Samsung Galaxy S23 FE – more features, lower price (smartphone review)

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE – is a feature-packed, upper-mid-range smartphone under the Galaxy S23 $1000+ price bracket. It is available in 8/128 or 8/256GB for $999/1099.

FE means Fan Edition – a phone driven by fans who wanted most of the S23 features but at a <$1000 cost. This year’s main compromise is using the Samsung Exynos 2200 System-on-a-Chip instead of a Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2. That means significant performance issues in throttling, AI performance and phone signal strength.

Here are the main differences between the Samsung Gaalxy S23 FE and S23 (brackets). It sits between the S23 and S23+ in screen size.

• 158 x 76.5 x 8.2 mm x 209g (146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6 mm x 168g)
• 6.4” 2340 x 1080, 1450nits peak (6.1” 2340 x 1080, 1750 nits peak) 60/120Hz AMOLED
• Exynos 2200 1 x 2.8GHz, 3 x 2.50GHz & 4 x 1.8GHz (Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2 1 x 2.8GHz, 3 x 2.50GHz & 4 x 1.8GHz)
• Xclipse 920 GPU (Adreno 740)
• 8GB LPDDR4X (8GB LPDDR5X)
• 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1 (128/256/512GB UFS 4.0)
• Camera Wide – 50/12MP, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS (Same but bins to 12.5MP)
• Camera Ultrawide – 12MP, f/2.2 (same)
• Camera Telephoto – 8MPm f/2.4, PDAF, 3X Optical (10MP, f/2.4, PDAF, OIS, 3X Optical Zoom)
• Camera Front – 10MP, F2.4, Fixed focus (12MP, F/2.2, Dual Pixel PDAF)
• Wi-Fi 6 AX dual-band (Wi-Fi 6E AXE tri-band)
• USB-C 2.0 480Mbps, no Alt DP for audio/video/data (USB-C 3.2 with Alt DP)
• 4500mAh battery, Qi and 25W no charger supplied (3900mAh, same)
• Gorilla Glass 5 front and back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back)
• Base 8/128GB $999 ($1349)

The Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and Ultra are superior all around. If you wait a few months, you will see these at runout prices for the February 2024 S24 launch. The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE will be current until later in 2024.

Our new FE devices are packed with crowd-pleasing capabilities that let Galaxy users maximise their creativity and productivity as part of a connected Samsung ecosystem.

TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business Samsung Electronics.

Australian Review: Samsung Galaxy S23 FE – Fan Edition

Website		Product Page
RRP 5/01/23		8/128GB $999 (seen for $899) 8/256GB $1099 (seen for $999) Samsung Trade-in is available. Optional 25W charger with 1M USB-C-USB-C 3W cable $50 Accessories and cases from $79 to $169 (strongly recommended)
Colours	Colours: Retail: Mint, Cream, Graphite, and Purple. Indigo (Blue) and Tangerine (Orange) are available exclusively at Samsung.com.au.
From*	Samsung online, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, Amazon, Officeworks, Bing Lee, Woolworths, David Jones, Myer, Costco, BIG W, Target, Radio Rentals, RT Edwards, Retravision, Betta and Australia Post.
Warranty	24-months ACL
More	CyberShack Samsung News and Reviews

* Grey market – no Australian warranty, and 5G may not work here

We strongly advise you to buy a genuine model with Australian firmware. Check at Settings, About Phone, Regulatory Labels and Australian RCM C-tick mark. Insist on a screen grab if you buy anywhere else.

Australian certified phones use unique Australian 5G sub-6Ghz and 5G low-band frequencies, requiring local activation first. Read Don’t buy a grey market smartphone.

Deep-Dive review format

It is in two parts – a summary (first) and a separate 300+ line database-driven spec, including over 70 tests to back up the findings. It also helps us compare different phones and features.

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – a little bigger and chunkier than expected – Pass

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is a lower-cost entry point for the S23 series. To do that, it uses quite a different formula under the bonnet.  While it looks like an S23, comparing this to the S23 series is a little unfair as they all use the 2023 flagship Qualcomm SD 8 Gen 2 processor. This uses a Samsung Exynos 2200 focused on power efficiency.

