Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. S23: Should you upgrade?

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Samsung officially announced the new Galaxy S25 line of phones at its Galaxy Unpacked 2025 event.

While plenty of comparisons will be made between the Samsung Galaxy S25 and its predecessor, the Galaxy S24, Mashable knows that a good chunk of people actually upgrade to the a new smartphone every two-years.

This means that for those Samsung Galaxy users, the real comparison is between the new Galaxy S25 and their current model, the two-year old Samsung Galaxy S23. Lets take a look at the two.

Galaxy S25 vs S23: AI, chipset are the major factors

Let’s be up front: For the casual smartphone user, the upgrades between phone models are getting less noticeable.

However, for those looking to fully take advantage of all the newly announced AI features, this is where the difference between the S25 and S23 will really shine through.

The Galaxy S25 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which is reportedly more powerful than even Apple’s Apple A18 Pro chip powering the iPhone 16 Pro line of smartphones. The Snapdrop 8 Elite chipset is also said to be nearly 50 percent more powerful than the previous Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. The two-year old Galaxy S23 is powered by the chip released prior to that one, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, so it’s a massive upgrade.

Samsung’s new AI features and the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip were built to work perfectly in tandem. So, if you’re planning on using them, this smartphone upgrade is for you.

Galaxy S25 vs S23: Everything else

The difference in processing power is obviously a major factor. But, looking at everything else, the upgrades seem pretty standard from what you’d see year-after-year without any major leaps in technology or new must-have features.

When it comes to memory, the base model of the Galaxy S25 comes with 12GB of RAM as opposed to just 8GB for the S23, so that might be one of the next big draws to upgrade to the latest Galaxy phone.

Design wise, the Galaxy S25 and the S23 look pretty similar with no really major changes other than a slight bump in the display size. The Galaxy S25 has a slightly bigger screen at 6.2 inches when compared to the S23’s 6.1 inch display.

The biggest overall changes to the design between the two Samsung Galaxy phones is likely the color options to choose from when making the upgrade. The Samsung S25 comes in Navy, Icyblue, Mint, Silver Shadow, Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold. The Samsung S23 only has four color options to choose from.

If you use your Galaxy phone to take lots of photos and videos, then unfortunately there’s not much here for you in terms of an upgrade. The Samsung Galaxy S25 has the same three cameras: Wide, ultrawide, and telephoto.

Battery-wise, there’s not much of an upgrade on paper. The Galaxy S25 has a 4,000 mAH battery compared to the 3,900 mAH battery of the S23. However, there are a few additional factors here that can make a difference. For one, if your two-year old Galaxy S23 may not be holding a charge like it once did when it was brand new and it might make sense to upgrade. But, also, in addition to that, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is reportedly much more energy efficient, which should translate to less strain on the battery resulting in a longer battery life.

Galaxy S25 vs S23: Should you upgrade?

So, should you upgrade from the Galaxy S23 to the Galaxy S25? The answer to the big question is really dependent on your needs.

If you’re completely happy with your Galaxy S23, then there’s probably nothing new here in the Galaxy S25 for you. However, if you feel like your Galaxy S23 is slow and can’t keep up with your usage or you are sure you’ll be regularly utilizing AI features, then the upgrade to the Galaxy S25 makes perfect sense.