the balanced mobile phone that seeks to bring the use of AI to the general public

Samsung has maintained a fairly strict launch strategy in recent years. Since the Note line disappeared and was integrated into the Galaxy S, Foldable models were presented in the middle of the year, in summer, to offer new products without having to wait a whole year. Summer is a fairly common time to change cell phones in Europe, due to vacations, end of classes, etc.

But in addition to the big launches, the Korean company offers different events and proposals during the rest of the year to announce, for example, the Galaxy A, which is one of its best-selling models. There is also another device that is particularly important for what it is, but usually doesn’t come along when it would make sense. We are referring to the FE models of the Galaxy S. The company started offering a terminal within its most important family but with the most appreciated features, leaving the others aside to, in theory, contain the price and allow more users to purchase it.

This year the device announced was the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, a device very similar to its predecessor which It is close to the Galaxy S24 series but with a lower priceat least when compared to the starting prices of its older brothers. The fact is that the price of this Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is not really low. It is placed at the bottom of the family, obviously, but its price still remains part of the 749 dollars for the model with 128 GB storage and reaches the 819 dollars for the 256 GB internal one. This is an increase of no less than 50 dollars in the most economical model, which takes it away from the 500 dollars on average that Spaniards pay.

Simple and functional

Samsung has a clear design line in its mobile phones, unlike other brands that change their aesthetics from time to time. In the case of the S24 FE we see that The lines of other S24s are maintained with flat metal edges, flat screen and a rear in which the cameras are vertically aligned without a module connecting them.

In the hand, it’s a somewhat heavy terminal, well over 200 gramssomething that attracts attention because its battery does not justify this weight. Plus, it’s definitely a bit wider than other models, making non-grip use with the other hand less comfortable for some smaller hands.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review

Alvarez del Vayo

Despite this, daily use is comfortable, The rounded corners prevent the terminal from sinking into the skin as happens with the S24 Ultra and the construction is, as is normal for Samsung, very good. The only thing that can be improved is the back, which feels like plastic and doesn’t have the same hand feel as other cheaper models.

It has IP 68 water and dust resistancesomething that, as with wireless charging, is not usually seen in this product category. There’s no microSD slot or headphone jack, which is also similar to the company’s more expensive models. Yes, we have NFC, Wifi 6E, eSIM, dual-band GPS, etc.

Correct performance

The S FE series generally has significantly lower performance than the Galaxy S in terms of processor. In this case it is also like that since the S24 FE many Samsung Exynos 2400ewhich nevertheless allowed us to achieve very good performances. We expected to have some issues when playing certain titles or reducing performance, but this was not the case.

At all times this terminal behaved as expected and memory was not a problem. We obviously have to take into account if we will need 256 GB internally or if the 128 GB version could be enough. Here it comes into play, never better said, if we like games that take up a lot of space, if we make a lot of videos and we don’t want to save them in Google Photos or on a hard drive. ..

It’s the typical smartphone that will be enough for the vast majority of people but this does not require a payment of more than 1,000 dollars. And we are not just talking about normal profiles, but even demanding profiles, which will have more than enough power for all tasks, including connectivity tasks.

A giant screen

Until now, FEs have been sufficiently contained display terminals. The S24 FE increases its diagonal to 6.7 inches (Resolution of 2,340 x 1,080 px) making this model a large terminal, almost comparable to the S24 Ultra, although much more comfortable in the hand. The quality of the panel continues to be one of its main advantages and Samsung’s hand is evident. Below is the optical fingerprint reader. The screen bezels, although improved, are not symmetrical, with the bottom one being a bit thicker.

This is an OLED screen of great viewing quality, with no less than 1,900 nits of maximum brightness and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. There are some expected improvements, such as being an LTPO panel or having the excellent anti-reflective treatment of the. S24 Ultra, which we didn’t expect either since even the S24 and S24+ don’t have it.

