The Galaxy S24 family has arrived, and in our view, each device within the trio holds its own distinct appeal. Traditionally, the Plus model tends to receive less attention from consumers, and frankly, we anticipate a similar trend this year. However, as we’ve mentioned on several occasions already, the S24+ is arguably drawing closer to the Ultra in terms of features. With a spacious QHD display and a nearly identical 4,900 mAh battery size, it offers considerable allure. Moreover, the S24+ comes at a notably lower price point compared to the S24 Ultra, making the upgrade from the standard S24 to the S24+ a more palatable option.
Samsung made minimal changes to the dimensions of either the S24 or the S24+ compared to last year. The company managed to incorporate slightly larger displays (6.2 inches and 6.7 inches, respectively), largely due to the space-efficient LTPO technology.
The contrast in size between the two is significant. The standard Galaxy S24 remains one of the few compact modern flagships available. Meanwhile, the S24+ boasts a display almost comparable in size to that of the S24 Ultra. The S24 is not only thinner but also shorter than the S24+. They share similar thickness, with a weight difference of approximately 30 grams between them. Interestingly, the S24 Ultra weighs a substantial 232 grams, a considerable 36 grams more than the S24+, making the latter a compelling choice for those seeking a large-display Samsung flagship that’s lighter and more compact.
The design remains consistent across both the standard S24 and the S24+. Apart from their size distinction, the two share identical external appearances. Furthermore, they offer the same range of color options: Onyx Black, Marble Grey, Cobalt Violet, Amber Yellow, Jade Green, Sandstone Orange, and Sapphire Blue. Certain colors may only be accessible directly from Samsung’s store.
A notable design update for both the S24 and S24+ this year is the introduction of a matte finish, prominently seen on the middle frame of the phone.
Regarding the middle frame, there’s been an upgrade in material from the previous S23 generation to Armor aluminum 2. This enhancement is aimed at bolstering drop and scratch resistance. Additionally, both phones continue to feature the reliable Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protective glass on their front and back panels. However, the new Gorilla Glass Armor remains exclusive to the S24 Ultra model this year. Moreover, both the S24 and S24+ boast a full IP68 ingress protection rating.
Display:
Both the S24 and S24+ boast top-tier Samsung-made Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels, belonging to the same generation and boasting an impressive maximum brightness of 2,600 nits.
In our standardized testing, the S24 achieved 785 nits on the slider and 1,401 nits in auto mode, while the S24+ recorded 781 nits on the slider and 1,452 nits in auto mode. As we reduced the size of the white patch, brightness levels surpassed 2,000 nits, affirming the attainability of the advertised values.
This year, both phones are equipped with LTPO technology, facilitating the inclusion of slightly larger panels within essentially the same footprint as the S23 and S23+. Additionally, LTPO technology contributes to improved dynamic refresh rate control. Samsung’s implementation of LTPO technology is commendable, with the company’s refresh rate switching logic ensuring seamless matching of video playback framerate with the display refresh rate.
The only minor setback in an otherwise outstanding display performance is that the S24 and S24+ continue to utilize 8-bit panels, while several competitors have transitioned to 10 or even 12-bit panels. However, in practical terms, this distinction is often difficult to discern.
Battery life:
The Galaxy S24 and S24+ both have bigger batteries compared to the S23 generation. The vanilla S24 has a slight bump of 100 mAh, and its battery is now a nice round 4,000 mAh. The S24+ has added 200 mAh over its predecessor, and its battery pack is now 4,900 mAh. That’s almost as much as the 5,000 mAh of the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Samsung didn’t really increase battery capacity this year to achieve better battery endurance, though, but rather to combat the seemingly higher power draw of the new generation of Exynos 2400 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips.
Still, compared to the older S23, the vanilla S24 saw a slight bump in its Active Use Score. 12:06 hours out of such a compact phone is good.
As for the S24+, it only managed a slightly higher Active Use Score than the S24, clocking in at 12:30 hours. That might seem odd on the surface, but it starts to make sense once you consider the added strain of driving QHD resolution on a much bigger display.
Charging speed:
Like previous generations, the vanilla S24 only gets Samsung’s 25W Super Fast Charging standard. The S24+ is rated for 45W Super Fast Charging, just like the S24 Ultra. In reality, the difference in charging speed between the two, while still notable, is not that dramatic.
In our testing the S24 unit got from zero to 29% in 15 minutes, then 59% in 30 minutes with a full charge taking 1:15 hours. All the while, we managed to charge our S24+ to 41% in 15 minutes, 74% in 30 minutes, and a full charge took 0:58 hours. Using a 25W power adapter with the S24+ will add 10-15 more minutes to the time needed for a full charge, and 30 minutes of charging will net you 60% of charge instead of 74%.