In fact, Australia gets the Exynos, and most international reviews are for the Qualcomm version. Significant differences exist between these SoCs regarding AI, TOPS, GPU, modem reception, etc. It is not that one is better than the other, but that reviews talk up the Qualcomm SD and talk down the Exynos.

In fact, this would be an entirely different and more glowing review if Australia had the Qualcomm version. We would be talking about excellent phone signal strength for city, suburbs, regional and rural use, as well as more consistent performance. Alas no.

It is kind of Applesque – a 6.4” screen, wide matte aluminium frame, Gorilla Glass 5 screen and back protection, and at 209g, it feels a bit heavy in the hand. It is a design similar to the S23 and S23+ but nothing like the S23 Ultra.

Screen – Pass

It is a 6.4”, 2340 x 1080, 19.5:9, 60/120Hz stepped refresh (not LTPO adaptive), AMOLED screen protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

Samsung only quotes the peak brightness of 1450 nits (Tested 1300). That is in 5% windows for a millisecond for HDR10+ content only and is a marketing, not a practical measurement. In everyday use, it maxes out at 400 nits and will momentarily peak at 800 nits in direct sunlight. It is daylight readable but not extraordinarily bright.

Colour accuracy is DE 3.5 (<4 is good), but there is a distinct blue-to-pink cast when viewed off-angle. It is an 8-bit/16.7m colour panel, while the class leaders all use 10-bit/1.07 billion colour panels. As such, the DCI-P3 colour gamut is about 92% of the 8-bit (60% of 10-bit) colour and gets close to 100% of the smaller sRGB colour gamut. Pulse Width Modulation is at 250Hz and can affect PWM-sensitive people.

Read: 8-bit versus 10-bit screen colours. What is the big deal?

Processor – Pass

It is a 4nm Samsung Exynos 2200 System-on-a-Chip (SoC) circa January 2022. By way of explanation, the SoC was plagued with issues, including lag, heat, throttling, and poor modem performance, so much so that Samsung cancelled the 2023 Exynos 2300 to focus on the 2024 Exynos 2400.

So it is a surprise to see it when much of the world (not us) gets the superior, faster, better phone strength Qualcomm SD8 Gen 1 SoC. It is the primary reason I suggest you consider the run-out S23 series with the excellent Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2 SoC.

To be fair, this SoC performs well in synthetic benchmarks – it has heaps of power for phone and AI photograph post-processing.

It also has an Xclipse 920 GPU based on AMD RDNA 2. This gives basic hardware ray tracing and VRS (Variable Rate Shading), applying lower shading rates in areas where it will not affect visual quality. It is about twice as fast as the Exynos 2100.

Tests:

• Geekbench 6 single/multi-core score: 1575/3890 (about 10% less than SD8 Gen 1 and significantly under the SD8 Gen 2)
• OpenCL: 8578 (15% better than the Exynos 2100)
• Vulkan: 10042 (nearly twice the speed of Exynos 2100 due to ray-tracing)
• CPDT sustained sequential read/write SSD speed: 1390/204Mbps (Maximum peak speed 1414/543).
• External drive: Despite a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, it will not mount an external drive for live storage, limiting its use for videographers, vloggers, etc. It is OTG cut and paste.

Throttle Test – Passable

It throttles 35% under 100% load. This only affects power users.

• Maximum GIPS: 281,857
• Average: 213,083
• Minimum: 173,060
• CPU temperature did not exceed 50°, but the external case reached 47°, showing average thermal management.

Comms – Pass+

• Wi-Fi 6E AXE is excellent (with a 6E capable router), holding 6GHz speeds out to 10 metres line-of-site. It then drops to 5Ghz to about 15m and then to 2.4GHz to about 30m. This shows a good antenna design.
• BT 5.3 is multi-point (can join two devices simultaneously) and holds well to about 30 metres line-of-sight. It now has the royalty-free aptX codec for better BT music.
• GPS is a dual-band with a 3m accuracy, so it can be used for in-car navigation at speed.
• It has NFC.
• DeX: It supports 1920 x 1080 (FHD) DeX (Desktop Experience) via USB-C to USB-C/HDMI/DP cable and Wi-Fi to connect monitors and smart TVs.

