Everyone’s calling the Galaxy S24 FE a “value flagship.” The numbers say it’s a value problem.
Design: S24+ Looks, Slightly Heavier Body
The Galaxy S24 FE is essentially an S24+ in silhouette. You get Samsung’s now-standard triple individual camera rings, flat metal frame, and two glass slabs. The front is Gorilla Glass Victus+, while the rear drops to Gorilla Glass 5 instead of the newer Victus 2 used on the S24+. The frame is aluminum with a brushed matte finish.
Dimensions come in at 162 x 77.3 x 8mm and 213g, making it about 3mm taller, a bit wider, and 15g heavier than the S24+. Like past FE models, it’s thicker and heavier than Samsung’s flagships, but still feels solid and put-together. IP68 dust and water resistance is here, so it keeps the full “flagship-lite” durability badge.
Samsung sticks with a glossy rear panel on the S24 FE, in Graphite, Mint, Yellow, and Blue. The finish is a fingerprint magnet but actually improves grip compared to a very slick matte back. The flat frame, on the other hand, doesn’t add much grip on its own, though it does stay mostly smudge-free.
Design-wise, this is familiar territory. If you liked the S23 FE or S24+ look, you’ll be fine with this. Just don’t expect any throwback “fan” touches like a microSD slot—that era is gone.
Display: Big, Bright, But Not LTPO
The headline change from the S23 FE is on the front: a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, now matching the S24+ in size. Resolution is 1,080 x 2,340 (around 385ppi), with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support. Protection is Gorilla Glass Victus+.
Samsung quotes 1,900 nits peak brightness. In testing, automatic brightness reached about 1,372 nits, which is in the same ballpark as the S24+. Manual brightness, however, is capped much lower at about 470 nits, and there’s no “Extra brightness” toggle that you’ll find on other Galaxy models. Minimum brightness drops to a very low 1.8 nits, which is good for night use.
There’s a clear cost-saving move here: this is a standard non-LTPO panel. Motion Smoothness offers two modes: Adaptive (up to 120Hz, drops to 60Hz for idle and non-HFR apps like Camera and Maps) and Standard (locked at 60Hz). You don’t get the fine-grained, very low refresh-rate behavior of LTPO.
Side by side with the S24+, the FE’s bezels are noticeably thicker. But in typical Samsung fashion, color, contrast and HDR10+ playback in apps like Netflix are handled well. The real compromise is efficiency and flexibility, not core image quality.
Performance and Connectivity: Exynos 2400e Muscle, With a Catch
Inside, the Galaxy S24 FE runs Samsung’s Exynos 2400e on a 4nm process. The CPU layout is the same 10-core setup as the Exynos 2400 in the S24/S24+: 1x Cortex-X4, 5x Cortex-A720, and 2x Cortex-A520, just with slightly lower clocks (the X4 tops out at 3.1GHz instead of 3.2GHz). The GPU is the same AMD RDNA 3-based Xclipse 940.
RAM is fixed at 8GB of LPDDR5X, paired with either 128GB or 256GB of UFS storage depending on region. There’s no higher 12GB RAM option, and no microSD.
In benchmarks, the Exynos 2400e pushes the S24 FE near the top of performance charts, qualifying as genuinely flagship-grade on raw numbers. The issue is sustained performance: stress tests show around 52% CPU stability and 50% GPU stability under prolonged heavy load. The phone never gets truly hot, just warm, but performance does sag to about half of its peak after more than 10 minutes of maxed-out stress.
For typical real-world scenarios—social, browsing, photography, lighter gaming—this isn’t going to be a deal-breaker. But anyone expecting long, maxed-out sessions in heavier 3D titles should be aware this is more of a sprint runner than a marathoner.
Connectivity is mostly on-brand flagship-lite. You get:
– SA/NSA Sub-6 5G
– Dual-band Wi‑Fi 6e (though not all regions get the 6GHz band; US models do)
– Bluetooth 5.3 with LE
– NFC
– Dual-SIM options (single and dual nano-SIM variants, both with eSIM support)
The USB-C port supports USB 3.2 Gen 1 (up to 5 Gbps), DP video output over Type‑C, OTG, and Samsung DeX. There’s no FM radio, no 3.5mm jack, and no UWB.
