2023 has been a good year for Samsung fans who care about getting the best possible performance from their phones. 2023 is also unique in that it’s the first time Samsung has used only a Snapdragon chip for all of its flagship phones.
The Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Z Fold 5 are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Galaxy chipset. Samsung didn’t release a flagship Exynos chip this year, no doubt finally realizing that it had to ditch the tradition of annual upgrades to make the kind of comeback that Exynos chips so desperately need.
All five of the phones mentioned above are fast, smooth, and can handle anything you throw at them. They’re also extremely efficient, all thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. But despite using the same chip, these phones no It’s created on equal footing, and for those who want the best of the best, there are only two options here: the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
While all of these phones perform very well, the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy Z Flip 5 are prone to performance drops from time to time. On the other hand, the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 5 can keep things running smoothly almost all the time.
It’s unclear why the S23 Ultra and Z Fold 5 are better than the others, but it’s probably due to a number of factors. One of them could be better thermal management due to its larger dimensions, which allows the processor to maintain high clock speeds for longer.
In fact, as far as the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is concerned, the heat dissipation is poor He is The reason is that it can throttle when pushed to the limit and does not support Samsung DeX, as confirmed by Samsung itself. The S23 Ultra and Z Fold 5 can throttle too, but only when gaming for long periods or running benchmark apps that strain the phone’s hardware to the limit.
The 12GB RAM will likely help too, although the 8GB version of the Galaxy S23 Ultra seems to perform the same, so we’re a little skeptical about that version. Finally, Samsung likely spent extra time refining the S23 Ultra and Z Fold 5 because they’re the most expensive of the bunch and are supposed to represent the best the company has to offer in both foldable and foldable form factors.
Whatever the case, our point of view is consistent. The Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 5 are Samsung’s fastest and smoothest phones in 2023. The Galaxy S23, S23+, and Z Flip 5 are all great in their own right, and you should pick one up if you want a smaller phone. And/or a cheaper phone with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.
But if you don’t care about phone dimensions and price is no object, buy the Galaxy S23 Ultra or Galaxy Z Fold 5.