Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Every bit as good as Samsung’s flagship

For years now, Samsung has been releasing its ‘Fan Edition’ phones several months after its flagship models — and at a lower price, too. With the Galaxy S24 FE, however, it bucks the trend because I think it actually stands on the same pedestal as the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus.

Last year’s Galaxy S23 FE failed to stand out, but you’ll see how Samsung redeems itself in a bigger way this time in my Galaxy S24 FE review. For a phone that costs $649, it's chock-full of the same rich features I’ve been enjoying with the S24 Plus for nearly 9 months now, including the handy set of Galaxy AI features that Samsung debuted earlier this year.

Now that it’s here, the biggest challenge facing Samsung is how the Galaxy S24 FE is stealing the magic from its flagship line.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Specifications

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Price and release date

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE went on sale starting on October 3, 2024, with a starting price of $649. That one comes with 128GB of storage, but you can opt to get one with 256GB for a little more at $709.

These prices undercut the Galaxy S24’s $799 cost, but I think it lines up more with the larger Galaxy S24 Plus — which starts at an even higher $999 cost. Naturally, the S24 FE has an inherent advantage here not only because it’s cheaper, but how it comes packed with nearly the same set of features.

You’ll also have five colors to choose from: blue, graphite, gray, mint, and yellow. Usually you don't have as many options as this, so kudos to Samsung for offering them.

Galaxy S24 FE: for $649 @ Samsung
Up to $400 off w/ trade-in The Galaxy S24 FE features a brilliant looking 6.7-inch AMOLED display, Exynos 2400e chip, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, and 4,700 mAh battery. It also has a decent triple camera system that consists of a 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, and 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. But best of all, the software is packed full of stuff that caters to power users, including the same set of Galaxy AI features found in the pricier Galaxy S24 flagship models.

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Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Design

Even though I personally think Samsung’s designs are stale, there’s consolation that the Galaxy S24 FE receives the same level of attention as Samsung’s flagship models. Meaning, it features the same glass meets metal trim construction that the series is known for — complete with the same IP68 water and dust resistant rating.

On the back, the triple cameras prominently protrude out with each lens outlined by a thick metal bezel. It adopts the same design language as the flagship line, so in that sense, I suppose there are no trade-offs with the overall design — but it’s not as charming as, say, the Pixel 9 lineup.

The blue color option of my Galaxy S24 FE review unit can be hard to distinguish, but that soft shade of blue is more exposed at the right angle. Honestly, I’m just glad there are at least options besides white and black.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Display

In our Galaxy S23 FE review, my colleague Philip Michael said he wasn’t that opposed to the display, but he did note that it wasn’t “as punchy as the Samsung S23 when it comes to colors.” Well, I’m happy to report that Samsung has done the panel justice this time because I’d argue that the colors are just as rich and polarizing as they are with the S24 Plus.

Frankly, the 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display looks dreamy due to how it shines with a brilliance that produces colors that catch the eye. It also has the same benefits as the AMOLED screens that grace the flagship line, like how it replicates that deep black color that can fool you to believe the screen’s off, its wide viewing angles, and high contrast look.

Even more impressive is that the Galaxy S24 FE delivers a brighter screen in our testing at a peak brightness output of 1,516 nits. By comparison, the S24 and S24 Plus reached 1,416 and 1,396 nits respectively. I didn’t think a cheaper phone like this would have a brighter screen, but it’s noticeable when I play the same 4K HDR video outside.

Rounding out the experience is the display’s 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. I just love seeing that silky smooth animation with the icons in the app panel as I’m scrolling through it, along with how smoother it looks whenever I’m playing a game.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Cameras

Keeping it relatively tight in terms of features, Samsung keeps nearly the same camera system I’ve seen with the S24. The Galaxy S24 FE’s triple camera arrangement consists of a 50MP main snapper, 12MP ultrawide, and 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom. Meanwhile, there’s a pinhole sized cutout on the screen for its 10MP selfie camera.

Confident shooters will surely love the rich camera app of the Galaxy S24 FE, which is yet identical to the flagship S24 line — complete with manual modes for photos and videos, as well as support for 8K video recording. It’s the kind of thing I don’t mind using as a backup or b-roll camera, mainly because I can dial in the settings to match my mirrorless camera.

Impressively, this camera system rocks, but the star of the show is the main camera’s adaptability to shoot just about anything with good results. Even though it’s no iPhone 16 Pro Max killer, it holds up well against some of the best camera phones out there — like the OnePlus 12, which I shot similar photos with just to compare.

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Take a look at these shots above of one of the entrances to Bryant Park in New York City. I’m utterly astounded by how similar it is to the OnePlus 12’s snapshot, which matches it in detail and dynamic range. Usually high contrast scenes such as this can be problematic, but the S24 FE manages to dial down the highlights and boost the shadows to deliver a picturesque scene.

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With that same vantage point, I also snapped a few telephoto pictures of the American Radiator Building in the far back. At 3x optical zoom, the S24 FE captures a fair amount of detail around the building, but it’s clearly lacking the definition in the brickwork — which is more noticeable the more I zoom into the photo.

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Although it lacks a dedicated macro mode, the Galaxy S24 FE still does nicely with closeups. All of these flowers in the gallery above that I shot have outstanding sharpness and detail. While it can’t get as close compared to other phones, the punchy color tones it produces elevates the photos.

