Intro
While the Galaxy S24 has been hailed as a compact powerhouse, the Galaxy S24 FE takes a different approach, opting for a larger form factor that caters to those seeking a more immersive screen experience. This size difference is a key consideration for potential buyers, as it influences factors such as portability and one-handed use.
In the following sections, we will delve deeper into the key areas that differentiate these two devices. From their display and performance to their cameras and battery life, we will explore the nuances that set them apart. By the end of this comparison, you’ll have a clearer understanding of which device best suits your needs and preferences.
Galaxy S24 FE vs Galaxy S24 differences:
| Galaxy S24 FE | Galaxy S24 |
|---|---|
| The Galaxy S24 FE is noticeably larger and heavier | Galaxy S24 is more portable and easier to carry around |
| Display gets pretty bright, but is less visible under strong light | Superior outdoor visibility thanks to higher display brightness |
| Traditional optical fingerprint sensor | Ultrasonic sensor for faster and more accurate unlocking |
| Similarly powerful Exynos 2400e chipset | Slightly better Exynos 2400 processor |
| Larger battery, potentially resulting in longer battery life | Smaller battery and lower battery life |
| Comes with mostly the same camera system, but with slightly lower resolution for the telephoto and selfie cameras | Telephoto and selfie cameras are slightly better |
Table of Contents:
Design and Display
Not in the same weight category, but otherwise the almost same
The Galaxy S24 is much easier to handle with just one hand, but the S24 FE offers a larger screen to enjoy games and video content. (Image by PhoneArena)
This year Samsung decided to alter the design of its flagship series, making it box-like, with flat sides and slightly curved corners and edges. Well, that’s what it has also done to the Fan Edition series, which was expected considering the FE is supposed to just be a less expensive version of the high-end models.
We are looking at 6.38 x 3.04 x 0.31 inches for the S24 FE vs 5.79 x 2.78 x 0.30 inches for the S24, so the former is much taller and somewhat wider. It is also much heavier at 7.51 oz vs 5.89 oz. Suffice it to say, this can be a major deciding factor if you are choosing between these two phones.
(Image by PhoneArena)
Materials-wize, both have aluminum frames with glass back panels. Even their camera modules protrude the same length outside the phone’s back. Both also come with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, which is about the best you can get on a flagship phone. Buttons and ports are placed at the same spots, and feel equally well made.
- Onyx Black
- Marble Grey
- Cobalt Violet
- Amber Yellow
- Jade Green
- Sandstone Orange
- Sapphire Blue
- Blue
- Graphite
- Gray
- Mint
- Yellow
And, no, neither includes any goodies inside the box like cases or wall chargers. You are just getting a USB-C charging cable and that’s it.
(Image by PhoneArena)
The Galaxy S24 FE has increased in size, and with that its display size has also jumped from 6.4 inches to 6.7 inches, meaning it has an even larger display compared to the 6.2-inch one on the Galaxy S24. What’s more, even though they are not as thin and uniform as those on the S24, the bezels have significantly shrunk on the S24 FE, and it now looks more premium.
The Galaxy S24 has a peak brightness of 2600 nits, while the S24 FE is maxes out at 1900 nits, although the real brightness levels are different (see display measurements below). Both phones come with HDR10+ support and both have a high display refresh rate of 120Hz, which feels like should be the norm for any phone over $500 these days…
One big difference between the two is that the S24 FE comes with a standard optical fingerprint sensor embedded in its display, which is noticeably slower and less accurate than the ultrasonic one Samsung uses on its flagship series.
Lastly, protection-wise, the Galaxy S24 FE‘s screen comes with Gorilla Glass Victus Plus — an improvement over last year’s Gorilla Glass 5 — vs the Galaxy S24‘s Gorilla Glass Victus 2. We are not exactly sure just how much more durable the S24 display is, but our guess is that it is not by much in comparison.
The Galaxy S24 got about 200 nits brighter during our display lab tests. This difference is noticeable in real life too, but we wouldn’t say that the S24 FE is not visible when outdoors. Both phones are perfectly usable even under lots of sunlight.
Performance and Software
The main reason the S24 costs $150 more
The FE even comes with the somewhat new Sketch to Image feature that allows users to sketch over a photo, after which the phone generates an AI image on top that (hopefully) fits in. In our experience, however, this feature did not work too well.
What does seem to work very well is the more useful AI features such as Chat Assist, Call Assist, and Interpreter. These are the AI-powered tools from Galaxy AI that actually show why AI in our phones is the future, and it is great to see them on the Galaxy S24 FE, even though most were already available on the S23 FE too.
The software update situation with this year’s Fan Edition has improved, and Samsung now offers the same 7 years of Android updates and security patches that it promises with its flagship series. including the Galaxy S24.
Even though the S24 should technically have the better chipset, it only managed to show its superiority in graphical performance. When it comes to CPU power, however, the S24 FE matches it.
Camera
Virtually the same camera experience
The image quality from the S24 FE’s camera system should be almost on par with the S24. (Image by PhoneArena)
According to Samsung, the cheaper Galaxy S24 FE shares the same 50MP main camera inside the Galaxy S24. It even comes with the same ProVisual engine that is supposed to help improve image quality, especially when zooming in digitally.
Both come with a 3X telephoto camera. The small difference is that the one on the FE is 8MP while the S24’s is 10MP, although that doesn’t seem to be apparent in our samples, as you will see in a bit.
