Best Samsung Phones in 2023

Oct 02, 2023

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The best Samsung phone has the performance, camera quality, and features you want for day-to-day use at a price within your budget.

Many of Samsung's phones could do the trick, but the choice depends on your specific priorities. Do you want the best Samsung phone for a low cost? The best camera? The best model with a small screen? Or perhaps a premium model that is safely the best Android phone available now?

We've considered Samsung's latest models in the company's flagship S series and the more moderate A series, along with its foldable phones, to help you decide which of the best Samsung phones is right for you.

Best overall: Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus - See at AmazonSamsung's Galaxy S23 Plus, our best overall Android phone, is the most well-rounded option among the company's flagship phones in 2023.

Best budget: Samsung Galaxy A14 5G - See at Best BuyThe Galaxy A14 has an exceptional 90Hz screen for its $200 price tag, solid performance, and access to 5G networks.

Best camera: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra - See at Best BuyThe Galaxy S23 Ultra's unique 10x zoom lens separates its four-camera system from the three-camera systems of all other current Samsung phones.

Best battery life: Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus - See at AmazonIn our battery stress test, the Galaxy S23 Plus outperformed all of Samsung's other current flagship phones, including the S23 Ultra.

Best small phone: Samsung Galaxy S23 - See at Amazon With its 6.1-inch screen, the standard Galaxy S23 is essentially a compact version of the Galaxy S23 Plus, our top overall pick.

Best foldable phone: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 - See at Best BuyThe Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a remarkable two-in-one device: It's an excellent 6.2-inch phone (when folded) and a light 7.6-inch tablet (when unfolded).

Pros: Exceptional battery life, excellent three-camera system, stellar performance, lightweight for its large screen size

Cons: Some bloatware, infrequent shutter lag

Though the Galaxy S23 Ultra is nominally Samsung's top-line phone in 2023, the Galaxy S23 Plus offers a better overall balance of performance, cameras, and features relative to its price.

Indeed, the Galaxy S23 Plus is a supremely well-balanced phone with all the specs anyone would want in a premium phone, and it has a lower price tag and better battery life than the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The Galaxy S23 Plus obtained the best result in our battery test among Samsung's current lineup while offering a large, 6.6-inch screen that runs at 120Hz. Apps open and run quickly and smoothly, and the phone's performance overall feels buttery smooth thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy processor — the same processor in the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The three cameras on the back of the Galaxy S23 Plus take high quality photos, and we saw no reason to upgrade to the Galaxy S23 Ultra's for its 200MP main camera in our testing. The Galaxy S23 Plus' selfie camera — the same one found in the Galaxy S23 Ultra — is also the best in recent memory for a Samsung phone.

There's very little we can say against the Galaxy S23 Plus — not only is it the best Samsung phone overall, we also crowned it the best overall Android phone you can buy.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus review.

Pros: Large screen, smooth 90Hz display, stellar price-to-performance ratio

Cons: Ineffective macro lens, slow 15W charging speed

The Galaxy A14 with 5G is a surprisingly capable phone for its $200 price tag, and among Samsung's A series phones, it offers the best balance of features and affordability.

While the A14 isn't as quick to open apps as the flagship Galaxy S23 series, or even the $450 Galaxy A54, it still runs apps smoothly on a 90Hz screen — a spec we wouldn't expect on a phone in this price range.

For $200, the Galaxy A14 also comes with a large 6.6-inch display and a surprisingly sharp 1080p resolution, the same resolution offered by the Galaxy S23 Plus. (The Galaxy A14's display isn't nearly as bright as the Galaxy S23 Plus', however, a factor that is especially noticeable in bright sunlight, but it poses no problems indoors.)

You'll see three camera lenses on the rear of the Galaxy A14's textured plastic back, but you'll likely only use one of them, the 50MP main camera. One of the other cameras is a 2MP macro lens for those niche up-close shots of rain drops on a leaf, but it's not sharp at all. The other is a depth sensor that doesn't take photos, but is designed to help the main camera take portrait mode shots.

The 50MP main camera takes photos with solid color, contrast, and brightness. It's a capable camera if your budget is in the $200 range, but if camera quality is a priority and you can stretch your budget, we'd rather recommend the Galaxy A54, which starts at $450, for better photos (and performance).

Like the A54, the Galaxy A14 lacks wireless charging. The A14 supports 15W charging speeds, which is slow, but acceptable in this price range.

Pros: Stellar four-camera system, impressive 10x zoom lens, smooth 120Hz display

Cons: Screen may be too large for some, expensive relative to competition

With its four camera lenses, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has the best camera system among Samsung's latest phone lineup.

All of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S23 phones take similarly excellent photos, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra's exclusive fourth 10x zoom lens gives it the most versatility relative to the company's other phones that top out with 3x zoom cameras. It means you can take significantly better photos of faraway objects and subjects than any other Samsung phone, or any other phone, for that matter.

Having a 10x zoom camera not only means you can take crisp, clear, fully detailed photos at 10x zoom, but it also means you can take acceptable, even decent, photos beyond 10x. Apart from older Galaxy Ultra phones with 10x zoom lenses, no other Samsung phone can compete in this regard.

