Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Smartphone Review – The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE was launched in October 2023. The FE series of Galaxy smartphones are made especially for people who want Samsung’s flagship smartphone but are not willing to pay that much. The FE stands for Fan Edition and it’s made for the Samsung fan who wants to have it all. It was launched globally and also supports 5G connectivity, which is growing rapidly in terms of new users. Besides this, the device arrives with a flagship chipset and impressive display to attract potential buyers.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE features the same design and internal components as that of the regular Samsung Galaxy S23 but for a cheaper price tag. Samsung claims to provide the same flagship components inside and hence the same experience. However, the components are not enough to deliver an awesome user experience. That’s exactly what we aim to find out today with the detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE smartphone.
Table of Contents
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE features a 6.4-inches DynamicAMOLED 2X display with and 120Hz high refresh rate.
- The chipset inside the phone is the Samsung Exynos 2200 SoC for the international variant, while the USA variant has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC.
- The phone arrives with the latest Android 13OSout-of-the-box with OneUI 6 for more customization options.
- The main triple rear camera sensor has a 50MP sensor, while the selfie camera has a 10MP sensor.
- The phone has a Li-Ion4500mAh battery and supports 25W wired fast charging along with wireless charging support.
Design and Display
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE looks the same as the Samsung Galaxy S23 but with a slight compromise in the materials to justify the cheaper price tag. Instead of Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both the front and the rear, the Galaxy S23 FE has the Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It’s not a significant drop in quality and the Gorilla Glass 5 will protect your new smartphone from both drops and scratches. The sideframe is made out of aluminum, which provides the smartphone with all the strength and rigidity it needs.
The smartphone also carries an official IP68 water and dust resistance, which will come in real handy if you ever accidentally drop your new phone into a fish tank or the swimming pool. On the front, there’s a 6.4-inches Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with FHD+ resolution.
The panel can get as bright as 1450 nits peak brightness, so outdoor visibility won’t be an issue. The display also features a 120Hzhigh refresh rate, which will provide a smooth user experience. The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is made available for purchase in Mint, Cream, Graphite, Purple, Indigo, and even Tangerine and that’s one more advantage over the regular Galaxy S23, which didn’t have this many color options. Aside from this, the device is 8.2mm slim and weighs around 209 grams.
Memory and Internal
Samsung equipped the Galaxy S23 FE with the 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, which will be available only in the USA. This chipset will only be available in the USA. For everyone else, you will get the 4nm Samsung Exynos 2200 SoC, which is designed specifically for the international variant. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 5G chipset can reach up to a 1×3.0GHz clocking speed, whereas the Exynos 2200 SoC is capable of reaching up to a 1×2.8GHz clocking speed.
So the Exynos chipset is slightly faster than the Snapdragon variant this time around, but you will never notice this difference in real usage as both chipsets are quite powerful. Both chipsets feature an octa-core CPU configuration and have enough power to run everything smoothly. The GPU of both the chipsets is also quite powerful and will run all your favorite games like PUBGm, CODm, and Genshin Impact at their highest settings.
But since Snapdragon processors are more popular, games are more optimized for the Snapdragon chipset, so it may perform better on games. The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE also has support for 5G connectivity and runs on the latest Android 13OS with OneUI 6, which provides a lot of customization support. Samsung also promises to provide 4 major Android updates and that will certainly expand the software experience in the long run. For memory and storage, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is available for purchase with 8GB of RAM and 128 GB to 256GB of internal storage.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE has a 50MP triple-camera setup just like the regular Samsung Galaxy S23. The primary camera consists of a 50MP sensor, which is capable of taking some incredible pictures with great detail levels and accurate color. The quality of the pictures is of the same caliber as that of the regular Samsung Galaxy S23. The ultra-wide camera consists of a 12MP sensor, which takes pictures with an incredible 123Ëš wide field of view.
It manages to preserve all the details with little to no shift in colors from the primary sensor, which is something that plagues other smartphones in the same price bracket. Then there’s the telephoto camera, which consists of an 8MP sensor. This sensor takes some great photos at 3x zoom and then upscales the image. This makes the final image incredibly detailed and fine-tuned.
On the front, you will find a selfie camera that consists of a 10MP sensor and it can take great selfies with natural skin tones and proper dynamic range to highlight the subject’s face. When it comes to video recording, the rear camera can shoot videos at 8K@24FPS. On the other hand, the front camera can record 4K videos@60fps with gyro-EIS support, while the main camera misses the stabilization support.
Battery and Others
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE has a Li-Ion4500mAh battery, which is a decent-capacity battery. With moderate usage such as taking a few pictures, listening to music, and a bit of social media, the smartphone should easily last more than a day. But if you are a heavy user or play a lot of games, then the battery inside the smartphone may not even last a full day. Gaming, video recording or video editing is very taxing on system resources, which will drain the smartphone battery faster.
But when you do run out of battery, you will be glad to know that the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE supports both wired and wireless charging. It supports up to 25W of fast wired charging, which can fully charge the smartphone in under 2 hours. Apart from that, the smartphone has support for dual-band Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, an under-display fingerprint sensor, NFC, and a USB Type-C connector for charging. The smartphone is available in India for $559 (Rs 47,599 in India) approx.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Pros and Cons
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE smartphone.
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy S23 FE |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | October 2023 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.22 x 3.01 x 0.32 inches |
| Weight | 209 g |
| Size | 6.4 inches |
| Display | Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz HDR10+ 1450 nits brightness 19.5:9 ratio ~403 PPI density |
| Protection/Others | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 IP68 dust/water resistant |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| OS | Android 13, One UI 6 |
| Chipset | 4nm – Exynos 2200 – International 4nm – Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – USA |
| CPU | International Octa-core 1×2.8 GHz Cortex-X2 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A510 USA Octa-core 1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU | Xclipse 920 – International Adreno 730 – USA |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB |
| Camera | 50 MP (wide), PDAF, OIS 8 MP (telephoto), PDAF, 3x optical zoom 12 MP (123Ëšultrawide) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 8K@24fps |
| Selfie | 10 MP (wide) Max – 4K@30/60fps, gyro-EIS |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.3, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C, OTG |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, compass Virtual proximity sensing Samsung DeX |
| Battery | Li-Ion 4500 mAh 25W wired, PD2.0 Wireless |
| Colors | Mint, Cream, Graphite, Purple, Indigo, Tangerine |
| Expected Price | $499 (Rs 47,599 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE does seem to provide great value. The internal components on the new Galaxy S23 FE are either extremely similar or close to the regular Samsung Galaxy S23 but are available for less price. For a lot of people, this price difference is enough to sway users to the new Galaxy S23 FE, and for other people, this allows them to buy a Samsung flagship smartphone that they never thought would be possible.
Essentially, a buyer pays less and gets to have the same experience as the more expensive Samsung Galaxy S23, albeit with slightly lowered internal components, which are something people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Even the camera performance is equally enchanting. However, by the time Samsung brings out new smartphones, their old smartphones often go on sale. So chances are, you may find the Samsung Galaxy S22, the previous year’s flagship, at a similar price tag. So, when you are out on the market, keep an eye out for that as well. However, the final decision is up to you and your requirements.
