Technologies

Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus Review: It’s All About the Battery Life

These new phones fix the Galaxy S22’s biggest problem.

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.

Samsung hasn’t been shy about flaunting the cameras on its new phones. It even wrangled endorsements from acclaimed directors Ridley Scott and Na Hong-jin during its Galaxy S23 announcement. However, in a surprising move for Samsung, the camera plays second fiddle to battery and performance upgrades in the new Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus.

The Galaxy S23 ($800, 849, AU$1,349) and Galaxy S23 Plus ($1,000, 1,049, AU$1,649), which are available today alongside the $1,200 Galaxy S23 Ultra ( 1,249, AU$1,949), feel like a half-generation upgrade compared to last year’s Galaxy S22.

Performance is faster, and battery life is thankfully a bit longer, which addresses the biggest complaint I had about the Galaxy S22. But unlike the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s cameras, which have noticeable improvements in color tone and dynamic range along with a new 200-megapixel sensor, the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus’ cameras largely feel the same as last year.

And that’s OK. We’re past the point of revolutionary annual upgrades, and the Galaxy S23 is the perfect example of that. Instead, Samsung focused on making practical refinements to one of the areas that matters most in a phone: how long it lasts on a single charge. Still, you shouldn’t upgrade to the S23 or S23 Plus unless your phone is more than two years old since it’s not a radical change.

One of the Galaxy S23’s biggest drawbacks, however, isn’t a flaw with the phone itself, but rather the tough competition from Google. The $899 Pixel 7 Pro falls in between the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus pricewise and offers a stellar camera that bests Samsung’s in some scenarios. Samsung, however, does offer compelling trade-in bargains that could make the S23 lineup more compelling.

8.9

Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus

$800 at Samsung

Get Price Alerts

You’re receiving price alerts for Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus

Like

Attractive design
4 generations of Android OS updates
Longer battery life than the Galaxy S22
Fast performance
More storage in the base S23 Plus

Don’t Like

Cameras are basically the same as last year
Expensive
No improvements to fast charging
Regular Galaxy S23 lacks base storage upgrade

Overall, the Galaxy S23 is ideal for Android fans that prioritize fast performance, solid cameras and having a spacious and bright screen in a compact package. The Galaxy S23’s cameras don’t always measure up to Apple’s and Google’s, but they’re still good enough to fit most peoples’ needs.

Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus get a battery upgrade

Like the Galaxy S22, the 6.1-inch Galaxy S23 remains a top choice for Android fans that prefer smaller phones. But there was just one problem with the Galaxy S22: Its battery life sometimes felt too short to get through a full day.

It looks like Samsung took these concerns to heart. Both the regular Galaxy S23 and the larger 6.6-inch Galaxy S23 Plus get a longer battery life compared to their predecessors. The Galaxy S23 has a 3,900-mAh battery, up from the Galaxy S22’s 3,700-mAh capacity, while the Galaxy S23 Plus has a 4,700-mAh battery instead of the S22 Plus’ 4,500-mAh battery. The new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor inside the Galaxy S23 series, which has been optimized for Samsung’s new phones, should also bring some improvements to power efficiency.

Even though I’ve only used the new phones for a few days, these upgrades are already noticeable. When I used the 6.1-inch Galaxy S22 as my daily smartphone for roughly a month, I noticed that the battery dipped down to between 30 and 40% by 9 p.m., especially after a long day in the office.

With the Galaxy S23, the battery was down to 46% by 9:45 p.m. after a day of heavy usage (running benchmark performance tests, taking lots of photos and videos, etc.). With light usage after a day that started at 10 a.m, I had 64% left by the time I went to sleep just past 12:30 a.m. The Galaxy S23 Plus had 73% of its battery left by bedtime (around 11 p.m.) after a full day in the office.

