I upgraded from the S9+ to the S23+ recently. The main reason I upgraded is because the S9+ could be a bit slow and also the battery has gone to shit over the years. I usually had to charge 2 times a day (sometimes 3). Battery on the S23+ is significantly better (easily lasts a fully day) and the phone opens and closes apps a lot faster. Just navigating the phone feels sooo much quicker now. Whether it’s using the browser, reddit, youtube, instagram or anything. It’s all just faster now with basically no random freezing.
I think the 120hz is also one of the biggest things for me. Having a super smooth display is really noticeable and makes the phone feel more ‘fun’ to use I guess.
Camera; honestly imo all the newest smartphone cameras have gone downhill since they started overprocessing images. The S9+ done minimal processing to photos and you could just quickly add a filter yourself if you really wanted to. The S23+ processes the image automatically and that can’t be turned off, which can be hit or miss. That being said, the 3x zoom is nice and the low light shots are a lot nicer. Videos are better and the camera is quicker to use now. Selfie camera is vastly improved. Photos from the rear camera are definitely sharper and most people do like the automatic post-processing, I’m just not a fan of it.
The phone is slightly larger and I’m quite happy having a bigger screen. The phone is still just as light as the S9+, only 7g heavier.
S23+ charging speeds are a big step up if you buy a 45w charger. It charges nearly twice as fast as the S9+ did which can be quite useful as I can now charge my phone in the morning quickly rather than having to charge overnight.
Fingerprint sensor feels faster and more accurate than the S9+. It’s nice not having to adjust my hands to use the fingerprint sensor like you kind of have to on the S9+.
The speakers are waaay better. Not just louder but they actually have some bass now. The S9+ is so tinny in comparison. I never used to listen to music on my phone speakers but now I occasionally do every now and then. The speakers are amazing and something I didn’t even really expect when upgrading.
New OS updates are nice. The brightness slider is bigger now which can be helpful because the S9+ just had a small line which could be difficult to see on bright sunny days. The UI also just feels smoother to use with less hiccups and crashes. It also looks nicer imo.
WiFi and data performance is definitely better. I had issues with the S9+ having slow WiFi when I’m in my bedroom. That’s no longer a problem.
Haptics are better. I don’t care much for haptics but they do feel much smoother if you do care, and I guess the phone vibrates less ‘annoyingly’ now.
The chipset is significantly better. I don’t game on my phone but if you do, then there’s that. It also helps with just general browsing the phone as I mentioned.
Screen gets a lot brighter on the S23+ which has been useful for me on sunny days. The S9+ was a little hard to see with the sun shining on it. The screen also looks a bit nicer but it’s nothing too crazy.
Talking of sun, my S9+ would sometimes overheat in the summer and automatically power off. I haven’t used the S23+ in the summer yet but I’ve heard the phone doesn’t have any heating issues so fingers crossed.
You said you haven’t used all your storage so it probably doesn’t matter much for you, but the S23+ does have 256/512GB which has been useful for me because I take a lot of pictures.
It was a really worthwhile upgrade for me but if your fine with your S9+ and don’t really care for the improvements I mentioned then I would wait until you become frustrated with the performance/battery like I did with my S9+, and then get a new phone. The S24 series will be coming out in January/February so you could hold out till then.
I upgraded from the S9+ to the S23+ recently. The main reason I upgraded is because the S9+ could be a bit slow and also the battery has gone to shit over the years. I usually had to charge 2 times a day (sometimes 3). Battery on the S23+ is significantly better (easily lasts a fully day) and the phone opens and closes apps a lot faster. Just navigating the phone feels sooo much quicker now. Whether it’s using the browser, reddit, youtube, instagram or anything. It’s all just faster now with basically no random freezing.
I think the 120hz is also one of the biggest things for me. Having a super smooth display is really noticeable and makes the phone feel more ‘fun’ to use I guess.
Camera; honestly imo all the newest smartphone cameras have gone downhill since they started overprocessing images. The S9+ done minimal processing to photos and you could just quickly add a filter yourself if you really wanted to. The S23+ processes the image automatically and that can’t be turned off, which can be hit or miss. That being said, the 3x zoom is nice and the low light shots are a lot nicer. Videos are better and the camera is quicker to use now. Selfie camera is vastly improved. Photos from the rear camera are definitely sharper and most people do like the automatic post-processing, I’m just not a fan of it.
The phone is slightly larger and I’m quite happy having a bigger screen. The phone is still just as light as the S9+, only 7g heavier.
S23+ charging speeds are a big step up if you buy a 45w charger. It charges nearly twice as fast as the S9+ did which can be quite useful as I can now charge my phone in the morning quickly rather than having to charge overnight.
Fingerprint sensor feels faster and more accurate than the S9+. It’s nice not having to adjust my hands to use the fingerprint sensor like you kind of have to on the S9+.
The speakers are waaay better. Not just louder but they actually have some bass now. The S9+ is so tinny in comparison. I never used to listen to music on my phone speakers but now I occasionally do every now and then. The speakers are amazing and something I didn’t even really expect when upgrading.
New OS updates are nice. The brightness slider is bigger now which can be helpful because the S9+ just had a small line which could be difficult to see on bright sunny days. The UI also just feels smoother to use with less hiccups and crashes. It also looks nicer imo.
WiFi and data performance is definitely better. I had issues with the S9+ having slow WiFi when I’m in my bedroom. That’s no longer a problem.
Haptics are better. I don’t care much for haptics but they do feel much smoother if you do care, and I guess the phone vibrates less ‘annoyingly’ now.
The chipset is significantly better. I don’t game on my phone but if you do, then there’s that. It also helps with just general browsing the phone as I mentioned.
Screen gets a lot brighter on the S23+ which has been useful for me on sunny days. The S9+ was a little hard to see with the sun shining on it. The screen also looks a bit nicer but it’s nothing too crazy.
Talking of sun, my S9+ would sometimes overheat in the summer and automatically power off. I haven’t used the S23+ in the summer yet but I’ve heard the phone doesn’t have any heating issues so fingers crossed.
You said you haven’t used all your storage so it probably doesn’t matter much for you, but the S23+ does have 256/512GB which has been useful for me because I take a lot of pictures.
It was a really worthwhile upgrade for me but if your fine with your S9+ and don’t really care for the improvements I mentioned then I would wait until you become frustrated with the performance/battery like I did with my S9+, and then get a new phone. The S24 series will be coming out in January/February so you could hold out till then.