User Experience: Samsung Galaxy S23 FE

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE has been around for almost a month now. Since I got my hands on the device, I have been rocking it as my primary work phone after migrating my work SIM from the Galaxy Z Flip5. In this article, I will share my point of view on this particular device, such as the pros and cons of each aspect of the device especially from the aspect of day-to-day use.

Disclaimer: While Samsung Malaysia provided the review unit for testing and review purposes, however, they have no say in the content direction of this review. All the points and opinion is based on my usage experience.

Design

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Starting with the design. The actual phone dimension is almost similar to the Galaxy S23+, you may even call it a S23+ Lite. That goes without saying, Samsung has pretty much settled down with the current design language. This is a phone that emphasizes flat surfaces with rounded corners. The cameras are arranged vertically with individual camera bumps. This device is still a glass and aluminium sandwich so do take good care of the device or use a case to prevent accidental damage to the display or glass back.

While some netizens are not satisfied with the current state of the smartphone industry, let’s face it, this is a (almost) two-decade-old industry and most of the aspects and design have matured. Instead, companies are shifting their focus to another category, for example, foldable devices. Honestly, I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. There is no need to change the design just to impress the market.

Display

The display is a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. As you can see, this is no doubt a FE device by just looking at the thick bezels. Sure, it may look awkward when compared with its bigger brothers, however, it was never meant to compete with them.

Besides, the panel quality is comparable with Samsung’s flagship models despite having a slightly lower peak brightness. The underlying AMOLED technology is the same and most importantly, it has a lively colour reproduction and smooth animation.

For those who really cannot get themselves over with the bezels, unfortunately, your only choice is to get the flagship devices such as the S23 Ultra, S23+ or the S23. There is a reason why the S23 FE is placed below all the aforementioned models.

Camera

The triple camera setup resembles closely to the standard Galaxy S23+ and S23.

Based on the spec sheet it is unclear whether they share the same primary camera or not. However, judging from the photos alone, I can tell the primary camera still retains excellent quality while the telephoto camera suffers the most.

Generally, you would prefer to use the primary camera as it produces sharp and crisp images. Even the colour rendition on the primary sensor is more pleasant to the eyes compared to the mushy telephoto colours in low light conditions.

Nonetheless, no one should be able to tell the minor quality drop considering the social media platforms would butcher the photo with intensive compression.

Performance

Then here comes the controversial part – the choice of Samsung Exynos 2200 chipset on the international Galaxy S23 FE while the US variant gets the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Ever since the Exynos 990 vs Snapdragon 865 drama, most consumers steered away from the Exynos chip due to the lower peak performance and efficiency. That’s why netizens were not satisfied with Samsung’s decision with the Exynos 2200, or shouldn’t they?

Thanks to the folks at GeekerWan publishing their benchmark results on socpk.com, we’re getting some impressive data set that compares the actual performance and efficiency of the chips. Generally, the Qualcomm chip is still having a higher peak performance. If you still remember the disastrous Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, that particular chipset sacrifices thermal to achieve a higher peak performance.

Hence, if you look at this CPU efficiency chart, the Exynos 2200 (88.3) is leading ahead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (82.2). Things may look better from this perspective until you look up the chart and find out how far ahead the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is. After all, we are comparing it with an inferior Snapdragon. So we should be glad that we’re getting the Exynos 2200 right?

The lowered peak performance can be felt in games. Genshin Impact felt sluggish at times, dipping below 40 fps in the highest graphics settings. That is a shame until you lowered some of the effect quality.

Despite all the negativity surrounding the Exynos chip, Other than high-demand workloads, the chip itself is capable of handling all the daily workloads without much of an issue. This is why it has a higher score on the power efficiency test in the preview chart.

Battery Life

That brings us to the battery life of the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE. Even though we’re using a 22-month-old Exynos SoC, the battery life is not as bad as some may have thought. As I mentioned earlier, Samsung has done a remarkable job on the Exynos 2200 and it can achieve good power efficiency for everyday use.

The 4500mAh battery will last through a whole day of normal usage. Just that you don’t have the 45W fast-charging feature. Even though it is not a big deal Samsung need to step up its charging technology.

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Conclusion

Before I wrap up this review, I must talk about the official price – RM2,999 for 128GB and RM 3,299 for 256GB. It is ridiculously overpriced, at least for the Malaysian market. Since the Galaxy S23+ and S23 have been around for more than 6 months, there are plenty of promotions and sales going on for those two devices. At the time of writing, some shops are selling the 256GB S23 for RM3,290 and 256GB S23+ for RM3609.

Some sellers even have the bundle sales option where you get the Galaxy Watch4 together with the purchase of the phone. The point is, given the lowered specifications of the Galaxy S23 FE, this device should not be sold for anything above RM2,999. Perhaps this is Samsung’s strategy whereby they are preparing the margin for discounts and promotions down the road. I mean right now you can directly get RM300 off from the official store for the S23 FE.

All in all, this is not a bad device, considering how most of the flagship phones are so expensive nowadays, the S23 FE with a good price tag is a much-needed device for those who don’t want to spend too much on a smartphone. Not to forget about the powerful OneUI and all the features that come along with it.

Just keep an eye on the promotions and you will be able to own this device without breaking the bank.