Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. Galaxy S23: Finally time for an upgrade?

With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, slight design tweaks, and a software overhaul, the Samsung Galaxy S25 is a big step in the right direction. The question is, will the upgrades be tempting enough to make people still rocking a Samsung Galaxy S23 want to upgrade? That's what we'll help you start to figure out in this comparison.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. Galaxy S23: Design and display

Samsung’s latest Galaxy S25 lineup took a few notes from the brand’s other recent releases. With the Galaxy Z Fold 6, Galaxy Z Flip 6, and Galaxy S24 FE, the company moved to a flat and more rectangular design language. The Galaxy S25 follows a similar pattern. It's a boxy phone with aluminum rails and a new lens covering the rear camera system, closely resembling the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

The exact dimensions of the Galaxy S25 reveal it to be thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S24 and the older Galaxy S23. The phone's weight is just 162 grams, and it measures 70.5 x 146.9 x 7.2mm. As far as durability is concerned, an IP68 water and dust-resistance rating and Gorilla Glass coverings are still here.

The older Samsung Galaxy S23 features a 6.1-inch AMOLED display, but the Galaxy S25 has a 6.2-inch panel. That’s the same as last year’s Galaxy S24, as rumors hinting at a larger screen for the Galaxy S25 didn’t pan out. The Galaxy S25 is a relatively small phone sold as industry trends are shifting toward larger screens, like when Apple made the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max bigger last year.

Although the Galaxy S23 has a smaller screen, it'll keep up with the newer model in terms of display specs. Both phones have a 120Hz AMOLED panel with variable refresh rates and high brightness capabilities.

In terms of colors, the Galaxy S25 is available Icyblue, Navy, Mint, and Silver Shadow. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23 came in many more colors: Cobalt Violet, Amber Yellow, Onyx Black, and Marble Grey (as well as Samsung-exclusive Jade Green, Sapphire Blue, and Sandstone Orange). Samsung still has a few online exclusives up its sleeve for the Galaxy S25 series, though, including Blueblack, Coralpink, and Jadegreen.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. Galaxy S23: Hardware and specs

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Those looking for a major camera upgrade on the Samsung Galaxy S25 series end up once again disappointed. The Galaxy S25 has the same camera hardware as the Galaxy S24, which, unfortunately, is also the same as the Galaxy S23.

As such, both phones in this comparison would feature a 50MP main shooter, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP telephoto lens supporting 3x optical zoom. There may be some quality improvements, even with the same hardware, based on improved image-signal processing and computational photography features. But for all intents and purposes, the hardware is completely the same.

The Galaxy S25 offers support for 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4, which makes it competitive with recent flagship releases. It also comes with 12GB of RAM instead of 8, giving it an edge with on-device AI processing.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. Galaxy S23: Performance and software

The key things to watch on the Samsung Galaxy S25 are the phone's performance and software. It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, which you can think of as a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 successor. It's called 'Elite' because it now uses the same custom Oryon cores that power Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite laptop chips. In other words, the Snapdragon 8 Elite will be the most performant chip ever in a Galaxy phone. Plus, the “for Galaxy” variant was co-designed by Qualcomm and Samsung.

I confirmed this in my hands-on testing of the Galaxy S25, which handled everything I threw at it. Really, the only time I saw the Galaxy S25 start to slow down was in certain benchmarks and synthetic stress tests, which isn't indicative of daily use. On top of that, the features of the Snapdragon 8 Elite power — like agentic Gemini and Galaxy AI — are seriously useful.

A downside is that the Galaxy S25 only has a 4,000mAh battery and still features slow charging speeds. The phone supports Qi2, but there's no built-in MagSafe support, and wired charging maxes out at 25W. You can get through a full day on a single charge — maybe a "charge and a half" if you have a high screen-on time — but I survived easily by topping off briefly using a wireless charger at my desk and in my car.

On the flip side, the Galaxy S23 still sports the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor. It's two years old now, but it's still plenty capable. It'll eventually get the jump to One UI 7 and currently supports a wide variety of Galaxy AI features. Plus, there are still a few years of software upgrades left. With that being said, there are some Galaxy S25 features the aging Galaxy S23 will never get, like the Now Bar or anything powered by the Personal Data Engine.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25 starts with One UI 7 and will get seven years of software support thereafter.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. Galaxy S23: Should you upgrade?

So, it's time to start thinking about whether Galaxy S23 owners should upgrade. Buying the Galaxy S25 two years after purchasing the Galaxy S23 could be a tough sell. That's especially true since the design is lackluster and the cameras are unchanged. But the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, faster connectivity standards, and new software features might be tempting if you're looking for a newer phone.