Galaxy S23 FE vs Galaxy S23: is it worth going for the flagship?

After skipping a generation, Samsung released its new Fan Edition phone, the Galaxy S23 FE, which came in hot with a set of specs and overall package value that can rival its $200 more expensive sibling, the Galaxy S23.

Now, yes, there are corners that had to be cut, obviously. The glass protecting the phone is not as durable as the one on the S23, it is heavier and bigger, and some other small differences. But, it honestly feels like the S23 FE can steal many potential S23 buyers! Okay, let's dive in and see why that is.

Galaxy S23 FE: get at Amazon at 8% off

Amazon offers the awesome Galaxy S23 FE at 8% off its price tag. Trade-in an old device to unlock more savings.

$50 off (8%)

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Samsung Galaxy S23 FE: Save up to $460 with trade-in

Snag the awesome Galaxy S23 FE at its standard price, but you can trade in your old phone for up to $460 off via a trade-in credit. The trade-in deal is live at the official Samsung store.

$460 off (77%) Trade-in

$139 ⁹⁹

$599 ⁹⁹

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Grab the Galaxy S23 in Lavender at Amazon

The vanilla Galaxy S23 sells at its standard price on Amazon. Limited color options are available. You can trade in a suitable device to unlock up to $260 in savings.

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Galaxy S23: up to $535 off with a trade-in at Samsung.com

The Galaxy S23 is now available with up to $535 off with a trade-in. Additional savings can be unlocked if you have a Samsung Offer Programs membership.

$535 off (70%) Trade-in

$224 ⁹⁹

$759 ⁹⁹

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Samsung has began making all of its phones throughout the different price ranges share very similar if not the same design language, and we can easily see that in this comparison, as the S23 FE is almost indistinguishable from the S23 when it comes to how they look.

Of course, there is the size difference, with the S23 FE being significantly larger and noticeably heavier. The Galaxy S23 FE also has sharper edges, which made it feel a bit uncomfortable to hold. Check out the size comparison below which might help you get a better idea of the difference in dimensions:

The other design difference is that while the S23 comes with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protecting the back side, the S23 FE comes with the less durable Gorilla Glass 5. Both phones, however, come with IP68 water and dust protection.

The other differentiator are the color options. The S23 FE comes in Mint, Cream, Graphite, Purple, Indigo, and Tangerine (last two are exclusive to Samsung.com orders). The S23, on the other hand, comes in Cream, Lavender, Green, and Phantom Black.

With the larger body comes a bigger display. The S23 FE has a 6.4-inch one while the vanilla S23 comes with a 6.1 screen. The rest of the given display specs for the S23 FE, like its 120Hz max refresh rate and HDR support, match those of its more expensive counterpart. Suffice it to say, both phones are a joy to use for watching any type of content, although the larger screen size on the FE is definitely an advantage.

In our display tests we found the Galaxy S23 to have a higher peak and lower minimum brightness compared to the Fan Edition, so no major surprises there. Color accuracy also seems to be a tad better on the flagship model.

First and foremost, unlike the Galaxy S23 which comes with the same praised Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset across all markets, the S23 FE either has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200 depending on whether you are buying it from the North American market, or somewhere else in the world. This is an issue, because as we have learned from previous times Samsung as done this that there is a visible difference in performance and power efficiency, usually in favor of the Snapdragon iteration.

We got to test the S23 FE with Samsung's Exynos 2200 chipset, which got beat by the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the S23 in all of our benchmark tests. That being said, during our time with the FE, we did not notice any hiccups or lack of power when using the phone for daily tasks or gaming with it. The camera app did seem less responsive at times though.

When it comes to software updates the situation is the same for both phones, meaning 4 years of major OS updates and 5 years of security patches. Both phones are currently with the latest OneUI 6 update, which is based on Android 14.

The Galaxy S23 FE and the Galaxy S23 might be separated by $200, but you wouldn't immediately guess that just by looking at the photos their cameras can take. The results are awfully close, which is a good thing as far as we are concerned.

Both phones have a set of three cameras at the back, a main one (also called wide), an ultra-wide, and a 3X telephoto. There are also the selfie cameras embedded inside the displays. While the S23's cameras do produce photos that are overall sharper and have more detail in them, the difference is definitely not staggering.

Let's take a look at some samples.

