u/Comfortable-Pause506

Hi all, I have two options when purchasing a new phone this summer.

Either A, a brand new s25 FE 128gb for $449

Or B, a refurbished s23 Ultra 512gb for $454.

Which is the better buy? My biggest wants for this is performance good enough for light gaming such as subway surfers, fruit ninja, etc. Other than this, I mostly watch Youtube and scroll Reddit. I do this on cellular so having a long battery life is important to me. I also want a big screen as I used to have an iPhone XS Max and it was the perfect size.

I don’t feel like i would benefit from the better camera system from the ultra. 3x seems to be good enough for me. I am also wary about the green line issue with the s23 series. Software support is not very important to me as with Android not much is typically missed out on from no updates.

I am coming from an iPhone 12 64gb so anything is really an upgrade.

What I want: Large screen, Large battery, light gaming performance.

I have a hard budget of $500 USD. I would rather buy an old flagship rather than a new midrange. I currently have an iPhone 12 (64GB).

I’m currently stuck between an s23 Ultra (512GB) for $454.99, s24+ (256GB) for $429.99, and the s25 Edge (256GB) for $459.99.

I don’t mind not having the latest android and value a premium experience over a newer phone. I also think I would find the S Pen useful in day to day tasks as I need to do math and sketches. I only play Subway Surfers and scroll social medias, although all of this is typically done on cellular.

I am leaning towards the s23 because of the S Pen, large battery, extra storage, on par memory, and curved screen which I enjoy over a flat screen.

Other suggestions are welcome. I don’t like Pixels, I tried them out at a Best Buy as well as the s25 Edge. The thinness and lightness of the s25 Edge was not very appealing to me.

US only as well meaning no Honor, Xiaomi, etc.