Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: Finally for the fans?

So today, I have the new Samsung Galaxy S24 FE for review. Like always, it’s a “Fan Edition” phone from Samsung that tries to bring that flagship smartphone experience at a relatively affordable price by compromising on a few stuff here and there. And if you look at the specs, you’ll see that it’s very similar to Samsung’s regular Galaxy S24 (review) in a lot of aspects.

I don’t know the official price of Galaxy S24 FE in Nepal yet, but our sources tell us it’ll likely start at NPR 93,999 for the 8/256GB configuration.

And for that price, does the Galaxy S24 FE do enough to stand out? And more importantly, should you get this over everything else? Let me help you answer those ‘cause I’ve been testing the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE alongside the Galaxy S24 for about a week at this point to prepare this review.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Review: Specifications

• Design and Build: 162.0 x 77.3 x 8.0 mm, 213 gm, IP68 rating
• Display: 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED panel, FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate
• Chipset: Exynos 2400e (4nm mobile platform)
• Memory: 8GB RAM, 128/256/512GB storage (non-expandable)
• Software & UI: Android 14 with One UI 6.1 on top
• Rear Camera: Triple (50MP primary, 12MP ultrawide, 8MP telephoto)
• Front Camera: 10MP sensor (hole-punch)
• Security: Fingerprint sensor (optical in-display)
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, 5G
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro, Geomagnetic, Hall, Proximity, Light
• Battery: 4700 mAh with 25W fast charging (power adapter not provided)
• Expected price in Nepal: NPR 93,999 (8/256GB)
• Check the full specifications of Samsung Galaxy S24 FE here

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Review:

Design and Build

• 162.0 x 77.3 x 8.0 mm, 213 grams
• Gorilla Glass Victus+ front/back, Armor Aluminum frames
• IP68 dust/water resistant

Alright.

As I said at the very beginning, the Galaxy S24 FE looks and feels like every other Samsung phone. It’s got the same “traffic light”-shaped camera design, the same flat frames for that bold look, and the same curved edges on all four sides.

I didn’t think I would have anything new to talk about on the design front but as it turns out, Samsung has given me quite a list of reasons this time. So first things first, the S24 FE has Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection on both sides now, which is a big upgrade from Gorilla Glass 5 that we saw on last year’s Galaxy S23 FE (review). And I love how Samsung made the S24 FE’s edges just curved enough for a more comfortable hands-on feel too.

This thing is also IP68 dust and water-resistant, as you’d expect from a flagship Samsung phone, although the S24 FE definitely isn’t as well-built as the Galaxy S24.

‘Cause its boxy form factor, the glossy design, and just its… overall build quality feels more like the Galaxy A55 (review) — a midrange phone — instead of the Galaxy S24. And I know its Victus+ glass and aluminum frames are nice-to-haves, but they’re still a step below Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and Armor Aluminum frames we get on Samsung’s typical high-end phones.

But let me just say that these downgrades aren’t dealbreakers in any way really.

Display

• 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED panel
• 120Hz refresh rate, 1900 nits peak brightness

And there are a bunch of similar, little compromises in terms of the display as well. Like these thick and uneven bezels, for example. The S24 FE’s peak brightness is also pretty low in comparison — 1900 nits vs S24’s 2600 nits — and I certainly noticed this a few times when watching HDR videos on Netflix. Mainly with how both phones process the highlights.

This… really isn’t something that affects your normal, everyday use so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. In fact, I don’t have any complaints with things like outdoor visibility, color reproduction, smoothness, haptics, or even the speaker quality of this guy.

The only thing that’s kinda been bugging me is that I wish Samsung had gone with an ultrasonic fingerprint reader this time. But nope. The S24 FE has the same ol’ optical sensor, and unlocking it still takes like a moment longer than I’d like.

Samsung doesn’t think its newest Fan Edition phone deserves an LTPO panel either, which means instead of automatically switching between 1 – 120Hz to save power, the Galaxy S24 FE can juggle between 60 and 120Hz only. I thought this was gonna mean bad news as far as the battery life is concerned but the S24 FE surprisingly proved me wrong there.

Battery

• 4700 mAh battery (25W wired charging)
• 15W wireless charging, Wireless PowerShare

And under moderate use with a little bit of everything, I was constantly getting anywhere from 6 to 7 hours of screen time. That’s… not bad. You also get support for 15W wireless charging, although the S24 FE is stuck with the same 25W charging speeds which takes like an hour and forty minutes for a full refill.

Performance

• Exynos 2400e (4nm)
• 8GB RAM, 128/256/512GB storage (non-expandable)
• Android 14 with One UI 6.1 on top
• 7 years of OS and security updates

Okay, let’s talk about its performance now and I absolutely love how Samsung has used the same Exynos chip on the S24 FE that we saw on the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+.

