Samsung’s latest compact flagship, the Galaxy S24, comes with an Exynos 2400 SoC, a 6.2-inch AMOLED 120Hz display, a 4,000mAh battery, and a triple rear camera setup. The phone is mostly similar in design to the outgoing Galaxy S23, however, you do get a brighter display, improved cameras, slightly longer battery life, and Galaxy AI. Here’s our review of the Galaxy S24.
I’m a big fan of compact smartphones with powerful internals and cameras. However, it’s very rare to see such phones these days. Cue the Samsung Galaxy S24, which keeps the tradition alive among other similarly sized phones such as the iPhone 15 and the Google Pixel 8. My first tryst with a compact smartphone was when I purchased the Sony Xperia Z Compact, and what a wonderful phone that was. The Galaxy S24 offers the same chipset and rear camera setup as the Galaxy S24+ but comes in a smaller package that can be used one-handed.
Could the Samsung Galaxy S24 be the best compact smartphone of 2024? Let’s find out.
Before we discuss the phone, let’s talk about its pricing. The Galaxy S24’s price in India starts at Rs. 79,999 for the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant, whereas if you want 512GB storage, you’ll have to shell out Rs. 89,999. It’s a bit disappointing that Samsung still does not offer a higher RAM variant. So power users will have to settle for 8GB RAM despite shelling out close to Rs. 90,000.
Galaxy S24 is available in two storage options
The phone comes in Amber Yellow (the one we’re reviewing), Cobalt Violet, and Onyx Black. If you purchase it from Samsung’s online store, you can also get it in Sapphire Blue and Jade Green.
After you’ve purchased the Galaxy S24, you’ll find that there’s not much available in the box. You get the phone, a USB Type-C to Type-C cable, some paperwork, and the SIM ejector tool.
If you own a Galaxy 23, then you can fool your friends into thinking that you have the latest Galaxy S24. In terms of design, there’s hardly any difference between the two. They look and feel the same, and you get the same aluminium glass sandwich. The rear glass panel uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The phone feels quite solid in terms of build quality. It weighs 167 grams, and the flat sides make it easy to grip. The overall compact form factor also makes the Galaxy S24 an amazing device for one-handed use. This time around, the aluminium frame has a slight curvature, so it won’t poke into your hands around the edges and rounded corners. The back panel houses three separate rings for the triple cameras, and there’s also a flash module in a smaller circle placed next to the cameras.
The Galaxy S24 has a 12-megapixel front camera
On the front, the display features slim uniform bezels all around and a hole-punch cutout at the top centre for the front camera. The display is slightly bigger than last year’s model, but Samsung has managed to keep the dimensions pretty much the same. The Galaxy S24 is also IP68-certified for dust and water resistance. The panel is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Apart from a slightly bigger panel and a higher screen-to-body ratio, the Galaxy S24 once again looks very similar to the Galaxy S23.
As for specifications, we have something quite interesting under the hood this year. Samsung bravely opted for its own silicon, with the Exynos 2400 SoC, which is paired with its Xclipse 940 GPU. After several years of going with Qualcomm silicon we don’t think it is a good idea. But this is better explained in the performance section of this review. The chipset is paired with up to 8GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
The handset has a dual nano-SIM slot that supports dual 5G standby. It gets a USB Type-C port at the bottom, along with a speaker, microphone, and SIM card slot. Samsung has arranged both power and volume buttons on the left frame of the handset. For communication, the Galaxy S24 comes with dual-band Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3 with LE, GPS (Glonass, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS) and NFC.
The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is well-positioned
Samsung continues to use an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner on its flagship phones, and more companies should do this. The scanner is placed under the display, is easily reachable, super fast, and works flawlessly every time.
You get a 4,000mAh battery on the Galaxy S24, which is smaller than the competition. However, it is slightly bigger than its predecessor. The phone supports 25W wired fast charging, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse charging.
In terms of software, the Galaxy S24 runs Android 14-based OneUI 6.1 out-of-the-box. Samsung has done a Google and promised seven years of Android OS updates and security patches. Since AI is the new buzzword in the industry, Samsung has also included several useful AI features.
Galaxy AI will only be free till the end of 2025
The South Korean manufacturer is calling it Galaxy AI, and it helps you do things such as remove objects from images, create wallpapers, transcribe phone calls, live translate, and more.
