Samsung remained the global smartphone leader in 2023, and its flagship devices performed better than their predecessors. It wasn’t a bad year then, but what else happened?
Samsung has been methodical and prudent in releasing its phones in 2023. It has made significant improvements to the product and has been instrumental with pre-order bundles and bonuses that have ensured positive results.
However, there’s a growing feeling that Samsung is holding back innovation and playing it too safe with its devices.
Now let’s take a look at Samsung’s 2023 winners and losers.
Winner: Galaxy A54
Samsung’s second most popular phone of the year is a clear winner. Just look at the interests tab on the A54’s specs page. It’s also no surprise that the Galaxy A54 was a great update and a global best seller, putting the series back on track.
Winner: Galaxy S23 FE
People love FE models and 2023 saw the return of the series. The Galaxy S23 FE has arrived just in time for the holiday season and will be the first choice of many frugal people. Add global availability and the S23 FE is a clear win.
Losers: Galaxy S23 and S23+
The Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+ are an easy choice for those looking for a well-made smartphone that’s feature-rich and easy to love. They have adopted the superb Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which has brought a useful improvement to battery life.
But the two vanilla S23 phones are too similar to their predecessors and this does not stir the hearts of fans in any way.
Loser: Galaxy Z Fold5
The Galaxy Z Fold5 brought the coveted flat folding hinge and a faster processor. Outside of these two updates, the 5 is the same phone as the Z Fold4. This kind of complacency doesn’t serve Samsung well in a year that has seen arguably better book-style foldable devices enter the global market, including the OnePlus Open/Oppo Find N3.
Winner: Galaxy Z Flip5
On the other side of the Z series, the Galaxy Z Flip5 was a winner for Samsung. The foldable added a functional cover screen that made all the difference. And the Z Flip5 fares better with its rivals than the Fold – the only real competitor to Samsung’s Flip is Oppo’s Find N3 Flip and even that has very limited availability.
Losers: Galaxy Watch6 series
The Galaxy Watch6 Classic brought back the rotating bezel and made the display slightly larger by reducing the bezels. But otherwise, the Watch6 Classic resembles the Watch4 Classic from two years ago. And we didn’t get any follow-up to the 2022 Galaxy Watch5 Pro, which was disappointing.
Winner: Galaxy tablet
Samsung launched five amazing tablets this year: Galaxy Tab S9, Tab S9+, Tab S9 Ultra, and Tab S9 FE and S9 FE+. All five support the S Pen and have fast processors and high-resolution, high-refresh-rate displays.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Samsung’s biggest winner of the year is also the usual: the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It remains Samsung’s best phone of the year, has the S Pen, zooms well beyond the optical reach of any of its rivals, and is as beautiful as it is feature-rich. Samsung has patched the few holes in the S22 Ultra, making the S23 Ultra a near-perfect phone.
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