Taking photos at such high zoom ranges is basically pointless unless the camera is very stable, as micro jitters from shaky hands will result in a blurry photo. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has excellent optical image stabilization (OIS) that greatly reduces the micro jitters from your hands. Just note you still need to be quite still — the Galaxy S23 Ultra's OIS is impressive, but it's not miraculous.

You might be wondering whether the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 200MP main camera offers better photos than the 50MP main cameras on Samsung's other Galaxy S23 flagships. We actually couldn't see any improvement in the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 200MP main camera over the 50MP main cameras from the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus, even in low light photos where so many megapixels could be a benefit.

That's great news for those who find the Galaxy S23 Ultra too expensive for their budgets, and for those who don't necessarily want a 10x zoom lens.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review.

"The larger the phone screen, the longer the battery life" is a maxim one can typically apply to newer smartphones. However, that's not the case with Samsung's latest lineup.

The Galaxy S23 Plus with its 6.6-inch screen finished our battery stress test with 67% remaining, while the 6.8-inch Galaxy S23 Ultra finished with 61%.

It's a surprising result, as the Galaxy S23 Plus has a smaller 4,700mAh battery than the 5,000mAh battery in the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Still, when each phone performed five runs of the Geekbench 5 CPU test, two runs of the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, two hours of video streaming, and one hour of music streaming with Bluetooth headphones, the Galaxy S23 Plus came out on top.

The Galaxy S23 Plus also supports the same 45W charging speeds and 15W wireless charging speeds as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which means it's among the fastest charging models in Samsung's contemporary lineup.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus review.

Pros: Excellent three-camera system, stellar performance, smooth 120Hz display, solid battery life

Cons: Slower charging speed (25W) than other S23 models, some bloatware, infrequent shutter lag

The Galaxy S23 is basically a smaller version of the Galaxy S23 Plus, our top pick for the best Samsung phone overall. It runs on the same processor and has the same triple-lens camera, and its display runs at the same silky-smooth 120Hz.

It does all that while sporting a smaller 6.1-inch screen and a lighter weight that some may find more comfortable.

Apart from size, the only major difference between the standard S23 and the S23 Plus is battery life, where the former scored lower in our battery stress test (56% remaining). However, that's expected in a smaller phone.

It's also worth mentioning the Galaxy S23 only supports 25W charging speeds while the Galaxy S23 Plus supports 45W, which is baffling, but not a deal breaker if you prefer smaller phones.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 review.

Pros: Excellent exterior display, opens into a lightweight tablet, 120Hz refresh rate on both displays

Cons: Expensive starting price, bulky when folded

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is one of the two current foldable phones Samsung offers, including the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

If you're looking for a foldable phone from Samsung, we'd recommend the Galaxy Z Fold 4 first thanks to its exterior display and greater versatility, which make it worth the hefty $1,800 starting price.

When folded, the Z Fold 4 has a 6.2-inch exterior screen that runs at a seamless 120Hz and operates as a stellar (though thicker-than-usual) small-screen phone. When unfolded, the phone's interior display acts as a lightweight, 7.6-inch tablet that also runs effortlessly at 120Hz.

These factors alone separate the Z Fold 4 from the Z Flip 4 and justify the $800 gap in starting price between them.

In contrast, the clamshell-style Z Flip 4, which starts at $1,000, has a 1.9-inch exterior display that offers minimal use as a notification screen, as a viewfinder for the main cameras, or as a means to control music and other media. We also found its 6.7-inch interior display to be too narrow and cramped for use as a daily phone, despite its smooth 120Hz screen.

Specs

Galaxy S23 Plus

Galaxy A14 5G

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Galaxy S23

Galaxy Z Fold 4

Starting price

$1,000

$200

$1,200

$800

$1,800

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy

Exynos 1330

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1

Release date

February 2023

January 2023

February 2023

February 2023

August 2022

Screen size

6.6 inches

6.6 inches

6.8 inches

6.1 inches

6.2 inches (folded), 7.6 inches (unfolded)

Rear cameras

50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom

50MP main, 2MP macro, 2MP depth

200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom, 10MP 10x zoom

50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom

50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom

Storage

256GB, 512GB

64GB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

128GB, 256GB, 512GB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

The best Samsung phone in 2023 is the Galaxy S23 Plus, in our assessment, as it offers the best overall combination of performance, features, and price. It has the best battery life of any Samsung phone we've tested and has the widest potential appeal.

We also recommend several other Samsung phones according to specific criteria.

The best Samsung phone you can get for a low cost is the Galaxy A14 5G, a capable budget phone that outperforms its $200 price tag.

The best camera phone from Samsung is the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which offers a stellar four-camera system and is the lone phone from the company to feature a 10x zoom lens.

Samsung's best phone with a small screen is the 6.1-inch Galaxy S23, the smaller sibling of our top overall pick, the Galaxy S23 Plus.

Samsung's best foldable phone is the Galaxy Z Fold 4, a versatile device that can operate as a 6.2-inch phone or a 7.6-inch tablet.

Samsung's newest phone in the US is the mid-range Galaxy A54, which the company released on March 24, 2023.

Outside the US, Samsung's latest release is the Galaxy A24 4G, which launched in Vietnam on April 19, 2023, and has since rolled out to other countries internationally.

The latest phones in Samsung's flagship S series are the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra, which all hit stores globally on February 17, 2023.

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