4/5G – Pass – for city and suburban use only

The Australian-certified version has a single SIM and an eSIM. Only one can be active at a time.

The Exynos modem finds one tower from -77 to -90dBM (lower is better) and 1 to 20pW (higher is better). This is a very strong signal. However, it does not find the adjacent three towers, so it can only be used in cities or suburbs with good tower coverage.

In comparison, the S23 series with the Qualcomm X70 modem finds all four towers at usable speeds and supports DSDA – dual sim, dual active, meaning both can be used simultaneously.

Battery – Pass

This should have earned a Pass+, but some odd results with Qi and under load lost points.

• Samsung claims a 4500mAh nominal capacity – it was 4370 (acceptable).
• Samsung claims 19 hours of video. We got 15 hours and 2 minutes (acceptable).
• PC Mark General Office test was 10 hours 55 minutes, but Accubattery was 8 hours 27 minutes. While we expect a slight variance, this is significant.
• Drain under load was 4 hours and 63 minutes, like the T-Rex gaming test.
• Drain idle is 200-250mA but overly high under load at 2500-3000mA.
• 25W charge time is 84 minutes.

Power users will recharge at least daily, and typical users may get to the second day.

It has 15W Qi charging (usually 9V/1.67A). On our test (50% charged and fast wireless charging enabled), we got inferior results using an original Samsung 15W charger pad and genuine 25W Samsung charger (3W charge), Belkin BoostCharge 15W WIB002 Qi wireless charger (maximum 5.7W) and some generic 15W chargers (typically 3-4W).

It has a power saving mode, an adaptive battery (automatically puts some apps to sleep), and Enables/disables fast wired and wireless charging. The Protect Battery option limits the battery’s maximum charge to 85% to prolong the battery’s lifespan (five-year rating).

Samsung does not provide a charger – it is a $50 option, but you can use any PD 3.0 charger.

Sound – stereo but mainly for clear voice – Pass

It has a hybrid stereo speaker – an earpiece and a bottom speaker. It has top and bottom mics. While both speakers are physically the same, there is a slight bias towards the bottom speaker.

It has no low-or-mid-bass. High bass starts at 100Hz and builds to 200Hz, so do not expect a good bass response. It keeps building to 1kHz, where clear voice resides. It is flat (good) in a narrow range from 1-6kHz, then declines to 20kHz. Technically it is a mid sound signature (bass recessed, mid boosted, treble recessed) – for clear voice, but music is tinny, hollow and harsh (more Analytical).

If you want to listen to music, use Bluetooth Earphones with SBC, AAC, aptX (royalty-free version), LDAC, and SSC (Samsung Scalable Codec for Samsung devices).

Hands-free is OK with two mics (the top is for noise cancelling).

Dolby Atmos content widens the horizontal and vertical sound stage by about a 4cm bubble, and you get some spatial sound.

You can read more about sound signatures and what to look for (including test tracks) How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key).

Build – Very good – Pass+

Samsung has come a long way in repairability (see tear-down video later) and uses a sandwich approach, allowing the back glass and front screen to be reasonably easily removed (forget any IP rating after that). It is well made and scored 8.5/10 for repairability.

The phone and a 3W charging cable are all you get inbox. The warranty is 24 months.

Android 14/UI 6 plus three updates – Pass+

It was initially shipped with Android 13/One UI 5.2, with ‘up to’ four years of OS upgrades (three left) and five years of security patches ((four left). It is a good policy.

Samsung tries to draw you into its world with Galaxy Apps, Samsung Account and Backup. Nothing is wrong with that; you can avoid these if you don’t want Samsung to know what you do. We strongly recommend using the Google app alternatives to make it easier if you ever want to exit the Samsung world.

Security – Pass+

Samsung Knox hardens Android and offers things like secure and hidden folders. It has an under-glass optical fingerprint reader; you can use Face ID (2D and not as secure) and PIN, Pattern etc.

