Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Improved almost-flagship is too little, too late

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results then it’s tempting to conclude that Samsung is on a different planet, if not galaxy.

With the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, it commits exactly the same fundamental error as it did with the Galaxy S23 FE – launching a stripped-back flagship smartphone at a time when the current non-FE model is going cheaper than ever before and the next one is right around the corner.

Samsung has shown some evidence that it’s willing to change but the Galaxy S24 FE is still being launched at just about the worst time of year. Despite being an undeniably solid smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is simply too late to the party to be worth recommending.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: What you need to know

Just as the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE did with the Galaxy S23, so the Galaxy S24 FE takes the Samsung Galaxy S24 and offers a broadly similar experience for a lower RRP.

If Samsung has learned one thing from last year’s model, it’s to differentiate its FE model a little from the original. So, rather than a compact 6.2-inch screen you get a large 6.7-inch 120Hz FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. In that sense, it’s closer to the Galaxy S24 Plus than its smaller brother.

The camera system is broadly similar to the S24; it’s got the same 50-megapixel (f/1.8) main and 12-megapixel ultrawide cameras but a slightly downgraded 8-megapixel 3x telephoto.

Samsung has stuck with its own custom silicon here, like the Galaxy S24, but this time it’s a slightly downclocked Exynos 2400e. This is backed by the same 8GB of RAM, and with a choice of either 128GB or 256GB of internal storage.

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Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Price and competition

There’s bad news on the pricing front: Samsung has bumped the Galaxy S24 FE up £50 compared to the Galaxy S23 FE, with a new starting point of £649 for the 128GB model. The 256GB option is also more expensive, coming in at £699.

This is particularly awkward when you consider that the Galaxy S24 avoided a price increase upon its release, at least here in the UK. Even so, the Galaxy S24 FE undercuts its older brother by £150.

Unfortunately, the main problem we had with the Galaxy S23 FE remains true of the Galaxy S24 FE. Because it has launched so long after the Galaxy S24 (which landed way back in January 2024), you can often pick up the superior original for similar or even less money. At the time of writing, Amazon was selling the Galaxy S24 brand new for £568. That’s true of most of the early-2024 flagship brigade, with OnePlus having dropped the price of its OnePlus 12 flagship to £734 as of this review.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Design and key features

Samsung hasn’t radically changed up the design of the Galaxy S24 FE – it essentially looks and feels like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. However, it’s undoubtedly an improvement over the Galaxy S23 FE.

It’s got a much bigger 6.7in display (which we’ll come to in a bit) surrounded by slightly whittled down bezels, resulting in a body with a footprint that isn’t all that much bigger than that of its predecessor. You still have a slightly enlarged chin bezel, which tells you that you’re not dealing with an out and out flagship, but the improvement is clear.

At 8mm thick and weighing 213g, I still wouldn’t describe the Galaxy S24 FE as a small phone. However, the bill of materials is reassuringly premium, with improved Gorilla Glass Victus Plus surfaces sandwiching an aluminium frame. All are dead flat, in keeping with the general Galaxy S24 aesthetic.

I found the Galaxy S23 FE to be somewhat prone to picking up nicks and scratches from relatively light knocks but the Galaxy S24 FE has come away from similar bumps totally dink-free. This feels like a high-end phone in the hand and Samsung backs up that sensation with a robust IP68 dust and water resistance rating.

My review model came in the slightly drab Graphite colour but pastel-hued Mint, Yellow and Blue options provide some brighter alternative options.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Display

You could say that the 6.7in display makes the Galaxy S24 FE more of a cheap alternative to the Galaxy S24 Plus than the smaller Galaxy S24 but it maintains the latter’s 1,080 x 2,340 (FHD+) resolution. It also keeps the fluid 120Hz peak refresh rate of the rest of the range.

Samsung has also ramped up the maximum brightness from 1,450 to 1,900cd/m². That’s in peak HDR conditions – with auto brightness turned off, I measured a top brightness of 403cd/m². This is about the same as I got from the Galaxy S23 FE and is well behind the Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S24 Plus, which both tend to exceed 700cd/m².

Colour accuracy isn’t as good as the rest of the S24 series either. Even so, an average Delta E of 1.67 with an sRGB coverage of 99.2% and a volume of 103.5% is decent enough, and represents an improvement over the Galaxy S23 FE.

