Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Review – Affordable Flagship Powerhouse with Galaxy AI

Launched alongside the new Galaxy Tab S10 series in Malaysia, the new Galaxy S24 FE is the successor to last year’s Galaxy S23 FE and is a budget flagship phone with full Galaxy AI capabilities and almost all of the performance of the Galaxy S24 series save for minor concessions to cost. 

We got one ahead of launch for field testing and after putting it through its paces, here’s our Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review where we share if this budget flagship is worth your money.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Review – Build and Design

The Samsung Galaxy Fan Edition series have a long history and a launch date that typically comes some time after the debut of the main flagship Galaxy S series phones. The first of its kind, the Galaxy Note Fan Edition came in late 2017 followed by a hiatus before the series made a return with the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition in circa 2021, the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition in early 2022 and the Galaxy S23 Fan Edition in late 2023.

Our Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review unit is the latest successor to the Fan Edition lineage with dimensions and a design that more closely mimics the Galaxy S24+ with a few modest concessions to ensure it remains cheaper than the Galaxy S24 series. 

One of the biggest concessions to cost for the Galaxy S24 FE is in the materials used in its construction. Where the Galaxy S24 series use the latest generation Armor Aluminum 2 as well as the latest Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the Galaxy S24 FE instead uses a conventional aluminium frame though the front display and backplate are protected by tough Gorilla Glass Victus+ which last saw service on the Galaxy Z Flip4 and Fold4 foldables. 

What this means is that it isn’t as durable as the higher end Galaxy S24 series though most users will not encounter issues unless they make a habit of dropping their phones on a regular basis. Fortunately, the Galaxy S24 FE does retain a respectable IP68 dust and water resistance rating in keeping with other Samsung flagship phones.

Materials aside, our Galaxy S24 FE review unit does bear somewhat of a resemblance to the Galaxy S24+ with a similarly sized 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display though the display used in the Galaxy S24 FE has slightly lower peak brightness. On closer inspection,  the Galaxy S24 FE is slightly heavier at 213g and thicker at 8mm than its higher end sibling while also featuring more reflective finish versus the matte finish on the S24 series. 

In terms of design, the Galaxy S24 FE is almost a spitting image for the Galaxy S24+ including the addition of thicker rings around each camera housing with the triple camera array vertically aligned on the upper left corner of the phone. There’s also a charging coil on the bottom rear for wireless charging and reverse wireless charging support.

The top comes with a dual nano SIM card tray while the right side of the phone has a power button and volume rocker with the base featuring a USB-C port for 25W wired fast charging as well as a slit for one of the two speakers on the phone. The left side of our Galaxy S24 FE review sample is otherwise unremarkable.

Up front, the Galaxy S24 FE hosts the aforementioned 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with FHD+ resolution, a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and 1,900 nits peak brightness which is higher than the S23 FE’s peak 1,450 nits and a bit lower than the Galaxy S24+ display’s 2,600 nits peak brightness. The top has a slit for the earpiece and a speaker that pairs up with the bottom firing speaker to form a stereo pair, a tiny punch hole for the front-mounted 10MP selfie camera and a fingerprint reader in the bottom quadrant of the display.

Overall ergonomics are excellent with an even heft as well as a premium feel matching the Galaxy S24 series while overall ergonomics are top notch with the smooth edges and slim bezels allowing for comfortable one-handed use though those with smaller hands may still find it a bit too large to wield.

@hitechcentury We unbox and get a first look at the new Samsung Galaxy S24 FE budget flagship that is now available in Malaysia! It’s one of the cheapest ways to get the full Galaxy AI experience with 7 years of OS and security updates. #galaxys24fe #galaxyai #samsung #techtok #fyp #malaysia #unboxing #hitechcentury #smartphone #sembanggadget #samasamabelajar @samsungmalaysia ♬ France Accordion Swing – MIZUSATO Masaki

Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t come with any additional accessories beyond a USB-C charging cable and the obligatory SIM eject pin and quick start manuals though that is to be expected as it has been phased out for the last several generations of Samsung phones.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Review – Specifications and Performance

While it bears a resemblance to the higher end Galaxy S24+, the Galaxy S24 FE has  a slightly different though equally respectable set of hardware under the hood. 

