Samsung Galaxy S23 vs S20 FE 5G

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 Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G and came out 2 years and 5 months before. 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
  • 74% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1712K versus 982K)
  • Delivers 45% higher peak brightness (1191 against 819 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 13
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
  • The phone is 2 years and 5 months newer
  • Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
  • Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
  • Has 2 SIM card slots

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 and S20 FE 5G 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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 56% Yes
Maybe, but mainly if you specifically want better gaming performance.
This is a situational upgrade. It makes the most sense if better gaming performance matters to you.
Main improvements: gaming, performance, and camera.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 425 ppi 407 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (24-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 1200 nits 400 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 88% 85.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.9% 95.7%
PWM 240 Hz 227 Hz
Response time 1 ms 2.8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S20 FE 5G
6.5″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.8 in2
Galaxy S23
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~11% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S23 +45%
1191 nits
819 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) 159.8 mm (6.29 inches)
Width 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) 74.5 mm (2.93 inches)
Thickness 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) 8.4 mm (0.33 inches)
Weight 168 g (5.93 oz) 190 g (6.7 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow White, Blue, Green, Red, Orange, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G
Max clock 3360 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (1 + 3 + 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 1.8 GHz: Kryo 585 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 585 Gold (Cortex-A77)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 585 Prime (Cortex-A77)
L3 cache 8 MB 4 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Hexagon 698
GPU
Graphics Adreno 740 Adreno 650
GPU shading units 1536 768
GPU clock 680 MHz 587 MHz
FLOPS ~2089 GFLOPS ~901.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Galaxy S23 +68%
1987
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Galaxy S23 +57%
5171
Compute Score (GPU)
Galaxy S23 +222%
9410
Compute Score (GPU) 9410 2923
Single-core score 1987 1180
Multi-core score 5171 3300
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Galaxy S23 +74%
1712393
CPU 587063 391258
GPU 434955 171698
Memory 275390 167605
UX 414985 251913
Total score 1712393 982474
Samples [29 tests] [27 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 76% -
Graphics test 8 FPS -
Graphics score 1069 -
3DMark Solar Bay
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
Galaxy S23 +229%
3669
Stability 61% 90%
Graphics test 21 FPS 6 FPS
Graphics score 3669 1114
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Galaxy S23 +30%
15924
Web score 15188 10914
Video editing 7873 7129
Photo editing 33939 31102
Data manipulation 12935 9568
Writing score 19390 12727

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
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-11 -> FenixistarkAnTuTu 121134088
📘 2026-10-05 (Gigante Supremo)AnTuTu 121111940
📘 2026-08-31 (GameFabuloso16)AnTuTu 111010010
📘 2026-08-09 (May)AnTuTu 11745543
📘 2026-07-13 (pooh)AnTuTu 111010016

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory clock - 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 3.1
Memory card No MicroSD
Memory card max size - Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 8.0 One UI 5.0
OS size 29.7 GB 25.6 GB
OS updates 4 years 2 years
Security updates 5 years 4 years

Battery

Capacity 3900 mAh 4500 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (10 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging Yes -
Fast charging Yes (57% in 30 min) Yes (37% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:16 hr 1:35 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:12 hr 08:09 hr
Watching video 13:41 hr 13:42 hr
Gaming 05:20 hr 05:01 hr
Standby 109 hr 114 hr
General battery life
22:02 hr
22:18 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 3x
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) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 8 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 23 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KGN3 Sony IMX555
Sensor size 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 10 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Focal length 70 mm 76 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3K1 Hynix HI-847
Sensor size 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) 1/4.5" (≈ 0.22 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX564 -
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 70 -
Preview 72 -
Zoom 126 -
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 6528 x 4896
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus
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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
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
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
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 -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes No
Hybrid slot No Yes
LTE Cat* 20 20
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

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

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2023 September 2020
Release date February 2023 October 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $799 $700
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon) - Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg 0.5 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.3 W/kg 1.35 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 15 W
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

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S23 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
71 (53.4%)
62 (46.6%)
Total votes: 133

User opinions

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