Main Camera - Day

You would be forgiven if you are having trouble figuring out the difference between these samples. The main camera on the S23 FE seems to be doing just as good as that of the regular S23. In fact, we think the color accuracy is better on the Fan Edition, as the S23 tends to add a blue/aqua tint in the shadow areas.

Main Camera - Low-light

Just like with the daylight photos, the main cameras on both phones perform very similarly in low-light conditions. We can't make out a clear winner here either.

Zoom Quality

With the 3X telephoto cameras that the S23 FE and S23 have, the difference is not that big in terms of image quality. That being said, the telephoto camera on the S23 is slightly sharper, especially when you look at the digital 5X and 10X zoom shots.

Ultra-wide Camera

One area where the Galaxy S23 has a clear win over the less expensive S23 FE is its ultra-wide camera. There is way more detail in the S23's shots, and areas with uniform color such as the sky have less noise in them, making the image look cleaner and less grainy.

Selfies

Despite the new selfie camera on the S23 FE, which does take some really nice selfies, the front-facing camera on the S23 is still visible better. There is more detail around my eyes, while the background appears have retained its contrast, whereas with the S23 FE things look a bit washed out.

As with most comparisons of mid-range and high-end phones, the biggest gap is noticed when comparing the video recording capabilities of both devices. The Galaxy S23 FE does a pretty good job, especially as far as sharpness and stabilization is concerned.

But with the haloing that's observed in bright conditions, as well as the noticeably worse levels of detail when shooting with the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras, the cameras are definitely where Samsung cut the most corners with the S23 FE. This only becomes even more noticeable when you start recording in low-light conditions, where the ultra-wide camera on the FE is unusable. Surprisingly, the telephoto cameras performed somewhat similarly to each other though.

The Fan Edition series from Samsung has typically always come close to the sound quality of the company's premium phones, which is mostly the case with the S23 FE too. Unlike its more expensive sibling, the 2023 Fan Edition is a little less loud and starts to sound tinny at volumes higher than 80%. It is plenty good for podcasts and watching videos, but we wouldn't exactly use it as a portable speaker.

Haptics, on the other hand, feel amazing on both phones. No complaints here from either.

The Galaxy S23 FE comes with a larger 4500mAh battery, compared to the 3900mAh one on the Galaxy S23. That being said, the more efficient chipset on the S23 and the fact that its screen is smaller made it last about 2 hours longer during our gaming battery test. For web browsing and video streaming the two were overall on par with each other though.

Charging-wise, both come with 25W of wired, 15 wireless, and 4.5 reverse-wireless charging. The smaller battery on the S23 does charge faster, so keep that in mind.

Given the significantly larger battery capacity of the Galaxy S23 FE, it is completely natural that it takes longer to charge with the same charging speed as that of the flagship S23.

Here's a quick look at the Galaxy S23 FE specs vs the Galaxy S23 specs.

There are a few differences to note here. First and foremost there is the fact that the Galaxy S23 FE is a larger phone, but that also comes along with a bigger display. This means that it is also heavier than the S23.

Then there is the last-gen flagship chipsets, which are still pretty amazing despite being an year older. The camera systems might look similar, however, in practicality they perform very differently, so don't let the megapixels fool you.

The whole point of the Galaxy S23 FE is to provide fans of the company's beloved high-end phones but with just the right amount of cut corners to reduce the price to something that is more affordable. Well, we can safely say that Samsung has managed to do just that. The 2023 Fan Edition might not be exactly on par with its pricier sibling, but it sure comes close in more than one way.

The camera system, for example, is more than enough and many would find it difficult to make out the differences in performance. The same can be said for the chipsets — benchmarks might be showing a huge gap between the S23 and S23 FE, but in real-life experience this difference is much less obvious. And yes, the S23 is protected with tougher glass, but that's about it.

Frankly, we find it difficult to recommend the S23 over the S23 FE as the upgrades barely justify the $200 upgrade. Of course, if you want to future-proof yourself with the newer, faster, and more power-efficient chipset, have somewhat better cameras, and the smaller and tougher body of the base flagship, then the S23 is the one to pick. But if you don't need these things, you can just save those $200 and get the S23 FE instead. Not to mention that January is just around the corner and Samsung is well on its way to announce the S24 series.