Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: more niche-filler than necessity

Introduction

They don’t yet have the lineage of Samsung’s Galaxy S flagships, but the firm’s Fan Edition mid-range phones have now become an annual occurrence. The Galaxy S24 FE is the latest, taking most of the things I loved about January’s mainline models – including a healthy dollop of Galaxy AI – and being a bit more modest with the spec sheet in the name of (modest) cost-saving.

It’s the same formula Samsung used for the outgoing Galaxy S23 FE, except a larger screen and beefier battery mean the new iteration is more in keeping with the Galaxy S24+ than the pocket-friendly Galaxy S24. Which is handy, seeing how recent price reductions have already brought the vanilla S24 more into mid-range territory.

Launching at £649, the Galaxy S24 FE might be leaning too heavily into the ‘premium’ bit of its premium mid-range classification. Is it a smart buy for the Samsung faithful in search of a big-screen handset – or so the sums just not add up in quite the same way as the mainline S24 range?

Design & build: feels familiar

From a distance, you’ll have a hard time telling the FE apart from a full-fat Galaxy S24+. It’s a few millimetres taller and wider, on account of the slightly thicker screen bezels, and a scant 0.3mm thicker (8mm vs 7.7mm). This is undoubtedly a big phone, but the familiar flat sides gave me plenty to grip onto.

Thinner screen bezels mean this handset is only slightly taller than the S23 FE (which had a 0.2in smaller screen), and no wider. It does make a difference, though, which might put off anyone who thought last year’s model was already on the large side. In which case Samsung will happily sell you a 6.2in Galaxy S24.

The design has pretty much been carried over wholesale, with the only other giveaway being the colours on offer for the rear glass and aluminium frame. The S24 FE has more pastel-like Blue, Mint and Yellow options (along with Grey and Black) to the metal-like hues found on the S24 proper. A glossy finish on the rear glass helped keep fingerprints a bay on my Blue review unit, and the matte aluminium frame felt suitably high-end. I like how Samsung has stripped back the messy CE information from the rear, too – it cheapened the look of the S23 FE.

Like its predecessor you’ll find the SIM tray on the top edge, rather than the bottom as on the flagship S24s. Otherwise it’s a dead ringer, with the same three protruding camera lenses at the rear, power and volume buttons at the side, USB-C port and speaker cutout at the bottom, and punch-hole selfie cam up front.

An optical under-display fingerprint sensor gets the job done, even if it’s not quite as quick to recognise your fingers as the ultrasonic sensor seen on the top-tier Galaxy S24 Ultra. I still think it sits a little too close to the phone’s bottom edge, too. Face unlocking is handy for skipping the lock screen, but it isn’t secure enough for banking apps.

Given last year’s phone had IP68 dust and water resistance, it’s no surprise to find a similar degree of protection here. I certainly wasn’t caught out when testing the camera during a heavy rain shower.

Screen & sound: AMOLED all the way

They might be a matching 6.7in, but because the Galaxy S24+ took a much-needed step up in resolution, this new Fan Edition’s 2340×1080 AMOLED panel isn’t stepping on any toes. It still looked sharp and detailed from arms’ length, and the marginally thicker bezels aren’t in any way distracting.

A 60-120Hz dynamic refresh rate meant scrolling was very smooth for the most part, though I would still prefer an option to force 120Hz on all the time. It’s a similar deal with the always-on display; it defaults to “tap to show”, but I’d rather have it permanently on during daylight hours for at-a-glance time and notification checks. There is at least an option for this once you go digging through the settings screens.

Colours are as vibrant and engaging as I’ve come to expect from Samsung’s OLEDs, giving pictures and videos plenty of punch. HDR10+ support meant compatible content could show fantastically detailed highlights alongside deep shadows. It doesn’t get quite as bright as the full-fat S24 models, but there’s still enough output to see the screen clearly in direct sunshine. It compares very favourably with other mid-rangers and sub-flagships.

Top marks for the down-firing main speaker and front-facing earpiece tweeter, too; as long as you aren’t expecting much in the way of bass, they’ll impress you with their clear mid-range and potent volume.

Cameras: potent processing

Samsung hasn’t rocked the boat in terms of sensor setup, meaning the Galaxy S24 FE has the same rear trio as its predecessor. A 50MP unit leads the way with an f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilisation; it’s joined by a 12MP, f.2.2 ultrawide and an 8MP, f/2.4 telephoto with 3x optical zoom and OIS. There’s also a 10MP, f/2.4 selfie cam up front.

On paper, these aren’t too far removed from the ‘proper’ Galaxy S24 and its 50MP/12MP/10MP rear cams, and both phones have Samsung’s undeniably effective image processing – but rivals have really stepped up in terms of pixel count, zoom magnification and colour treatment, so they’ll need to put in a serious shift in order to impress.

That’s mostly true in good light, with the lead lens taking clear shots that are packed with fine detail. Expect Samsung’s familiar saturated colours, exposure settings that favour highlights over shadow detail, and well-judged amounts of sharpness to bring out the detail without adding unwanted extra crunch to your snaps.

I think Samsung’s colour treatment is perhaps a little more refined here than previous years, and the camera app puts filters within easy reach if you want to dial things back even further. I like how you can download more from the Galaxy store, too.

