Samsung Galaxy A42 vs Galaxy A23
42
out of 100
VS
40
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.6-inch Samsung Galaxy A42 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 750 5G) that was released on September 2, 2020, against the Samsung Galaxy A23, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 and came out 1 year and 6 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A42
- Shows 10% longer battery life (26:28 vs 23:59 hours)
- Slow-motion recording at 480FPS
- Ability to record video in 4K resolution
- Delivers 23% higher peak brightness (575 against 466 nits)
- Super AMOLED display (versus competitor's PLS TFT)
- Faster storage type - UFS 2.1 versus eMMC 5.1
- 2x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 829 and 405 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A23
- Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
- 50% higher pixel density (400 vs 266 PPI)
- Optical image stabilization
- More recent OS version: Android 14 versus 13
- Supports higher wattage charging (25W versus 15W)
- The phone is 1 year and 6 months newer
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 680
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | PLS TFT |
| Size | 6.6 inches | 6.6 inches |
| Resolution | 720 x 1600 pixels | 1080 x 2408 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 266 ppi | 400 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 460 nits |
| HDR support | No | No |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.3% | 83.2% |
| Display features | - Always-On Display | - |
| RGB color space | 97.7% | - |
| PWM | 242 Hz | - |
| Response time | 9.5 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164.4 mm (6.47 inches) | 164.5 mm (6.48 inches) |
| Width | 75.9 mm (2.99 inches) | 76.9 mm (3.03 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 193 g (6.81 oz) | 195 g (6.88 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray | White, Black, Blue, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-button |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 750 5G | Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 |
| Max clock | 2200 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 570 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 570 Gold (Cortex-A77) |
- 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Kryo 265 Silver (Cortex-A53) - 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 265 Gold (Cortex-A73) |
| L3 cache | 3 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 8 nanometers | 6 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon 694 | Hexagon 686 |
| Graphics | Adreno 619 | Adreno 610 |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 128 |
| GPU clock | 800 MHz | 1114 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~409.6 GFLOPS | ~285.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | - | 346 |
| Single-core score | 829 | 405 |
| Multi-core score | 2044 | 1361 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 176341 | 186622 |
| GPU | 68939 | 26319 |
| Memory | 73319 | 96462 |
| UX | 117699 | 89240 |
| Total score | 436298 | 398643 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [6 tests] |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 7188 |
| Video editing | - | 4209 |
| Photo editing | - | 14461 |
| Data manipulation | - | 6045 |
| Writing score | - | 8304 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy A42
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-11 (Jason Baker) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 828 / 1875 |
| 📘 2026-09-11 (Jason Baker) | AnTuTu 11 | 556264 |
Samsung Galaxy A23
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-05-11 (TestGame) | AnTuTu 11 | 398643 |
| 📘 2026-02-28 (Nikita) | AnTuTu 11 | 330162 |
| 📘 2026-01-31 (Mah) | AnTuTu 11 | 399045 |
| 📘 2025-12-17 (Murat) | AnTuTu 11 | 316098 |
| 📘 2025-12-12 (ZeroOne) | AnTuTu 11 | 413187 |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 1866 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | eMMC 5.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | Up to 512 GB | Up to 1024 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) |
| ROM | One UI 3.1 | One UI 6.1 |
| OS size | 20 GB | 24 GB |
| OS updates | 2 years | 2 years |
| Security updates | 4 years | 3 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | - |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (27% in 30 min) | Yes (32% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:01 hr | 1:43 hr |
| Web browsing | 10:34 hr | 08:39 hr |
| Watching video | 15:12 hr | 13:39 hr |
| Gaming | 06:09 hr | 05:40 hr |
| Standby | 132 hr | 128 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#124th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 8700 x 5800 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Slow motion | 480 FPS (720p) | 120 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | - |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 8 MP 3) Macro: 5 MP 4) Depth: 5 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 5 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP 4) Depth: 2 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGM2 | Samsung S5KJN1 |
| Sensor size | 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) | 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 0.64 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | 5 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K4HA | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) | 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 5 MP | 2 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC5035 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 20 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 5184 x 3880 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 25 mm | - |
| Sensor | Hynix HI-2021 | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.78" (≈ 0.36 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | Yes |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Budget |
| Announced | September 2020 | March 2022 |
| Release date | November 2020 | March 2022 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $365 | $240 |
| Successor | - | - Samsung Galaxy A24 4G |
| SAR (head) | 1.15 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.33 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | - | Yes, 15 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, and gaming are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy A42. But if the display and software are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy A23.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 34