Samsung Galaxy S23 FE AI Cell Phone, 128GB Unlocked Android Smartphone, Long Battery Life, Premium Power Processor, Tough Gorilla Glass Display, Hi-Res 50MP Camera, US Version, 2023, Graphite

This is a really good phone even as the FE version. It does what the heck it is supposed to and not to mention 2 years later, its still going very strong and performance hasn't lapsed. Let me tell you this phone is strong. Bought for my wife and she is known for crashing out on phones. This thing truly is a good piece of machinery. Takes really good photos too.

Upgrading from an S10e, so it's not hard to impress me, I guess, though I knew what I was looking for in a new phone. So far it's very good, though I keep having to get used to how much bigger and heavier it is than my old one. Love the color. Much faster processing than my old one and much bigger battery life, but again, that's not hard, haha. So far no issues. Big screen is much easier to read on. I'm still a bit thrown by how big all the app icons are and that you can't make them smaller to fit more on one page but that's whatever. ***Update a few months in: I do wish the camera lenses on the back were integrated into a single flat panel and/or flush with the case like the S20 FE and other models, as it makes it harder to protect them and keep the surrounding area clean. I am always anxious about how I'm storing my phone due to this (though certain cases may protect them better). With the weight of an added decenrly protective case, however, the phone can feel quite heavy after awhile and tire your wrists and fingers. The price of a nice big screen, I suppose. No overheating/cpu overload issues so far even with terribly coded apps like Spotify. Biggest con imo is the removal of the audio jack. I don't plan on getting wireless earbuds bc I don't want more batteries to deal with and I haven't bought usb-c earbuds yet so rn I'm using a usb-c to audio jack adapter which is problematic for 2 reasons: 1) you can't charge it at the same time (though I've seen split adapters that let you do this—not sure of their charge speed or audio quality though), and 2) at least with an adapter (not sure if ubiquitous connector issue), as it is a data connection rather than a simple 3mm jack, you can hear the "fuzz" (like an old record) of the data flow through the wire connection quite audibly at all times. An audiophile's nightmare.

I got this phone on sale for $400 (Black Friday 2023). So far, it's been very good for the price. The chipset is simply blazing fast. Everything feels snappy on this phone. Opening and closing apps are quick. Animation is smooth and does not stutter. The build quality is amazing and feels good to touch. So good that I did not use case until I first dropped it (more on this later). One drawback this phone has is battery life. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor is power hungry. The battery, while theoretically big, is quickly depleted. I mostly use my phone for navigation (Android Auto wireless), YouTube video playback, browsing on Edge, or social media chatting. My Screen on Time (SoT) life is expected to be 7 hours when fully charged according to AccuBattery Pro app I installed since day one of owning this phone. That is my usage without gaming ever. Expect the battery life to go down to around 4 hours or even less if you game because gaming is extremely taxing on your phone. It also heats up quite quickly, probably because it's drawing a bit too much power than it should have (inefficient CPU / GPU). One solution I have working for me is by activating Light performance profile under Device Care settings. This decrease the performance unless you're gaming. For my use case, it's perfect because it doesn't overheat anymore. That 7 hours SoT figure is with this profile turned on. Expect it to be around 5.5 to 6 hours SoT without this on. So about me dropping the phone, it was when I was changing my car's tires. I was crouching, so when it fell, it was about 12 inches high. The floor was concrete, and it was not clean. This is the worst combination because dust and debris are really abrasive and can easily put lots of dents and scratches on phone. Surprisingly, other than two scratches (one big, and one small), there's really no other damage. I was using matte screen protector at that time, so when it ended up falling screen down, it did crack the screen protector, but the screen remains flawless to this day. I assumed it fell by its side frame (charging port side), then it fell face down. I did attach the photo so you can judge the amount of damage done by this accident.

I have had this phone for about a year now and I gotta say, it's served me very well! In most ways it's almost identical to it's flagship counterpart the S23. It has a beautiful display, really good cameras, great build quality. Seriously if you show it to most people that might actually assume it was a flagship phone. Now, there are a couple issues. A minor one and a kinda big one. The minor issue is the screen to body ratio isn't as good, the chin is a bit thicker than on the flagship but it's still pretty good so that's a minor complaint. The biggest issue is that some versions of the phone come with the decent but less impressive Exynos chip and even the version I have that came with Snapdragon, has the same Snapdragon chip as the S22. This was an odd choice considering the S23 had already been on the market for about a year and the S24 was soon to be on the way. I know they had to cut corners somewhere but this felt like an odd place to do so. To be totally fair, despite being an older chip it was still flagship quality and it's recent enough that the phone (paired with the 8gb of ram) still runs fantastic. Day to day use always goes off without a single hitch, the phone never slows down or locks up on me and it feels seamless to use. You won't be playing some games on the highest settings but it can actually run a lot of games (Wuwa, Fortnite and Genshin all run at medium to low settings. ZZZ, HSR, and CoD Mobile all run at mostly high settings.) If you're looking for a midrange phone to use as your daily driver, this is a great option! (Though it might be better to keep an eye out for the upcoming S24 FE which could be an interesting choice too)

Update; Received refund the day after I posted my review. Changed from 3 stars to an 5 star. Ordered this new phone as hubster's replacement phone. We had been searching for a while for just the right one, has great reviews and a fantastic price. We received the original order quickly, charged it and started the set up. The phone needed a PIN to log in and set up. We thought this was unusual for a new phone. Started a chat session w/Amazon Help Desk and w/in 5 minutes was told that it appeared to have been used by a customer, returned the item and we ended up receiving it in error. We were offered the return option so that we could purchase another one. We initiated the return process and mailed it out the next day. The return message on my Amazon account stated that we would be refunded when they received the device. I have been monitoring my emails and still have not received any notice or tracking info. I checked the tracking number thru UPS and it shows that the device was received 2 days ago. I logged into my Amazon account and the Refund Status shows the same info but I am not scheduled for my $500+ refund until more than 2 weeks away. Why would it take that long and why would they indicate that my refund would be issued upon their receipt? Very frustrating! The new device was easy to set up, long lasting battery, superb camera.

Great phone; easy to use; awesome features and updates. Love Android and the Samsung OS. The photos look a bit "smudged" though. Wish the camera lens were flush with the device so it would be more protected and that Samsung would give the charger head, not just the cable. Appreciate that there isn't many pre-installed apps.

Have had my phone for months now. I have always had a samsung phone . This is my most recent one. I haven't changed from Samsung because their products are so well made and dependable. I couldn't tell you how their customer service is because I have never needed them. As far as the edition goes,its the friends edition check into it,very cool idea for the company to make a phone like this. Most important thing is to purchase a good case because phones get dropped. I have never had a Samsung phone break in anyway and its been dropped. Highly recommend. Read about the friends edition. Great phones. I have never had any problem with these phones working with other devices either. Can't beat it.

Good phone for the price. 256gb memory and 8g of ram processing comes unlocked for all carriers works well with cricket and straight talk that is all I've used so far. Nice screen resolution and camera quality. Phone was brand new in the box wrapped in original packaging. Looks great.