The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 that powers it is horribly power inefficient. I have an S22+ that has the same SOC and a bigger battery that the S23 FE and the batter life isn’t great.

That said, everything else about the SOC is great, and the FE series phones are usually a killer bang for the buck. If you can live with the poor battery life grab it on a good discount then it’s worth it.

I have a Plus. Here are the reasons I chose it over the Ultra:

• The screen on the Ultra is too big for me. Screen size of the Plus is perfect for me.
• The Ultras have a curved screen which I have always hated on phones. I understand other people like a curved screen, and that’s great for them, but it’s not for me.
• Dont need the S Pen on my phone. I have an Tab S8+ with S Pen. If I’m taking written notes, I want a more “paperlike” feel, which a tablet gives me.
• The Ultra camera is overkill for me. I also think it’s overkill for most people who aren’t doing “professional” photography with their phone.

At a certain point having the “best phone” doesn’t matter of you’re not going to use all the features it provides. I know that I don’t need those features, and the Plus fits my needs perfectly. Why spend another $300 on a phone I don’t want and won’t use all the features on?

They probably won’t know. At the store they’ll do a physical inspection of the device. As long as there are no visible issues you should be fine.

Its possible that there will be a more serious inspection after the store send it off, but again, not likely to be an issue. The phone works.

An old SGH-A737 back in the mid 2000s