• Internet speed tester Ookla has compared the median 5G speeds of Samsung Galaxy S23 models with those of the S22 series.
• In South Africa, the flagship device with the fastest 5G speed is the Galaxy S22+, despite the fact that the S23 series has a next-generation chipset.
• However, internationally, the fastest speeds are found in South Korea with the S23 Ultra managing a blistering 584.08Mbps.

February saw the arrival of Samsung’s latest flagship series of smartphones in South Africa – the Galaxy S23, alongside the S23+ and the S23 Ultra.

We reviewed the S23, and S23 Ultra and found the devices comparable, which is notable because the Ultra goes for around R10 000 more than the base model.

Both devices are speed freaks thanks to their serious Qualcomm silicon, namely the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Of the S23 we wrote that it was putting out some of our largest benchmark scores yet.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset is one of the major improvements that Samsung has brought to the S23 series over its predecessor, the Galaxy S22. It brings a girthy performance boost, but local users looking for online speed improvements, especially when it comes to 5G, will find the S23 series lacking when compared to the S22.

This is according to internet speed tester Ookla, which through its Speedtest intelligence database which collects and collates millions of user speed tests, has found that the Galaxy S22+ has the fastest 5G download speeds in South Africa.

Ookla has collected the speeds of Galaxy S23 series users near the launch window of the latest flagships, and compared them with speeds of the previous flagship during the same period.

The Galaxy S22+ managed a median 5G download speed of 206.03Mbps, compared to the S23 Ultra which is the next highest at 202.10. The Ultra also recorded a higher median latency. With latencies comparable across models, except for the S23+ which recorded a median latency of 29ms.

Generally, however, the S23 models performed better than the S22s, as the S23+ managed 187.62Mbps and the baseline S23 did 189.01Mbps. In comparison, the S22 Ultra managed 176.66Mbps and the baseline S22 managed 172.07.

To us, the scores seem all over the place, but the general throughline is that the S23 models are faster than their predecessors. With the exception of the S22+ which seems to have the right hardware configuration for the fastest 5G speeds in South Africa.

However, it is important to note that the rollout of 5G in South Africa is still limited when compared to international coverage. Luckily Ookla has these numbers too, and it seems that in the United States, the S23 lineup demolishes the S22 line, with the fastest speeds managed by the S23 Ultra at 187.83Mbps.

What is interesting here is that, according to Ookla, Samsung flagships manage faster 5G speeds in South Africa than in the US.

This is also true for the UK, whose S23 Ultra records the highest median speed of all devices at 137.20Mbps, as well as Poland (Galaxy S23+ at 98.99Mbps), Germany (Galaxy S23+ at 174.74), the Philippines (Galaxy S23+ at 185.32), and Italy (Galaxy S23 Ultra at 178.59Mbps).

Meanwhile, France and China offer comparable 5G speeds, but when it comes to blistering speed Brazil and South Korean Galaxy flagships are unparalleled. Brazilian owners of Galaxy S23+ devices saw an outrageous median speed of 494.19Mbps.

It is undisputed that Samsung’s flagships have their highest 5G speeds at home in South Korea. Here the absolute fastest device recorded by Ookla is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra recording a scorching median speed of 584.08Mbps (more than half a GB every second!).