Where the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ use the Exynos 2400 decacore processor that has a higher clock speed, the Galaxy S24 FE uses a newer and slightly different Exynos 2400e decacore that has the same architecture and much of the same performance though its prime Cortex A4 core is clocked slightly slower at 3.11GHz versus the Exynos 2400’s 3,21GHz to ensure more efficient performance and, by extension, improved battery life; clock speeds on the rest of its CPU clusters are identical.

This makes the Galaxy 24 FE the first time that the Galaxy Fan Edition series phone has a processor from the same generation as its inspirational namesakes as prior FE model phones typically feature a chipset a generation behind.

At present, the Galaxy S24 FE is currently the only phone to feature the Exynos 2400e chipset. Of note is that Samsung has also added a 10% larger vapour chamber to the Galaxy S24 FE for better cooling under heavy work loads compared to the older Galaxy S23 FE. You also get fast WiFi 6E, NFC  as well as Bluetooth 5.3 support though it lacks Ultra Wide Band (UWB).

Paired with the Galaxy S24 FE  is 8GB RAM augmented by up to 8GB of RAM Plus virtual RAM assigned off the 512GB storage of our review sample. A 256GB storage variant is also available for a lower price in the Malaysia market and while a 128GB model exists, it isn’t available for sale locally. Here’s how our test sample stacks up on paper:

Price	RM3,299 (256GB), RM3,899 (512GB)
Display	6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X, FHD+ (1,024 x 2,340 pixels), 120Hz, 1,900 nits peak brightness, HDR10+
Processor	Exynos 2400e
OS	Android 14 w/ OneUI 6.1
Memory	8GB LPDDR5X RAM / 256GB or 512GB storage (review unit)
Cameras	50MP F/1.8 w/ Dual Pixel PDAF and OIS + 8MP F/2.4 w/ 3x optical zoom and OIS + 12MP F/2.2 ultra wide angle [rear] / 10MP F/2.4 [front]
Battery	4,700mAh w/ 25W charging, 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging
Size/Weight	162 x 77.3 x 8mm / 213g

On default settings with 4GB RAM Plus virtual RAM, our Galaxy S24 FE review sample score the following:

3D Mark Solar Bay	7,945
3D Mark Solar Bay Unlimited	7,487
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme	3,580
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited	3,546
3D Mark Steel Nomad Light	1,893
3D Mark Steel Nomad Light Unlimited	1,789
Geekbench 6 Single core	1,938
Geekbench 6 Multi core	6,166
Geekbench 6 OpenCL	12,858
Geekbench 6 Vulkan	13,082
Geekbench AI Quanticised Score	3,361
PC Mark Work 3.0	17,304
PC Mark Work 3.0 Battery Life	15 hours 8 Mins

In terms of overall performance, the Galaxy S24 FE and its Exynos 2400e processor acquitted itself well in benchmarks, easily outpacing its predecessor the Galaxy S23 FE across the board while comfortably a few paces behind the flagship Galaxy S24+. 

When subjected to practical tests in the field, our Galaxy S24 FE review unit did not disappoint, handling day to day tasks and multitasking between multiple apps in a smooth fashion.

Swapping between multiple open tabs in Chrome and the Samsung Browser, paging through a huge ChatGPT query, poring through a large spreadsheet and even gaming on Call of Duty Mobile and Diablo Immortal on high settings and Genshin Impact on medium settings were handled without issue. Editing short 4K videos on CapCut and TikTok is also a smooth affair.

When subjected to the Solar Bay stress tests, the combination of a larger vapour chamber and more efficient processor saw the Galaxy S24 FE enjoying a respectable 79.5% stability score with relatively consistent performance across the test loops while temperatures were kept between 30°C to 46°C.

The 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display of our Galaxy S24 FE review unit has FHD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and a quoted peak brightness of 1,900 nits which is lower than the panels used in the Galaxy S24 series which are quoted to offer 2,600 nits peak brightness but which is still exceptionally bright in daylight conditions. 

The refresh rate is adaptive, ratcheting up to the full 120Hz when navigating the menus and dialling down to 60Hz when using most apps and games.

When it comes to colour rendition, the display acquitted itself well with rich and lush hues and crisp detail and good outdoors clarity that’s surpassed by the Galaxy S24 series displays that are much brighter. The Galaxy S24’s stereo speakers also managed to perform, offering good volume and detail for their size for casual music listening and hands-free calls.

