Onto my conclusions…
Alarmingly, it took nearly 10 months for the One UI 6 Device Control menu software issue to be fixed or disappear completely.
That means I have little hope going forward. Yes, I love my phone, and when it works, it’s fantastic. But those other times, when it hasn’t worked brilliantly, it’s left a sour taste in the mouth.
Especially, as I could’ve opted for the iPhone 14 Pro – a phone I considered at length, but ultimately passed on.
I could’ve waited for the iPhone 15 Pro or the Sony Xperia 5 V, but I opted for the Galaxy S23 because I felt the time was right to upgrade.
S23, Plus, Ultra
I have no regrets opting for the smaller S23, and not instead going for the Galaxy S23 Plus or Galaxy S23 Ultra.
For its small and compact form, my Galaxy S23 has been perfect. In a market brimming with large phones with minimum 6.5″ displays, there aren’t many compact phones on the market these days.
Unfortunately, small phones are now a niche product category, so to walk away with one feels like a privilege. It is like I am part of a small community, albeit a very small and quickly diminishing community given how successful big phones have become.
That’s not to say there aren’t many small phone aficionados left – on the contrary, there are loads of us. Unfortunately, due to there being so few options, it seems that many people are holding onto their small phones for longer, way past the End of Life feature and security update periods set by the manufacturers.
In the longer term, that’s a problem for security, meaning that to stay safe online, there’s often no option but to opt for a newer – albeit larger – phone, fuelling the market for more big phones and thus encouraging the demise of the compact phone.
S23 thoughts
That said, my first year with the Galaxy S23 hasn’t all been plain sailing. It’s been a great pocket camera and entertainment device, but as a smart phone – and for controlling ‘smart‘ devices in my home – it’s been rather lacklustre at times.
That is to say, I’m not sure what the future holds. I’ve got this phone for at least the next 2 years (to 2026), and even though the past year has not been great, I’m both optimistic and pessimistic about the future.
I am definitely looking forward to better times in the future, but not the problems that may also come with newer updates.
The future – is it bright? Is it Apple?
Whether Sony still offers it’s middle-of-the-road Xperia 5 and Xperia 10 phones in 2026 remains to be seen. By then, they’ll likely be the Xperia 5 VII and Xperia 10 VII, and if they’re around I might consider them.
Google still produce small phones in its Pixel lineup, and having picked up a Pixel 3 last year, I can honestly say I was left impressed that a phone from 2018 could outmatch my Galaxy S21 – it was the Pixel 3’s SoC, the Snapdragon 845, that ultimately persuaded me to buy the Galaxy S23.
But, back in 2021 I considered a move to the Pixel 4a or the Pixel 5 – I instead opted for the Galaxy S21, and in hindsight that was a great decision. The Pixel 4a didn’t have water resistance, and so would’ve been useless in British weather, and the Pixel 5 has quality control problems.
To be honest, since then I don’t think I’ve read a good review about a Pixel. Even the Pixel 6 has problems (including recently in June 2024). That is to say, although the Pixel 3 was a great buy for me, I’m not sure about a Pixel being my main phone. I need reliability, not problems. Also a problem is that since the Pixel 6, Google now uses it’s Tensor chips – built in collaboration with Samsung.
That’s code for “the Google version of Exynos,” as the first Tensor chip was based on the Exynos 2100 that I had in my Galaxy S21. And the latest chip, the Tensor G4, is based on the Exynos 2400 found in the Galaxy S24.
Just… no!
That means that if I want to avoid the Exynos chip (and my chequered history with Exynos chips suggests I really do), then I can’t go with either Samsung Galaxy’s, nor Google Pixel’s.
That leaves Asus, who has unfortunately decided their ZenFone line is going big. The ZenFone 9 and ZenFone 10 were compact champions, but the ZenFone 11 Ultra is now a 6.78″ phone. That’s bad.
That means the small phone market is smaller still. Apple seems to be the only main phone OEM making small phones, with both the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro coming with 6.1″ displays.