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Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Performance and battery life

The Exynos 2400e processor is a slightly less powerful variant of the Exynos 2400 chipset used in the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus global models. The single performance core has a marginally lower clock speed but, otherwise, the Exynos 2400e performs all but identically to the 2400.

Our usual Geekbench 6 tests turned up essentially the same average CPU score, both single and multi-core, while our GPU-focused GFX Bench test results also appear to be on a par with those more premium models. That’s a decent level of performance for a £650 phone.

We’ve yet to review it but my testing on the new Nubia Z70 Ultra shows that its Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC absolutely blows the Galaxy S24 FE out of the water. That’s a bit of an outlier for now, but it’s another case where Samsung’s release schedule for the FE range really doesn’t do it any favours.

Battery life is another area in which the Galaxy S24 FE has improved over the Galaxy S23 FE, lasting for 20hrs 51mins in our regular looping video test. That’s 1hr 24mins longer than the Galaxy S23 FE lasted, though it rather curiously falls almost 7 hours short of the smaller Galaxy S24.

In practical terms, an intensive 15-hour day with 6hrs of screen-on time would leave me with around 26% in the tank, and a moderate day with 3hrs 35mins of screen-on time left me with 46%. That’s in the same ballpark as the Galaxy S24 – decent, but not the best considering the size of the phone.

Samsung’s charging provision remains rather underwhelming, too. There’s no charger in the box and, with support for only 25W charging, it took just over 1hr 10mins for a full charge from empty. On the plus side, wireless charging is present and accounted for.

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Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Cameras

One area that doesn’t appear to have had any special attention is the Galaxy S24 FE’s camera. We have what looks to be the same set-up as the Galaxy S23 FE, with a 50-megapixel (f/1.8) main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and an 8-megapixel 2x telephoto.

If Samsung was going to keep anything the same, though, this was the right call. We were reasonably impressed with the previous model’s photographic chops, and the Galaxy S24 FE puts in another nicely rounded showing. Indeed, that camera set-up is broadly the same as the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus, with only the telephoto camera being a slight downgrade.

When out and about snapping in daylight conditions, the Galaxy S24 FE turned out detailed shots rich in colour and contrast. Samsung’s punchy colour science is on display again, as is its pleasing skill for matching the general look and tone of shots across all three sensors. Night shots are solid, if not quite as crisp or natural-looking as the best in the business.

That 8-megapixel telephoto camera might be the lowest resolution snapper here, but with OIS assistance it turns out clear shots at its natural 3x focal length. It’s certainly preferable to the cropped hybrid zoom of most phones at this price.

Talking of which, the Galaxy S24 FE produces acceptable hybrid zoom shots at 2x and even 10x, though things get pointlessly fuzzy at 20x and 30x.

Another quietly solid performer is the Galaxy S24 FE’s 12-megapixel ultra-wide, which makes up for a general lack of detail by emulating the main sensor’s vibrant tone.

Rounding up the package is a familiar 10-megapixel front camera, which turns out acceptable selfies at both close-up and wider angles. It’s a little lacking in sharpness, and a fixed focus means that the subject doesn’t pop as much as it does with the Galaxy S24, but Samsung’s punched up image processing at least injects shots with warmth.

Samsung is a dab hand with video at this point, and the Galaxy S24 FE turns out sharp, locked-on and stable footage at up to 4K and 60fps or 8K/30fps.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Verdict

Samsung’s last big phone launch of 2024 is another solid performer, with a larger, brighter display, an improved design and advances in performance and battery life. The camera is a solid, balanced performer too.

However, Samsung doesn’t seem to have learned the biggest lesson from the Galaxy S23 FE launch – it’s an odd time to release a watered-down variant of the Galaxy S24 when killer deals for the latter are starting to appear.

Indeed, Samsung has arguably made this issue worse, at least here in the UK. By bumping the Galaxy S24 FE’s price up by £50 having previously dropped the price of the Galaxy S24 by the same amount, the new phone feels like even worse value.

It’s unfortunate, because the Galaxy S24 FE is a fundamentally decent phone that won’t let anyone down. With the perception of value more important than ever, however, it’s a tricky one to recommend at full price.