Samsung Galaxy S23 FE vs Galaxy S23 - Should You Pay More?

Samsung decided to skip The Fan Edition phone in 2022 they didn't release a Galaxy s22 Fe the last time they had a fan Edition device was back in 2021 and I reviewed it and I told everyone not to buy it because the price point of that device was pretty much the exact same price as the regular S21 which was obviously slightly better but this year things are different because the s23 Fe starts at 600 bucks $200 cheaper than the regular Galaxy s23 and Sam has managed to squeeze everything you need in this upper mid-range device now before I begin this comparison a quick shout out to one password who is today's sponsor because I've been using one password for the past little while and I discovered that it's much more than just a password manager not only does it store your passwords but it also stores sensitive documents banking information and even your medical records too many people are trying to remember their passwords or write them down only to then forget the password they created or have it stolen from them also I'm constantly switching switching between Mac PC iPhone and Android devices and since one password works on all of them it gives me instant access to my passwords Wherever I Go Plus Membership comes with lots of great perks like mask email integration from FastMail signing in with other providers like Google and apple and actionable security recommendations from Watchtower it's really affordable with plans starting at $2.99 us per month but I'm offering my audience 50% off if you use the code magic at checkout make sure to click on the link in the description or visit onep password.com to learn more now right off the bat these two devices look a lot alike Samsung wants to make sure the s23 FV fits in the Galaxy S lineup and look you hold these in your hand you can tell that the regular s23 obviously looks a bit more premium they're using the same aluminum sidings they have different sort of textures on the side the Galaxy s23 is a bit more glossy it shines it gives it a bit of an edge the s23 Fe is a little bit on the duller side but again it still feels very premium the glass choices are also a bit different you get stronger glass on the Galaxy s23 it's gorilla victus 2 whereas the s23 Fe is using Gorilla Glass 5 the other thing to note is that the camera bumps on the back even though they have sort of the same sensors the s23 fe's camera bumps tend to stick out more which will give you a tiny bit more wobble when it's lying flat on the table now both devices support ip68 dust and water resistant 1.5 M for 30 minutes but the weight of both of these phones are different for example if you're holding the s23 Fe you can obviously tell it's heavier it's over 200 g compared to just under 200 g with the regular s23 I mean this is expected you're comparing a phone that has a 6.4 in display to one that's only 6.1 but the thing is they made these bezels so thick that I feel like the body of this phone was meant for a bigger display because a true flagship phone with a 6.4 in display usually has smaller bezels than this which would mean the phone would be a little bit easier to hold in terms of button placement they're identical on both devices they're on the left hand side the USB type-c port obviously on the bottom same with speaker placement the only difference is the location of the SIM card on the s23 Fe it's at the top whereas on the regular Galaxy s23 it's at the bottom both of these phones do not support a Micro SD card if you want that you have to pick pick up the Galaxy [Music] a54 another design cork is the placement of the fingerprint scanner on the s23 it's at the bottom of the phone which happens to be an optical scanner so it's not as secure and as quick as the ultrasonic scanner that's embedded Ed into the s23 I also love the placement of the fingerprint scanner on the s23 more it's a little bit higher up which happens to be a nice place for your thumb to rest now the display is unlocked the first thing you're going to see right away is the bezel difference again s23 Fe much thicker compared to the regular s23 the s23 is like the perfect one-h handable phone the screen's big enough very easy to use in one hand the 6.4 in display is fairly easy to use for me like I have very long finger so this is pretty much one-h handable for me but if you have smaller hands you might find this to be more of a twoh handable phone other little quirks the front-facing camera on the s23 has a silver Rim around it where it's just a black one on the regular s23 haptics are a tiny bit different I found them to be sharper on the s23 so if you want like Punchy haptics I'd go with the more expensive s23 instead but the first thing I noticed about this display even though they're both full HD okay and even though technically the s23 has higher pixels per inch density due to the fact that it's a smaller display for some reason the quality of the display still looks better on the Galaxy s23 I think there's a couple of things going on I don't know if they're using a different panel cuz they're both OLED they both support 120 htz but I feel like it might have something to do with the glass it just looks a lot more Punchy and vibrant on the s23 even though I have vivid on for both of these phones also the high refresh rate even though they're both 120 HZ the s23 FB can only go between 60 and 120 whereas the s23 can ramp up and down between 48 and 120 now if being outdoors is important to you you will get a higher Peak brightness on the s23 we're talking about 1750 nits compared to 1450 nits not a deal breaker in my books but something I still