The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE in on sale at Amazon for $559 during the Prime Big Deal days. That's a 15% savings and at first glance, it sounds like a good deal. Don't buy it before looking at what else is out there, though.
Specifically, the OnePlus 12R. During Prime Day you can pick up the 256GB version with 16GB of RAM for $474. That's 20% off for a dual SIM unlocked phone that works in the U.S., has much faster charging, and a better chip inside. It's better in almost every measurable way and saves over $80 of your money.
If you don't want a OnePlus phone for some reason you could also buy the 256GB version of the Google Pixel 8 for $509 and save money compared to buying the dumbed-down version of the Galaxy S23.
I'm not done yet. You could also go big and buy the regular OnePlus 12 — a phone everyone loved — for $599 which is 25% off the regular price. Hasselblad, giant battery, fast chip, and all.
I'm not about to tell you you're wrong no matter how you spend your money. It's yours after all, and I would just buy a Pixel 8a and be done with it because I care about value more than anything else. But I also know just a bit about Android phones and am telling you to at least look around before you buy an S23 FE.
My good friend and colleague Harish Jonnalagadda has the coolest last name ever and is a giant phone nerd. Like, he needs an intervention level of phone nerd. He says the OnePlus 12R "has everything you need in a phone" and if you should listen to anyone, it's him.
Samsung does make some amazing phones. The company almost single-handedly introduced foldables and even as far back as the original Galaxy S series builds some of the best phones you can buy. My favorite Android phone of all time — the Nexus S — was built by Samsung. I'm not bashing the company or its products.
What I am saying is that the Galaxy S23 FE was a dud, even when it was brand new. It used an older chip that was also underclocked so the cooling system didn't need to be expensive to build and the price was stupidly high. This was a mid-range phone with a flagship price tag, trying to revive the glory Samsung had with the Galaxy S20 FE. It did not work.
A lot of people will buy the S23 FE because the name Samsung adds a level of trust other brands don't have. I get that, and in a lot of ways that's a good way to buy a product; buy it from a name you already trust and you have a reasonable expectation of what you'll be getting.
Don't do it this time, because there are better deals out there. You owe it to yourself to at least look. If you choose the S23 FE in the end you at least got to read about some other cool phones.