The only shortcoming I found in my testing was the 10MP selfie camera, which all too often can’t handle bright areas. In fact, it overexposes those areas in my selfie shot above. And it doesn’t help either that the details around my face are much softer.

I do like how the S24 FE handles portrait shots. Not only does it isolate the focus on me, but I do love how it even manages to blur out the portion of my arm that’s closest to the camera.

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And finally, the Galaxy S24 FE's low light performance is good, but not great. On one hand, it certainly brightens up the scene better than the OnePlus 12, but it was more susceptible to blurring the shot if I don’t keep my hand very still. You can see it in these shots above of the tree in my backyard.

Galaxy S24 FE: Sample video (4K, 30 fps) - YouTube

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I really wouldn’t mind using the Galaxy S24 FE for video. In the test sample video I shot by Times Square, it manages to handle extreme light conditions in the frame. There’s good detail from the 4K 30fps clip. Although, it definitely gets softer and a tiny bit noisier when I switch to the ultrawide. And while its 3x optical zoom is there to get me closer, I really wouldn’t go beyond 10x zoom because that’s when the definition drops.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Performance

Arguably the biggest difference between the Galaxy S24 FE and its flagship kin is that it leverages an Exynos 2400e chip — rather than a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Benchmark testing scores corroborate the obvious here that it doesn’t exceed the performance of Qualcomm’s chip.

Geekbench 6 scores for the Galaxy S24 FE average to about 2,161 and 6,836 with single and multi core testing respectively. Actually, these scores are close to what the Snapdragon delivers, but they’re technically lower. I’m quite pleased with the Galaxy S24 FE’s performance since it handles all of my usual tasks with ease, like surfing the web and the occasional social media crawl. Apps open up with ease and animations are just as smooth as they are with the S24 series.

Similarly, the Galaxy S24 FE's graphics processing performance is a smidge behind with an average frame rate of 86.63 fps with 3DMark’s Wild Life Unlimited test. This isn’t terrible, but it’s clearly behind the 120+ fps rates delivered by the S24 and S24 Plus. Although, I’m quite surprised that much like its siblings, the Galaxy S24 SE offers support for ray-tracing. I loaded up Diablo Immortal and Age of Origins, and even when there was intensive action happening, these games remained playable.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Battery life

While it matches the S24 Plus with its display, the S24 FE packs a slightly smaller 4,700 mAh battery. Qualcomm’s flagship chipset is clearly more power efficient because running the same battery drain test, the Galaxy S24 FE clocked in a best time of 11 hours and 25 minutes. That’s way shorter than the 16 hours and 32 minutes clocked in by the S24 Plus, which seemingly confirms that the Exynos 2400e isn’t as power efficient.

Since I’m a power user and more demanding of my phones, it’s the kind of thing I kept on charging around the middle of the afternoon because its battery would often be under 50% capacity. Samsung claims that the S24 FE can get up to 50% charge in about 30 mins with a 25W adapter. We saw a fairly impressive 53% in that same amount of time. Furthermore, I’m quite pleased to find that the S24 FE offers 15W wireless charging as well.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Software

What really makes the Galaxy S24 FE compelling is how it benefits from the same rich experience I’ve already seen with the entire Galaxy S24 line. Samsung’s One UI 6.1 runs on top of Android 14, offering the same level of customization and functionality as its top-of-the-line models.

As you’d expect, it’s big on productivity with similar features such as Edge Panels that lets me run a third app on top of two others running in split-screen mode. But what makes the experience even more satisfying is that it’s accompanied by Galaxy AI features. These consist of Interpreter Mode for quick translation, Circle to Search to Google anything on my screen, Chat Assist to change my writing style, Note Assist to summarize long voice recordings, and the host of photo editing tools at my disposal.

In fact, the Galaxy S24 FE gains the same new Galaxy AI features introduced on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 — like Sketch to Image and Portrait Studio. These are in addition to other staple Galaxy AI features such as Instant Slow-Mo and Generative Edit, which I’ve found to be pretty good at what they do.

There’s certainly a lot to unpack with the Galaxy S24 FE’s software, but what I’m also happy to know is that it’s the cheapest new Galaxy to come with Samsung DeX. I’ve previously ditched my laptop for a couple of weeks using DeX on a Galaxy Z Fold 6, and it’s no different here with the S24 FE. It truly is like having a computer in my pocket because of the desktop-like interface it offers when connected to a monitor.

And to top it all off, the Galaxy S24 FE gets treated to the same 7 years of major software and security updates support that Samsung gives its premier S24 phones. You really won’t find a more functional phone at this price.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Verdict

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For the amount of savings you’re getting with the Galaxy S24 FE, it begs the question if you’re overpaying for the Galaxy S24 or S24 Plus. I believe you are given that the S24 FE lines up more to the Galaxy S24 Plus given its size. Functionally, you’re getting the same software and experience with the Galaxy S24 FE — but at $350 less.

This is a big improvement for the series, especially when its design, cameras, and display are elevated over its predecessor. The only area where it lags behind is battery life, which is average compared to everything else, but still comes up short against its flagship kin. I’m okay with this shortcoming, especially when it matches (and even exceeds) its sibling in every other area.

I would argue the Galaxy S24 FE is one of the best values you’ll find in a phone this year. And this would be the first time I’d claim that for an ‘FE’ phone.

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