Samsung Galaxy S23+ vs. Galaxy S22+: Is the upgrade worth it? (2023)

Readers like you help support Android Police. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.

• 

  Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23+

  Peak performance

  A well-rounded flagship

  The sweet spot in Samsung's flagship smartphone lineup for folks who want bleeding-edge performance with a larger screen and a solid camera system without all the bells and whistles of the pricier S23 Ultra.

  Pros

  • Outstanding AMOLED screen
  • Top-notch performance
  • Four years of software updates

  Cons

  • Relatively modest camera improvements
  • Battery life may still be a problem

  $1000 at Samsung From $1000 at T-Mobile (via Samsung) From $1000 at Verizon (via Samsung)

• 

  Samsung Galaxy S22+

  Still going strong

  A more affordable alternative

  $350 $1000 Save $650

  The Galaxy S22+ is still going strong, with powerful performance, a bright display, and a solid camera system. It's the ideal middle-ground in Samsung's flagship smartphone lineup.

  (Video) Galaxy S23 VS Galaxy S22 - Worth Upgrading?

  Pros

  • Incredible, vivid, and bright display
  • Consistently excellent performance
  • Four years of software updates

  Cons

  • Only modest camera improvements over prior model
  • Battery life isn't fantastic
  • Phone regularly runs hot

  From $350 at Samsung $750 at Amazon $750 at Best Buy

  See Also

  ProtonVPN Review - Performance Test & Inside Look (2020)The 5 best VPN trials of 2023ProtonVPN felülvizsgálata: Ez a legjobb VPN az Ön számára? - VPN.comSamsung Galaxy S23+ vs. Galaxy S21+: Is the upgrade worth it?

Samsung's Galaxy S23 lineup is here, and it's fair to say that it's pretty much what we expected, with the S23 and S23+ duo joined by the more powerful S23 Ultra. As usual, the S23+ remains the ideal choice for folks looking for a large-screened flagship smartphone who find the high-end Ultra model too pricey or simply unwieldy. It may turn up to be one of the best Android phones, but the bigger question is what it adds over last year's Galaxy S22+ and whether there's enough here to make it a compelling upgrade.

Price & availability

Source: Samsung

The Galaxy S23+ is launching at the same $1,000 starting price as the Galaxy S22+, although you'll be getting twice the storage for your money, as Samsung has doubled the capacities to 256GB and 512GB. It's available in Phantom Black, Cream, Green, and Lavender, plus two exclusive colors from Samsung: Lime and Graphite.

With the S23 lineup out, the price of the Galaxy S22+ has naturally dropped. You can pick one up for around $750 now, which makes it a good alternative for those looking to spend a bit less. Just don't forget that the S22+ still only comes in 128GB and 256GB options, so you're trading off some capacity with that lower price.

Design: A united front

Source: Samsung

(Video) Samsung Galaxy S23 vs S22 | What's Changed?

Samsung has made an interesting design change to the Galaxy S23+ this year. In what is clearly an attempt to unify the look of the entire S23 family, the Galaxy S23+ eliminates the distinctive camera bump in favor of the distinct protruding lens pattern that previously set the Galaxy Ultra models apart. Whether you love it or hate it, it's definitely a subtler design.

As with every annual update, Samsung also has some new colors for us this year. The Galaxy S23+ still comes in Phantom Black, Green, and Cream, but the latter two are noticeably different shades from those found on last year's Galaxy S22+. The new lineup also adds Lavender to the mix, along with Graphite and Lime as exclusive colors available only from Samsung.

When it comes to durability, both the Galaxy S23+ and S22+ feature an IP68 water resistance rating and a form of Gorilla Glass Victus on both sides. The S22+ uses Gorilla Glass Victus+, while the Galaxy S23+ takes that up to the latest Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which promises improved drop resistance against rough surfaces like concrete.

Display: Bright enough for the great outdoors

The Samsung Galaxy S23+ and S22+ both feature the same type of screen: a 6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O flat screen with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.

While it's possible Samsung has made some minor quality improvements to the displays in this year's models, it's also fair to say it doesn't need to. The display on the Galaxy S22+ was already among the best screens found on any smartphone, and it's hard to improve on near-perfection. Not only does the display look great, but it also reaches a peak brightness of 1,750 nits, which means you'll have no problem seeing your screen on a sunny day.

