Samsung Galaxy S23 vs. S22: Compare the New Phone Against the 2022 Flagship

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.

The $800 (£849, AU$1,349) Samsung Galaxy S23 made its debut Wednesday as part of the company’s Unpacked event, but Samsung is also keeping last year’s Galaxy S22 around with a price cut. That 2022 phone now costs $700, and it still has excellent specs like a 50-megapixel main camera. It’s been updated to Android 13 and last year’s speedy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Moreover, the Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S22 have nearly identical designs, including a 6.1-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

However, there are a number of improvements with the Galaxy S23 that are definitely worth considering when weighing if you should spend an extra $100 for the newer phone. While we haven’t yet had the chance to review the Galaxy S23, the phone is shipping with a slightly bigger battery than the Galaxy S22. This could be quite meaningful, as CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco found battery life to be a weak point in her Galaxy S22 review. The phone also includes a “Galaxy-optimized” version of the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. Though we don’t know how big of a difference that optimization will make, it seems to be at least faster than last year’s chip.

If you want a quick look at the differences between the Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S22, we put the specs for each into the below chart. Other notable differences include the front-facing camera — 12-megapixel on the S23 vs. 10-megapixel on the S22 — and video capture settings.

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