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE camera – Pass+

DXOMark gave the Qualcomm version a rating of 124 or 53^rd in the ranking, along with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 (which uses a similar camera setup) and iPhone 12. This is the Exynos version (not tested), but it likely ranks several points behind based on past comparisons.

The S23/+ scored 133 or 35^th in the ranking, along with the Google Pixel 7a and iPhone 14.

DXOMark found key issues for this low score (and we concur):

• Autofocus inconsistencies.
• Ghosting on moving subjects.
• Noise, especially in low light.
• Artifacts.
• Bokeh.
• The image preview is not the same as the photo/video.
• Telephoto Zoom.

Otherwise, it has good colour, dynamic range (HDR), and video stabilisation.

What is the camera set-up?

• 50MP Wide, Samsung S5KGN3, f/1.8, 1.0µm pixels OIS and dual-pixel PDAF. While it is the same camera as the Galaxy S22 and S23, it bins to 12MP instead of 12.5MP, indicating some in-frame cropping to reduce shake or blur.
• 12MP Ultrawide, Samsung S5K3L6, f/2.2, 1.12µm pixels, Fixed focus. The sensor is 13MP – ditto to in-frame cropping.
• 8MP Telephoto, Hynix Hi847 (same as S20 FE and S21 FE), f/2.4, 1.0µm pixels, and 3x optical zoom. Like the previous Galaxy S21 FE, it saves bit upscaled 12MP photos.
• 10MP Selfie, Samsung S5K3J1 sensor (Galaxy S20 series), f/2.4, 1.22µm pixels fixed focus.

While we defer to Samsung’s camera expertise, there is some AI thing going on here, and the Samsung Exynos 2200 SoC does not do it as well as the SD8 Gen 1.

It can record video at 4K@30 on all four cameras (4K@60 Wide and Selfie) and 8K@24 (Wide only). Video EIS is on all sensors and frame rates. What is missing is the Qualcomm-only Super Stable (EIS and OIS) for 1080p@60fps.

You can shoot 4K@60fps HDR10+ video, but it gets hot and generates large files. Sound is recorded in Stereo 48KHz.

Camera Summary: Is DXOMark being uber-picky? Yes, but that is its job. Unless the camera quality of the S23 standard is important, we say it is a decent all-rounder camera, albeit with 8-bit preview screen colour inconsistencies and some AI post-processing shortcomings that may be firmware fixable.

While it is not a flagship camera, it is a decent point-and-shoot that will serve most users well.

Photo/video comments

• 1X Day Primary sensor – the colours are excellent with good dynamic range. Good details in the background, shadows, and highlights, although there is some noise in the background.
• Ultra-wide sensor: Overall, it is a good shot but has very different colours and lacks HDR detail.
• 2X Day Primary sensor – colours are excellent with good dynamic range. The background is getting noisy.
• 4X Day Telephoto sensor. Excellent foreground and background colour and details.
• 10X Day: Telephoto sensor: Artifacts are beginning to show, but otherwise, a good shot.
• 20X Day Telephoto: Ditto
• 30X Day Telephoto: More about bragging rights than taking a good shot.
• Macro: There is no macro setting, but we took pretty good shots with the primary sensor.
• Indoor office light: Colours and details are excellent, and the dog’s face/ears are deep black.
• Bokeh Depth: It is a bit heavy (the bokeh level is adjustable) but still an excellent shot.
• Dark <40 lumens: It has good details and colour – better than night mode on most cameras.
• Night mode ramps up the detail and saturates the colour – excellent.
• Selfie: The 10MP selfie has natural skin tones, details, and a range of filters to enhance any image. Best in a day and office light.
• Video (we are not video experts): You can shoot at 4K@60fps (EIS), but we think the sweet spot is still 4K@30fps or 1080p@30fps for excellent, OIS/EIS stable video and audio.

CyberShack’s view – Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is everything you can expect from Samsung – but it is not an S23!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE name makes little sense when it uses a different processor circa 2022 and is built to a price point. Yes, other makers do the same with very different Lite, Standard, Pro and Ultra versions of the same family.