Unlike the telephoto cameras, however, the S24 FE has a 12MP ultra-wide camera, just like the Galaxy S24. The spec sheets make it appear as those cameras are the same, and the sample photos and video we took gave us the same impression.
When it comes to the selfie cameras, the S24 once again has slightly higher resolution — 12MP vs 10MP on the S24 FE. And, in fact, from the previous generations of these phones, which had the same selfie camera differences, we did notice slightly higher levels of detail coming from the S24’s front camera. But, again, the difference is not immediately visible.
The FE had pretty poor HDR performance during video recording last year, which is why we are happy to see that Samsung has addressed that issue with the S24 FE. Unfortunately, that is only when it comes to the rear cameras. The front camera still shows halos around edges.
Our camera score consolidates Samsung’s claims that the S24 FE has the same main camera, but it also shows us that the rest of its camera system performs almost identically too.
Main Camera
There is virtually zero difference between these two images taken by the 50MP main cameras. The colors and sharpness are the same. The only small difference we can spot is that the FE has produced a less contrasty image.
Zoom Quality
Despite the lower resolution telephoto camera, the S24 FE manages to give us similar quality to what the S24’s 10MP telephoto. The difference here is that the FE has leaned toward a cooler white balance.
Ultra-wide Camera
The ultra-wide on the FE has a wider field of view, so it captures a bit more inside a single shot. That said, it also comes with more distortion, so the photos look a bit weirder and more unnatural.
Selfies
You can see a slight halo effect around the edges of the subject and the tree leafs in the background on the S24 FE’s selfie photo. The S24 does not have that issue, making up for a cleaner image.
More Camera Samples
Video Quality
The S24 FE seems to have handled the tough lighting here slightly better, making the subject brighter. The flagship seems to favor exposing for the highlights though, which in this case helps with the bright sky but not so much with the darker areas. We also prefer the way the FE’s color reproduction, but that is subjective.
Battery Life and Charging
Size-related consequences
As you might already suspect, there is a considerable difference in battery capacity given size difference between the S24 FE and the standard S24. The Fan Edition comes with a 4,700 mAh battery, while the one on the S24 is 4,000 mAh.
700 mAh is quite the difference when it comes to battery sizes, and it without a doubt adds to the longer battery life on the S24 FE.
The difference is not too stark despite the much smaller size of the S24’s battery. The Exynos 2400e inside the new Fan Edition is meant to be better at preserving energy, so it is no surprise that it comes out on top, but it is not by much.
The Galaxy S24 takes less time to charge, but only because it has a smaller battery than the FE. (Image by PhoneArena)
On the charging side of things, both phones should charge at the same speed given both support 25W, but the lower battery capacity on the Galaxy S24 means it should take less time to go from 0-100% than its more affordable counterpart.
Both also have the same 15W wireless charging, and both support reverse-wireless charging.
PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:
Since the Galaxy S24 FE is larger and has a bigger battery capacity, it was no surprise to us that it also had better battery life. In this case, our estimation gave it 6 hours and 20 minutes, compared to the S24’s 2 hours.
Audio Quality
Both phones have great sound quality, but the larger size of the S24 FE gives its sound a bit more depth and umph. That’s because there is more room inside the phone for improved acoustics. Both have similar maximum volume.
Specs Comparison
(Image by PhoneArena)
If you were to compare the $649 Galaxy S24 FE to the $799 flagship Galaxy S24 purely by their spec sheets, most of the differences boil down to size. The FE is larger, and therefore comes with more screen real estate and a bigger battery. There are two more tiny differences, and those are the slightly higher resolution 3X telephoto and selfie cameras on the S24.
| Galaxy S24 FE | Galaxy S24 | |
|---|---|---|
| Size, weight | 162 x 77.3 x 8 mm, 213 g | 147 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm, 168 g |
| Screen | 6.7″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X 1080 x 2340 pixels 120Hz 1900 nits peak brightness |
6.2″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz 1080 x 2340 pixels 2600 nits peak brightness |
| Exynos 2400e 4 nm |
Exynos 2400 (Europe) / Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (USA and Canada) 4 nm |
|
| RAM, Storage | 8/128GB 8/256GB |
8/128GB 8/256GB |
| Cameras | 50MP main 12MP ultra 8MP 3X telephoto 10MP front |
50MP main 12MP ultra 10MP 3X telephoto 12MP front |
| Battery | 4,700 mAh | 4,000 mAh |
| Charging | USB-C 25W wired 15W Qi2 wireless Reverse-wireless charging support |
USB-C 25W wired 15W Qi2 wireless Reverse-wireless charging support |
Comparing the spec sheets of two devices serves as a way to look at them from an eagle’s point of view, revealing things that one might not typically see. The comparison above gives us the impression that there is very little that separates the Galaxy S24 FE from the more premium Galaxy S24.
Which one should you buy?
The better purchase decision might be to save those $150. (Image by PhoneArena)
Frankly, Samsung has done such a good job with the Galaxy S24 FE this year that it has made it hard to recommend its 2024 flagship. You have almost the same level of chip and camera performance, which are arguably the two most popular parts that matter to consumers.
There’s also the larger display on the FE, and its slightly better audio quality, immediately making it a better device to enjoy any kind of visual content on. Realistically, this leaves the Galaxy S24 with only its compact size as the main benefit it can offer.
So, which one should you buy? If you want a small phone that delivers the power and features of a flagship, get the S24. But if a light and small phone is not a necessity, than saving $150 and going for the FE seems like the sounder financial decision.
