Samsung Galaxy S23 vs A56 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 A56 5G, which is powered by Exynos 1580 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

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
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • 37% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1712K versus 1251K)
  • Handles wireless charging up to 10W
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
  • Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 1100 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 3900 mAh
  • Shows 30% longer battery life (28:42 vs 22:02 hours)
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • The phone is 2 years and 2 months newer
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 and A56 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
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

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Currency
8 / 128 GB
VS
6 / 128 GB
80.6
(Good)
Value Index
89.8
(Very good)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

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 1200 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits 1900 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Gorilla Glass Victus Plus
Screen-to-body ratio 88% 87.6%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.9% 99.1%
PWM 240 Hz 120 Hz
Response time 1 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A56 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)
1207 nits
1214 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) 162.2 mm (6.39 inches)
Width 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) 77.5 mm (3.05 inches)
Thickness 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 168 g (5.93 oz) 198 g (6.98 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow Black, Gray, Green, Pink
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability - Good (3.19/5)
Drop resistance - Excellent (A) · 270 drops
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Samsung Exynos 1580
Max clock 3360 MHz 2900 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (1 + 3 + 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 1.95 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 2.9 GHz: Cortex-A720
L3 cache 8 MB 4 MB
Manufacturing TSMC Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 740 Xclipse 540
GPU shading units 1536 256
GPU clock 680 MHz 1300 MHz
FLOPS ~2089 GFLOPS ~1331.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Galaxy S23 +47%
1987
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Galaxy S23 +36%
5171
Compute Score (GPU)
Galaxy S23 +37%
9410
Compute Score (GPU) 9410 6865
Single-core score 1987 1354
Multi-core score 5171 3789
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Galaxy S23 +37%
1712393
1251512
CPU 587063 490457
GPU 434955 296896
Memory 275390 173263
UX 414985 290896
Total score 1712393 1251512
Samples [29 tests] [130 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Galaxy S23 +67%
1069
Stability 76% 97%
Graphics test 8 FPS 5 FPS
Graphics score 1069 641
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 +14%
15924
Web score 15188 14131
Video editing 7873 7744
Photo editing 33939 22842
Data manipulation 12935 11699
Writing score 19390 18128

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
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-24 (.)CPU Throttle82%
📘 2026-09-24 (.)Geekbench 7 GPU5755
📘 2026-09-24 (.)Geekbench 7 CPU1191 / 3814
📘 2026-09-24 (.)AnTuTu 121017323
📘 2026-09-24 -> CR7AnTuTu 121030440

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory clock - 3200 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

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 21.5 GB
OS updates 4 years 6 years
Security updates 5 years 6 years

Battery

Capacity 3900 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 45 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 (65% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:16 hr 1:13 hr
Battery cycles - 2000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:12 hr 11:28 hr
Watching video 13:41 hr 19:50 hr
Gaming 05:20 hr 04:53 hr
Standby 109 hr 131 hr
General battery life
22:02 hr
28:42 hr

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) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
3) Macro: 5 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 -
Sensor Samsung S5KGN3 Sony IMX906
Sensor size 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 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 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX564 Sony IMX258
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution - 5 MP
Aperture - f/2.4
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Galaxy S23 +10%
129
Video quality
Galaxy S23 +27%
137
Generic main camera score
Galaxy S23 +17%
133
Bokeh 70 145
Preview 72 -
Zoom 126 59
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A56 5G from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 -
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU Samsung S5K3LC
Sensor size 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) -
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) 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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- 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 Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 -
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
91.5 dB
87.7 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced February 2023 March 2025
Release date February 2023 March 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $799 $499
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon) - Samsung Galaxy A57 5G
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg 0.61 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.3 W/kg 1.05 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

If the camera, performance, gaming, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S23. But if the display, battery life, and design are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
335 (76.7%)
102 (23.3%)
Total votes: 437

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