Weekly poll: are you considering the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE?

Does the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE need to exist? It all comes down to price – a 256GB unit will cost you $710 in the US with no promotions and discounts, a Galaxy S24+ 256GB is $1,000. The S24+ is certainly the better phone, but whether it is $290 better remains to be seen.

And you shouldn’t be paying full price for these phones, anyway. Samsung US is accepting pre-orders for the S24 FE and is offering up to $400 trade-in credit, 50% off the Galaxy Watch FE and Buds FE and 2x the Samsung Rewards points. However, the S24+ has similar offers too.

Say that you have a Galaxy S21 FE and you want to upgrade to a 2024 phone with 256GB storage. Plugging that into Samsung.com’s trade-in calculator drops the Galaxy S24 FE price to $410 (the old FE is valued at $300), while the Galaxy S24+ only gets down to $850 (since the old FE only fetches a $150 discount). Without any trade-in, you can get $200 off, so the 256GB S24+ is actually $800 tops.

Of course, in other regions the prices and discounts will be different. There are other factors too, the US never got the Galaxy A55 (and who knows what will happen with the A56), so there was quite a gap between the A-series and the S-series.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE

Anyway, here are some prices for the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE from around the world. It comes in 128GB, 256GB or 512GB storage capacities, all with 8GB of RAM. We only saw the 512GB model in parts of Southeast Asia and in some regions the 128GB option was missing.

An important part of the calculation is how long you plan to keep the S24 FE. Samsung has announced 7 major OS upgrades, which will feel more like 6, seeing how Android 15 is just around the corner. Still, with that and 7 years of security patches, you may not need a new phone for a very long time. And even if you don’t keep it as long but only, say, 3 years, then the phone will still have a long life ahead of it – so you can pass it on to a family member or sell it.

Now, whether 8GB of RAM will be enough for apps and games from the year 2030 is another matter. But if it makes you feel any better, Galaxy S24 owners (non-plus) are facing the same fate. At least this time Samsung used a current chipset (even if slightly downclocked), while the S23 FE had to make do with a chip that was over year old by the time the phone launched.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE highlights

This is also the largest S FE phone yet with a 6.7” display. Previously, the S FE series had 6.4” and 6.5” displays. The battery also got a 200mAh bump to 4,700mAh. However, the Galaxy S24 FE is missing out on some key upgrades that the S24+ brought this year – FHD+ display instead of QHD+ (and an LTPO panel to boot), 25W wired charging instead of 45W (and the Plus has a slightly larger battery).

Like we said, the Plus is certainly the better phone, at least if you don’t account for the difference in price. There are plenty of non-Samsung options to consider.

The iPhone 16 Plus also has a 6.7” display, a 60Hz panel. And while the 8MP 3x telephoto camera on the S24 FE isn’t amazing, the iPhone has none. Apple is charging $900 for a 128GB Plus, so it’s not cheap either.

The Xiaomi 14T Pro was announced on the same day as the S24 FE. A 12/256GB model will set you back €800, so around the same as a 256GB Samsung. However, the Xiaomi has a Dimensity 9300+ (the same chipset that Samsung uses in its pricey new tablets), plus a 50MP main (with a large 1/1.31” sensor), a 50MP 60mm telephoto and 12MP ultra wide cameras. Plus, the larger 5,000mAh battery charges much faster (120W wired, 50W wireless). As for the screen, it’s not LTPO, but it is a 6.67” 1220p+ panel with 12-bit colors and 144Hz refresh rate.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ • Apple iPhone 16 Plus • Xiaomi 14T Pro • OnePlus 12

Google only has small phones at $1,000 or less. OnePlus is going to announce its new flagship next month, but the OnePlus 12 gets you that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that Samsung isn’t offering on the S24 FE or (in some regions) the S24 and S24+. This one does have a QHD+ LTPO display, a 6.82” panel, plus a 50+64+48MP camera and a fast-charging 5,400mAh battery (100W wired, 50W wireless). Like we said, this one is an older model and OnePlus isn’t pushing discounts as hard as it used to, but we’ve seen the 256GB model at $700 enough times.

Time to vote – are you interested in the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE?