Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Hands-on: Affordable Alternative to the S24+?
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Samsung's Fan Edition enters the next round with the Galaxy S24 FE. The smartphone represents the new lower end of the current S lineup and brings the high-end features to a more affordable price range. Read the first nextpit test of the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE to find out exactly why this only works in theory and what compromises the FE makes compared to the "big" S24.
Good
- Chic, high-quality design
- Potentially very good performance
- Great update policy
Bad
- Confusing Samsung pricing policy
- Slow charging (25 W / 15 W)
Samsung Galaxy S24 FE release date and price
The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE will be available in stores from October 4. You have the choice between two memory variants, each with 8 GB RAM and either 128 or 256 GB RAM. The recommended retail prices start at $650, plus there will be a series of deals when pre-ordering on the Samsung Store and partner retailers.
Design and display
The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE comes in the current Samsung design with the flat frame and the three camera modules on the back. The frame is made of Armour aluminum-just like its larger S-series siblings-and has a correspondingly high-quality feel. The S24 FE definitely gives you the feeling of holding a "real" high-end smartphone in your hands.
The glass on the front and back has been upgraded compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy S23 FE we tested earlier this year: Samsung relies on Gorilla Glass Victus+ instead of Gorilla Glass 5 for the S24 FE. Like its predecessor, the S24 FE also has IP68 certification again.
If you hold the predecessor and successor next to each other, you will notice that the FE has grown by 2024. At 6.7 inches, the display is now at the same level as the S24+—the S23 FE was still 6.4 inches. The smartphone itself has also grown along with the screen, namely by 4 cm in length and 1 cm in width.
The 120 Hz display can now also reduce the refresh rate to up to 1 Hz to save energy. With the S23 FE, the minimum was still 60 Hz. The brightness has also increased by 450 nits to 1900 nits (peak) and 200 nits to 1200 nits (HBM). In the late summer sun in Berlin, this also ensures perfect readability outdoors, although current top smartphones can achieve even more.
Performance and equipment
The Galaxy S24 FE has the same hardware under the hood as the S24 and S24+—at least almost. The Exynos 2400e comes with the "e" suffix.
Like the other current S-class smartphones, the S24 FE also comes with the various AI features of the Galaxy AI, from Circle to Search and AI browsing to the live translator and various camera and image editing features. You can find an overview of the various AI features in our Galaxy AI review.
The battery offers a typical capacity of 4,700 mAh for this smartphone class. However, as always, the charging speed is below average compared to Xiaomi and other Chinese brands: A maximum of 25 W is possible via a cable, wireless charging is available with a maximum of 15 W.
Samsung is really strong again when it comes to Android updates. As with the entire S24 series, the manufacturer promises seven years of Android updates and seven years of security patches. Just a reminder: The predecessor had four and five years respectively.
The last major point concerns the camera. Two thirds of the setup on the back is the same as on the Galaxy S24 and S23 FE with 12 MP in the ultra-wide angle and 50 MP in the main camera. However, the 3x zoom has been reduced to 8 MP—Samsung uses the same camera module here as in the S23 FE.
All in all, you shouldn't expect any major leaps in image quality compared to the predecessor. The selfie camera has also slimmed down slightly compared to the normal S24 with 10 compared to 12 MP and is on a par with the old FE.
Early Verdict
In recent years, the Fan Edition has come dangerously close to the normal base model of the S series in terms of both size and price—at the launch of last year's Fan Edition, the S23 was even cheaper than the new Fan Edition at the time, which made the whole point of the model seem questionable to say the least.
Is it any better this year at the launch of the Fan Edition? At least in the US pricing for the S24 models has been more stable than in previous generations, with neither the S24 nor the S24+ rivaling the S24 FE MSRP, at least as of publishing time.
The only trade-off is that the base mode only offers 128 GB of storage for $650 in 2024, the standard S24 starts at 256 GB which should be the baseline for a flagship model in 2024.
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