Home > Smartphone comparison > Galaxy S23 vs Galaxy A26 5G – which one to choose?

Samsung Galaxy S23 vs A26 5G

69 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S23
VS
55 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy A26 5G
Samsung Galaxy S23
Samsung Galaxy A26 5G

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Samsung Galaxy A26 5G, which is powered by Exynos 1380 and came out 2 years and 2 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • 2.2x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1712K versus 768K)
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Delivers 55% higher peak brightness (1195 against 772 nits)
  • Shows 13% longer battery life (22:02 vs 19:28 hours)
  • Handles wireless charging up to 10W
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Stereo speakers
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A26 5G
  • Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 1100 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 3900 mAh
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 2048GB
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • The phone is 2 years and 2 months newer

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 and A26 5G crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
8 / 128 GB
VS
4 / 128 GB
80.6
(Good)
Value Index
101.7
(Excellent)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S23
vs
Galaxy A26 5G

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 425 ppi 385 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (24-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1200 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ No
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Gorilla Glass Victus Plus
Screen-to-body ratio 88% 86.7%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.9% 100%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 1 ms 2 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A26 5G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy S23
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~20% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S23 +55%
1195 nits
Galaxy A26 5G
772 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) 164 mm (6.46 inches)
Width 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) 77.5 mm (3.05 inches)
Thickness 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) 7.7 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 168 g (5.93 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Plastic
Colors White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow White, Black, Green, Pink
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-button
Repairability - Good (3.22/5)
Drop resistance - Very good (B) · 269 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
Galaxy S23 +1%
88%
Galaxy A26 5G
86.7%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Samsung Galaxy A26 5G
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Samsung Exynos 1380
Max clock 3360 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3		 - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78
L3 cache 8 MB 4 MB
Manufacturing TSMC Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 740 Mali-G68 MP5
GPU shading units 1536 160
GPU clock 680 MHz 949 MHz
FLOPS ~2089 GFLOPS ~303.7 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Samsung Galaxy A26 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Galaxy S23 +96%
1987
Galaxy A26 5G
1015
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Galaxy S23 +78%
5171
Galaxy A26 5G
2899
Compute Score (GPU)
Galaxy S23 +209%
9410
Galaxy A26 5G
3046
Compute Score (GPU) 9410 3046
Single-core score 1987 1015
Multi-core score 5171 2899
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Galaxy S23 +123%
1712393
Galaxy A26 5G
768287
CPU 587063 320350
GPU 434955 83203
Memory 275390 129434
UX 414985 230611
Total score 1712393 768287
Samples [29 tests] [27 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Galaxy S23 +290%
1069
Galaxy A26 5G
274
Stability 76% 98%
Graphics test 8 FPS 2 FPS
Graphics score 1069 274
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability 73% -
Graphics test 20 FPS -
Section 1 23 FPS -
Section 2 20 FPS -
Section 3 18 FPS -
Graphics score 5348 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 61% -
Graphics test 21 FPS -
Graphics score 3669 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Galaxy S23 +20%
15924
Galaxy A26 5G
13227
Web score 15188 11515
Video editing 7873 7315
Photo editing 33939 24850
Data manipulation 12935 10288
Writing score 19390 17482
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S23
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-21 (Mil)AnTuTu 121763249
📘 2026-09-16 (Fluffyicebite:3)AnTuTu 121835927
📘 2026-09-09 -> Rafarobbie22AnTuTu 111708074
📘 2026-09-09 (Rafa)AnTuTu 111708074
📘 2026-08-09 (Sevin)AnTuTu 111700056
Add View all (82)
Samsung Galaxy A26 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-04 (Subzero)AnTuTu 12919003
📘 2026-10-03 (twisee)AnTuTu 11793564
📘 2026-09-29 (Saveloy)AnTuTu 12717743
📘 2026-09-26 (maks🇰🇿)AnTuTu 12871135
📘 2026-08-29 -> Jm2retAnTuTu 11781013
Add View all (35)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 2.2
Memory card No MicroSD
Memory card max size - Up to 2048 GB

Software

Operating system Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16)
ROM One UI 8.0 One UI 8.5
OS size 29.7 GB 21.7 GB
OS updates 4 years 6 years
Security updates 5 years 6 years

Battery

Capacity 3900 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (10 W) No
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (57% in 30 min) Yes (51% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:16 hr 1:26 hr
Battery cycles - 1200 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:12 hr 06:42 hr
Watching video 13:41 hr 12:14 hr
Gaming 05:20 hr 05:11 hr
Standby 109 hr 100 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S23 +13%
22:02 hr
Galaxy A26 5G
19:28 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 8192 x 6144
Zoom Optical, 3x Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (1080p) 480 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 23 mm 27 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KGN3 Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN1
Sensor size 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 0.64 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 10 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Focal length 70 mm -
Sensor Samsung S5K3K1 -
Sensor size 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) -
Pixel size 1 micron -
Stabilization Optical -
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX564 Samsung S5K4HA
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/4" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution - 2 MP
Aperture - f/2.4
Sensor - GalaxyCore GC02M1
Sensor size - 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch)
Pixel size - 1.75 micron
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 70 -
Preview 72 -
Zoom 126 -
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4160 x 3120
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU Hynix Hi-1339
Sensor size 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes, DP 1.2 No
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Depends on the region
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes No
Hybrid slot No Yes
LTE Cat* 20 -
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No -
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Galaxy S23
91.5 dB
Galaxy A26 5G +1%
92.1 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced February 2023 March 2025
Release date February 2023 March 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $799 $190
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon) -
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg 0.41 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.3 W/kg 0.96 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
    - The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S23 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
7 (50%)
7 (50%)
Total votes: 14

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