The camera app offers up 2x zoom by cropping the main sensor, and will fall back to it instead of the tighter aperture telephoto lens in dimmer lighting. There’s a lot more noise here, but I’d rather that than overly aggressive algorithms stripping out the finer details. Colours are largely true to life, too.

I could definitely tell which photos were taken on the 3x zoom lens, as colour and definition were a step behind the main shooter. Overall, though, all three lenses are a close match for exposure and contrast. Just don’t expect a performance on par with the best phone cameras – or even one that matches the full-fat Galaxy S24.

Serious smartphone snappers will probably demand more from their hardware, but the majority will be pleased by the phone’s processing – and will appreciate the expansive selection of AI-enhanced editing tools on offer. The Galaxy S24 FE can generatively expand photos you’ve cropped too tightly on to an impressive degree, and the way it strips out window reflections is very useful if you’re not a Photoshop expert. The Portrait Studio is more fun than functional, turning pics into oil paintings or cartoons.

Software experience: a Galaxy of AI

Galaxy AI is quickly becoming one of Samsung’s main smartphone selling points, so naturally the Galaxy S24 FE comes bundled with the lot. That includes Circle to Search, which is only just now leaving Samsung and Google exclusivity. It’s very handy for looking up images, with contextual info like where to buy products or how to get to a particular place.

Productivity gets the biggest boost, with Note Assist automatically formatting and summarising long pages of text, Transcript Assist translating and summarising audio recordings (with consistently good accuracy) and Chat Assist adjusting tone and grammar for those text messages that need to sound more professional. Regular travellers will also appreciate live translation, including while you’re on phone calls, and in-person conversations.

These all depend on you using Samsung’s own app library, of course. Galaxy AI can summarise or translate web pages, but only in the Samsung Internet app; if you’re wedded to Google Keep or Chrome, you’re out of luck. The Samsung ecosystem is extensive, with entire folders waiting in the app drawer the moment you set up the phone. Samsung fans will feel right at home, while newcomers will rightfully feel a little lost.

OneUI is at least easy to navigate now, with streamlined Settings menus making it easy to pick which features you want and which to safely disable. Samsung remains one of the best brands for quick software rollouts, and has committed to seven years of version updates and security patches – great if you want a phone for the long haul.

Performance & battery life: chipping in

With a home-grown Exynos 2400e chipset and 8GB of RAM, the Galaxy S24 FE slots in directly beneath the European Galaxy S24 in terms of performance. The 4nm silicon has been downclocked a bit, and is cooled by a slightly larger vapour chamber, so promises to maintain peak power for longer.

Benchmark apps put this processor behind the current crop of Snapdragon-powered mid-rangers and sub-flagships, but not by a colossal amount. 2048 and 6406 in the Geekbench single- and multi-core tests put it within spitting distance of its bigger brother and trading blows with the similarly-priced Xiaomi 14T Pro. In reality, this felt like a perfectly snappy and responsive phone, running apps at a great lick and never sweating with basic multitasking.

Samsung says its GPU can handle ray tracing effects with the best of ’em, but my experience with the regular Galaxy S24 suggests Qualcomm-powered rivals will still be the top pick for dedicated mobile gamers. A score of 3549 in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test all but confirms it. The few demanding games I did play ran smoothly at high details, and more basic 2D titles were no sweat: you can certainly get your Balatro fix here.

The S24 FE gets a small but welcome 200mAh battery capacity increase over its predecessor. The 4700mAh cell isn’t quite as large as the one inside the Galaxy S24+, but it was still enough to get me through an entire day of regular use without needing to recharge before bedtime. If I was conservative I could make it through a second day – just. It’s not quite a battery life champ, then, but won’t leave you stranded either.

Wired and wireless charging speeds haven’t changed at all, meaning a maximum 25W over USB-C – and much less on a Qi pad. This is mediocre at best for 2024.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE verdict

There’s plenty to like about the Galaxy S24 FE, and not just if you’re a Samsung fan. The nicer materials, bigger battery and more potent processor help it keep pace with a rapidly improving mid-range market, and bring the firm’s convincing AI features to a more appealing price point. That it slots neatly into Samsung’s wider ecosystem will be more than enough to convince converts to pick one up.

Photography hasn’t taken much of a leap from the outgoing handset, though, with processing and editing improvements being the order of the day. Rivals do zoom shots better, plain and simple. Not everyone will appreciate the larger screen size, either. While only minor, it does affect how manageable the phone is for those with smaller hands.

I also can’t overlook the fact that the Galaxy S24 proper can be had for less cash, at least at the FE’s launch. I’m sure that’ll change once SIM-free discounts and contract deals come into effect, but right now you’ve got to really want that bigger screen – and not have the budget for the S24+ – to make this your first choice.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE technical specifications

Screen	6.7in, 2340×1080, 60-120Hz AMOLED
CPU	Samsung Exynos 2400e
Memory	8GB RAM
Cameras	50MP, f/1.8 main w/ OIS + 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide + 8MP, f/2.4 telephoto w/ OIS, 3x optical zoom 10MP, f/2.4 front
Storage	128/256GB on-board
Operating system	Android 14 w/ OneUI
Battery	4700mAh w/ 25W wired, wireless charging
Dimensions	162x77x8mm, 213g