Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Google Pixel 8

69 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S23
VS
69 out of 100
Google Pixel 8

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Google Pixel 8, which is powered by Google Tensor G3 and came out 8 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
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Shows 12% longer battery life (22:02 vs 19:39 hours)
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • 19% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1712K versus 1443K)
  • Faster storage type - UFS 4.0 versus UFS 3.1
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • 15% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1987 and 1722 points
  • Weighs 19 grams less
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Delivers 21% higher peak brightness (1437 against 1191 nits)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+1)
  • The phone is 8 months newer

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 8 crucial features
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
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
8 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
80.6
(Good)
Value Index
41.8
(Average)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
vs

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.2 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 425 ppi 428 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (24-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1200 nits 2000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits 1400 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 88% 87.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.9% 99.2%
PWM 240 Hz 170 Hz
Response time 1 ms 3 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1191 nits
Pixel 8 +21%
1437 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) 150.5 mm (5.93 inches)
Width 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) 70.8 mm (2.79 inches)
Thickness 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 168 g (5.93 oz) 187 g (6.6 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow Black, Gray, Rose gold
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
88%
87.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 8
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Google Tensor G3
Max clock 3360 MHz 3000 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 9 (1 + 4 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3
- 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3
L3 cache 8 MB -
Manufacturing TSMC Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 740 Immortalis-G715s MC10
GPU shading units 1536 896
GPU clock 680 MHz 890 MHz
FLOPS ~2089 GFLOPS ~1594.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 8
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Galaxy S23 +15%
1987
1722
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Galaxy S23 +16%
5171
4458
Compute Score (GPU)
9410
n/a
Compute Score (GPU) 9410 -
Single-core score 1987 1722
Multi-core score 5171 4458
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Galaxy S23 +19%
1712393
1443431
CPU 587063 535125
GPU 434955 387735
Memory 275390 186665
UX 414985 333906
Total score 1712393 1443431
Samples [29 tests] [10 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Galaxy S23 +10%
1069
971
Stability 76% 73%
Graphics test 8 FPS 7 FPS
Graphics score 1069 971
3DMark Solar Bay
5348
n/a
Stability 73% -
Graphics test 20 FPS -
Section 1 23 FPS -
Section 2 20 FPS -
Section 3 18 FPS -
Graphics score 5348 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
3669
n/a
Stability 61% -
Graphics test 21 FPS -
Graphics score 3669 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
15924
n/a
Web score 15188 -
Video editing 7873 -
Photo editing 33939 -
Data manipulation 12935 -
Writing score 19390 -

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S23
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-13 (Ct)AnTuTu 121868238
📘 2026-09-21 (Mil)AnTuTu 121763249
📘 2026-09-16 (Fluffyicebite:3)AnTuTu 121835927
📘 2026-09-09 -> Rafarobbie22AnTuTu 111708074
📘 2026-09-09 (Rafa)AnTuTu 111708074
Google Pixel 8
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-28 (asfiii-malik)AnTuTu 111515235
📘 2026-08-28 (asfiii-baloch)AnTuTu 111515235
📘 2026-05-04 (reazz)AnTuTu 111356451
📘 2026-04-29 -> tonymennyAnTuTu 111446448
📘 2026-03-16 (Quan)AnTuTu 111479583

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock - 4200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM One UI 8.0 Stock Android
OS size 29.7 GB 14 GB
OS updates 4 years 7 years
Security updates 5 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 3900 mAh 4575 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 27 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (10 W) Yes (18 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (57% in 30 min) Yes (56% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:16 hr 1:16 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:12 hr 08:08 hr
Watching video 13:41 hr 14:06 hr
Gaming 05:20 hr 04:49 hr
Standby 109 hr 81 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S23 +12%
22:02 hr
19:39 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 8192 x 6144
Zoom Optical, 3x Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 126°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.7
Focal length 23 mm 25 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KGN3 Samsung GNV
Sensor size 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1.2 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Laser autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 10 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Focal length 70 mm -
Sensor Samsung S5K3K1 -
Sensor size 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) -
Pixel size 1 micron -
Stabilization Optical -
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX564 Sony IMX386 Exmor RS
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.25 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 8 +18%
152
Video quality
Pixel 8 +8%
148
Generic main camera score
Pixel 8 +11%
148
Bokeh 70 70
Preview 72 64
Zoom 126 129
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 8 from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 10.5 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 3648 x 2736
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 21 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU -
Sensor size 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.22 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes, DP 1.2 Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 20
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speakers test
Max loudness
91.5 dB
89 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2023 October 2023
Release date February 2023 October 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $799 $699
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon) - Google Pixel 10
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.3 W/kg -
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
    - The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the performance, gaming, software, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S23. But if the camera and connectivity are more of a priority – go for the Google Pixel 8.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
500 (56.6%)
384 (43.4%)
Total votes: 884

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
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Avatar
David November 12, 2024 at 11:41 PM
You say that there are two SIM card slots, yet everything I read says slot plus eSIM.
0 Reply
Serhii November 14, 2024 at 08:52 AM
Thank you for a comment.
0 Reply