But FE is an excellent sub-brand and could stand alone now as a value, upper-mid-range family of devices.

Overall, it is a safe buy for city dwellers who want the Samsung Street Cred. It is not a good buy for power users, videographers, vloggers, gamers, those who need mountable live storage or those who want the strongest phone signal reception in regional and remote areas (as the S23 series with the Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2 and X70 modem does).

For my money, I would skip the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE and wait for run-out bargains on the S23 series later in January.

Competition

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (AU Website) also has some strong competition from

• Google Pixel 7 ($999 and just superseded by the 8) has similar phone strength issues.
• Google Pixel 8 – Made by Google. Brains by Google) $1199 – ditto
• Motorola ThinkPhone – for thinking people, $999 is the undisputed class leader in this price bracket and uses a Qualcom SD8 Gen 1 for excellent phone reception.
• OPPO Reno8 Pro 5G – the class-leading, value flagship $1099 matches the 256GB S23 FE price with much higher specs.

Still, Samsung has brand credibility and marketing prowess, and you will be pleased – it is not called a Fan Edition for nothing.

Rating 82/90

• Features: 80 – because we got the Exynos 2200 version
• Value: 80 – only because it is not class-leading for the price
• Performance: 80 – Again, Exynos and throttling
• Ease of Use: 90 – Great warranty, OS upgrades and security patch policy
• Design: 80 – No matter how many colours there are, it is a glass slab and a little heavy in hand.

Pros

• Decent but not a class-leading AMOLED screen.
• Decent point-and-shoot camera.
• Great warranty, OS upgrade and security patch policy.
• DeX and USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 Alt DP.

Cons

• Heavy in hand.
• Average battery life but below average for power users.
• Can’t mount external live storage.
• GPU throttling – Exynos and Qualcomm models vary by region.
• City and Suburbs phone reception only

Tear Down

CyberShack Smartphone comparison v 1.01.24 (E&OE)

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Fan Edition)

Brand	Samsung
Model	Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Fan Edition)
Model Number	SM-S711B
Price Base	$999, but shop around
Price base	8/128
Price 2	8/256 $1099, but shop around
Price 4
Warranty months	24
Tier	Upper mid-range
Website	Product Page
Manual	Samsung Android 14 manual
From	Samsung Online and approved retailers
Country of Origin	Vietnam
Company	Samsung is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. Samsung Electronics (the world’s largest information technology company, consumer electronics maker and chipmaker.
Test date	Dec/early Jan 2024
Ambient temp	25°
Release	October 2023
Other models not for Australia (Don’t buy)	Any model using the Qualcomm SD 8 Gen 1 System on a Chip. Do not buy SM-711U, U1, W or 0.

Screen

Size	6.4″
Type	AMOLED 2X (not LTPO)
Flat, Curve, 2D, 3D	Flat with centre O-hole
Resolution	2340 x 1080
PPI	402
Ratio	19.5:9
Screen to Body %	83.2%
Colours bits	8-bit/16m colours
Refresh Hz, adaptive	60 or 120Hz and 240Hz touch – not adaptive
Response 120Hz	Not disclosed
Nits typical, test	Approx 400
Nits max, test	Approx 800
Contrast	Infinite
sRGB	Natural 97%
DCI-P3	Vivid approx. 95% of 8-bit or 60% of 10-bit colour gamut
Rec.2020 or other	RGB and temperature adjustment
Delta E (<4 is excellent)	3.5
HDR Level	Plays HDR10+ downmixed to HDR10
SDR Upscale	No
Blue Light Control	Yes
PWM if known	PWM at approx. 250Hz
Daylight readable	Yes
Always on Display	Yes
Edge display	Yes
Accessibility	Full suite of enhancements
DRM	Widevine L1 1080p HDR
Gaming	Game mode
Screen protection	Gorilla Glass 5
Comment	Bright, colourful screen but stepped 60/120 refresh puts it behind the leaders. PWM is evident at low-to-medium brightness, and colours get a distinct blue to pink tint when viewed off angle. The camera image preview is inaccurate.