Of course, battery life will vary depending on how you use your device. Tasks like making video calls and recording video will drain the battery faster, and settings such as screen brightness typically impact battery life. During my tests, I usually had the screen set between 25% and 50% of the phone’s maximum brightness; since Samsung’s phones have fairly bright screens, there’s usually no need to set it any higher.

I also tested the battery life by putting each phone through a 45-minute endurance test to see how quickly the battery drains after routine tasks like scrolling through social media, watching YouTube videos, playing games and making a video call. The Galaxy S23 dipped to 91% after that test, while the Galaxy S23 Plus decreased to 95%. Both scores represent a mild improvement over the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus, which reached 89% and 92%, respectively.

To get a more thorough sense of the Galaxy S23’s battery life, I also ran a three-hour YouTube streaming test in which I cranked the display brightness all the way up while watching a video and measured the battery level at every hour. As you can see in the table below, the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus fared better than their predecessors during these tests, especially by the end of the third hour. Both phones also beat the Galaxy S22 Ultra in this test, and the Galaxy S23 matched the performance of the $599 Pixel 7.

While battery life improved, the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus have the same charging speeds as last year. The Galaxy S23 supports 25-watt fast-charging and 45-watt fast-charging for the Galaxy S23 Plus. But in practice, those charging speeds didn’t feel that different. The Galaxy S23 went from 47% to 86% after 30 minutes, while the Galaxy S23 Plus went from 59% to 94%.

While charging speed isn’t a deal-breaker when buying a new phone, it would have been nice to see Samsung push forward in this area. That’s especially true considering rivals like Xiaomi and OnePlus continue to shorten the time it takes to replenish their respective phones’ batteries.

Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus’ new processor is fast

The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus feel snappy and fast in everyday use, as phones in their price range should. Playing games with the graphics and frame rate at the highest settings felt smooth, and apps launched instantly. All three new phones have an adaptive refresh rate that reaches up to 120Hz for smoother scrolling and animations, which also contributes to the devices’ peppiness.

The one area where the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor seems to make a difference in everyday use is exporting video. The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus both exported a 30-second 4K video to 1080p faster than the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Pixel 7 Pro. The iPhone 14, however, was the fastest of the bunch. The Galaxy S23 lineup runs on a special customized version of Qualcomm’s latest mobile chip that’s been optimized for these phones, meaning it’s different from the version inside the OnePlus 11.

Benchmarks meant to test general computing (Geekbench 5) and how a processor handles high performance in short bursts (3DMark) told a similar story. The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus performed well compared to the Galaxy S22 and Pixel 7 Pro, and even outperformed the iPhone 14 on most tests. The OnePlus 11 was their closest competitor, which isn’t surprising considering it has a similar processor. But the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus did outpace the OnePlus 11 in the test meant to evaluate a processor’s single-core performance, which makes sense considering Samsung overclocked one of the CPU cores.

That said, real-world usage matters more than benchmarks. Other than the faster video export speeds, I didn’t experience anything on the Galaxy S23 lineup that felt unusually fast compared to most other phones in the same price range.

Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus camera is similar to the S22

The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus each have a triple rear camera that consists of a 50-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel ultra wide and a 10-megapixel telephoto. Thanks to a technique called pixel binning, you can choose to shoot photos at the full 50-megapixel resolution or 12 megapixels depending on the scenario. The 12-megapixel option, for example, is usually better for poorly lit circumstances since it groups multiple pixels together to serve as a larger pixel for gathering more light. Samsung also integrates the controls from its Expert Raw app right into the main camera, making it more convenient for those who want easy access to the full, uncompressed version of an image.

This camera system is largely the same as the one on the S22, although Samsung has made some processing improvements, particularly when it comes to low light photography. That’s the biggest difference I noticed during my time testing the new phones against the Galaxy S22.

Check out the photos of my husband in a dim restaurant below. His face is brighter and his beard is more detailed.