Well… sorta.

So this thing is powered by Exynos 2400e, which is just a slightly downclocked version of Exynos 2400 on the S24 series. I would’ve loved for it to have a Snapdragon processor of course, but I gotta say it’s plenty reliable in everyday use so I don’t mind.

Matter of fact, Samsung says Exynos 2400e’s main Cortex-X4 core has been underclocked by 100 MHz compared to Exynos 2400 and that’s it. That’s literally the only difference between these two chips. And based on all the benchmarks I ran, I found that the Exynos 2400e scores somewhere between 4 – 5% lower than the regular Exynos 2400.

So like I just said, everything feels smooth on the S24 FE. I could multitask between a bunch of apps at the same time as well, even though this guy does get warm a bit faster than I’d like. Especially when I’m doing something computationally demanding like recording videos or using mobile data for a long time.

I won’t call it a “heating issue” but that’s something you definitely need to know.

How about gaming?

You know what? If you’re okay with lowering the graphics settings a little, then the S24 FE also games quite nicely. Almost as well as the Galaxy S24 actually.

‘Cause I was getting a perfectly playable 58 fps average on Genshin Impact at medium graphics, while I enjoyed playing PUBG and Mobile Legends at high fps too.

Samsung says it has used an 11% larger vapor chamber cooling this time and I don’t know if it’s because of that, a larger body — or a combination of both — but I’m pretty happy with its thermals during gaming. Since it only got to like 40 – 41°C in all my gaming tests.

7 years of updates + Galaxy AI

Moving on, the S24 FE’s software game is as flagship as it gets. One UI remains one of my favorite Android skins and Samsung has blessed it with all those “Galaxy AI” features too. Including “Circle to Search”, live call translate, “Note Assist”, “Sketch to Image”, and everything else. And like the S24 series, there are also 7 years of OS and security updates to look forward to here, which is just incredible.

Cameras

• Triple camera setup at the back
• (50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 8MP telephoto)
• 10MP selfie camera (hole-punch cutout)

Alright, I wanna talk about its cameras now.

The Galaxy S24 essentially nails that “flagship smartphone experience at a not-so-flagship price” we’ve come to expect from Samsung’s “Fan Edition” devices by making all the right compromises. Although some part of me still wants to argue that Samsung could’ve done a slightly better job as far as pricing is concerned.

And although the S24 brings the same camera hardware as the S23 FE, the good news is that it can actually take perfectly good-looking photos as Galaxy S24 like… 80 – 90% of the time. From all four of its cameras. The S24 does win in terms of things like white balance and dynamic range — especially in challenging conditions — but yeah.

The S24 FE is a damn fine camera phone.

It captures a great amount of details, and as always, Samsung’s color game is on point too. Then again, I found its ultrawide camera to be a bit weaker than I originally thought.

It has the same 12MP resolution as Galaxy S24, but it simply can’t maintain the same amount of details. Which maybe because the S24 FE’s ultrawide camera has a smaller sensor size and smaller pixels itself.

This is even more apparent during lowlight shots, even though turning on night mode takes care of it all just fine.

These two handle the subject’s skin tone somewhat differently but overall, I’m happy with the selfies and portraits from the S24 FE as well.

Both of them use a 3x telephoto lens by the way, although you should know that the S24 FE has a wider 75mm focal length so its images appear more zoomed in.

Equally impressive videos

But when it comes to videos, the Galaxy S24 has a clear advantage since it can record at up to 4K 60 fps from all of its cameras. While that’s something only possible with the main and the selfie camera on the S24 FE.

Having said that, let me reassure you that this thing can take great videos. The S24 once again has a nicer white balance — and also slightly better microphone quality — but the S24 FE’s video quality is much better than most phones found in this segment.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Review: Conclusion

Okay, I guess I better wrap up my review of the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE now.

And for what it’s worth, I’m pretty impressed with it. Samsung has pretty much delivered on that promise of a “flagship smartphone experience at a not-so-flagship price” with this phone. On all the crucial aspects like design, display, performance, battery life, and even the cameras.

So if you want a reliably premium smartphone experience under Rs. 1 lakh, then the Galaxy S24 FE is a great choice. Especially since Samsung Nepal is discontinuing the base model of Galaxy S24 which costs just a rupee shy of 1 lakh. Plus, you can also buy it at 0% EMI without a credit card by making a 40% downpayment. So instead of settling with midrange phones, you’ll get a much better experience with the Galaxy S24 FE.

• Our video review of Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is coming up pretty soon

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Review: Pros and Cons