Samsung Galaxy S23 vs. Galaxy S23 Plus: How Samsung's latest flagship phones compare in price, battery life, and more

The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus sport identical designs, aside from the clear size difference. 

Both models look very similar to the previous Galaxy S22 generation with their flatter frame edges. The rear cameras have been redesigned where each individual lens protrudes slightly rather than being part of a larger camera module. It's a smart, minimalist look that's easy to love. 

As is typical with smaller phones, the Galaxy S23 offers a more comfortable and lighter weight at 5.93 ounces. Yet, the Galaxy S23 Plus is still comfortable and lightweight for a larger phone at 6.91 ounces compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 8.04 ounces and iPhone 14 Pro Max's 8.47 ounces. 

In fact, the Galaxy S23 Plus straddles the best balance of size, weight, and features for a phone — the iPhone 14 Plus with a dual lens camera and lesser 60Hz display compared to the Galaxy S23 Plus' triple lens camera and 120Hz screen still weighs more at 7.16 ounces.

Both the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy processor. Incidentally, the Galaxy S23 Ultra also runs on the same processor. It means all of Samsung's Galaxy S23 phones are equally powerful for running any app or game in your library. It also means each Galaxy S23 model will last as long as the other in terms of performance. 

Apart from screen size, battery life is where the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus differ the most, and it comes as expected. In our battery stress test, the standard Galaxy S23 had 56% remaining while the Galaxy S23 Plus had 67% remaining. 

If battery life is a high priority, you'll always be better off with a larger phone like the Galaxy S23 Plus. Still, if you like smaller phones, the standard Galaxy S23 performs as well as the iPhone 14 Pro that sets the standard for battery life. 

Just note that the Galaxy S23 only supports up to 25W charging speeds compared to the Galaxy S23 Plus' 45W charging speeds. It's a bummer that Samsung limited the Galaxy S23 in this way, but it's not a major deal breaker.

The cameras on the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus are identical — you get the same 50 megapixel (MP) main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x optical zoom, and 12MP selfie cameras, no matter which model you pick. That means both phones take the same quality photos.

That's all to say the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus cameras produce identically excellent results, even in low light settings. However, both can still produce blurry images of moving subjects — more so than my experience with iPhones. 

As for storage, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus differ slightly. The Galaxy S23 base model has 128GB of storage, and it "only" goes up to 256GB, both of which should be plenty for most people. The base Galaxy S23 Plus has 256GB and goes up to 512GB, which is more than enough for most people.

Samsung follows a typical pricing scheme for the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus, where the base version of the smaller model costs $200 less than the larger one.

Both the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus are on the high end of the premium spectrum, at least when you compare them to Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, which start at $600 and $900 respectively. However, I'd still recommend the Galaxy phones for their superior performance, and their even more reliable cameras. The Pixel 7 Pro also has disappointing battery life for a large phone.

You can't go wrong with either model, as the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus are nearly identical in performance and camera quality. They only differ in screen size and battery life, as well as storage and pricing tiers. 

If you prefer smaller phones, the clear option is Samsung's standard Galaxy S23. However, if you also prioritize battery life, you might consider upgrading to the Galaxy S23 Plus, even if the Galaxy S23 has good battery life for its size.  

If you prefer larger phones, the choice should also be pretty simple — the Galaxy S23 Plus ticks all the boxes with very few compromises, if any. 

If you need more than 128GB of storage, I'll also point you to the Galaxy S23 Plus for its 256GB to 512GB storage capacity. And if you need more than that, you'll have to look to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which goes up to one terabyte.