Processor

Brand, Model	Samsung Exynos 2220
nm	4
Cores	1 x 2.8GHz, 3 x 2.52GHz & 4 x 1.82GHz Benchmarks
Modem	Samsung
AI TOPS	26
Geekbench 6 Single-core	1575
Geekbench 6 multi-core	3890
Like	It is about 10% slower than a Qualcomm SD 8 Gen 1 but significantly under SD 8 Gen 2.
GPU	Xclipse 920. Samsung states, ‘hardware-based ray tracing acceleration can show more light effects – like the reflection and refraction of various objects in 3D graphic games’.
GPU Test
Open CL	8578
Like	About 10% faster than Exynos 2100
Vulcan	10,042 – twice as fast as Exynos 2100
RAM, type	8GB LPDDR5
Storage, free, type	128GB UFS 3.1 (90GB free)
micro-SD	No
CPDT internal seq. Read MBps sustained	1390 (Jazz Disk maximum 1414)
CPDT internal seq. write MBps sustained	204 (Jazz 543 Disk Maximum)
CPDT microSD read, write MBps	N/A
CPDT external (mountable?) MBps	Won’t test – seen as external storage but can’t mount as internal storage
Comment	Videographers and vloggers will soon run out of space without mountable storage, seen as internal storage.
Throttle test
Max GIPS	281857
Average GIPS	213083
Minimum GIPS	173060
% Throttle	35%
CPU Temp	50°
Comment	We re-ran the throttle test several times with similar results. Gamers need to note this would be an issue for them – average users won’t notice.

Comms

Wi-Fi Type, model	Wi-Fi 6E AXE Tri-band VHT160
Test 2m -dBm, Mbps	-20/2401 6GHz
Test 5m	-50/2401 6GHz
Test 10m	-57/1921 6GHz (15m -60/1441 6GHz)
BT Type	5.3
GPS single, dual	Dual 3m accuracy
USB type	3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps)
ALT DP, DeX, Ready For	Yes – USB-C to HDMI or USB-C Full cable and Wi-Fi support to monitors or smart TVs.
NFC	Yes
Ultra-wideband	No
Sensors
Accelerometer	Yes – combo with Gyro
Gyro	Yes – combo with Gyro
e-Compass	Yes
Barometer	Yes
Gravity
Pedometer
Ambient light	Yes
Hall sensor	Yes
Proximity	Yes
Comment	Wi-Fi speeds on the 6GHz band are excellent and hold well to 10m. It is a shame the USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 is not fully implemented.

4/5G

SIM	Single SIM and eSIM
Active	Only one at a time.
Ring tone single, dual	Single
VoLTE	Carrier dependent
Wi-Fi calling	Carrier dependent
4G Bands	1,2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 26, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66
Comment	All Australian 4G bands
5G sub-6Ghz	N1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 77, 78
Comment	All Australian and 5G low band
mmWave	No
Test Boost Mobile, Telstra
UL, DL, ms	22.3/20.7/26ms
Tower 1 -dBm, fW or pW	From -77 to -90 and 1pW to 20pW – very strong
Tower 2	No
Tower 3	No
Tower 4	No
Comment	Good strong signal from the closest tower but no reception antenna strength from the three adjacent towers. This is typical of Samsung Exynos. Good City and Suburbs phone