It is worth noting that while the Galaxy S24+ supports the faster 45W charging standard, the cable that comes with the phone is only rated for 3A and is not capable of such speeds. Then again, Samsung seems to sell all of its 45W chargers with an included 5A cable.
Also worth noting is that neither phone comes with a charger in the box, so unless you got one on some sort of promo from your retailer or carrier, you might have to go out and get one. Samsung’s Super Fast Charging is PD-based, so any good PD charger should work, but we would still recommend getting a Samsung one to ensure it has the correct PPS profiles.
Beyond wired charging, both the S24 and S24+ support 15W Qi/PMA wireless charging and 4.5W reverse charging.
Speaker test:
Both the Galaxy S24 and S24+ have a hybrid stereo speaker setup with a dedicated bottom-firing speaker on one end and an amplified earpiece acting as the second speaker. Both phones managed a Very Good mark in our testing, which is notably better than the previous S23 generation.
Despite their difference in size, the S24 and S24+ have practically identical audio systems both in terms of loudness and actual sound quality.
You can compare how the two phones sound in controlled acoustic conditions with the samples below. Just make sure you have your headphones on and the volume is at max level.
Performance:
After offering the S23 generation only with Qualcomm chips for better or worse, Samsung is now back to its two-chip solution for the S24 and S24+. The S24 Ultra still only gets a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. But, depending on where you live, you might either end up with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or an Exynos 2400 inside your S24 or S24+. The latter is far more likely since just the USA, Canada and China get the Qualcomm variant.
At least you get a flagship chipset in both phones, which is arguably a lot more alluring in the smaller S24 since proper flagships in a compact form factor are so hard to come by. Our initial testing batch was done on European S24 and S24+ units running the Exynos 2400 chipset. For reference, our S24 review unit is the 8GB/256GB version, while our S24+ unit is rocking a 12GB/512GB configuration. We would advise you to avoid the base 128GB S24 since that uses slower UFS 3.1 storage.
We are yet to test the Snapdragon version of the S24 and S24+, but preliminary results do show that tis year, Samsung’s chipset seems to be very close in overall performance to Qualcomm’s flagship. Thermals might still be different across the chips, however. Samsung did say that it is upgrading its vapor chamber cooling solutions across the S24 lineup – possibly to account for the increased heat production by the new chipsets.
While the thermal-throttling behavior of the Exynos-equipped S24 and S24+ isn’t terrible by any means, we kind of expected a bit better on average. That being said, the surface of neither phone gets too hot to hold under load and out of the two, the bigger S24+ expectedly seems to handle heat slightly better. Not by a lot, though.
In terms of performance scores, the S24+ and S24 manage almost identical numbers, though the bigger S24+ does post slightly higher results on average. It doesn’t hurt that all Galaxy S24+ units come with 12GB of RAM, whereas the regular S24 is still stuck at 8GB (sans for a particular version in China).
Camera comparison:
The Galaxy S24 and S24+ come with what appears to be unchanged camera hardware compared to last year’s models. That includes a somewhat pedestrian but still full-featured triple setup on the back, joined by a better-than-most selfie unit.
Main Camera (Wide):
- Sensor: 50MP Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)GN3
- Sensor Size: 1/1.56″
- Pixel Size: 1.0µm
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal Length: 24mm
- Autofocus: Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF)
- Optical Image Stabilization (OIS): Yes
- Video Recording:
- 4320p at 30fps (8K)
- 2160p at 60fps (4K)
Telephoto Camera:
- Sensor: 10MP Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)3K1
- Sensor Size: 1/3.94″
- Pixel Size: 1.0µm
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal Length: 67mm
- Autofocus: Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF)
- Optical Image Stabilization (OIS): Yes
- Video Recording:
- 2160p at 60fps (4K)
Ultrawide Camera:
- Sensor: 12MP
- Sensor Size: 1/2.55″
- Pixel Size: 1.4µm
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal Length: 13mm
- Focus: Fixed
- Video Recording:
- 2160p at 60fps (4K)
Front Camera:
- Sensor: 12MP
- Sensor Size: 1/3.2″
- Pixel Size: 1.12µm
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal Length: 26mm
- Autofocus: Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF)
- Video Recording:
- 2160p at 60fps (4K)
These specifications provide a comprehensive overview of the camera setup, including details about the sensors, optics, focusing mechanisms, image stabilization, and video recording capabilities for each camera.
