The Galaxy S24 FE is out now and looks a lot like this year’s Galaxy S24+. And if it’s as great as the Plus model, is it worth paying extra for the flagship model, or better off getting the cheaper FE model? Let’s find out!
With a price of approximately €580 Samsung Galaxy S24FE seems like a tempting offer at the moment, even more so than the €780 Samsung Galaxy S24+. On the other hand, the flagship Plus model has some nice tricks not available on the FE: faster charging, better zoom and selfie cameras, UWB support, among others.
Let’s pit the two phones against each other.
Table of contents:
For starters, you can compare full spec sheets or continue directly with our editor’s review in the following text.
Size comparison
While the two phones have similar sized screens – 6.7-inch OLEDs, the Galaxy S24+ is a smaller and lighter phone. See, the S24+ has thinner bezels thanks to the higher-end LTPO OLED screen, so it has a shorter and thinner body. In addition, the S24+ is 17 grams lighter than the S24 FE.
There’s one more difference, even if it’s not that important: the S24+ has newer Gorilla Glass Victus2 panels and a sturdier aluminum frame. Both phones have an IP68 rating.
It’s also worth noting that the S24 FE has a virtual proximity sensor, which doesn’t work as well as the hardware sensor in the Galaxy S24.
As you can see, the Galaxy S24 FE and S24+ are identical in design. But due to its lighter and smaller housing, the Galaxy S24+ scores a win in this segment.
Show comparison
As we mentioned above, both phones feature 6.7-inch OLED panels. But they are completely different. The S24 FE has a mainstream 1080p screen with a not very variable refresh rate (60 Hz/120 Hz). Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24+ comes with an LTPO display with a higher resolution of 1440p and with a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz.
The maximum screen brightness of the two phones is about the same and both phones support HDR10+ video.
The winner in terms of display is the Galaxy S24+.
Battery life
Despite being the larger and heavier phone, the Galaxy S24 FE has a smaller 4,700 mAh battery compared to the 4,900 mAh in the Galaxy S24+. And the Plus model scored a better Active Use Rating with 1.5 hours more web browsing/social media, and about 2 hours more video streaming. However, the Galaxy S24 FE took a serious lead in call duration, likely thanks to its much more energy-efficient modem.
With the phones in this category trading punches, we’re willing to call this a draw.
Charging speed
The Galaxy S24 FE supports up to 25W wired charging. The Galaxy S24+ supports fast wired charging up to 45W, or as Samsung likes to call it, Fast Charging 2.0. Neither phone comes with a charger, but you don’t need to buy a Samsung charger as long as you get the right charger with USB PD 3.0+PPS support.
Both phones support wireless charging up to 15W and reverse wireless charging.
The Galaxy S24+ charges its battery faster, and after 30 minutes the larger battery has recovered 18% more battery charge, giving it an easy win in this category.
Speaker test
The Galaxy S24 FE and S24+ have stereo speakers of the hybrid variety – meaning there is one speaker on the bottom of the phone and the earpiece acts as a second.
Like any other hybrid pair, the earpiece is quieter and focuses mainly on the highs and mids, while the lower full-size speaker has bass and good vocals.
Both speaker systems scored a Very Good rating on our loudness test. However, the setup on the S24+ seems to offer a slightly richer output.
Performance
The Galaxy S24 FE uses Samsung’s internal chip – the Exynos 2400e – which is similar to the Exynos 2400 in the S24+. The 2400e and 2400 chipsets have an identical 10-core processor. However, the one in the 2400e (S24 FE) has a slightly lower maximum clock speed.
The Xclipse 940 GPU is the same as the one in the Exynos 2400 – it’s an AMD RDNA 3 design and has proven to be quite powerful.
The Galaxy S24 FE has 8GB of RAM, while the S24+ comes with 12GB.
Benchmark performance
Predictably, the Galaxy S24+ has slightly more powerful hardware, although in practice we would consider performance to be identical. The more RAM on the Galaxy S24+ may be more beneficial for AI tasks later on.
The Galaxy S24 and S24 FE get Samsung’s new extended software support treatment, which promises seven major OS updates and seven years of security patches.
Camera comparison
The camera setups of the Galaxy S24 FE and S24+ seem similar on paper. They include a 50MP main camera, a 3x telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide, but the actual camera hardware differs on these two phones.
The S24+ also has a higher resolution 12MP selfie camera with dual-pixel PDAF at its disposal, compared to the 10MP fixed focus unit on the S24 FE.
Image quality
The Galaxy S24 FE and Galaxy S24+ both deliver top-level photos with their main cameras – perhaps not the best we’ve ever seen, but still very good. We are looking at almost identical photos.
The 3x telephoto on the S24+ has a larger sensor with a higher resolution but the same pixel size, so the image quality is also about the same. An important distinction between the two is that the S24 FE’s camera has a greater range.
If you equate their actual focal lengths, the S24+ camera has 2.8x zoom, while the S24 FE camera has a 3.1x zoom. The closer zoom provides greater magnification and therefore more detailed shots from the same shooting position.
As for the ultrawide cam, the Galaxy S24+ has a physically larger sensor, but we can barely tell a difference between the two in image quality or detail in daylight photos.
Galaxy S24 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 3x • selfie
Galaxy S24+: 0.6x • 1x • 3x • selfie
In low-light scenarios, the main camera on the S24+ appears to have a slight edge in overall low-light photography, perhaps due to a better ISP and better processing. It develops shadows and dark areas much better.
For the ultrawides, the S24+ has a significant lead in image quality, producing much more detailed photos.
The zoom camera of the S24+ provides somewhat clearer images with better definition, although the difference is not as great as with the ultrawide.
Galaxy S24 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 3x
Galaxy S24+: 0.6x • 1x • 3x
Video quality
Both Galaxies support 8K30 video recording with the main cameras, and up to 4K60 with the rest. The biggest difference in video quality is when recording videos at 3x zoom – the Galaxy S24+’s videos are of better quality. The rest of the cameras shoot relatively similar videos.
Pronunciation
The Galaxy S24 FE and the Galaxy S24+ are excellent smartphones with great screens, powerful hardware and versatile cameras of solid quality. The S24 FE is €200 cheaper, so you have to choose your priorities wisely.
We think the price premium for the Galaxy S24+ is worth it as you get a more compact device with a larger battery, faster charging, a higher resolution screen with thinner bezels and LTPO technology, a physical proximity sensor, an ultrasonic fingerprint reader, UWB and cameras that are slightly better in low light. Let’s not forget the 12 GB of RAM and the slightly more powerful chipset.
But if the S24+ is out of your budget, the Galaxy S24 FE gives you 90% of the same experience for less, at the expense of a slightly larger chassis and some cost savings here and there.
There’s no easy answer to the dilemma of which one to get, so weigh your priorities and decide whether the S24+ is worth the extra cost depending on whether you appreciate the extra features it offers.
- The identical user experience.
- The lower price.
- Longer call duration.
Buy the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE for:
- The LTPO screen with higher resolution and thinner bezels.
- The lighter and more compact housing.
- The better battery life overall.
- How to charge faster.
- The better photography in low light.
- The Ultra broadband support.
Buy the Samsung Galaxy S24+ for: