One UI 5.1.
This is a rather revolutionary feature that can improve mobile gaming by making your hands burn again. Hopefully, Samsung will bring it to other Galaxy smartphones and tablets in the future, and it won’t be exclusive to the Galaxy S series.
Galaxy S23 wireless charging: It’s only 10W
It’s usually assumed that each new generation of a high-end phone improves on individual specs rather than downgrading them. However, there has been some confusion about the Galaxy S23 series’ wireless charging, with some media outlets claiming 15W, which the Galaxy S22 series also has, and others claiming 10W.
Hand on heart, it must be admitted that this year’s Galaxy S23 series did not bring as many improvements as many might have hoped. Still, there is a clear evolutionary shift in design, photo quality and performance. Many were surprised to read that wireless charging should be reduced from 15 to 10W when the competition is trying to increase this power (except Apple).
The Galaxy S23 series has only and only 10W FWC 2.0 wireless charging. Yet this information is nowhere to be seen at first glance. The press release of the news even brushed off the wireless charging with a simple statement that it includes it.
The reason for this is simple nobody wants to present aggravation. However, Samsung must have had a good reason for this because 15W wireless charging is a certain standard. We’ll have to wait for some more detailed statements, though.
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References:
- Samsung Galaxy S23 introduces new ‘Pause USB Power Delivery’ feature for gamers
- Samsung Galaxy S23 introduces new ‘Pause USB Power Delivery’ feature for gamers
- Galaxy S23 Series
- Samsung Galaxy S23 has a better cooling system — why that’s important
- Samsung Galaxy S23 trio has improved cooling with larger vapor chambers
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy breakdown: What’s different?
- Golden Reviewer twitter
- Galaxy S23 Ultra becomes fastest Android smartphone in the world
- [Herald Interview] Samsung bets big on cameras to fight Apple
