Prices of flagship phones crossed the $1,000 mark a few years ago, and unlike, for example, the Asian market, the US does not have a large selection of “flagship killers”. But the right model at the right discount could be a great deal.
The new Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is down to $600, and with that you’ll get a $100 Amazon gift card. When we say “new,” we should mention that it uses last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. On the bright side, you get long-term software support from Samsung (4 OS updates, so it will get Android 17 and receive security patches until the end of 2028). There’s also DeX, the desktop environment hidden inside One UI: just connect an external display.
This year the S23 FE also includes a 50MP main camera, up from 12MP on last year’s FE. There is an 8MP 3x telephoto module, a 12MP 123° ultra-wide angle and a 10MP selfie. The 4,500mAh battery supports 25W wired charging only.
Keep in mind that there’s another bundle: Galaxy S23 FE plus the new Galaxy Buds FE (and you’ll still get that $100 gift card). This package actually sells the new buds for $50.
For reference, the Galaxy Buds FE have an MSRP of $100.
While quite capable, the Galaxy Buds2 Pro have a superior dual speaker system (tweeter + woofer) and cost just $120 lately. This could be a good way to spend that $100 gift card.
Another option is the Sony LinkBuds, which cost $130. These are niche earbuds with a cutout, so they don’t block your ears—you hear everything around you with perfect clarity (other earbuds have digital passthrough mode , but they rarely sound natural).
And while we show other models for price reference, here is the Galaxy S23 series. The little S23 with just 128GB of storage costs more than the S23 FE before you even take into account the gift card that comes with the FE. Likewise, the Galaxy S23+ is too expensive right now.
If you’re going to spend $900, you’d be better off getting the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. This has a large 6.8-inch QHD+ LTPO display, 12GB RAM, 200MP main camera, dual telephoto lenses (10MP 10x and 10MP 3x), and a built-in stylus.
Let’s take a short tour through the foldables. The Motorola razr+ costs $700, the same price as the small S23, although it has double the storage. And it’s foldable. This uses the older Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, but it’s much more efficient (and runs cooler) than the original 8 Gen 1 found inside the S23 FE.
Samsung’s clamshell foldable, the Galaxy Z Flip5, costs $150 more. It has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and note that like all other Galaxys with the 8 Gen 2, it uses the overclocked “for Galaxy” version of the chip.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 has also had competition recently. There’s obviously the Google Pixel Fold, but we’re talking about the OnePlus Open. Both the Open and Z Fold5 cost $1,500, but the Open comes with more RAM and storage (16/512GB versus 12/256GB).
It has the most powerful camera system with a 48 MP (1.12 µm) main sensor, 64 MP 70 mm telephoto and 48 MP 114° ultra wide angle (compared to 50 MP 1.0 µm, 10 MP 3x and 12 MP 123°). OnePlus also has faster charging at 67W (100% in 42 minutes versus 1 hour and 24 minutes for the Galaxy).
Here’s another member of the FE family, albeit an older one. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE is still a good tablet: It’s larger than average with a 12.4-inch LCD (2,560 x 1,200 px, 16:10) and a Snapdragon 778G. Like other Tab S models, this one comes with DeX and a stylus.
Leaving aside the flagship and foldable market, the Doogee V Max is a rugged phone for the workplace or the great outdoors. It can survive drops to concrete from a height of 5 feet and is rated IP69K (high temperature water jets), so washing it off is easy. It has a 108MP main camera and a 16MP ultra-wide camera for daytime, as well as a 20MP night vision camera. It also has a massive 22,000mAh battery (33W charging).
Sony recently launched a slim version of the PlayStation 5. In addition to being physically smaller and lighter, it also comes with more storage: 1 TB (up from 825 GB). Here’s the disc model, included bundled with Spider Man 2 or the new CoD Modern Warfare III.
You can also purchase an additional DualSense controller for local multiplayer.
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