Galaxy S24 FE vs Galaxy S21 FE: Will we FEel the difference?

Samsung's Galaxy S24 FE is a solid upgrade over its predecessor, the Galaxy S23 FE. While both devices offer a lot for the price, the S24 FE brings some notable improvements to the table.

First off, the S24 FE has a bigger, better-looking screen. It's larger and has thinner bezels, making it feel more modern and immersive. Plus, it's brighter, so you can see it better outdoors.

Under the hood, the S24 FE is a beast. It's got a faster processor, which means it can handle games and multitasking like a champ. Samsung's ProVisual engine also gives the camera a boost, so your photos should look even better.

Samsung did increase the price this year, but only by $15, with a starting price of $649.99 for the 8/128GB variant in the U.S. Things are a bit different this year though, as the S24 FE comes with the same processor no matter where you buy it from, unlike the previous Fan Edition.

Galaxy S24 FE: Up to $400 off with trade-in

The Galaxy S24 FE is up for grabs at the official Samsung Store. Currently, you can save up to $400 on the handset with eligible trade-ins.

$400 off (62%) Trade-in

$249 ⁹⁹

$649 ⁹⁹

Buy at Samsung

Galaxy S24 FE: Get at Amazon with a $100 Gift Card

The Galaxy S24 FE is also available at Amazon. Over here, you can't take advantage of any price cuts (for now, at least), but you get a $100 Gift Card with your phone purchase. This is a limited-time deal.

Gift

Buy at Amazon

Samsung has altered the design of the new Fan Edition to match that of its flagship series, meaning it has flat sides and slightly curved corners. It feels very similar to holding a Galaxy S24 Plus.

Putting its more boxy shape aside, the S24 FE is similar to the Galaxy S24 FE. Maybe the only other noticeable difference is that the metal encasing around each of the cameras at the back is less reflective, but that's about it.

The slightly larger size of 6.38 x 3.04 x 0.31 inches brings the Galaxy S24 FE even deeper into large phone territory, although the 6.22 x 3.01 x 0.32 inches of the S23 FE also make it a player in that category.

Materials are the same for both phones, with aluminum frames with glass back panels. The durability has also remained the same with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating.

The Galaxy S24 FE comes in fewer hues:

In contrast, the Galaxy S23 FE comes with one more:

• Mint
• Cream
• Graphite
• Purple
• Indigo
• Tangerine

This year the Galaxy Fan Edition phone has grown, and so has its display. It is significantly larger at 6.7 inches compared to the 6.4 inches on the S23 FE. But this is not only thanks to the phone's generally larger size. Samsung has also reduced the bezels, making the phone have a much more modern look at the front, despite the fact that they are still not uniform.

The S24 FE also comes with a higher peak brightness of 1900 nits vs the 1450 nits on the predecessor. This should help with outdoor visibility, although the actual brightness levels are probably different, so stay tuned for the results we will get from our display lab tests.

Apart from the differences above, both support HDR10+ and both have a high display refresh rate of 120Hz that makes them a joy to use. The fingerprint reader is the same as last year too; Samsung won't be adding an ultrasonic one on its non-flagship phones anytime soon.

When it comes to protection, the Galaxy S24 FE's screen comes with Gorilla Glass Victus Plus, which is an improvement over the S23 FE's Gorilla Glass 5. But just how much more durable this new Gorilla Glass is compared to the older generation we can't tell you. Corning, the company that makes this glass, says that Victus is two times more scratch-resistant and can withstand more shock damage than the Gorilla Glass 5. 

Last year there were two version of the Fan Edition — one with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 that was sold in the USA, Canada, and China, and another with the Exynos 2200 that was meant for the rest of the world. Well, things are different this year, and all regions are getting the the Galaxy S24 FE with the Exynos 2400e.

The S24 FE is the first phone to include this special edition Exynos 2400e, which is a tweaked version of the Exynos 2400 that powers some versions of the flagship S24 models. Samsung says that this chip provides almost twice the performance of last year's model, as well as an 18% improved ray tracing.

We expect to see better performance during gaming because of this, and, presumably, this is also what enables the S24 FE things like the ProVisual engine that improves image quality from the cameras.

