Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Full Galaxy AI at a lower cost

Best prices today: Samsung Galaxy S24 FE

$549.99

When prices of the Galaxy S series started to skyrocket, Samsung decided a few years ago to release a stripped-down version, with all the key features and the latest software, at a more reasonable price. They called them FE, which is short for Fan Edition.

The timing was a bit odd at times, they tended to arrive just before the release of the best phones of the new year. The Galaxy S23 FE went on sale in November 2023, before its successor arrived almost a year later.

But is it good? I tested the Galaxy S24 FE to find out.

Design and build

The Galaxy S24 FE is heavier and slightly larger than the already sturdy Galaxy S24+. It has the same screen size – 6.7 inches – so the extra millimeters are for a simpler device that doesn't have the same thin screen bezels.

Matthias Inghé

Build quality is still high, with an aluminum frame and glass fronts and backs. There's Gorilla Glass Victus Plus on the display and Gorilla Glass 5 on the back instead of Victus 2, so the aluminum chassis isn't the very durable type used in the S24+.

This makes it slightly less resistant to scratches and scuffs, but it's still better than many other high-end mobiles. Of course, you also get dust and water resistance with an IP68 rating.

Specifications and performance

The system circuit is a completely new variant, the Samsung Exynos 2400e, which is very similar to the Exynos 2400 from the S24 and S24+ in Europe, but it has a slightly lower clock frequency on some cores.

That seems to be the only difference, and it's so small as to not be crucial. It's the same graphics, the same connectivity support and the same NPU.

In short, it's true premium performance. Even though it does not provide record numbers in any benchmark, it is not lagging behind. The circuit seems slightly harder to overheat than the S24+, but this may also be due to the chassis design and internal cooling solution.

With a powerful NPU providing equal power for the S24 Series' many AI features, it's simply a matter of giving thanks and receiving. You don't lose any of them here, except for the Notes-specific features you only get on the S24 Ultra and the latest Galaxy S10+ and S10 Ultra tablets.

Display

The 6.7-inch screen is a 1080p AMOLED that doesn't quite reach the sharpness and maximum brightness of the higher-end models, but it doesn't make a fool of itself.

The good anti-reflective protection of the screen surface and Samsung's Vision Booster technology for its maximum brightness of 1,900 cd/m2 mean that there is never a problem with readability in direct sunlight, even if the image will be less attractive for video display.

But it's certainly a downgrade from the S24+, which offers 2,600 cd/m2 resolution, 1,440p, and true LTPO technology to control the screen refresh rate. It's still dynamic here, although it can only automatically switch between 60 and 120 Hz rather than going all the way down to 1 Hz.

Matthias Inghé

Battery life and charging

You can also set the display to a fixed frequency of 60Hz, but why would you do that? This doesn't save enough battery to be conclusive – I get the same results in my battery life measurements in both modes.

What rather disadvantages the Galaxy S24 FE is that the battery is actually smaller, 4,700 mAh compared to 4,900 mAh in the S24 Plus. Something else must also affect the power consumption, because here it is higher, and in active work the battery lasts 13 hours instead of 16.

Is he undernourished? Not at all, and in more sporadic use with periods in the pocket, a few photos during the day and video streaming in the evening, it can still last a few days between two charges. Overall, Samsung and the One UI system do a good job of saving power.

However, charging is questionable: at best you can get up to 25W via USB-C and you have to, as usual, provide your own compatible charger.

Both of my 65W universal chargers end up being just under 25W and the result is patience-testing semi-fast charging. Without a charger in the box or good in-store advice on finding a suitable charger (not even on Samsung's own online store), there may be problems getting the right charging speed.

I don't understand why this should be so difficult. No manufacturer is consumer-friendly in this area. Now I get almost as fast battery charging wirelessly. So the S24 FE supports up to 15W. And yes, it supports reverse charging so you can charge your Galaxy Buds on it.

Matthias Inghé

Cameras

The third big thing that's being reduced is the cameras. At least a few of them, the zoom on the back and the selfie camera, have smaller sensors, 8Mp instead of 10.

The wide angle with its 12Mp and the 50Mp of the main camera therefore seem to correspond to the S24 and S24+. I don't notice any difference in the final result of the photos, which in daylight give good white balance, plenty of dynamic range and accurate colors, including natural skin tones.

The three lenses on the back match on this point, and as long as I don't zoom digitally beyond the 3x I get optically with the zoom lens, shooting is sharp and easy.

In evening light, I have occasional issues with vague noise in dark areas, and even color balance can be thrown off with wide-angle and zoom cameras. All three cameras lose some detail, but as long as you don't zoom in too much in post-processing, photos look sharp.

The camera shoots stably with reliable color and light management and smooth autofocus. You can shoot up to 120Hz in 4k and it can also capture 8k video. However, I wouldn't recommend making a habit of it, both modes are extremely draining on the battery. The phone's microphones are high quality and the smart noise cancellation does a good job.

Pricing and availability

The Galaxy S24 FE starts at £649 in the UK, where it is available from Samsung and Amazon,

By contract, it is available on the following networks:

In the US, the phone starts at $549.99 and can be found at Samsung and Amazon. On contract, see below:

Should you buy the Galaxy S24 FE?

In this review I compared a lot to the S24+, as the S24 FE seems mostly based on it. And the list of compromises to keep prices low is long, but not extreme.

There are a lot of little things that don't make a significant difference in everyday life, like slightly worse cameras, slightly lower performance, and an optical fingerprint reader instead of the faster ultrasonic reader .

Samsung

But also others that can determine more, such as battery life, darker screen and even larger dimensions, higher weight and no option with a lot of storage. But since you don't have to pay as much for it, it might be worth it, especially if you want to get the full Galaxy AI experience without buying a flagship.