Equivalent aperture means the same shot noise, the same DOF and the same diffraction softening. Like it or not, this is what it is and saying that this lens is f/3 equivalent is absolutely correct.
In the same way, 23mm is the actual FL, and 35mm is the equivalent one. Do a test if you want.
The lens is 23/2. A fact, it is what it is. It is 34.5/3 equivalent – meaning the same DOF, shot noise, diffraction, AOV as an 34.5/3 lens on FF. It is also 34.5mm equivalent, f/2. It is also f/3 equivalent, 23mm. All those four statements are absolutely correct but some are more misleading than the rest. The fist two statements are honest; the last two – misleading on purpose.
DPR is playing this game for a long time – after all, small sensors bring as much ad revenue as large ones. Instead of saying 23/2, equivalent to 35/3, they play with words to please everybody.
Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.