Samsung Galaxy S23 FE
The Fan Edition returns, offering flagship features for a cut price. But is the affordable FE what you need?
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is a compelling little Android phone – and one that’s keenly pitched its asking price perfectly. But what does this Fan Edition offer that you might want?
For starters you get 128GB – or 256GB – of storage, 8GB RAM and a 6.4-inch screen from $899. It is worth noting that you can get the smaller yet more powerful – non FE – S23 for less money than this.
To look at, the Fan Edition model fits perfectly into the S23 series’ aesthetic character. It’s got the same looks, same triple camera layout on the rear, same flat screen arrangement. It’s an echo of all the good stuff about the series, just in a slightly different format.
And while those cameras on the rear may look familiar, the zoom lens – it’s a 3x telephoto here – is reduced to an 8-megapixel sensor for capture and, inevitably, is of lesser quality. The front-facing selfie camera is also reduced to a 10MP offering.
However, the main 50MP camera on the Galaxy S23 FE is excellent. The 50-megapixel main resolution on offer is well-equipped to deliver detail in all manner of shooting conditions – and we really enjoyed using the handset to shoot some fantastic images when out and about on holiday. There is some grain in low-light shots, so there are limitations. The wide-angle 12MP sensors mirror that of the base S23.
Inside is where you’ll find one of the bigger shifts. The S23 FE features Samsung’s own Exynos 2200 processor, the likes of which you can find in some regional generation-old Galaxy S22 models. This puts it a step behind the Qualcomm-Snapdragon-toting releases of late.
Samsung’s own silicon has often been said to deliver less on battery performance and our initial experience with this handset was troubling in terms of longevity.
However, as we’ve learned from reviewing countless Samsung phones over the years, they can take a bit of time to settle down. Our concerns were of less bother in the end, but with that said the Fan Edition model still doesn’t last as long as we’d like. We struggled to get through a full day without reaching for the charger, with circa 13 hours per charge being the typical norm.
The display is a delightful 6.4-inch AMOLED panel that features a 1080 x 2340 resolution (the same as the S23, just across a larger surface area), is suitably bright, and as is typical of OLED delivers deep blacks, punchy colours and great contrast. It’s also a 120Hz refresh rate panel, which makes everything look smooth, and we’re glad that feature wasn’t chopped from the spec for the sake of cost or ranging.
While the S23 FE’s use of older-gen hardware is technically a step down, we really didn’t feel that in use – there’s plenty of power here. However, certain apps will cause the handset to run warm and our biggest issue of all is that this hardware combination delivers battery life that’s so-so at best.