Battery

mAh	4500mAh 3.88V/4.5A/17.46Wh Rated for a 5-year life cycle
Charger, type, supplied	No – suggest Samsung 25W or invest in a multi-port GaN PD 3.0 or 3.1 charger.
PD, QC level	PD 3.0
Qi, wattage	5 to 15W
Reverse Qi or cable	5W
Test (60Hz or adaptive screen)
Charge % 30mins	50% claim (verified)
Charge 0-100%	1 hour 23 minutes (83 minutes)
Charge Qi, W Using Belkin Boost Charge 15W fast wireless charge	Yes, 15W (not tested, but assume 5-8 hours)
Charge 5V, 2A	Approx 5 hours
Video loop 50%, aeroplane	15 hours 2 minutes Samsung claims up to 19 hours.
PC Mark 3 battery	10 hours 55 minutes Accubattery 8 hours 27 minutes
GFX Bench Manhattan battery	Would not run
GFX Bench T-Rex	280.6 minutes (4.67 hours) 6671 frames
Drain 100-0% full load screen on	4 hours 63 minutes
mA full load	2500-3000mA
mA Watt idle Screen on	200-250mA
Estimate loss at max refresh	Up to 20%
Estimate typical use	These are odd results compared to the S21 FE. They show decent PC Mark and Accubattery typical use tests but poor results for heavier use under load. We estimate this phone will go for two days of typical use and one day of heavier use.
Comment	No charger is penny-pinching. Out-of-memory error is common to the Exynos SoC and probably no issue.

Sound

Speakers	Hybrid stereo – top earpiece and bottom down-firing. Slight volume bias to the bottom
Tuning	No
AMP	2 x TFA98XX (Same a Z Flip5) 1.6W TDH+N (5) .022 x TFA9879 MPX Class-D stereo amp and DPS 1.6, 2.65W@8, 4OHM .2% THD
Dolby Atmos decode	Yes, downmix to two speakers
Hi-Res	16-bit/44100Hz stereo upscale to headphones only.
3.5mm	No
BT Codecs	SBC, AAC, aptX (royalty-free version), LDAC, SSC (Samsung Scalable Codec).
Multipoint	Can connect to two devices
Dolby Atmos (DA)	Yes – auto, movie, music, voice and games mode
EQ	Normal, Pop, Classic, Jazz, Rock and Custom – makes more of a difference in headphones as inbuilt speakers limit what it can do.
Mics	2 – with background noise suppression – Care that the bottom mic is on the immediate left of USB-C and can be blocked by hand.
Test dB – all on EQ flat DA off
Volume max	75 – not as loud as the S23 series
Media (music)	71
Ring	75
Alarm	75
Notifications	72
Earpiece	50
Hands-free	The bottom mic is for voice only, and the top is for noise reduction. Hold the phone close, as the volume is a tad low.
BT headphones	Excellent left-right separation and DA makes quite a difference with DA content.

Sound quality

Deep Bass 20-40Hz	No
Middle Bass 40-100Hz	No
High Bass 100-200Hz	Slowly building
Low Mid 200-400Hz	Slowly building
Mid 4000-1000Hz	Flattening
High-Mid 1-2kHz	Flat
Low Treble 2-4kHz	Flat
Mid Treble 4-6kHz	Flat
High Treble 6-10kHz	Decline to 20kHz
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz	Decline to 20kHz
Sound Signature type	Mid: (bass recessed, mid boosted, treble recessed) – for clear voice. Music is tinny, hollow, and harsh at mid/upper treble.
Soundstage	2D is as wide as the phone. DA content gives about a 4cm bubble around and over the phone, allowing for some spatial sounds.
Comment	Internal speakers are not the best for music – the focus is on clear voice for hands-free. Volume is below average.

Build

Size (H X W x D)	158.0 x 76.5 x 8.2
Weight grams	209
Front glass	Gorilla Glass 5
Rear material	PMMA glossy finish – not grippy
Frame	Machined Aluminium
IP rating	68, 1.5m for 30 minutes, fresh, still water only.
Colours	Retail: Mint, Graphite, Purple, Cream Samsung Online: Blue and Orange
Pen, Stylus support	No

In  the box

Charger	No
USB cable	USB-A to USB-C rated 3W
Buds	No
Bumper cover	No
Comment	Nice to see IP68. The phone is 30g heavier in hand than the S21 FE.