Samsung also stated that the vapor chamber, which is the main part that cools the phone when it is under heavy loads, is 11% larger. That said, the new chip is also more powerful, so the larger vapor chamber might just even things out. We will let you know if the S24 FE stays cooler during gaming compared to the S23 FE.

As for RAM, both phones come with 8GB, so that won't be a factor when it comes to performance differences. This amount of RAM is also a requirement for Galaxy AI features, and while the S23 FE got some of that AI goodness with the One UI 6.1 update, the S24 FE supports even more.

The S23 FE still gets the AI features that are arguably the most important, such as Live Translate, Photo Assist, Chat Assist, and Circle to Search. But the Galaxy S24 FE also gets features such as Interpreter, Composer which generates suggested text and Note Assist to streamline the note-taking process and automates formatting and translation.

The S24 FE also gets Sketch to Image, which transform your scribbles on top of a photo in an AI generated image.

When it comes to software support, Samsung has added the new Fan Edition to the rest of its phones that get 7 years of Android updates and security patches. The S23 FE came with 4 years of Android updates when it launched, meaning it has 3 more left. In other words, the S24 FE is much better future-proofed.

According to Samsung, the new Fan Edition shares the same 50MP main camera inside the Galaxy S24. That said, besides the ProVisual engine that is supposed to help improve image quality, we don't have any reason to believe that the camera system of the new FE is different than the last year's model.

Besides the main 50MP camera, which has the same specs as the one on the S23 FE, the 8MP 3X telephoto and 12MP ultra-wide also seem to be the same. The same goes for the 10MP selfie camera.

Last year we were very happy with how well the Galaxy S23 FE's camera system performed, so even if things have not changed much we expect some pretty good image quality from all cameras, especially the main one.

The only thing that we wish Samsung has fixed is the poor HDR performance. Whenever HDR was enabled and being used, the S23 FE showed haloing around objects such as tree branches and leaves, for example, which makes the photos and video look a bit weird.

Even though the Galaxy S24 FE has a somewhat larger battery capacity than its predecessor, we can't make any speculations about its supposed battery life just yet. The difference between 4,700 mAh and 4,500 mAh is small, so it can easily be overcome by power efficiency. We will give you more details once we put the S24 FE through our three battery tests.

As for charging, both phones should charge at the same speed given both support 25W. There will probably be a very small difference with the S24 FE charging a tad slower thanks to its larger battery, but it will not be of any significance.

Both also have the same 15W wireless charging, and both support reverse-wireless charging.

You might lose yourself when comparing the Galaxy S24 FE and S23 FE spec sheets, since the chipsets are kind of the only clear difference. Nevertheless, as similar as these two phone seem, we can also spot some other differences from the table below.

For one, the S24 FE is noticeably taller and a little wider. It is also ever so slightly thinner than the S23 FE. That said, it is also heavier. But the somewhat larger size is accompanied by a larger display and battery too, so you are benefiting from it.

Check out our separate detailed page of the Galaxy S24 FE vs Galaxy S23 FE specs comparison for more information. 

Looking at the spec sheet it is immediately clear where Samsung has decided to upgrade its Fan Edition series this year, and that's namely the processor and the display.

The Galaxy S24 FE represents a decent upgrade over its predecessor, the Galaxy S23 FE. While both devices offer impressive features and performance, the S24 FE introduces notable enhancements in several key areas.

The Galaxy S24 FE's larger display and reduced bezels really make it stand out and give it a more premium look. The S23 FE, on the other hand, looks cheaper than it actually is if you are looking it from the back. We are also fans of this new more boxy form factor.

The larger display also makes any visual content much more enjoyable, all while the phone has stayed mostly a similar size. Additionally, the S24 FE boasts a higher peak brightness, ensuring better outdoor visibility in challenging lighting conditions.

Under the hood, the Galaxy S24 FE promises a substantial performance boost thanks to its upgraded Exynos 2400e processor. Just how much better remains to be seen, however, and we think there is a chance that the new chipset might deliver the most stark jump in performance we have seen between Fan Edition generations so far.

But if  camera performance is what's most important for you, then it's worth noting that the differences probably won't be significant.

This is not a bad update to the Galaxy FE phone series, and it has the potential to be great. Stay tuned for out test results for more details.