You have two choices for the fastest, smoothest Galaxy phone in 2023
2023 was a good year for Samsung fans who care about getting the best possible performance out of their phones. 2023 is also unique in that it’s the first time Samsung has used just one Snapdragon chip for all its flagship phones.
The Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Z Fold 5 are all powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset. Samsung didn’t release a flagship Exynos chip this year, no doubt because it finally realized that it had to ditch its annual upgrade tradition for the kind of comeback Exynos chips so desperately needed.
All five phones mentioned above are fast, fluid, and you can throw anything at them. They’re also pretty efficient, and that’s all thanks to Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 But despite using the same chip, these phones are not created equal, and for those who want the absolute best, there are only two choices: the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
While all of these phones perform extremely well, the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy Z Flip 5 are prone to occasional performance drops. The Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 5, on the other hand, can keep things smooth almost all the time.
It’s unclear why the S23 Ultra and Z Fold 5 are better than the others, but it likely depends on a number of factors. One of them could be better thermal management due to their larger dimensions, which allows the processor to maintain higher clock speeds for longer periods of time.
In fact, as far as the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is concerned, it can throttle when pushed to the limit due to poor heat dissipation and does not support Samsung DeX, as confirmed by Samsung itself. The S23 Ultra and Z Fold 5 can also throttle, but only when gaming for long periods of time or running benchmark apps that push the phone’s hardware to its limits.
The 12 gigs of RAM probably helps, although the 8GB variant of the Galaxy S23 Ultra seems to do the same so we’re a bit dubious about that. Finally, it’s possible that Samsung spent extra time optimizing the S23 Ultra and Z Fold 5 since they’re the most expensive of the bunch and are supposed to represent the best of what the company has to offer in both candybar and foldable form factors.
Whatever the case may be, our statement stands firm. Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 5 are the fastest and sleekest Samsung phones of 2023. The Galaxy S23, S23+, and Z Flip 5 are all great in their own right, and you should pick one of them if you want something smaller. And/or cheaper phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsets.