want to mention because some people live in very bright sunny climates where it's always bright outside and sometimes being able able to squeeze the extra screen brightness allows you to see your phone a little bit easier now the cameras are an interesting topic because they did change some of the sensors around for one if you're taking a lot of selfies the s23 Fe is now using a 10 megapixel front-facing shooter whereas it's 12 megapixels on the regular s23 and I'm actually seeing a bit of a difference if you're looking at photos I find that the s23 looks a bit sharper there's more color in my face some of the materials on my jacket for example on the s23 Fe looks a bit too smooth kind of losing some of that information so they've definitely reduced the quality of that camera so right now you're looking at the front-facing cameras of the Galaxy s23 and the s23 Fe s23 Fe is 10 megapixels and the Galaxy s23 is 12 megapixels you guys let me know which one looks better and most importantly which one sounds better but when it comes to the rear facing cameras the main wide lens is 50 megapixels on both and they're the exact same size sensor same with the ultra wide lens so you're not going to get that big of a difference in terms of overall photo quality but I think Samsung is doing something with the computational photography on both of these phones because overall with the majority of pictures that I took with both of these devices I always found that the s23 was a bit more vibrant and had a little bit of sharpness to it whereas the regular s23 Fe felt and looked a bit more flat it's weird because it really is the exact same sensor regardless if if you're using wide or Ultra it should be the same thing but I feel like they're purposely nerfing it so that you can see a difference between a mid-range phone and a premium one now what is different is the telephoto lens they're both three times optical zoom but the telephoto lens on the s23 Fe is only 8 megapixels compared to 10 on the s23 again not seeing a big difference except for maybe a bit more sharpness using the regular s23 as for video they can shoot up to8 8K the s23 Fe can do ak24 whereas the regular s23 can do ak30 in terms of 4K video they both look pretty much identical I'm seeing no difference on both of these devices even the optical image stabilization looks good when I'm moving a bit faster now the back of the s23 Fe is very glossy there's no frosted printing it just looks like a greasy mess if you plan on rocking this without a case it's also a bit more slippery in the hands because of it the Ed back of the regular s23 hides those fingerprints like crazy and overall it's just a phone that's easier to grip but in terms of performance this is where the s23 Fe defers you're getting a Snapdragon H gen1 here in North America and that's good like the H gen1 is a great processor but if you're living anywhere else you're getting an exos processor and generally exos processors tend to be slower less efficient and offer worse battery life so if you're living in those areas the Fe might be off your list automatically but if we're talking about General performance on a regular everyday basis I didn't feel like one was faster than the other if you're buying this for General stuff like browsing the net checking your email and reading the news you're not going to notice a difference if you're buying this to be some sort of maniac mobile gamer then yes the s23 is going to be faster and obviously more efficient because of it but the thing is it's not like you're going to get more battery life out of it because the battery inside of the Fe is 4500 milliamp hours it's a bigger battery and I found that the battery life because of that was slightly better not like massively better but slightly better both of these phones can easily get through the entire day without having to charge and sometimes I was able to make it to a day and a half the good news though is they both support regular charging they both support wireless charging and they both have reverse charging on top of all this Samsung is committed to continue giving these devices four years of updates and 5 years of security security updates so even if you buy this phone with a year old processor you're still going to get those updates for a long time so here's the thing I really like the Fe like this is a good phone it's a fantastic phone especially for $600 but if you're in places around the world where it's an X andos processor probably not the best deal for you here in North America it really depends on what you want if you're looking at this device and you're buying it for the cameras I'd probably just buy the pixel 7A instead because it's $100 cheaper and you get some of the best cameras on a smartphone for that price point if cameras are important to you but it's not like the must have be all in endall save the 200 bucks and pick up the s23 Fe it's a great phone especially for its price point but here's the thing Samsung is constantly offering deals on all of these devices and I bet you you know a little bit closer to the holay holays holidays they're going to be discounting this regular s23 and you can probably get it for a very similar price point to the Fe model either way I'm a big fan of The Fan Edition this year if you have any questions let me know in the comment section down below like the video if you liked it subscribe if you haven't already and I'll see you guys in the next one

Channel: Matthew Moniz

Views: 255,296

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Id: 6RR1aDZeraA

Length: 11min 11sec (671 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 11 2023