One hardware decision stands out for the wrong reason: Samsung is still using a virtual proximity sensor. Even if the implementation works decently, it’s simply less accurate than a real hardware sensor and feels out of place on a phone pitched as near-flagship.
Software and Galaxy AI: 7 Years, With a Footnote
The S24 FE ships with Android 14 and One UI 6.1. Timing is awkward with Android 15 close, but Samsung offsets that with long-term support: seven OS upgrades and seven years of security patches. That puts the FE on the same software lifespan as the main S24 series.
One UI 6.1 here is the full fat version, including DeX and Samsung’s Galaxy AI suite:
– Circle to Search (long-press home, circle on screen to search)
– Live Translate for calls, including some third‑party apps
– Interpreter mode for in-person translation
– Composer in Samsung Keyboard for auto-generating emails and posts from prompts
– Note Assist for formatting, transcription, summarization and PDF translation
However, Samsung’s own press materials include a clear warning: “Fees may apply to certain AI features at the end of 2025.” The company has already said Galaxy AI will be free until the end of 2025 on supported devices. After that, parts of this feature set could be locked behind a paywall.
So you’re getting full AI features now, but you’re also buying into an ecosystem where some of that may become subscription-like in the future.
Security and biometrics are handled by an optical in-display fingerprint reader—fast and reliable in use, but a step down from the ultrasonic sensors on the S24 flagships.
Cameras: Flagship-Level Main, Familiar Compromises Elsewhere
On the back, the S24 FE sticks to a triple-camera layout that looks nearly identical to the S23 FE’s, but with some sensor swaps.
Rear cameras:
– 50MP main (Samsung ISOCELL GN3, 1/1.57″, 1.0µm, f/1.8, OIS, dual-pixel PDAF)
– 8MP 3x telephoto (Omnivision OV08A10, 1/4.4″, 1.0µm, f/2.4, OIS, PDAF)
– 12MP ultrawide (Samsung S5K3L6, 13mm, f/2.2, fixed focus)
Front camera:
– 10MP selfie (Samsung S5K3J1, 1/3″, 1.22µm, f/2.4, fixed focus)
The main GN3 sensor has been used across the S22, S23, and S24, and the results here line up with that history. In daylight, binned 12MP shots show high detail, slightly boosted but mostly accurate colors, and good—if not class-leading—dynamic range and contrast. Noise is present on some surfaces but not in a distracting way. Portraits look natural with convincing background blur.
Switching to full 50MP mode trades storage space for slightly cleaner detail. There is also a 2x digital zoom toggle using the main sensor, which holds up fine with minimal extra noise and softness.
The 3x telephoto produces sharp, detailed 12MP images (upscaled from the 8MP sensor), with good color matching to the main camera and competent dynamic range. Noise is present but manageable. The ultrawide is very wide, with decent detail and minimal corner softness, but some fish-eye distortion remains and there’s no autofocus.
The 10MP selfie camera, reused from older Galaxy S generations, still delivers clean, sharp selfies with solid skin tones and good dynamic range, though the lack of autofocus limits flexibility.
In low light, the main camera holds up with good detail, contrast and dynamic range, but noise levels rise. The auto night mode already does some lifting, yet the dedicated Night mode is where you really clean things up—at the cost of longer capture times. The same pattern applies to the 3x telephoto and ultrawide: decent baseline low‑light results, but clearly better with Night mode enabled, especially in terms of noise reduction, even if sharpening can look a bit aggressive on ultrawide shots.
Selfies at night remain usable and fairly detailed, but Night mode doesn’t add much.
Video is a strong point. The main camera now supports up to 8K at 30fps (a bump over the S23 FE’s 8K24), plus 4K at 120fps. By default, the phone records in HEVC (H.265), with roughly 41 Mbps for 4K video and stereo 48 kHz AAC audio; you can switch to AVC (H.264) if you want broader compatibility. High-bitrate mode is available but doesn’t visibly transform quality.
4K footage from the main camera is clean, sharp, and detailed, with accurate color and almost no noise, though dynamic range could be wider. 2x and 3x zoom videos look very close in quality, with only mild softness and some dynamic range challenges on the telephoto. Stabilization works up to 4K and is effective, with a Super Steady mode using the ultrawide at up to QHD for more aggressive smoothing.
