Samsung Galaxy S24 FE vs. Samsung Galaxy S24+
The Galaxy S24 FE is now out, and it looks a lot like the Galaxy S24+ this year. And if it is as great as the Plus model, then is it worth paying extra for the flagship model, or better get the cheaper FE one? Let"s find out!
At around €580, the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE seems like a tempting offer right now, more so than the €780 Samsung Galaxy S24+. Then again the flagship Plus model has some nice tricks that are not available to the FE – faster charging, better zoom and selfie cameras, UWB support, among others.
Let"s put the two phones against each other.
Table of Contents:
For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor"s assessment in the following video or the text further below.
Size comparison
While the two phones have similarly sized displays – 6.7-inch OLEDs, the Galaxy S24+ is a smaller and lighter phone. See, the S24+ has thinner bezels thanks to its more premium LTPO OLED screen, and thus, it comes in a shorter and thinner body. Furthermore, the S24+ is 17g lighter than the S24 FE.
There is another difference even if not that important – the S24+ has newer Gorilla Glass Victus2 panels and a tougher-grade aluminum frame. Both phones are IP68-rated.
It is also worth noting that the S24 FE has a virtual proximity sensor, which does not work as well as the hardware one inside the Galaxy S24.
As you can see, design-wise, the Galaxy S24 FE and S24+ are identical. But because of the lighter and smaller body, the Galaxy S24+ scores a win in this section.
Display 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 display with not very variable refresh rate (60Hz/120Hz). Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24+ comes with an LTPO screen of higher 1440p resolution and with a dynamic refresh rate up to 120Hz.
The maximum screen brightness of the two phones is about the same, and both phones support HDR10+ video.
The winner in the display department is the Galaxy S24+.
Battery life
Despite being the larger and heavier phone, the Galaxy S24 FE has a smaller 4,700mAh battery compared to the 4,900mAh inside the Galaxy S24+. And the Plus model scored a better Active Use Rating by offering 1.5h more of web browsing/socials, and about 2h more of video streaming. The Galaxy S24 FE, however, took a serious lead in call runtimes, probably due to its much more power-efficient modem.
With the phones exchanging punches in this category, we are willing to call this one a tie.
Charging speed
The Galaxy S24 FE supports up to 25W of wired charging. The Galaxy S24+ supports up to 45W fast wired charging, 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 correct specced charger with USB PD 3.0+PPS support.
Both phones support up to 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
The Galaxy S24+ recharges its battery faster, and at the 30-minute mark, it has 18% more battery charge restored in its larger battery, securing 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 at the bottom of the phone, and the earpiece acts as a second one.
Just like any other hybrid pair, the earpiece is quieter and focuses mostly on high and mid-tones, while the bottom full-blown speaker has bass and good vocals.
Both speaker systems scored a Very Good mark on our loudness test. The setup on the S24+ seems to be offering slightly richer output, though.
Performance
The Galaxy S24 FE uses Samsung"s in-house chip - the Exynos 2400e - which is similar to the Exynos 2400 found in the S24+. The 2400e and 2400 chipsets have an identical 10-core processor. However, the one inside the 2400e (S24 FE) has a slightly lower max clock speed.
The Xclipse 940 GPU is the same as the one inside the Exynos 2400 - it is an AMD RDNA 3 design and has proven to be quite powerful.
The Galaxy S24 FE has 8GB RAM, while the S24+ comes with 12GB.
Benchmark performance
Quite expectedly, the Galaxy S24+ has slightly more powerful hardware, though for all intents and purposes, we would rank the real-life performance as identical. The more RAM on the Galaxy S24+ might be more beneficial for AI tasks later on.
The Galaxy S24 and S24 FE get Samsung"s new extended software support treatment, promising seven major OS updates and seven years of security patches.
Camera comparison
The Galaxy S24 FE and S24+ camera setups seem similar on paper. They include a 50MP main camera, a 3x telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide, however, 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 unit with fixed focus on the S24 FE.
Image quality
The Galaxy S24 FE and Galaxy S24+ both deliver flagship-level photos with their main cameras - maybe not the best we"ve seen, but still very good. We are looking at almost identical photos.
The 3x telephoto on the S24+ has a larger, higher resolution sensor but the same pixel size, so the image quality is about the same too. An important distinction between the two is that the S24 FE"s camera has a further reach.
If you equate their actual focal lengths, the S24+ camera has 2.8x zoom, whereas the S24 FE camera has a 3.1x zoom. The tighter zoom provides more magnifications and, consequently, more detailed shots from the same shooting position.
As for the ultrawide cam, the Galaxy S24+ has a physically larger sensor, but we can hardly see 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+ seems to have a slight lead in overall low-light photography, perhaps due to a better ISP and processing. It develops shadows and darker areas much better.
For the ultrawides, the S24+ has a substantial lead in image quality, producing much more detailed photos.
The S24+"s zoom camera provides somewhat cleaner images with better definition, though the difference is not as big as with the ultrawide.
Galaxy S24 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 3x
Galaxy S24+: 0.6x • 1x • 3x
Video quality
Both Galaxies support 8K30 video capturing with its main cameras, and up to 4K60 with the rest. The biggest difference in video quality is when shooting 3x zoomed videos - the Galaxy S24+ videos are better quality. The rest of the cameras capture relatively similar videos.
Verdict
The Galaxy S24 FE and the Galaxy S24+ are excellent smartphones with great screens, powerful hardware, and versatile cameras with solid quality. The S24 FE is €200 cheaper, so you have to pick your priorities wisely.
We think the price premium for the Galaxy S24+ is well worth it as you"d be getting a more compact device with a larger battery, faster charging, a higher-res screen with slimmer bezels and LTPO tech, a physical proximity sensor, a ultrasonic fingerprint reader, UWB, and cameras that are ever so slightly better in low light. Let"s not forget the 12GB RAM and the slightly more capable chipset.
But if the S24+ is outside your budget, the Galaxy S24 FE will provide you 90% of the same experience for less at the expense of having a slightly bulkier body and some cost-saving here and there.
There"s no easy answer to the dilemma of which one to get, so weigh your priorities and decide if the S24+ is worth the price premium depending on whether you value the extra features it provides.
- The identical user experience.
- The lower price.
- Longer call runtimes.
Get the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE for:
- The higher-res LTPO screen with slimmer bezels.
- The lighter and more compact body.
- The better battery life overall.
- The faster charging.
- The better low-light photography.
- The Ultra-wideband support.
