BY today’s standards, budget phones are no longer within the P4K to 7K range. These are now “low cost” or even “entry level” smartphones that have the truly basic needs–a proper screen, and the apps necessary for messaging, a camera that works only with good lighting. So, mid-range phones cover the gamut from P8K to P15K and are expected to best entry-level phones in the power, processing, and display departments.
Real value now comes when a mid-range smartphone comes with an excellent camera, one that performs in most conditions. This is where the P13,990 Samsung Galaxy A23 comes in with guns blazing. It has a 50MP main camera that also comes with proper firmware to maximize its capabilities.
Apart from that, it comes with a long-lasting 5000 mAH battery which can outlast most user requirements. These two points need to be highlighted at the start because there is very little to fault with the phone, apart from the colors available, which I frankly find a little too cheeky, maybe too, K-Pop perhaps?
And that is a personal thing. I am of the age that is past K-Pop fandom, though their movies and TV series rank relatively high in my “to watch list.” The A23 despite not having an OLED screen still delivers the crispiness needed to indulge in a Squid Games binge. Here is proof of battery life as it can zap up all 8 episodes before the battery icon blinking for help. That is a about 6.2 hours of battery time because episode 8 is only 32 minutes long. I think with 23 percent power left it could have lasted until episode 9.
Now that’s a lot considering that there are other apps running in the background–Messenger for example which is a power fiend, and Lazada (I was waiting for the Lazada Sulit Sale) which is a solid battery breaker. If I had turned these two apps off, the inconclusive episode 9 could have been replayed.
So that’s like 4 stars for the screen. The big 6.6-inch display is really good enough–don’t be too picky with color accuracy as there are flaws here. But it delivers the RGB gamut as our eyes will perceive it. The whites and silvers may wash out, but do we care when we know the pain Gi-hun, Sang-woo, and Sae-byeok went through as finalists? Battery life is a definite 5 stars because the power management can be set to optimal battery drain. Left alone with the apps mentioned just running in the background the battery crept to about 18 hours. With a full standby, power management to optimum and nothing much happening, the battery extended to an amazing 23 hours.
The camera comes next. There are four plus the front. The rear main camera is a wide 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS. Then there is an ultra-wide angle with only 5 MP, f/2.2, sweeping 123Ëš. That is followed by a macro with 2 MP, f/2.4; and a depth lens with 2 MP and a f/2.4 opening. The front camera is 8 MP, f/2.2 wide lens. That’s enough resolution to show the world your facial pores when not using filters.
Now, think about it this way; the variety of cameras is a definite advantage like carrying several cameras instead of just one with different lenses. I will only rate the main camera with 4 stars–there is a good range of color and sharpness through different situations. It has software-driven optical stabilization and on video mode this is apparent.
So yes, when vlogging or just doing personal video selfies the A23 delivers more than what is expected. The four other cameras are useful still, yet don’t get top dog points as the main one. However, if I were to give an overall grade, all four with is variety and combination would still get a 3.5 rating.
Enjoyable is the convenience of the fingerprint reader which is pretty accurate as well as is the face recognition software so those combined at 4 stars in my book.
Behind the back cover, under an ultra-effective heatsink is the Snapdragon 680 SoC. This is a more than capable CPU for the phone’s intended use (and price range). My dad has an A71 which has an Octa core and it runs slower. The 680 is a substantial upgrade over older Snapdragon 6xx chipsets. The chip has a sufficient number of cores for it to run multiple apps and is clocked sufficiently high. This means “Crash Landing Over You” replays should have all its action and color range (mostly North Korea gray) within expectations. At this level performance won’t be an issue really even when compared to other Chinese-branded phones that are running the latest Snapdragon 690 chips. The A23 lives and thinks with the latest Android 12 and Samsung’s One UI 4.1.
There is another A23 that has 5G and obviously uses a different chipset. The LTE version I tested runs well very well and I maximized mobile data and tethering to share. I have a DITO SIM and another SMART LTE lodged in the dual SIM slot to provide connectivity along with a 32GB card which I just reformatted for added storage.
One thing that made me really sad about the Galaxy A23? It had no free jelly case. When I popped the box, it also took me a while to find the SIM pin. But no jelly case? I had to order one from our local “My Kuya” and spend P330 for the case and the delivery fee. I felt (maybe because of the “Awesome Peach” color) it was too delicate so the jelly case should have been a must. My grade for this “no case” situation is zilch. A case is such a cheap giveaway that even if buyers would either not use it or throw it away after the first few weeks, there are so many things that can happen to the phone and a protective case becomes a necessity, not an option.
Phone makers have not forgotten to keep the FM radio software and chip still intact on phones. Unfortunately, the A23 also does not come with earphones. Do I care? Yes, I do. That’s because despite Spotify and music downloads, running out of mobile data or losing WiFi connections means an audio disconnection.
Having said what I said, about the protective case, the Samsung Galaxy A23 LTE remains to be an excellent midrange phone providing many hours of contact and entertainment with its big 5,000 mAh battery. I must mention that the 15W fast charger is much appreciated. (Get even faster charging with a 25W charger that is purchased separately). The top end is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. While the back part is protected by nothing. That sheen on the Awesome Peach got a scratch some 180 hours later. (Did I pick on the lack of a case too much? Yeah, I guess I did.)