Software

The Galaxy S23+ will ship with Android 13 and be among the first phones to experience Samsung's OneUI 5.1. Nevertheless, the Galaxy S22+ isn't going to be far behind — it's already running Android 13 with OneUI 5.0, and is expected to get OneUI 5.1 in the next few weeks.

You'll get four years of Android updates (and five years of security updates) for either phone. However, the Galaxy S22+ has already gotten its first of those four in taking it up to Android 13. This means Android 16 will be the end of the road for the S22+, while the Galaxy S23+ will get one more year to bring it to Android 17. That's a pretty good run in either case.

Performance

Source: Qualcomm

New smartphones always mean newer and more powerful processors, and the Galaxy S23+ is no exception. This year, Samsung has cooked up a deal with Qualcomm to produce its own custom version of the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, which should take it a notch above its competitors in both raw performance and power efficiency.

Unless you're someone who obsesses over benchmarks, you're unlikely to notice this performance increase over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 found in the Galaxy S22+. That's already a ridiculously powerful chip, and we're long past the point where these performance increases translate to a faster user experience. Instead, the extra power in the Galaxy S23+ is likely going to be put to use under the hood to power AI features that improve photography and provide a better user experience in less measurable ways.

Battery and charging

Source: Samsung

If there was one area where the Galaxy S22+ fell short last year, it was in the battery. For whatever reason, Samsung chose to put a smaller 4,500mAh cell in that model. That was a significant enough drop from the 4,800mAh battery used in the Galaxy S21+ that it showed. To be fair, it was enough to get most users through a day of normal use but not always enough to make you feel secure in that belief.

The Galaxy S23+ takes the battery back up to 4,700mAh, and we're hoping that the improvements in Samsung's bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip will offer enough power efficiency to provide truly comfortable all-day battery life.

When it comes to charging, both the Galaxy S23+ and its predecessor are pretty much on par. Both support 45W Super Fast Charging 2.0 over a wired connection (although you still don't get a charger in the box), plus 15W Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 and Wireless PowerShare 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The latter lets you charge devices such as a Galaxy Watch 5, Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, or just about anything else that supports Qi wireless charging.

Camera

Source: Samsung

In terms of raw specs, the rear cameras on the Galaxy S23+ and S22+ are virtually identical. You're getting a 50MP main wide camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP telephoto. Meanwhile, the front camera gains a modest increase from 10MP on the S22+ to 12MP on the S23+.

Last year's camera upgrades on the Galaxy S22+ were a nice improvement over the S21+, with a bigger sensor, a proper optical telephoto lens, and newer sensors that use 4x binning to provide more detail and significantly better low-light performance. With those kinds of improvements, it's understandable that Samsung is staying the course this year.

However, it's likely the extra power offered by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip will improve the photo experience in more subtle ways. Nevertheless, don't expect any breathtaking improvements when it comes to taking photos with the Galaxy S23+ — it remains an impressive camera system for a smartphone in its class, but as usual, Samsung has put its real camera muscles into the S23 Ultra.

Should you upgrade?

For most folks, the short and simple answer to this question is an unqualified no. The Galaxy S22+ is still a class-leading smartphone, and this year's Galaxy S23+ is mostly about refining that experience. While the Galaxy S23+ offers a few interesting changes under the hood, such as Samsung's customized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, these are still iterative improvements that are more about the promise of things to come than a dramatic change that you'll be able to see or feel today.

Over the past few years, it's become evident that flagship smartphones are moving to a cycle of 2-3 years between significant updates, and the Galaxy S23+ is the latest proof of that — and that's not a bad thing. After all, with Samsung's promise of four years of software updates, the Galaxy S22+ will continue to be fully supported and remain relevant for years to come.

Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S23+

The sweet spot in Samsung's flagship smartphone lineup for folks who want bleeding-edge performance with a larger screen and a solid camera system without all the bells and whistles of the pricier S23 Ultra.

$1000 at Samsung From $1000 at T-Mobile (via Samsung) From $1000 at Verizon (via Samsung)

Samsung Galaxy S22+

$350 $1000 Save $650

The Galaxy S22+ is still going strong, with powerful performance, a bright display, and a solid camera system. It's the ideal middle-ground in Samsung's flagship smartphone lineup.

From $350 at Samsung $750 at Amazon $750 at Best Buy