New phone time - Galaxy S23 or Google Pixel 8 Pro

[Zippee]

Hi all - Time I swapped out my aging Galaxy S10, great phone but battery life is not great and it's now a little beaten up.
I'm looking at either another Galaxy (S23 or S23FE) or the Pixel 8 Pro.
Any thoughts on these 2? Or anything else worth considering?
Mainly the usual internet, photos, social media stuff but I want ease of use and reliable. Great thing about Samsung is transferring apps etc is pretty seamless, is that possible from Samsung to Google?

[the-photographer]

Pixel 8
Bigger, heavier
Clean Android
Gloss glass back
Updates for seven years

S23
Smaller, lighter
Samsung UI but you know all about from your S20
Matt glass black
Updates for five years
Snapdragon CPU versus the Exynos in the Pixel
Better battery life
Zoom camera

Don't get the S23FE think about the S23+ instead and remember the S24 launches on Jan 17th, unfortunately with Exynos CPUs except the Ultra

Edited by the-photographer on Thursday 28th December 16:50

[the-norseman]

I'm a Pixel guy so my vote is with the Pixel, simply because I dont get on with the Samsung version of Android and all the Samsung apps.

[Vasco]

Sorry for chipping in. I rarely see any reference to camera shutter speeds for the Samsung S23s - are they variable ?

[dontlookdown]

The smaller, lighter S23 with its longer battery life would get my vote of those two.

I am a Pixel owner and former Samsung acolyte, but where Pixels scored is providing more bang for your buck at lower/mid range price points.

The pay off is that hey are quite glitchy and just less well resolved overall. Samsung have been making phones for a long time and they get the basics right. When you get up towards 1000 quid Pixels make less sense, IMO of course.

[Fleckers]

my wife has just upgraded from a Samsung S9 to the S23

she loves the phone, she did look at the pixel but decided to stay what she knows

[Zippee]

Thanks all so far. TBH the Samsung is favourite just because it's what I'm used to. Is there much difference between the S23 and S23FE?

Just a huge shame neither of them have expandable memory

[mcflurry]

Zippee said:

Is there much difference between the S23 and S23FE?

Let's see if this link works..

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=120...

[AC43]

S23 I've had an S23 for a couple of years and it suits me just fine. Small enough to put in my pocket, great camera, decent battery life.

Also easy as I've gone S6 => S10 => S21 => S23.

[the-norseman]

AC43 said:

S23 I've had an S23 for a couple of years

it was only announced in Feb 2023?

[AC43]

the-norseman said:

AC43 said:

S23 I've had an S23 for a couple of years

it was only announced in Feb 2023?

Oh yeah; just had a look - I only got it 10 months ago. Thought I'd had it longer for some reason.

[the-photographer]

Zippee said:

Thanks all so far. TBH the Samsung is favourite just because it's what I'm used to. Is there much difference between the S23 and S23FE?

Just a huge shame neither of them have expandable memory

Get the S23+ if you want a bigger screen the FE uses the Exynos CPU

[Zippee]

Thanks all. Think it's going to be the standard s23. Perfect size and looks well equipped, also very similar to my current s10 in terms of usability, now to find a decent price for phone only

[the-photographer]

Zippee said:

Thanks all. Think it's going to be the standard s23. Perfect size and looks well equipped, also very similar to my current s10 in terms of usability, now to find a decent price for phone only

Try this

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/samsung-galaxy-s2...

[Zippee]

the-photographer said:

Zippee said:

Thanks all. Think it's going to be the standard s23. Perfect size and looks well equipped, also very similar to my current s10 in terms of usability, now to find a decent price for phone only

Try this

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/samsung-galaxy-s2...

Thank you, that's not bad at all for the 256gb. I haven't a suitable phone to trade in but still £100 cashback from Samsung and the buds plus Disney+.
I'm on hols at present but hopefully it'll still be available when I'm back next week

[Lucas Ayde]

Don't have any experience with the Pixel 8 but I upgraded from an S10e to an S23 on a Black Friday bargain deal and I can recommend the S23.

As modern phones go it's 'compact', the screen is very nice and the in-screen fingerprint reader works very well despite my initial scepticism. It's got plenty of CPU and GPU power, a good camera, lots of decent extra features in the OS (added by Samsung One UI) and a very premium feel. Battery life is really decent too (unlike the S22). Just make sure you get the 256gig version as, in common with many higher-end Android phones, it does NOT support adding extra storage via MicroSD. No headphone jack either which is now becoming a common thing, but TBH bluetooth is good enough and often handier.

That said, I really like the S10e ... as a 2019 phone it is 'better' compared to peers of the time than the 2023 S23 is compared to its peers. The form factor is just that tiny bit smaller which makes it much more comfortable to one-hand. I would have kept it as my main phone if I could but the battery was getting knackered with it fading quickly over the course of a day and my USB and headphone sockets had become flaky with years of use. Also its a couple of Android versions behind and will never receive more updates .

[gangzoom]

How easy is it to port apps/data across from Samsung phone to Google Pixel? I presume its pretty easy given most of my personal data is stored in Google apps/docs/chrome etc already?

[the-photographer]

gangzoom said:

How easy is it to port apps/data across from Samsung phone to Google Pixel? I presume its pretty easy given most of my personal data is stored in Google apps/docs/chrome etc already?

Should just work, either using the phone to phone bluetooth data transfer method, or via Google backup from the original phone

[the-photographer]

Vasco said:

Sorry for chipping in. I rarely see any reference to camera shutter speeds for the Samsung S23s - are they variable ?

They will be auto in the camera app unless you switch to pro mode and then you can manually select a speed.

[Murph7355]

I recently went from Note 10+ to S23 Ultra. Decent enough step up.

Though tbh if work hadn't blocked it due to updates stopping, I'd just have upgraded the battery in the Note 10+ (mine was also not lasting long). It was still a decent phone that did all and more I really needed.

Choose your time to buy. Samsung are always doing offers. Due to lack of expandable memory I went with a 512Gb phone. With a decent trade in, £250 off and Disney+ free for 12mths (we subscribe anyway), the phone was getting very close to what I paid for the Note 10+ 5yts or so ago. Still very expensive but I look on it as a key work tool.