Samsung Galaxy A23 review

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Introduction and specs

Samsung has been going strong with its mid-range lineup in the last couple of years, and the Galaxy A23 is yet another iteration of its low-end to mid-range offering. As it's usually the case with budget Samsung phones, the main focus seems to be the camera department. We often see better ultrawide solutions and more advanced main cameras used in Samsung's midrangers, compared to rivals, that is.

The Galaxy A23 is no exception to the rule. Despite being a budget handset, it carries a 50MP main camera, which also happens to be optically stabilized. The other three cameras don't stand out in any way, though.

We also have a big 6.6-inch display, which is not OLED, but we rarely get to see an OLED around these price points. Something had to give, after all, and it's understandable.

Samsung Galaxy A23 specs at a glance:

• Body: 164.5x76.9x8.4mm, 195g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), plastic frame, plastic back.
• Display: 6.60" PLS LCD, 90Hz, 1080x2408px resolution, 20.07:9 aspect ratio, 400ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM6225 Snapdragon 680 4G (6 nm): Octa-core (4x2.4 GHz Kryo 265 Gold & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo 265 Silver); Adreno 610.
• Memory: 64GB 4GB RAM, 64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; eMMC 5.1; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
• OS/Software: Android 12, One UI 4.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 5 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 1/5", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 8 MP, f/2.2, (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 25W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); FM radio; 3.5mm jack; Virtual proximity sensing; No ambient light sensor.

The Snapdragon 680 SoC powering the device is a recent one with fairly capable CPU, which offers a substantial upgrade over older Snapdragon 6xx chipsets. That's not to say there aren't some considerable drawbacks of the said platform, including the lack of 4K video recording and 5G connectivity. Then again, some of the said issues plague current mid-range smartphone alternatives using the Snapdragon 6xx series in 2022. More on that later.

However, the chip has enough cores that are clocked sufficiently high, so performance shouldn't be an issue compared to devices running the latest Snapdragon 690 series. In other words, it should hopefully offer just about the right level of performance as other competing solutions.

Other than that, the Galaxy A23 shapes up to be a decent budget solution with a big 5,000 mAh battery, competitive 25W fast charging (with a separate charger) over Power Delivery, Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front and the fan-favorite microSD card slot. The Galaxy A23 is also launching with the latest Android 12 and Samsung's One UI 4.1 out of the box, which isn't a given with low-end phones.

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy A23

There's nothing out of the ordinary inside the Galaxy A23's retail box. It contains the standard user manuals and a 15W charger, although the phone can take a 25W charger as well. Of course, there's a USB-A to USB-C cable inside for charging and data transfer.

Interestingly, there's no bonus case, which is usually a thing in the low-end to mid-range packaging.