The Samsung Galaxy S FE was once a case of ‘don’t want them, but it is now an established early fall release from Samsung that Galaxy fans (especially in North America) are eagerly anticipating.
The 2024 model brings upgrades in display, battery and processing power that in turn opens the door to AI. And now that we’ve spent some time with it, here are our first impressions.
It should come as no surprise that the Galaxy S24FE resembles the Galaxy S24 and S24+. It contains a flat aluminum frame between two layers of Corning Gorilla Victus+. The three independent camera rings on the back and the volume and power buttons on the right are the only protruding items on the phone.
There are four colors to choose from: Graphite, Mint, Yellow and Blue. Samsung opted for a glossy back panel and a matte frame – while the Galaxy S24/S24+ is matte all around – in our opinion a better choice.
The Galaxy S24 FE’s colors are also a bit dull compared to previous S24 models – we would have welcomed a more vibrant selection.
While the 6.4-inch Galaxy S23 FE sat between the 6.1-inch Galaxy S23 and 6.6-inch Galaxy S3+, the 6.7-inch Galaxy S24 FE matches the Galaxy S24+ in size. Technologically speaking, however, the S24+ still has a higher resolution and a more efficient LTPO panel.
The advantages of the Galaxy S24+ over the Galaxy S24 FE go beyond these minor details, but considering the price difference between the two phones, they seem well justified. More about that in the outro.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE works fine. The flat sides provide a comfortable grip and the rounded corners are comfortable for your palms during longer sessions with the phone.
How the Galaxy S24 FE handles
Samsung has bumped up the battery by 200mAh to 4,700mAh, but you’re still stuck with the outdated 25W wired charging speed. There’s also 15W wireless. The Galaxy S24+ is again superior with a 4,900mAh power pack that can theoretically charge faster at 45W, although it’s not a huge difference from Samsung’s charging curves.
There’s only one chipset choice with this year’s FE: the 4nm Exynos 2400e. That is a slightly different chip than what the international Galaxy S24+ gets: the Exynos 2400. The main difference is that the top-notch Cortex-X4 core reaches no less than 3.1 GHz, instead of 3.2 GHz on the regular chip. The other CPU clusters are the same: 2x Cortex-A720 @ 2.90GHz, 3x A720 @ 2.59GHz and 4x A520 @ 1.96GHz. We have a special benchmark test of the Galaxy S24 FE here.
Rather cruelly, Samsung has limited the Galaxy S24 FE to 8GB of RAM – the Plus goes up to 12GB. This would make some difference in daily speed and multitasking. Still, we’d expect the Galaxy S24 FE to be just as capable as the Galaxy S24+ for most purposes.
The odds and the end
Samsung has kept the camera system unchanged from last year’s Galaxy S3 FE, but used the new chipset to bring the ProVisual Engine from the flagship S24 series – it brings Nightography, the object-aware engine that optimizes colors in Super HDR, and 2x better quality photos.
We expect great shots from all four cameras on the Galaxy S24 FE, but would like to see if it differs from the Galaxy S24+. The two have very similar overall camera specs, with different 3x zoom modules: an 8MP 75mm telephoto on the Galaxy S24 FE and a 10MP 67mm camera on the S24+.
The Galaxy S24 FE is available from today. In the US it starts from $650, while in Europe it is €750, both for the 8/128 GB model. In USA, the base model S24 FE is priced at INR 59,999.
This means that the Galaxy S24 FE is either a very interesting proposition or a phone that no one should buy – depending on the region. In Europe you’re better off buying the Galaxy S24+, which has dropped in price and is so close to the Galaxy S24 FE that you should just buy it. The Plus has more RAM, a larger battery, a better display and a nicer casing.
However, in USA and the United States, the Galaxy S24 FE is priced significantly lower than the Galaxy S24+ and is an excellent entry into the high-end world of Samsung Galaxy. You get almost all the performance, all the smart features, a nearly identical look and feel, and a great starting price.