In terms of battery life, the Galaxy S24 FE has exceptional longevity on its 4,700mh battery, outlasting even the Galaxy S24+ and its slightly larger 4,900mAh battery by a modest margin. When subjected to PC Mark’s battery life benchmark, it managed a respectable 15 hours and 8 minutes while in practical field tests, it managed a comfortable day and a half of usage. 

The provided 25W charging speeds are conservative compared to the competition but are on par with much of Samsung’s other hardware though the Galaxy S24 series still gets slightly faster 45W charging speeds on paper. When tested, a full charge from dead zero with a compatible charger got 55% in about 30 minutes with fast charging enabled and a full charge in about an hour and 40 minutes. 

As it stands, the Galaxy S24 FE offers solid performance across the board. What is particularly impressive is that the Galaxy S24 FE has the same 7 year OS and security update policy as the higher end Galaxy S24 series which ensures exceptional longevity and value for money as the phone will be safe and secure for the better half of a decade.

Where the Galaxy S24 FE truly stands out above the competition is that it has the full suite of features of Samsung’s Galaxy AI from its ability to Circle to Search, erase unwanted parts of a shot in AI Eraser to sketching in a doodle and having it generate a real life image, from summarising and writing a full set of texts from a prompt in Note Assist all the way to offering real time live translations via Live Translate.

It’s all here and while it isn’t part of their Galaxy AI, the Galaxy S24 FE also has their vaunted DeX mode which lets it pair up to a display and become an ad hoc PC with a virtual desktop mode.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE Review – Cameras

On the imaging front, our Galaxy S24 FE review unit has an almost identical setup as its proven predecessor with the rear featuring a 50MP F/1.8 primary camera with Dual Pixel PDAF and OIS for judder-free stills, an 8MP F/2.4 telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a 12MP F2.2 ultra wide angle camera.

Where it gets a bump up is the integration of an improved neural processing unit via the new Exynos 2400e chipset which offers better low light performance and overall better image quality from the cameras.

@hitechcentury We check out the camera performance for the new Samsung Galaxy S24 FE budget flagship phone and its rear triple camera array in low light conditions. #galaxys24fe #samsung #withgalaxy #cameratest #sembanggadget #midvalleymegamall #fyp #techtok #hitechcentury #malaysia #galaxyAI #samsung #learnontiktok #malaysiatiktok @samsungmalaysia ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim

Combined the setup on the rear cameras is capable of capturing up to an improved 8K@30fps video; the S23 FE maxed out at 8K@24fps, a 3x lossless zoom and up to 30x hybrid zoom for photos as well as up to 10x digital zoom for 4K video and up to 5x zoom for 8K videos. The front also features the same 10MP camera as the prior S23 FE for selfies and up to 4K@60fps video capture.

In daylight conditions all the way out to 3x zoom, shots are crisp with Samsung’s trademark slight saturation that makes blues richer and greenery look particularly lush. While you can take shots out to 30x digital zoom, they’re understandably soft though the cameras were able to capture a bird hovering on a stop sign at about a hundred paces away under daylight conditions in one of our camera test runs. 

In dim light, the Galaxy S24 FE’s primary camera acquits itself well. While the ultrawide angle camera and telephoto camera have colours matching the main camera, pixel peeping reveals that ultra wide angle shots and snaps beyond 3x zoom have a bit of softness though all three cameras retain good dynamic range.

When capturing 4K video, the main rear camera offers smooth, steady footage that’s good for social media use and casual TikTok footage. The front selfie camera does a solid job with accurate skin tones and good background separation.

As it stands, the Galaxy S24 FE’s cameras are a close contender with the Galaxy S24’s cameras save for a bit of softness in the ultrawide and telephoto cameras in dim light and are otherwise impressive for its price range and are highly capable for most day to day scenarios.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE manages to blend performance, durability and endurance in a relatively affordable package along with the provision of Galaxy AI equal to that used in the top-shelf and pricier Galaxy S24 series. 

While it has some concessions to cost, namely the use of a less brighter display while packing a slightly thicker and less durable chassis, it is still every bit a potent flagship with a whopping 7 years of promised OS and security updates, a combination of features that the competition would be hard-pressed to match. 

If you’re after the latest Samsung flagship experience and an affordable means to access the full Galaxy AI experience, the Galaxy S24 FE is an option worthy of consideration though you can alternatively opt for last year’s Galaxy S23+ if you happen to find them in the market.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review unit courtesy of Samsung Malaysia. To purchase visit https://www.samsung.com/my/smartphones/galaxy-s24-fe/buy/