The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE continues Samsung's trend of releasing an affordable alternative to its flagship devices. And like all the ‘Fan Edition’ phones, compromises have been made to reach the lower price point.
It's easy to compare the S24 FE with the other S24’s and look at what’s missing or isn’t quite as good. The display isn’t as bright, it doesn’t look and feel as premium, the fingerprint sensor isn’t as accurate and the cameras have slightly lower megapixel counts. But these are minor.
It's not until you look at what it does have, that you realise how good this offering is. It has a decent 120Hz screen, a long-lasting battery, a powerful Exynos 2400e processor for gaming and compatibility with Galaxy AI and it has all this for $250 less than the S24 (at the time of writing).
If you’re looking for a device that has most of the features of a flagship device, without the flagship cost, this is one of the best on the market.
How is the S24 FE different from the S24?
To achieve the lower price point, some features in the S24 FE have been scaled back or downgraded. However, there isn't much that sets the S24 FE apart from the S24 - the differences are minimal, and in some cases, the S24 FE even outperforms the flagship model, which is impressive considering the former is cheaper.
The most noticeable difference between the two is the size, with the S24 FE being larger and heavier than the S24. While the displays are nearly identical, the S24 FE features a bigger 6.7-inch screen that's slightly less sharp and not as bright.
The camera setup is very similar, though the S24 FE has lower megapixel counts on both the telephoto and selfie cameras. Additionally, the S24 FE uses an optical fingerprint sensor, which is slower and less responsive compared to the ultrasonic sensor found in the flagship S24.
Both phones utilise the Exynos 2400 processor, however the FE uses a slightly less powerful 2400e version (you won’t notice the difference), and the FE has a 4,700mAh battery, whereas the S24’s is 4,000mAh.
Design
The S24 FE is big, and it doesn’t look or feel as premium as the other S24 devices. Measuring 162.05 x 77.22 x 7.87mm it’s closer to the S24 Ultra in size than the 147.07 x 70.61 x 7.62mm S24. If you don’t like big phones, you’d be better off with the smaller S24.
It features a glass back and an aluminium frame and is available in four colours: Mint, Blue, Black and Grey. The colours are bland especially when the S24 comes in seven colours - Blue, Green, Orange, Violet, Yellow, Black and Silver.
The overall look is a bit dated, with the colour being limited to the back panel while the aluminium frame remains silver. This detracts from the premium feel where the entire phone is one colour. Just from looking at it, you know this isn’t a flagship device, which is a shame.
The front display is made of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ so it should survive scratches and smashes, although you’re always better off with a case like the Otterbox Defender.
The finger sensor is a little slow and the accuracy can be a bit frustrating. It takes a while for it to recognise the print and occasionally you will have to move your finger around a couple of times to get the sweet spot. Not a biggie.
Display
The display is a 6.7-inch, 2340 x 1080 AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support. It’s very good. Navigation is smooth and to conserve battery you can set it to 60Hz.
Unfortunately, it isn’t very bright, peaking at 1900 nits, meaning it can be hard to see when in direct sunlight. It also doesn’t have an adaptive refresh rate, which will automatically change depending on usage in order to save battery, but you shouldn’t expect this in a mid-range phone, and I found the battery easily lasted a day without it.
Cameras
The camera array is very good for a phone at this price, but there is definitely a noticeable difference in quality when comparing images taken with more expensive premium models.
It has a three-camera array, a 50MP, f/1.8 main lens with optical image stabilisation, a 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide lens and an 8MP, f/2.4 telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The highlight here is the telephoto lens. This is something not often offered in devices at this price. The optical zoom means you can take crisp and clear photos when zoomed in, something usually reserved for phones over $1,500.
The night photography is hit and miss and often the end result wasn’t great. Samsung claims its ProVisual Engine allows for great night/dark photography. I found this to be true, but only when the conditions were perfect. For my subject to look good in a dark environment I had to ensure they were lit up in order to separate them from the background. Otherwise, they just blend into the darkness.
I also noticed that the images didn’t always accurately represent what I was seeing with my eyes. Typically, Samsung devices generate an oversaturated image, for example greens are much greener than what they are in real life. The S24 FE continues this trend.
On the front there’s a 10MP, f/2.4 selfie lens. It does a good job separating the subject from the background in portrait mode, but like the main array it does oversaturate the photos. However, you might like that look and if so, it's fine.
The cameras support Super HDR making brighter areas brighter and darker areas darker and for videography you can film in 4K at 30 frames per second (fps), as well as 60fps and even 8K, at 30fps.
Software
The S24 FE uses the Android 14 operating system (OS) with One UI 6.1 on top. If you’ve ever used a Samsung device, all the tools and features you’d expect are here, like DeX, Edge Panels and multitasking. It works well.
It’s compatible with Galaxy AI meaning you’ll be able to use features like Sketch to Image, where you can quickly draw something with your finger and the AI will turn it into a picture. There’s also Circle to Search, Portrait Studio, Translate, Interpreter and a whole lot more. The best feature is the AI powered photo editing. You can remove objects in the background, make objects look larger or smaller and so much more.
The good news is a lot of these AI calculations are cloud based meaning the less powerful Exynos 2400e doesn’t have a bearing on how quickly or effectively these AI features work. This means the AI capabilities on the S24 FE are the same as the S24 and even the S24 Ultra, they work just as well, although it is hard to draw without a stylus.
It is important to know though that these features do require a data connection to work. That means you’ll need an internet connection to use them.
Performance
The S24 FE uses the Exynos 2400e processor. Our Geekbench 6 CPU tests showed the device achieved a single-core score of 2147 and a multi-core score of 6674. These are very good results for a device at this price.
The single-core score reflects smooth handling of everyday tasks like browsing and app use, while the multi-core score shows it can handle more demanding activities, like gaming and multitasking, with ease.
We also ran a 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme test. This measures a device's GPU performance by simulating demanding graphics tasks, such as 3D gaming and rendering high-quality visuals. It pushes the device’s graphics processor to its limits, providing a score that reflects how well it handles intensive workloads, including high frame rates, advanced lighting effects and detailed textures.
The S24 FE achieved a score of 3890 with an average FPS of 23.29. This is decent but not top tier performance. The phone can handle most games and graphically demanding apps, but you may experience some stuttering or lower frame rates in the most intensive 3D games or at the highest settings.
Battery
The S24 FE has a 4,700mAh battery, which will get you around 16 hours of juice at moderate usage, like browsing social media, or surfing the web. If you’re gaming or performing resource intensive tasks, this will decline quite a bit to around 10-11 hours.
It supports 25W wired charging that will allow you to get 50% of your battery with a 30-minute charge. It also supports 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging so you can charge your headphones or smartwatch on the back of the phone.
Annoyingly, it doesn't come with a charging brick, just a USB-C to USB-C cable.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE offers great value, delivering much of what the S24 does at a lower price.
While there are a few downgrades in areas like display brightness and camera resolution, the differences are minor, and the overall performance remains solid.
It’s less premium design and slower fingerprint sensor may be noticeable, but for the price, the S24 FE still stands out as an excellent option for those wanting flagship-like features without the flagship cost.