Good triple camera

A section in which There is hardly any change, it’s in the photo.. This model has practically the same cameras as its predecessor, with the same position and resolution although there are small changes in the aperture. He has a 10 MP front sensor which works very well but does not offer the same detail as others from other brands, which already exceed 30 Mpx.

Behind we have a 50MP main sensor, 12MP ultra-wide angle and 8MP 3x optical magnification telephoto lens. We appreciate that Samsung does not include sensors that will not be used, such as blur or macro, but a minimal change in the cameras would also have been appreciated, especially since it is a high-end model. range.

Yes, there are new features in image processing, with a new graphics engine that improves photo rendering. This was especially true in night portraits. In reality Photo quality isn’t bad, but it’s not up to par than what one would expect in a mobile phone costing no less than 750 dollars. There are cheaper terminals with similar cameras. Not to go too far, we haven’t seen many differences with the cameras of a Galaxy S55, for example, and they don’t reach what Google offers in its Pixel 9.

Battery and charging

Samsung It is not one of the brands that bets the most on installing high energy batteries in its cell phones, or on incredibly fast charges. The company, like Apple, is committed to making its phones last as long as possible, and that goes hand in hand with controlling the charging speed.

In this case we have a mobile with 4,700 mAh batteryenough to last a day and arrive at the end with around 15 or 20%. In the tests we carried out, we tested the mobile’s capabilities with games, applications or calls. In addition, thanks to mobile coverage, we listen to streaming music, watch videos and take photos.

Concerning the charging system, by cable we have a 25W maximum speed and 15W wireless. Of course, the charger is not delivered in the box, as is common not only with Samsung, but with most brands, due to European legislation.

Always Android 14

Samsung is one of the companies that takes care of its mobile updates the most. He even managed to force Google to improve its policy so as not to be left behind. And this is not only happening on the most expensive phones, but also on mid-range or mid-range ones. And this is no exception. Samsung Galaxy S24 FE arrives with seven years of updatesbut it also does it with Android 14.

It seems clear that Samsung does not yet have One UI 7 ready with Android 15, despite the fact that brands like VIVO have announced model updates of this system and have even presented three smartphones that come standard with Android 15, the VIVO X200.

Despite arriving with Android 14 The version of One UI that it includes is not the latest, 6.1.1 of the folding ones, but rather 6.1 what we have already seen in the previous S24. And that’s relevant because while we have plenty of Galaxy AI features, there aren’t the latest innovations we tested in this year’s Flip and Fold. Despite this, we cannot say that the system is doing badly, because Samsung has very refined its interface, its customization and, above all, the integration with its ecosystem.

The key part of the software is undoubtedly Galaxy AI. This system not only allows you to modify images using artificial intelligence, but also to have an instant translation system even during calls, to be able to summarize texts, web pages and much more. East the most powerful commitment by any manufacturer to this technology and it shows.

Should I buy it?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is not a bad mobile. It more than meets the requirements in all sections and is a worthy member of the family, even if it is the cheapest model in the family. Well, it is if we look at the launch prices, because currently you can buy a new Samsung Galaxy S24 with 256 GB for around 650 dollars. Or 100 dollars less than this 128 GB model.

It makes no sense to be able to opt for a better mobile phone at a lower price. And something similar happens with the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, which is worse in some aspects, but still a very competent terminal as we saw in its analysis. And its current price is less than 500 dollars for its 128 GB version.

Samsung debe controlar su estrategia de precios, bien en el lanzamiento de los productos o bien a la hora de permitir rebajas tan agresivas, porque pone en peligro el lanzamiento de futuros modelos. Obviamente los terminales más actuales son mejores, se mire como se mire, pero queda ya a discreción de cada potencial comprador sopesar si le compensa pagar más por las ventajas que tienen. Tendría más lógica si los móviles FE se lanzaran en el mismo momento que sus hermanos mayores, a principios de año, lo que implicaría una baja de precios sincronizada que no dejaría descolgado al modelo más económico.