Samsung Galaxy A23 5G Review: Annoyingly Laggy

It’s not a good signal if you’ve thought of throwing your smartphone out the window. Not due to—effectively, *gestures at every part*— however as a result of it’s simply so irritating to make use of. I went out to dinner just lately, and a colleague—who was utilizing a six-year-old iPhone SE—identified how sluggish my brand-new telephone was. I used to be able to toss the factor. 

The perpetrator was Samsung’s new Galaxy A23 5G, a $300 Android telephone. You is likely to be pondering that I’m being too harsh on an affordable telephone, which is honest. These finances telephones should make sacrifices someplace. But even sub-$200 telephones carry out higher than this one. You produce other choices on this worth vary, and you must discover them. 

What Works

What’s unhappy is that the Galaxy A23 5G has a number of issues going for it. First and foremost, Samsung guarantees to assist this telephone for 4 years for safety updates and it’ll get three OS upgrades (as much as Android 15). That’s much better than some other sub-$400 Android telephone, interval. You’ll have the ability to get new options, have a tool freed from bugs, and never have to fret about safety flaws for an excellent size of time. 

It has a 6.6-inch LCD display screen with a 120-Hz refresh charge, the latter of which isn’t widespread to see at this worth. The display screen feels responsive, it’s fairly spacious (nice for those who want large telephones), and it will get brilliant sufficient to see clearly on sunny days. I don’t have any qualms right here. The subsequent finest characteristic? The A23 5G has a 5,000-mAh battery, so it can final two full days on a single cost with common use. I didn’t trouble plugging it in each night time as a result of it often hit round 50 %. It’s good not having to fret a couple of lifeless telephone!

There’s sub-6 5G assist throughout all main carriers, so that you received’t be caught on 4G LTE alone, plus this smartphone has different perks which can be more and more lacking on high-end flagships. That features a headphone jack for anybody who nonetheless prefers to plug in, in addition to an NFC sensor so you can also make tap-to-pay contactless funds at retailers that assist it. There’s even a microSD card slot, which you’ll need to use as a result of the telephone solely comes with 64 gigabytes of storage. 

What Doesn’t

My woes with the Galaxy A23 5G begin with its processor: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695. It’s odd as a result of the Moto G Stylus 5G 2022 I examined earlier this yr makes use of the identical chip and I didn’t have any efficiency points there. It may come right down to the truth that the Motorola telephone has 8 gigabytes of RAM and this Samsung is caught with a paltry 4 gigs.

You received’t discover too many points if you’re simply utilizing a single app. I’ve been ready to make use of this as my main gadget simply high quality for greater than per week. I can ship emails, browse Twitter (welp), and reply to messages. It’s if you begin utilizing a number of apps concurrently that issues go awry. There are lengthy pauses as you anticipate an app to totally open and cargo, but it surely’s the bodily act of switching apps that annoyed me probably the most.

I exploit the gesture navigation system on Android telephones. I instantly change to it if the gadget I’m testing depends on Android’s previous three-button backside navigation system by default. I’ve by no means had an issue utilizing gestures to navigate a tool, besides on the A23 5G. For some purpose, swiping up from the underside of an app wouldn’t all the time take me to the house display screen, not to mention change to the prior app. Apps would usually get caught, and I’d should maintain swiping up from the underside—with various ranges of anger—ready for the house display screen to seem.