OS

Android	Shipped with 13 – upgraded to 14
Security patch date	1 November 2023
UI	Upgraded to One UI 6
OS upgrade policy	Up to 4 OS upgrades (one used to get to 14)
Security patch policy	Regular security patches for four years
Bloatware	Samsung alternative to Google Suite. Microsoft Suite and OneDrive (requires subscription)
Other	Selection of Galaxy Apps
Comment	Excellent upgrade policy and One UI is easy to use
Security
Fingerprint sensor location, type	Optical under glass – slower than Ultrasonic found on S23
Face ID	2D
Other	Knox and Secure folder
Comment	One of the more secure Android devices

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE rear camera

Rear Primary	Wide
MP	50 bins to 12MP
Sensor	Samsung S5KGN3
Focus	Dual Pixel PDAF
f-stop	1.8
um	1 (bins to 2)
FOV° (stated, actual)	72.7 to 85.3
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom	8X digital but swaps to Telephoto at 3X.
Rear 2	Ultrawide
MP	12MP
Sensor	Samsung S5K36L
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.2
um	1.12
FOV (stated, actual)	104.3 to 116.3
Stabilisation	No
Zoom	No
Rear 3	Telephoto
MP	8MP
Sensor	Hynix Hi847
Focus	PDAF
f-stop	2.4
um	1
FOV (stated, actual)	25.8 to 32
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom	3X Optical 30X Space  zoom
Video max	8K@24fps
Flash	1
Auto-HDR	Yes
QR code reader	Yes
Night mode	Nightography

Samsung Gaxy S23 FE front camera

Front	Selfie
MP	10MP
Sensor	Samsung S5K3J1
Focus	FF can result in out-of-focus shots.
f-stop	2.4
um	1.22
FOV (stated, actual)	69.5 to 81.8
Stabilisation	No
Flash	Screen fill
Zoom	No
Video max	4K@60fps

 Samsung Galaxy S23 FE camera comments

•            1X Day Primary sensor – the colours are excellent with good dynamic range. Good details in the background, shadows, and highlights, although there is some noise in the background. •            Ultra-wide sensor: Overall, it is a good shot but has very different colours and lacks HDR detail. •            2X Day Primary sensor – colours are excellent with good dynamic range. The background is getting noisy. •            4X Day Telephoto sensor. Excellent foreground and background colour and details. •            10X Day: Telephoto sensor: Artifacts are beginning to show, but otherwise, a good shot. •            20X Day Telephoto: Ditto •            30X Day Telephoto: More about bragging rights than taking a good shot. •            Macro: There is no macro setting, but we took pretty good shots with the primary sensor. •            Indoor office light: Colours and details are excellent, and the dog’s face/ears are deep black. •            Bokeh Depth: It is a little heavy (bokeh level is adjustable) but still an excellent shot •            Dark <40 lumens: It has good details and colour – better than night mode on most cameras. •            Night mode ramps up the detail and saturates the colour – excellent •            Selfie: The 10MP selfie has natural skin tones, details, and a range of filters to enhance any image. Best in a day and office light •            Video (we are not video experts): You can shoot at 4K@60fps (EIS), but we think the sweet spot is still 4K@30fps or 1080p@30fps for excellent, OIS/EIS stable video and audio.

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE ratings

Ratings
Features	80
	No microSD, 3.5mm Charger, single sim and fixed refresh rate 8-but screen. Solid processor performance.
Value	80
	If it were not for the Exynos 2200 and weak phone reception, this would have blitzed the <$999 segment. As it is, the Motorola ThinkPhone blitzes this with an SD8 Gen 1 and superior performance, phone strength and camera.
Performance	80
	It should be stellar, but throttling and heat let it down.
Ease of Use	90
	Long OS update and security patch. One UI 6 is easy to use
Design	80
	It is a glass slab with no distinguishing features except a coloured back.
Rating out of 10	82
Final comment	A worthy successor to the S21 FE – better display, SoC, camera and battery life. You may want to spend more and get the new Galaxy S23/+ – I would.

Pro
1	Reasonable, but not class-leading AMOLED screen
2	OS updates for four years, security updates for five years
3	Great camera all around
4	It is a Galaxy S series and all that goes with it.
5
Con
1	No charger inbox and other price compromises
2	Throttles
3	No 3.5mm jack or microSD
4	There is a lot of <$999 competition.
5	Samsung is becoming more of its own ecosystem with a little too much Samsung bloatware – Apple-like.

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