Still, I preferred the iPhone 14’s and Pixel 7 Pro’s images, mostly because they captured more accurate skin tones. The Galaxy S23’s photo is brighter and more detailed than the Pixel 7 Pro’s, but it also makes his face look a little washed out.

The Galaxy S23 performs well in dim conditions overall, which isn’t surprising considering low-light photography has been a big area of focus for Samsung in recent years. Even though the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7 Pro performed better in the examples above, the S23 easily challenges Apple and Google in other low-light photography scenarios, like taking photos of pets and still objects.

In the photos of a book stack below, for example, the Galaxy S23 did a great job at retaining detail and color. The iPhone 14’s photo isn’t as colorful and has some noise compared to Samsung’s, although the Pixel 7 Pro’s image was a close competitor.

Otherwise, there isn’t anything that feels new or surprising about the Galaxy S23’s camera. While the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus can both capture crisp and clear images, there were instances in which colors either looked exaggerated or blown out compared to the same photos taken on the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7.

You can see an example of the exaggeration in this photo of my husband below. The shade of blue in his denim jacket is brighter than it looked in real life, while the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7 Pro’s photos look more natural.

But as I said in my review of the S23 Ultra, this isn’t always a bad thing. It can make certain photos pop and look more attractive overall, as is the case with the photo below. The pink flowers look more colorful and vibrant in the S23’s photo compared to the rest.

Samsung also upgraded the Galaxy S23’s selfie camera with a 12-megapixel sensor compared to the S22’s 10-megapixel front camera. However, I didn’t notice much of a difference under normal circumstances.

But Samsung’s phones easily took better selfies in low light compared to the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7 Pro. The photos from Google and Apple’s phones are both noisier and grainier than Samsung’s, which I noticed when comparing the photos on a large monitor. The Galaxy S23’s selfie is also a bit clearer than the S22’s, but the difference isn’t as dramatic.

The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus have a 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom, just like the S22 and S22 Plus. You’ll need to splurge on the $1,200 Galaxy S23 Ultra to get the 10x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom.

But the S23 and S23 Plus still have more to offer than the $799 iPhone 14, which has a 1x optical zoom and a 5x digital zoom.

Samsung is usually the king of zoom, but in this scenario Google takes the cake. The Pixel 7 Pro has a 5x optical zoom and a 30x digital zoom that looks far crisper than Samsung’s, as shown below.

As far as video recording is concerned, the S23 and S23 Plus can record at 8K resolution up to 30 frames per second. When recording video at the highest supported resolution and frame rate for each phone (4K at 60 frames per second for the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7 Pro), I noticed the Galaxy S23’s footage had more accurate color tones compared to the Pixel 7 Pro. The iPhone’s video, however, looked a bit crisper.

I also noticed that video stabilization improved slightly on the Galaxy S23 compared to the Galaxy S22, enabling it to better compete with Apple’s Action Mode.

The Galaxy S23’s camera isn’t a leap forward, but it’ll feel significant to those upgrading from a phone that’s several years old.

Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus have a slightly new design

The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus have largely the same appearance and feel as the Galaxy S22. And that’s a good thing in my opinion, because I loved the Galaxy S22’s sleek and colorful look.

The main difference is that Samsung did away with the camera island on the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus, instead opting for standalone lenses that sit arranged in a vertical column on the back of the device. It’s the same aesthetic as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and it makes the S23’s design feel more consistent. Otherwise, the phones are available in new color options that include lavender, black, cream and green.

All three phones come in the same size options as the S22 lineup. There’s the 6.1-inch Galaxy S23, 6.6-inch Galaxy S23 Plus and 6.8-inch Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung does a better job than most at squeezing spacious screens into small devices. The Galaxy S23 Ultra still feels massive, but the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus feel surprisingly petite for their size.

The Galaxy S23 Plus, for example, only feels slightly larger than the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 despite the amount of extra screen space it provides. The Galaxy S23 is also one of the few Android phones with a 6.1-inch screen other than the Pixel 6A, making it a compelling choice for those who prefer compact devices.

