Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely vs Galaxy S22 Extremely: The 2 flagships in contrast

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely is likely one of the greatest smartphones round in 2022 with unmatched zoom capabilities, however how does it evaluate to final yr’s flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely?

Whereas there are some key variations that separate the 2, like an improved 200MP foremost digital camera and the most recent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset from this yr’s flagship, the 2 are way more comparable than you would possibly anticipate. 

Which means, in the event you’re not so fussed about having the most recent and biggest, you may save your self lots of money by choosing the marginally older 2022 flagship. 

Listed here are the important thing variations (and plenty of similarities) between the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely and its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely, that will help you resolve which is greatest to your wants. 

Design and show

For those who had been to have a look at the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely and the S23 Extremely side-by-side, you’d be hard-pressed to seek out any large variations in design and that’s as a result of, for essentially the most half, the 2 smartphones are near-identical.

The general feel and appear of the S23 Extremely intently mirrors that of its predecessor, full with the identical minimalist digital camera housing on the rear – although this yr’s S23 Extremely lastly matches the design of the remainder of the S23 vary. It’s constituted of the identical mixture of aluminium and glass too, offering simply as premium a feel and appear because the S22 Extremely does.

Color choices are barely totally different with the newer mannequin, out there in Phantom Black, Cream, Inexperienced and Lavender, in comparison with the Black, Cream, Inexperienced and Burgandy finishes of final yr’s top-end flagship.  

The location of the USB-C port, quantity rocker and quantity controls stay the identical throughout each fashions, as does the inclusion of Samsung’s Galaxy S Pen stylus, which is hidden within the bottom-left portion of the telephone’s chassis and is accessible with a press of the pen tip. 

There are slight enhancements to S Pen performance with the S23 Extremely, together with the choice to collaborate on handwritten notes with different S23 Extremely customers, however the two styli are basically the identical. 

Each the S22 Extremely and S23 Extremely sport the identical expansive 6.8-inch AMOLED 2X show with a excessive decision, 120Hz refresh fee and assist for HDR10+ content material, however contemplating the S22 Extremely’s show was thought to be among the finest round, that’s not essentially a foul factor. 

The one actual notable distinction is that the newer Galaxy S23 Extremely has a barely flatter show than final yr’s choice to offer a slight enhance to the usable display screen space, although it does nonetheless function a curvature to the left and proper.

There’s additionally an enchancment to the show safety with the Galaxy S23 Extremely, boasting Corning’s newest Gorilla Glass Victus 2 that the corporate claims ought to carry out higher when dropped onto concrete surfaces particularly. The S22 Extremely, then again, makes use of the unique (however nonetheless sturdy) Gorilla Glass Victus. 

Cameras

The principle differentiator between the newer Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely and its predecessor is the digital camera providing. Extra particularly, the S23 Extremely sports activities a whopping 200MP rear-facing digital camera powered by Samsung’s ISOCELL HP2 sensor, in comparison with the 108MP various from the S22 Extremely.

That is greater than a easy megapixel bump too; the brand new sensor makes use of 16-in-1 pixel binning tech to ship extra element than the S22 Extremely, however the greatest distinction is in low-light efficiency with marked positive factors not solely when it comes to basic gentle however color and element too. There’s even a brand new astrophotography mode out there on the most recent flagship that will help you make the most of the upgraded foremost lens.

We remarked in our assessment that the principle 200MP didn’t battle with any state of affairs throughout our testing – actually, we thought the snapper surpassed expectations no matter environmental gentle, delivering loads of element and light-weight even when in comparison with the S22 Extremely which we felt was already pin-sharp and vibrant.

The remainder of the providing – that may be a 12MP ultra-wide, and a pair of 10MP optical lenses with 3.5x and 10x respectively – is actually the identical throughout each smartphones, although the newer mannequin boasts improved tuning and extra superior AI to present on-phone digital camera processing a leg-up that makes a specific distinction with software-assisted zoom.   

