Samsung Galaxy S23 specs — everything you need to know

The Samsung Galaxy S23 specs make it look like a great entry-level flagship phone, and it's shaping up to be a solid option for those looking to get a Galaxy S23 but don't want to splurge for the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

While the base-model S23 doesn't come with all the bells and whistles of the S23 Ultra — including a 200MP main camera — it still looks like a worthy flagship for the money. 

Here are the full Samsung Galaxy S23 specs, as well as some explanation if you're uncertain what any of these numbers and names will mean for your smartphone usage.

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Samsung Galaxy S23 specs: The basics

Here are the essential specs for the Samsung Galaxy S23. Scroll on for more detailed information and breakdowns of what they mean. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 specs: Design and colors

According to its official measurements, the Galaxy S23 should look and feel about the same as the Galaxy S22, with differences in dimensions and weight measured by mere decimal points. The new model is slightly larger and heavier, but these changes are unlikely to impact your buying decision.

Like Samsung's other flagship phones, the Galaxy S23 is rated IP68 for dust/water resistance, which is currently the gold standard for smartphones. There's no better guarantee your phone will keep water drops or dust particles away from its sensitive components unless you go for a specific ultra-durable phone.

To protect the phone from scratches and drop damage, the Galaxy S23 is clad in Gorilla Glass Victus 2. This is tougher than the Gorilla Glass Victus Plus used by the Galaxy S22 lineup. The S23 also uses an Armor Aluminum frame like the S22 to protect the edges from harm.

Lastly, there are four color options for the Galaxy S23, which are also the same color options for the S23 Plus and S23 Ultra: Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. These are slightly different from the S22, where the color options were Bora Purple, Phantom White, Green, Pink Gold and Phantom Black. Green and Phantom Black remain unchanged, but Cream replaces Phantom White and Lavender replaces both Bora Purple and Pink Gold, though it's closest to the former. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 specs: Display

Other than a step up in brightness, there are no big changes to the Galaxy S23's display compared to last year. It's still a large display with flat edges, an FHD+ resolution and an adaptive refresh rate that can slide anywhere between 48Hz and 120Hz to balance both smooth and efficient screen performance, though not quite on the Galaxy S23 Ultra's level (1-120Hz).

The maximum display brightness of 1,750 nits is a step up from the S22's 1,500 nits brightness, putting it on par with the claimed peak brightness for the S23 Plus and S23 Ultra. Brighter displays mean it's easier to read your phone even if it's very sunny outside.

Samsung Galaxy S23 specs: Cameras

Cameras are one area where Galaxy S23 owners could feel envious of the higher-end 200MP S23 Ultra.  However, the 50MP main camera on the regular S23 looks to be plenty capable. 

Samsung improved its Nightography low-light mode, enhanced things like autofocus and OIS (optical image stabilization) and added new features like Astro Hyperlapse for capturing the stars, which its previous phones couldn't manage.

The 12MP front-facing camera is a definite upgrade, up from 10MP on the S22. You also get faster auto-focus and Super HDR for better colors and contrast and 60 fps video recording from the front camera (up from 30 fps)

For video, we got a bump in the Galaxy S23's frame rate at its maximum 8K resolution, from 24fps to 30fps. 4K resolution and below keep their existing refresh rates, including slo-mo options for 1080p and 720p.

Samsung Galaxy S23 specs: Chipset and memory

Samsung is going all-in on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for the Galaxy S23 lineup, rather than splitting models between Snapdragon and Exynos chips like it has in previous years. That's a huge win for international users looking at the S23, which no longer is relegated to a lesser chipset.

The important change to look out for is that the chip is specifically a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. This mouthful of a name translates to Samsung getting a custom, higher-performance version of the new chip that would in theory outperform other phones using the same silicon. You can see this in the 3.36GHz speed for the most powerful Cortex-X3 core, which is a bit faster than the standard 3.2GHz speed of that core on a regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip.

For memory and storage, there are no changes from the Galaxy S22. The basic Galaxy S23 comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage, and if you want, you can upgrade to 256GB. (The Galaxy S23 Plus comes with 256GB standard.)

The RAM and storage use the LPDDR5 and UFS 4.0 standards respectively. That's not quite the latest in RAM standards (that would be LPDDR5X), but UFS 4.0 is as up-to-date as you can get for flash storage. We may see phones launched later in the year outpace the Galaxy S23 for RAM speed, but in day-to-day use though, the S23 should feel plenty fast.

Samsung Galaxy S23 specs: Battery and charging

The Galaxy S23 actually gets a boost here. The S23 battery is 3,900 mAh, a slight step up from the S22's 3,700 mAh. Unfortunately, fast charging did not get a similar boost and is still limited to up to 25W wired charging and 10W wireless charging.

Samsung Galaxy S23 specs: Software

Samsung has debuted its new One UI 5.1 software, based on Android 13, on the Galaxy S23 series. You should also get four years of software updates on any Galaxy S23, including the base-model Galaxy S23, keeping you up to date with new software features for some time to come.

Some new features include Bixby text call, which has the assistant answer your calls and lets you text replies it can speak aloud on the fly. There's also improvements to the widget system and a way to easily pull subjects or objects out of an image via drag and drop. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 specs: Where the S23 Plus is better

While there are a lot of similarities between the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus — and even though the S23 is a good phone in its own right — there are still reasons to consider the S23 Plus. You get a bigger 6.6-inch display. larger battery, 256GB of standard storage and faster charging. 

Check out our Galaxy S23 hands-on review to see if this phone is right for you.