In low light, video quality stays high across all cameras, with no major complaints.
Battery, Charging, and Audio: Adequate, Not Ambitious
Power comes from a 4,700mAh battery—bigger than the 4,500mAh in the S23 FE but slightly smaller than the S24+ pack. Active Use Score lands at about 11 hours and 48 minutes, which is solid but not class-leading. Web browsing looks mediocre relative to some rivals but still an improvement over the S23 FE; call, video, and gaming runtimes are competitive.
Charging is limited to 25W wired and up to 15W wireless, plus reverse wired and reverse wireless charging. There’s no charger in the box—just a USB‑C cable and SIM ejector. With a 25W USB-PD charger, you can expect roughly:
– 0–30% in 15 minutes
– 56% in 30 minutes
– 90% in 60 minutes
– 100% in around 70 minutes
That’s in line with other 25W Samsung phones: fine, but lagging badly behind competitors offering 80W, 100W, or 120W.
Battery Protection offers three modes—Basic, Adaptive, and Maximum (limits to 80%)—to manage long-term battery health. It’s a useful set of options given the promised seven-year lifespan.
Audio is handled by a hybrid stereo setup: the earpiece doubles as a secondary speaker, with a fuller main speaker at the bottom. Loudness performance is rated “Very Good,” with some bass and strong vocals, though highs could be more present. Tuning and left-right balance are competent for this class.
Pricing and Competition: The S24+ Problem
This is where the FE story gets complicated. Pricing at launch:
– 8GB/128GB: about €750 / £650 / $650
– 8GB/256GB: about €810 / £700 / $700 / INR 58,000
On paper, those are reasonable numbers for a phone with flagship-grade SoC performance, IP68, wireless charging, a solid triple camera, and seven years of updates.
In reality, the internal competition is brutal. A 256GB Galaxy S24 FE sits around €810 / £700 / $700. A 256GB Galaxy S24+ can often be found for roughly €790 / £740 / $760. That means with a bit of shopping, the S24+ is only slightly more expensive—or sometimes basically the same price.
The S24+ gives you:
– Victus 2 glass and a more premium overall build
– Higher-resolution, brighter LTPO display
– 12GB RAM and 256GB UFS 4.0 in the base model
– Autofocus on the selfie camera
– 45W wired charging
– A slightly larger battery
– UWB and wired DP output (both supported on S24 FE as well for DP)
Both share the same long software support window. On spec balance, the S24+ simply looks like the stronger deal if you can stretch or find it at a discount.
Externally, several rivals sit in the same ballpark. The Xiaomi 14T Pro, for instance, brings IP68, an arguably better and brighter Dolby Vision display, a Dimensity 9300+ chipset, 5,000mAh battery, and much faster 120W wired charging with wireless support. vivo’s V40 Pro (where available) offers a camera-heavy package with triple 50MP rear sensors, a 50MP AF selfie, large 5,500mAh battery, 80W charging, and a premium IP68/IP69 build.
Against that backdrop, the S24 FE holds its own as a competent all-rounder, but it’s not obviously the value leader.
Verdict: Strong All-Rounder, Waiting on Price Drops
The Galaxy S24 FE is a very complete Android phone: good 6.7-inch AMOLED, strong Exynos 2400e performance, capable triple camera system, wireless charging, DeX, IP68, and a rare seven years of OS and security support. There are no glaring functional gaps beyond the usual Samsung compromises: 25W charging, no microSD, no headphone jack, and a stubborn virtual proximity sensor.
But the FE badge doesn’t automatically make this the obvious buy. With the S24+ sitting uncomfortably close in price while outclassing it on display tech, RAM, storage speed, charging, and front camera hardware, the S24 FE feels like a phone that needs a few months of discounts to really make sense.
If you want a big Samsung with long support, wireless charging, and don’t care about having the very best screen, charging, or sustained performance, the S24 FE will do the job quietly and effectively. If you’re already price-hunting in this bracket, the smarter move is probably to watch S24+ deals—or wait for the inevitable FE price drop.
Stay tuned to IntoDroid for more Android updates.