All three new Galaxy phones launch with Android 13 and the One UI 5.1 overlay. Samsung also provides four generations of Android OS version upgrades, which is noteworthy considering Google only commits to three generations of updates on its Pixel phones. That means your Galaxy S23 will last for at least four years from a software perspective, so it shouldn’t feel outdated anytime soon.

Consistent with Samsung’s theme of making practical changes this year, the Galaxy S23 Plus and S23 Ultra now start at 256GB of storage rather than 128GB. That means you get double the storage capacity for the same price as last year’s devices. While it’s a great value for Samsung’s pricier phones, I’m disappointed Samsung didn’t do the same for its entry-level Galaxy S23. It would have been a good way for Samsung to further justify the Galaxy S23’s higher price compared to the $599 Pixel 7 while also giving potential Pixel 7 Pro shoppers another reason to consider Samsung instead.

Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus: Buy or skip?

The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus are moderate improvements over the Galaxy S22, bringing quality-of-life improvements like longer battery life, more base storage for the Plus and faster performance. Since this isn’t a major update, I don’t recommend upgrading unless you have a phone that’s more than two years old at the very least. Those who have an older phone will get the benefits that came with last year’s camera upgrade and redesign, along with the S23’s better battery life.

If you’re shopping in the $900 price range, the Pixel 7 Pro is also worth considering. The camera generally captures more accurate colors and crisper zoom shots than Samsung’s and you get a slightly larger screen for a cheaper price than the Galaxy S23 Plus. However, just remember that Google only offers three generations of Android OS updates for the Pixel 7 line, so you might want to upgrade sooner. Both Samsung and Google provide five years of security updates for their higher-end devices, so you’ll still have years before the phones may be susceptible to vulnerabilities.

The Galaxy S22 is also a tempting option at its new price of $700. But if you can afford it, I’d recommend going for the Galaxy S23 because of its longer battery life and newer processor. Let’s face it, your phone’s battery isn’t going to get any better over time, so you might as well invest in a device that will last longer.

How we test phones

Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes using both standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.

We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds, foldable displays among others that can be useful. And we of course balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value.

Technologies

China’s super-rich fled Singapore. Now they want to come back

Wealthy Chinese are reconsidering Singapore as Beijing’s offshore wealth scrutiny and geopolitical risks make alternatives less attractive.

A year ago, wealthy Chinese families were souring on Singapore. Its rules felt onerous, its nightlife subdued. Other cities seemed easier or more exciting.

Now they want to come back.

Family-office advisers and wealth managers say they are seeing renewed interest in Singapore from affluent Chinese clients who had shifted their lives to other financial centers, as tightening scrutiny from Beijing and geopolitical turmoil make its stability look attractive again.

The reversal underscores how quickly the calculations of Asia’s wealthy can change.

Singapore emerged as a favored destination for wealthy mainland Chinese seeking to diversify their assets and gain distance from Beijing, particularly after Hong Kong’s 2019 protests and subsequent national security crackdown.

However, its appeal faded after a $3 billion money-laundering scandal in 2023 triggered tighter scrutiny of wealthy clients and family offices. Stricter compliance checks, lengthy bank onboarding and residency requirements pushed some Chinese families toward jurisdictions they viewed as easier or more appealing – such as Hong Kong, Dubai and Tokyo.

They’re now telling me I really want to come to Singapore to become a citizen.Ryan LinBayfront Law

But what once seemed restrictive is increasingly being viewed by some as a source of security.

“The very reason why they came to Singapore in the first place back then was because China’s policies impact Hong Kong much closer to them than in Singapore,” said Bayfront Law director Ryan Lin.

Lin, who advises wealthy Chinese clients on setting up family offices and securing residency in Singapore, said last year that he was increasingly helping clients move away from the city-state as tighter compliance and disclosure requirements eroded its appeal.

