Motorola Edge+ 2023 vs Samsung Galaxy S23: Same Price, More Features!
Motorola Edge+ 2023 can give the Samsung Galaxy S23 a run for its money!
Motorola has a new flagship for the North American market, the Motorola Edge+ 2023. It comes with incredible performance with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, a great display with a whopping 165Hz refresh rate, a massive battery that charges super fast, and a beautiful design as well.Â
With its stock Android-like skin, Motorola Edge+ 2023 offers a great alternative to Pixel 7, but it also goes straight against the most popular Android phone in the segment, Samsung Galaxy S23.
In this article, we will compare Motorola Edge+ 2023 with Samsung Galaxy S23, and let’s find out which flagship prevails.
Motorola Edge+ Vs Samsung Galaxy S23
Motorola Edge+ warrants direct comparison with Samsung Galaxy S23, as both phones come with a similar price and target the same market. Both the phones start at a similar price point of $800; both also come with the same chipset, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. That might be where the similarities end, as both phones offer different features. Let’s dive right into the comparison!
The Edge+ 2023 is aimed at the US market but Motorola has another, specific variant for the UK/EU called the Motorola Edge 40 Pro.
Design
Motorola Edge+ 2023 and Samsung Galaxy S23 both have a glass back, and Gorilla Glass Victus protect both. Motorola Edge+ weighs 203g and measures 161.2 x 74 x 8.6 mm; Samsung Galaxy S23, on the other hand, is much lighter, coming at just 165g; it is also much smaller, measuring 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6 mm, owing to the much smaller display as well. Motorola Edge+ is available only in a single color – Interstellar Black, while you can get Galaxy S23 in 6 colors – Green, Phantom Black, Lavender, Cream, Lime & Graphite.
Display
Motorola Edge+ comes with a 6.67-inch OLED curved display with a resolution of Full HD+ and a refresh rate of 165Hz. Samsung Galaxy S23 also comes with a Full HD+ display, but it is much smaller, measuring 6.1 inches; it also has a refresh rate of 120Hz. Samsung phones generally have better quality displays over their counterparts; it should be the case here as well. But Motorola offers a curved display and an ultra-high refresh rate of 165Hz.
Performance
Both Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC power the phones, but Samsung uses a customized version of the SoC, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, a higher-clocked version of the chipset. Galaxy S23 is, in theory, at least slightly faster than Motorola Edge+, but both phones should perform similarly in all use cases.
Motorola Edge+ comes only in a single variant, with 8GB RAM and 512GB internal storage. Galaxy S23, however, is available in two variants: 8GB RAM & 128GB internal storage and 8GB RAM & 256GB internal storage.
Camera
Motorola Edge+ 2023 has a triple camera setup consisting of a 50MP primary camera, a 50MP ultrawide camera with a field of view of 114°, and a 12MP telephoto sensor with 2X optical zoom. The phone has an unusually high megapixel count for its selfie camera, 60 megapixels!
Samsung Galaxy S23 has a triple camera setup, a 50MP primary camera, 12MP ultrawide camera 120°, and a 3X 10MP telephoto lens. On the front, the phone has a 10MP selfie shooter.
Here are some of the official camera samples of Motorola Edge+ 2023:
Now take a look at some of the official camera samples from Samsung Galaxy S23:
Battery
5100mAh battery backs the Motorola Edge+. It has support for 68W super fast charging; it also has support for 15W wireless charging, 5W reverse wired, and 5W reverse wireless charging.
Samsung Galaxy S23 has a much smaller battery, coming at 3900mAh. The phone has fast charging support of 25W, which the company claims to charge up to 50% in 30 minutes. The phone has support for 15W wireless charging and 4.5W wireless charging.
There’s no doubt Motorola Edge+ sweeps the floor in the battery department with its much bigger battery that charges at a superfast rate of 68W, compared to the measly 25W charging in the Samsung phone.