When 2026 rolls around, my options if I decide to go with Apple will be either the outgoing 2025 models, or wait for the release of the newer 2026 devices.
Presumably, that’ll be either the 2025 iPhone 17 + 17 Pro – or, the 2026 iPhone 18 + 18 Pro.
That’s assuming that Apple still use the naming schemes it used in 2023, and might still use in 2024, for the yet-to-be-launched and released iPhone 16 + 16 Pro.
In fact, a move to Apple is very much on the cards. It’s not that I don’t like Android anymore – I love it! – but I’m finding that in other areas of life, I’m moving into the Apple ecosystem a lot more than I had anticipated.
That’s mainly due to my PC setup. My old Windows PC was stuck on Windows 10, and could not [officially] be upgraded to Windows 11.
With a bit of tinkering, I know it can be done. But despite it being a decent computer, it is now 13 years old and it was time to upgrade. Also, despite it once being pretty good, one of my major annoyances with Windows 10 has been Windows Updates – something that got increasingly stressful within the last 3 years.
That prompted me to use the computer as little as possible, and instead use my phone or Galaxy Tab S5e for word processing.
That was, until I upgraded to an M2 MacBook Air in November 2023, and since then have no regrets about jumping from the SS Sinking Microsoft ship.
I wasn’t impressed with Windows 11 when it launched, and all the reviews I read about it pointed to it being a disaster.
That’s when I looked to Apple, and all the pieces of the jigsaw just fell into place.
That is to say, that recently I’ve been eyeing a move to iPad from my Tab S5e, and could look to an iPhone in the near future.
I still prefer Android, and Samsung seems to be the perfect fit for me. But, Samsung are making great strides in making their phones work well with Windows, a platform I have now all but left behind.
Also influencing my decision is Samsung’s insistence on using its own SoC’s for its phones. I’ve had multiple phones from them in the past – Galaxy S7, Galaxy S9 Plus, and Galaxy S21 – all with Exynos chips; but, the Galaxy S23 is the first phone I’ve had with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
In fact, my 2 year experience with the Galaxy S21 was just as mediocre as my first year has been with my Galaxy S23. If I knew then what I do now, I probably would have jumped ship to Sony, Asus or indeed Apple.
But I stuck with Samsung, not because of brand loyalty – because I genuinely was thinking of having a different phone for a change. I wanted a different experience.
But I didn’t jump ship. I stayed, and it was all because Samsung opted to put the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor in its phones… globally.
That meant for the first time in an eternity, I could get a Samsung phone in the UK that didn’t come with an Exynos chip. And that was huge.
Last year, I remember thinking that if I jumped ship just as it got good, I’d miss out on the S23 potentially being a brilliant phone.
All that, for nothing. I felt like I’d paid my dues, and to miss out on a Samsung phone with Snapdragon sweetness was something I didn’t want to do.
Also, I still had a few niggles with iOS, and I couldn’t secure an Xperia 5 V, ZenFone 9 or ZenFone 10 as easily as I could with the Galaxy S23, so that’s the way I went.
But now that I’ve had time to play around with my iPhone XS, which I bought in January 2024, and now that I’ve also been considering moving to an iPad, it means that in 2 years time, I’ll be in a better place to seriously consider a move to iPhones.
Okay, definitely concluding now…
And that’s where my mind is at right now. In its first year, I’ve enjoyed my Galaxy S23 as much I can.
Unfortunately, poor quality One UI OS updates have soured the experience, and have left me wondering whether I would’ve been better off with an iPhone, a Sony Xperia or Asus ZenFone.
I was in a predicament last year – stay with what I know, or opt for something completely new. I went with the former, on the basis that a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC might provide a smoother experience.
That part has proved true, but it’s been Samsung’s own OS updates that have let the side down. That’s the shame of it, because I otherwise love One UI, and the Samsung app suite on Android. When I opted for my Galaxy S23, I had hoped for a better experience.
Hopefully, fingers crossed… better times are ahead, and Year 2 is better than Year 1!
– Chris JK.
KPH tech blog 
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