Small phones are out of style, and even the ones made by Samsung, Apple, and Google these days aren't compact enough if you're talking about being able to use a phone with one hand 100% of the time.
But lovers of small phones have to take what they get, and in the Android landscape, their best bet in recent years has been Samsung's Galaxy S lineup. Samsung has consistently improved the experience its Galaxy S flagship lineup provides and came very close to the perfect compact device last year with the Galaxy S23.
Now, the Galaxy S23 has been succeeded by the Galaxy S24. The S24 doesn't bring many upgrades, and Samsung's decision to use an Exynos chip in most markets for the base and Plus model has even been called a downgrade by some.
But how is the Galaxy S24 when it comes to the real-world experience? Is it the next king of compact flagships, or did Samsung come up short?
Design
Samsung hasn't changed much with the Galaxy S24's design, and that's fine because what isn't broken shouldn't be fixed. Gorilla Glass Victus 2 covers the front and back, and the aluminium frame is a little stronger. It's also flatter, but Samsung has left no sharp edges and the corners are rounded for a comfortable fit.
Of course, thanks to the compact dimensions of the S24, even a more boxy design with sharper edges wouldn't be an issue when handling the phone. Samsung has also managed to increase screen size by 0.1 inch while only adding a few millimeters to the phone's height and width, and the display bezels are equally thin on all four sides.
The S24 is also water and dust resistant thanks to its IP68 certification. Overall, it's extremely well designed and feels super premium. It also comes in some beautiful colors, though some of them, like the Amber Yellow version we are reviewing, only different in name. The base model also lacks the online-exclusive color options that you get for the S24+ and S24 Ultra.
Display and audio
The Galaxy S24's display is on an equal footing with its larger siblings in all aspects except screen size and resolution. It can hit much higher brightness levels–2600 nits–than the S23, and its 120Hz refresh rate goes as low as 1Hz instead of 48Hz.
This is the best the display has ever been on a base Galaxy S model
The display is also more power efficient, which makes the option to show the wallpaper in Always On Display mode possible. And despite the slight increase in size over the S23, the S24's display remains usable with one hand for most things you will do on it in your day-to-day life.
The screen can feel a little small at times. Buttons and fonts inside games or websites you open in the browser can be a bit too small (it's a pain to hit the x button on the Google ads that pop up on some websites), and it won't provide the best experience for watching videos, either.
But all that is to be expected from compact phones, so we're only pointing out some facts and not complaining. This is the best the display has ever been on a base Galaxy S model and is unmatched by the few alternatives that exist on the market.
As for the stereo speakers, the output is excellent, though there aren't any marked improvements. It feels slightly louder and reproduces mid frequencies better, but the difference is minor. Samsung's flagship phone speakers also continue to lack the bass you get from an iPhone's speakers, and it's something the company should fix next year.
Cameras
Samsung continues to be the only manufacturer that offers full-fledged camera experience on compact flagships. The Galaxy S24 and S24+ have the same camera hardware, including a 3x zoom camera, and features like 8K video recording are not limited on the base model.
We won't go into detail here as our Galaxy S24+ review has everything you need to know about the camera experience you will get with the S24, but the gist is that the S24 takes excellent pictures and videos overall and will not give most a reason to complain.
Performance, connectivity
The Galaxy S24 uses the Exynos 2400 in most markets, and it's the variant we got to test. The Exynos 2400 is, thankfully, an excellent chip, even if it's more at par with last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 instead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used on the Galaxy S24 Ultra (and in the US, Canada, and China for the S24 and S24+).
Last year, the smoothness and fluidity of the user interface on the Galaxy S23 series were so good that it seemed like Samsung had paid proper attention to those things for the first time. We did wonder if it was only made possible by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but that isn't the case.
Performance is fantastic both in everyday operation and when performing heavier tasks such as gaming
Performance on the S24 is fantastic both in everyday operation or when performing heavier tasks such as gaming or photo capture in the camera app, and the UI is smoother than the S23. It handles all the AI features with aplomb as well, and the slower UFS storage on the 128GB storage variant only makes its presence felt when doing things like saving edited videos.
The S24 also stays cool thanks to a larger vapor chamber and a more efficient manufacturing process for the Exynos 2400. It gets hot during long sessions of graphically intensive games like Call of Duty but never uncomfortably so. The only time the temperature became a problem was when the phone was used for navigation while it was sitting in a car dock that let the sun hit it directly for 30+ minutes.
When it comes to benchmarks, the S24 scores fewer points than the S24+ as it throttles earlier because of its smaller dimensions, but real world performance is generally excellent. We had been skeptical of Samsung bringing back Exynos chips after going through a year of Snapdragon-only Galaxy flagships, and we're glad to report that Samsung hasn't let us down.
The Exynos 2400 does limit the connectivity features available on the S24. The Exynos 2400 lacks Wi-Fi 7 support, so Samsung has disabled it on the Snapdragon-powered S24 and S24+ as well. The S24 also misses out on UWB (ultra-wideband) support.
Call quality on the Galaxy S24 is as good as one expects from any phone in this day and age. Network reception is great, and the phone is a little more efficient when using 5G mobile data compared to its predecessor.
Software
We have already covered the software on the Galaxy S24 series in detail in our Galaxy S24 Ultra review, and we would recommend checking that review in addition to the videos below for all the details. The long and short of it is that the S24 doesn't miss out on any of the fancy software features, AI or otherwise, compared to the S24+ and S24 Ultra.
Its performance also keeps up even if it may get hotter than the other two models sometimes. Naturally, the base S24 is eligible for seven years of OS updates as well, though it may need the battery replaced earlier if you wish to keep getting dependable battery life after the first couple of Android/One UI updates.
Battery life, charging
For a small phone with a 4,000 mAh battery, battery life is solid. We were worried Samsung's use of an Exynos chip would make the S24 fail to match the impressive battery life of the S23, but that didn't end up being the case.
If you're on a Wi-Fi connection for a better part of the day, expect the S24 to make it 24 hours on a single charge with a mix of light and moderate use that may involve take some camera pictures, watching YouTube videos for 2-3 hours, browsing for an hour or two, or even using some of the AI features like generative photo editing.
For a small phone with a 4,000 mAh battery, battery life is solid
The 1Hz-120Hz adaptive refresh rate of the display is no doubt helping the S24 last longer while in use. However, it's unsurprisingly not a phone that will last long with heavy use. Expect to have to charge it by early evening if you use it heavily, especially on 4G or 5G mobile data, or by dinner time at the latest.
And while idle drain on the S24 is impressively low, you should avoid using Always On Display. Having the lock screen show in AOD, a feature that's debuting on the Galaxy S24 lineup, doesn't put a lot of extra strain on the battery compared to traditional AOD in which only the clock is shown, but it's still pretty draining overall to be worth it.
Charging speeds on the Galaxy S24 are the same as the S23's. It supports 25W charging, and you can get nearly 60% charge in 30 minutes and around 90% in 60 minutes. A full charge can take 75-80 minutes. The phone also supports 15W wireless charging and can charge other devices, such as your smartwatch or earbuds, using reverse wireless charging.
Verdict
The Galaxy S24 is the only phone you should be looking at if you want an Android flagship that is suitable for one-handed use. The well-rounded experience it provides is only matched by its predecessor, the Galaxy S23. If you can find the Galaxy S23 for a considerably lower price, by all means, get that as it still holds up well. Otherwise, grab the Galaxy S24, we can promise you won't regret it.