Software & User Experience
Motorola Edge+ 2023 comes with MyUX custom skin based on Android 13 out of the box. It is a close-to-stock Android skin, meaning it looks like Pixel UI, and you’d get almost the same user experience as a Pixel phone. It also has some Motorola-specific customizations and features, such as Moto Actions, but other than that, the UI looks indistinguishable from stock Android.
Samsung Galaxy S23 comes with OneUI 5.1 based on Android 13 out of the box. It is heavy skin but comes with all the customizations and features you want in your phone. It is one of the best custom skins in Android as well.
Specs Comparison Table
| Specification | Motorola Edge+ 2023 | Samsung Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 161.2 x 74 x 8.6 mm | 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6 mm |
| Weight | 203 g | 168 g |
| Build | Glass front, Glass back & Aluminium frame | Glass front, Glass back & Aluminium frame |
| SIM | Nano-SIM, eSIM | Nano-SIM and eSIM or Dual SIM |
| IP rating | IP68 | IP68 |
| Display size | 6.67 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Display type | OLED | Dynamic AMOLED 2X |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Refresh rate | 165Hz | 120Hz |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| CPU | Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510) | Octa-core (1×3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510) |
| RAM | 8GB | 8GB |
| Storage | 512GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| Main camera | 50MP | 50MP |
| Ultra-wide camera | 50MP 114Ëš | 12MP 120Ëš |
| Telephoto camera | 12MP 2X Optical | 10MP 3X Optical |
| Selfie camera | 60MP | 12MP |
| Battery capacity | 5100 mAh | 3900 mAh |
| Charging speed | 68W wired, 15W wireless, 5W reverse wired, 5W reverse wireless | 25W wired, 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless |
| Operating system | Android 13, MyUX | Android 13, One UI 5.1 |
| Price | $799 | Starting at $799 |
Price & Value For Money
Here’s the pricing of Motorola Edge+:
- 8/512GB variant – $799
Here are the prices of Samsung Galaxy S23 variants:
- 8/128GB variant – $799.99
- 8/256GB variant – $859.99
Both the phones start for the same price, but Motorola Edge+ edges out Galaxy S23 by providing 512GB internal storage for the same price as the former’s 128GB internal storage variant. It’s interesting to note that Galaxy S23 doesn’t come with a 512GB variant, and it’s available only with Galaxy S23+, and you’d need to spend $1119 for that variant.
Motorola Edge+ is available via Amazon, Best Buy, and Motorola.com. It will soon come to carriers like Boost Mobile, Spectrum Mobile, and Consumer Cellular. In contrast, Samsung Galaxy S23 is available practically everywhere and in all US carriers.
Conclusion
Motorola Edge+ 2023 is a true flagship offering from Motorola and can go up against the Samsung Galaxy S23 and win the fight. Motorole Edge+ 2023 offers a curved display, which looks more premium than the flat display of the Galaxy S23, and also offers a much bigger display with a size of 6.67 inches compared to the much smaller 6.1-inch panel of the former. At least on paper, it also has a great set of cameras comparable to the Galaxy S23. It also offers a much bigger battery with a super fast charger. Even though both phones start at $799, Edge+ offers 512GB internal storage while Galaxy S23 offers 128GB for the same price. In my opinion, Motorola Edge+ is a no-brainer!
Samsung Galaxy S23, on the other hand, trumps with its wide availability. Motorola Edge+ is available in limited retailers and carriers. So if you’re already with a carrier and are not looking for an unlocked phone, Samsung Galaxy S23 is the one to get. Also, get the Galaxy S23 if you’re not a fan of big phones and would like to keep it compact.
Samsung S23 offers Dex experience and S Pen support, does the Motorola Edge+ brings any similar features?
The base s23 won’t offer S-Pen support. Unfortunately, this year the moto edge doesn’t seem to have any kind of active stylus. The moto edge does, however, have a dex alternative called “ready for”. Look it up on YouTube to see if you like it!