Curiously, it appears just like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely has the higher hand within the front-facing digital camera division with a 40MP snapper in comparison with the 12MP digital camera from this yr’s S23 Extremely. Whereas that’s actually the case on paper, the newer snapper delivers improved video efficiency and assist for the corporate’s Tremendous HDR tech that vastly improves the dynamic vary of selfies. 

Efficiency

With a brand new technology of smartphones comes a brand new processor, and that’s no totally different with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. It sports activities a singular variant of Qualcomm’s newest chipset dubbed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, which delivers flagship-level efficiency with an overclocked CPU and a extra highly effective and power-efficient Adreno GPU. 

We discovered that on a regular basis efficiency was blisteringly quick with nary a stutter in sight, even when operating demanding video games on the telephone’s full decision. It’s a real powerhouse of processing energy solely actually surpassed by performance-focused gaming telephones just like the Asus ROG Telephone 7 Final. For most individuals, this will likely be greater than sufficient and helps future-proof the telephone as apps and video games get extra demanding over time too.

The Galaxy S22 Extremely, then again, sports activities one among two chipsets relying on the place you might be on this planet. For those who’re in Europe then you definately’d discover Samsung’s personal Exynos 2200 chipset whereas the remainder of the world acquired entry to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. We discovered that the Exynos 2200 chipset was superb for on a regular basis use, although there are some questions on battery effectivity in comparison with the Snapdragon counterpart.

Fortunately, there’s none of that confusion this time round with the Qualcomm variant of S23 Extremely delivery worldwide. No extra having to import worldwide variants to get your fingers on all that Snapdragon energy. 

On the subject of software program updates, each the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely and S23 Extremely supply assist for Android 13 – although S22 Extremely customers must improve from the older Android 12 that it initially shipped with.

The distinction is Samsung’s OneUI 5.1 replace, which is unique to the S23 Extremely – for now, anyway. Rumours recommend Samsung is engaged on an OneUI 5.1 replace for the S22 Extremely, so new options like customisable modes and routines and the flexibility to answer to incoming calls with a textual content through Bixby might additionally come to the older flagship in some unspecified time in the future. 

The place the 2 differ is future software program updates. Each supply a beneficiant 4 years of OS upgrades and 5 years of safety updates, however because the S22 Extremely initially launched with Android 12, it’ll solely stand up to Android 16 whereas the newer S23 Extremely will get the Android 17 replace. 

Regardless, Samsung’s long-term software program assist is among the many greatest round on Android so you may get pleasure from new options and performance for fairly a while.  

Battery

This one’s simple; each the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely and S23 Extremely sport the identical 5000mAh battery and 44W quick charging capabilities, which suggests there shouldn’t be any actual significant distinction in general battery life.

Nevertheless, that’s not fairly true in real-world utilization, with the S23 Extremely and its way more power-efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset providing a lift to general battery life. We discovered that, even with the top-end decision and excessive refresh fee enabled, the S23 Extremely didn’t battle to final all day no matter what we had been doing.

That’s a little bit of a special story in comparison with the Exynos-equipped Galaxy S22 Extremely that we discovered might simply about make it to the top of the day with lower than 10% cost remaining, with even Apple’s iPhone assortment providing higher battery longevity.

Ultimate Verdict

Although the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely has key enhancements like a 200MP digital camera and the unique Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, it’s not that totally different from its predecessor. 

That’s not essentially a foul factor in the event you’re new to the Samsung household because it’ll actually supply an improve over your present telephone, however the few variations between it and final yr’s S22 Extremely means it’s not fairly as tempting an improve for any S22 Extremely homeowners on the market.

It may additionally be price contemplating the marginally older S22 Extremely even with the S23 Extremely out there, as the 2 are nonetheless pretty comparable and the S22 Extremely is out there for as little as £751 at Amazon within the UK, an enormous £500 low cost in comparison with the £1,249 Galaxy S23 Extremely.