The shift comes as Beijing steps up scrutiny of wealth held outside mainland China. New rules affecting offshore trusts have rattled wealthy families because of requirements to disclose structures and potential tax liabilities, while tighter oversight has also extended to areas including insurance and offshore brokerage accounts. These rules can apply regardless of where a trust is located or where an individual physically lives.

“When it comes to the safety of their wealth, they probably now are considering Singapore very, very seriously for the long term,” he said, adding that they are more determined this time, with several asking about pathways to permanent residency and citizenship as they consider making Singapore a longer-term base.

Moving to Singapore does not automatically sever an individual’s obligations to China, said Carman Chan, founder of Hong Kong and Singapore-based family office Click Ventures, particularly without a change in citizenship or tax status.

Advisers say the renewed interest in Singapore is generally about creating physical, financial and political distance from the mainland while maintaining additional options.

Lin said recent restrictions affecting mainland investors’ access to offshore brokerages in Hong Kong had particularly unsettled some clients. “They find perhaps Hong Kong is really too close to China,” he said.

Manish Tibrewal, co-founder of family office Farro Capital, said his firm has seen a sharp pickup in inquiries from Chinese families considering to relocate to Singapore.

A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said that under the “one country, two systems” framework, “Hong Kong upholds the common law system, the free flow of capital, the free convertibility of its currency, a simple and low tax regime, and a regulatory framework aligned with international standards.”

Dubai reversal

Singapore is also benefiting from a different source of anxiety: the Middle East.

Several advisers, including Tibrewal and Lin, said Chinese families who shifted toward Dubai in recent years have reconsidered their plans amid conflict in the region.

Lin said some of his clients initially treated the conflict as a temporary shock. But as tensions persisted, families began taking more concrete steps to leave.

“My clients are afraid that Dubai may potentially be easy collateral damage.” Lin said. “Their sense of security will not be there. They will be frantic. At least mentally, they won’t feel very safe. Their mindset of managing money in Dubai has changed.”

Some have already returned while others are unwinding investments and financial arrangements before doing so, he said.

Japan’s barriers

Tokyo had become attractive to wealthy Chinese in recent years as a weak yen made everything from property to luxury goods cheaper. Its proximity to China and safety had also made it an obvious alternative to Singapore.

Yet language barriers, difficulties integrating into Japanese society and differences in business and social culture caused issues, advisers said.

Iris Xu, CEO of Jenga Business Consulting Group, a consultancy that works with wealthy families, cited one client who relocated to Japan but returned to Singapore after just eight months.

“After going to Japan, going to Dubai, going to Hong Kong, there remains the Singapore option,” Xu said.

Back to Singapore

The renewed interest also arrives as Singapore itself fine-tunes the rules governing its family-office industry.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore in July eased some conditions for single-family offices seeking tax incentives, with the changes taking effect Aug. 1. The revisions give offices greater flexibility on hiring and investment requirements even as authorities continue to strengthen checks on the sources of wealth entering the country.

“Wealth owners from a diverse range of countries choose Singapore for many reasons, including our high standards of regulation, strong rule of law, and a comprehensive ecosystem of wealth managers and professional service providers,” an MAS spokesperson told CNBC.

Advisers for the wealthy say Singapore’s advantage is increasingly the predictability that comes with its rules.

“Their priorities have changed,” Xu said. “Before, maybe they were looking for an opportunity. Now they are looking at safety.”

Technologies

U.S.-Iran escalation shows Washington’s frustration with slow-moving sanctions

Renewed hostilities reopen the question of whether the conflict is grinding toward a settlement or further escalation.

The escalation in hostilities between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend shows the U.S. is running out of patience with the slower-moving sanctions approach, according to analysts.

U.S. forces destroyed two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday, as the Islamic Republic prepared to fire mine-carrying rockets into the Strait of Hormuz, ending a month-long lull in direct fighting.

