Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Review

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S23 Series is live! 

The S23 series consists of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and S23 Ultra and launched on Feb 17, 2023. 

Here I discuss my initial impressions of the new Galaxy S23 Plus – its features, specifications and more.

You can also check out the Galaxy S23 review and Galaxy S23 Ultra review for more in-depth phone information.

Did you know you can get your Galaxy S23 Plus on an eligible SIM plan with Optus and enjoy interest free payments via Optus Pay. Check out options to buy the S23 Plus on a plan. 

You can also check out how the S23 Series does vs S22 Series or read how the S23 phones compare with each other.

Contents

• Galaxy S23 Plus – Summary
• Galaxy S23 Plus top features
• Galaxy S23 Plus vs S22 Plus quick comparison
• Galaxy S23 Plus Price
• Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Physical design, look and feel
• Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Display
• Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Camera
• Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Performance and processor
• Galaxy S23 Plus Review: Battery
• Samsung Galaxy S23+ technical specifications

The Galaxy S23+ enjoys many of the features of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but at a lower price point. I personally think it gets the best of both worlds.

I think Samsung made pretty great advancements with the S22 Series and decided to enhance an already amazing device rather than introducing new features.

With the Galaxy S23+, you get the same size as the S22+ with a somewhat different design, an improved selfie camera balanced by the same rear camera system as the S22+, a new processor and bigger battery than the S22+.

Galaxy S23+ vs S22+ quick peek

Samsung Galaxy S23+ Price 

You can get your Galaxy S23+ on an eligible SIM plan with Optus to enjoy interest free payments via Optus Pay. Check out options to buy the S23 Plus on a plan.

Samsung decides to carry across major design elements from S22+ in the new S23+ – at least on the front. At the back, Samsung’s done away with the separate camera housing area that has a slight bump in the S22+. So the camera system housing area blends in with the back of the S23+ and is also the same colour.

The Galaxy S23+ sports an armour aluminium frame and in the front, the screen’s got minimal bezels, enhanced by the Infinity-O display themed hole cut-out with the front camera.

Overall, Galaxy S23+ is very similar to the S22+ in terms of physical design with curved edges.

At 6.6-inches*¹ and 157.8 x 76.2 x 7.6 mm in dimensions, the Galaxy S23+ is the same size as S22+ and a tad smaller than S21+’s 6.7-inches. It’s definitely a handful and does not fit in my back pocket.

It’s a beautiful piece of tech to hold though – the colours are pleasing on the eyes. The Galaxy S23+ has got a certain quiet charm about it.

Colours: The Galaxy S23+ is available in Phantom Black (black), Lavender (a beautiful lilac colour that amps up the “royalty-like” feeling), Cream and Green (a dark seaweed green shade).

Galaxy S23+ Design pros:

• Good screen size that’s suitable for gaming, videos
• No more bump for the rear camera housing unit
• Aesthetically pleasing colours

The Galaxy S23+ has some of the best features of the S23 Series. It has a Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display.

That sounds like a mouthful but a Dynamic AMOLED 2X implies at a display with higher accuracy in terms of colour, brightness, higher contrast ratio, better support for high-definition content along with efficiency (read battery usage). Super keen to play around with this for my final review.

With the Infinity-O Display, you get more screen size and less bezels with the front camera housed in a small cut-out. Vision Booster is present in the Galaxy S23+ and helps enhance visibility under bright lights (outdoors etc).

You also get a 120Hz refresh rate, the same as for Galaxy S23 Ultra. This would make for a more responsive phone experience especially when playing fast paced games or scrolling. Coupled with improvements across other areas like the processor, design, display, screen size, this makes the Galaxy S23+ a great option for gaming.

Galaxy S23+ Display pros:

• Dynamic AMOLED 2X for immersive gaming and viewing experience
• Vision Booster to improve how the display auto-adjusts to different ambient lighting situations
• 120Hz refresh rate
• Infinity-O display

In the front, Samsung’s upped the game compared to the S22+ with a 12MP dual pixel camera. The S23+ rear camera includes a 50MP wide angle camera lens, a 10MP telephoto lens and a 12MP ultra wide lens.

The front camera is housed in a small strip instead of a bezel, increasing screen size.

Keep checking out this space for more information on how the lens works, plus some photos taken from the sample device.

S23+ Camera pros:

• Improved 12MP selfie camera compared to the S22+
• More AI capabilities and software advancements compared to the S22+
• Improved Nightography quality compared to the S22+

The Galaxy S23+ is equipped with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, a step up from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor in the S22 Series. Samsung claims the new processor will positively impact CPU speed, graphics, gaming experience, battery performance among other things.

Galaxy S23+ performance pros:

• New Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
• Speedier performance
• Better gaming experience
• Improved battery performance
• Better graphics

The Galaxy S23+ sports a bigger battery of 4700mAH vs the S22+’s 4500mAH. While this is still smaller than the S21+’s 4800mAH, it’s definitely an improvement on the S22+ and is sure to improve experience, especially when gaming. More details to follow in the hands-on review.

Stay tuned for more details on the Galaxy S23+.

Operating System
Android 13

Display Size 
6.6” Infinity-O Display, Full HD+ (2340 x 1080), Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Adaptive 120Hz Refresh

Processor Speed 
Qualcomm SM8550 Pro Octa core

RAM
8GB

Internal Memory
512GB / 256GB

Expandable Memory
No

Main Camera Resolution (in MP)
50MP (Wide, F1.8)
10MP (Telephoto, F2.4)
12MP (Ultra Wide, F2.2)

Front-Facing Camera Resolution (in MP)
12MP (F2.2)

Video Capture
UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) | @24fps

Dimensions (L x W x H)
157.8 x 76.2 x 7.6mm

Weight
195g

SIM Type
Single SIM + eSIM

Capacity (in mAh)
4,700mAh (Typical)

Fingerprint Sensor
Ultrasonic In-screen Fingerprint

Mobile innovation never stops, with the latest Galaxy S25 Series finally landing in Australia. The new Galaxy S25 Series features new Galaxy AI tools, as well as upgraded processors and camera lenses. Check out the Galaxy S25 Ultra for a look at Samsung’s newest flagship phone.

Angelique Thakur works with Optus. She loves to play around with gadgets and is a dog lover. She also enjoys going on hikes and annoying her partner.

^{[1]Galaxy S23+'s screen size is 6.6 inches in the full rectangle. Actual viewable area is less due to the rounded corners and camera hole.}