The strike was the first publicly acknowledged U.S. attack since late July. Iran responded within hours, firing eight missiles at the King Hussein and Al Azraq air bases in Jordan. Jordanian air defenses intercepted all eight, with no casualties, the government said.

Later Sunday, President Donald Trump threatened on social media to blow up Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil-export hub, to “smithereens.”

“Most of the war has been tactically focused rather than strategic from the outset,” said Ian Ralby, a maritime security expert and president of Auxilium Worldwide. “The question, therefore, is: why this, why now?”

The sanctions campaign may not be hurting Iran’s leadership fast enough for the U.S.’s liking, Ralby said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters on Sunday that he expects new sanctions on Iran weekly, particularly targeting banks, and that Washington intends to cut Tehran-linked institutions out of the dollar system entirely.

“It may be that the financial pressure was not curtailing Iranian behavior to the level the U.S. anticipated,” Ralby said. Renewed Iranian military activity may also have threatened U.S. forces or interests in the region “at a sufficiently high level of gravity that the U.S. felt it necessary to strike Iranian territory once more.”

The U.S. strike is likely an attempt to break a deadlock rather than a shift in policy, Ralby added. “The status quo has become somewhat stagnant, and I’m sure the U.S. would like to see that change,” he said. But it is unlikely to alter “the continuation of the blockade, or the economic ‘warfare’ being used to try to pressure Iran.”

Potential escalation

Trump’s threat against Kharg Island is likely to remain rhetorical. The terminal has absorbed dozens of strikes since the war began, with its oil infrastructure deliberately spared.

“It is unlikely that the President of the United States will actually carry through on the threat to attack Kharg Island,” Ralby said, noting the island also holds a historic early church that Iran has worked to preserve.

An attack “would be a destruction of cultural heritage as well as destruction of critical oil infrastructure, which would likely cause catastrophic environmental harm,” he said. “Threatening it may seem appealing, but actually blowing it up should hold little appeal.”

Rather than confronting U.S. forces head-on, Iran is more likely to retaliate through proxies and pressure on shipping and energy flows.

“The key to this conflict from the outset has been asymmetry,” Ralby said. “The Iranians have demonstrated an ability to use limited actual force to inflict substantial, actual harm.”

For instance, the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen and have held sway over the approaches to the Bab el-Mandeb for the better part of a decade, entered the war weeks ago in support of Iran.

With the Houthis restricting navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb, the U.S. and its allies in the region could face a situation where the two major maritime chokepoints used to export the majority of the Gulf’s petroleum products are “subject to manipulation by Iran and its partners,” said Michael Ratney, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

“We always assume that the Houthis and Iran are part of the same kind of group, but they’re not,” said Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy. “They have worked in the past quite independently.”

Somali piracy, dormant since 2013, has also returned as coalition navies concentrate on the Red Sea and Hormuz. At least five vessels are currently held, including a tanker seized off Al Mukalla on Aug. 20.

“Enhanced pressure on oil production, the energy market, and global shipping are likely to be the focal points for Iranian retaliation,” Ralby said.

The military campaign remains the dominant force in oil prices. Flows through the strait reached roughly 7 million barrels a day last week via the Omani corridor under U.S. Navy escort, according to Galimberti’s estimates, calling it “a very costly mechanism … but it’s working.”

The strike on Larak threatens to reverse that recovery, injecting fresh uncertainty into commercial shipping through the waterway. “The expectation is that the flows in the next couple of days probably will be lower, and therefore you should expect the price increase for sure,” Galimberti said.

Technologies

CNBC Daily Open: Trump wants to floor it on economic growth as Warsh eyes the brakes

The Trump administration saw two embattled officials fending off criticism yesterday as the war in the Middle East flared up again.

This content is blocked because you are not allowing cookies.

To view this content, click on Cookie Preferences here or at the bottom of the page to allow all cookies.

Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

The Trump administration saw two embattled officials fending off criticism yesterday as the war in the Middle East flared up again, with U.S. President Donald Trump trying to lower pump prices and talk up growth.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also defended the decision to increase bond purchases earlier last month, after investor Stanley Druckenmiller criticized the move.

If you were working late in Asia last night, you may not have caught any of this, simply because Microsoft Outlook and ChatGPT Work experienced outages. I know of more than a few office workers that were secretly grateful for that.

What you need to know today

U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled a cunning plan to combat high pump prices for Americans, involving his claimed control over 65 billion barrels of oil reserves in Venezuela.

He will meet with U.S. refiners and fuel distributors, looking for ways to expand domestic refining capacity and bring down gasoline prices, according to a White House official.

Prices at U.S. pumps were at $4.08 per gallon on average nationwide Monday, according to AAA data, which is nearly 30% higher compared to the same time last year.

However, there is just one snag. Experts told CNBC that his deal with Venezuela will not lower gas prices anytime soon.

Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is in a state of disrepair, and it will require about $180 billion of investment till 2040 to return the country to peak production, according to Rystad Energy.

The South American nation is currently producing around 1.2 million barrels a day, down from a peak of 3.5 million bpd in the late 1990s.

Trump also has one eye on the Middle East, vowing to hit Iran “hard” after the Islamic Republic said it launched an attack on two U.S. bases in Jordan.

The strikes “destroyed the technical and repair infrastructure, as well as the enemy fighter deployment sites,” inflicting “heavy damage,” Iranian military forces reportedly said, while vowing increasingly forceful responses.

Growth and the Fed

Trump also continued his push for the Fed to lower interest rates, arguing that the U.S. could grow at rates of up to 20% (yes, that is not a typo), and adding such rapid growth should not prompt the central bank to raise interest rates.

“Success in growth does not cause inflation,” the U.S. president said. However, growth has never reached anywhere close to the levels Trump is saying, except for one Covid pandemic-related surge of 34.9% in 2020, which notably followed a 28% contraction in the previous quarter.

The most recent GDP numbers, however, are a far cry from the 20% annualized growth touted. Real GDP increased at a 1.5% annualized rate in the second quarter of 2026, down from 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the BEA’s latest estimate.

The president’s stance would then put him at odds with Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, who is expected by markets to hike rates at the Fed’s meeting in September.

Odds for a move at the Sept. 15-16 meeting jumped to 66.1% on Monday, nearly double where they were before Warsh’s speech at Jackson Hole over the weekend, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, meanwhile, defended the department’s decision to double the planned size of buybacks of longer-dated U.S. bonds.

Investor Stanley Druckenmiller, Bessent’s former mentor, argued that the policy amounted to “price management” rather than an attempt to improve market liquidity, and risked undermining the Treasury’s credibility.

Outlook and ChatGPT outages

But the most important news for office workers Monday stateside would be that they had a rare reprieve from some of their work, as Microsoft Outlook and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Work experienced outages.

Users reported problems with Outlook, while OpenAI said users may experience problems starting or continuing tasks in ChatGPT Work, temporarily disabling two of the modern office’s favorite methods of assigning more work.

Anyone who failed to send an email, and then failed to ask AI to write an excuse for not sending that email, finally could legitimately say “I couldn’t do it, honest!”

— Lim Hui Jie

And finally…

FTC sues Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of misleading advertisers

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued Amazon, alleging the e-commerce giant “secretly and systematically overcharged” advertisers on its platform by manipulating its pricing and auction systems.

The lawsuit, which was joined by 22 state attorneys general, argues that Amazon may have reaped more than $20 billion from advertisers by using “hidden surcharges” dating back to a change to its auction rules that took effect in 2019.

However, the company argues that its auction systems have saved advertisers $8 billion between 2021 and 2025, not cost them extra.

— Annie Palmer

This content is blocked because you are not allowing cookies.

To view this content, click on Cookie Preferences here or at the bottom of the page to allow all cookies.