What could I do with this much power in such a small phone?
This makes it one of thebest AI phones.
The display looks brilliant, no matter how bright or dim it was set.
All the apps preloaded on the Galaxy S24(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Its not all good news, though.
Samsungs software lags far behind.
Its a lustrous garden grown wild.
The iPhone 16 doesnt make me dig through three layers of prefs to find the coolest new features.
Soon, it will be too far gone.
You just have to drag the phone out of the past to find it.
Its a massive price jump that doesnt equate to a big performance boost.
The Galaxy S24 is a great value compared to the competition at this price.
Its the curve at the corners of the display that really bring home the similarity.
This isnt a terrible thing, it just isnt very unique.
At least Samsung has some nice colors for this model.
More vibrant are the Sandstone Orange and Amber Yellow options.
Samsung still does a great job keeping its phones thin and light.
Its thinner than the iPhone or Google Pixel, and its also the lightest of the bunch.
The screen was also plenty bright, even in outdoor sunlight taking photos with the camera.
Overall I had no complaints about the display unless Im truly nitpicking.
In our Future Labs tests, the Galaxy S24 had a wider color gamut than any competitor.
The bad news is that it can do everything the Galaxy S24 Ultra can do, and no less.
The Galaxy S24 is super-powered, there is no doubt.
Samsung needs to simplify.
The software problems are starting to feel like laziness.
All the apps preloaded on the Galaxy S24(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
This process quickly failed without warning, and I had to repeat it.
Why not just start there?
My Galaxy was suddenly downloading strange Samsung software, including a blockchain manager?
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
I dont use anything blockchain at all.Then there are all the apps.
On a Samsung phone, running a Googleoperating system?
Good job, Microsoft.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
I hope it got what it paid for.
All of this just feels lazy, or cynical, or both.
It feels like the software is pushing me to do more, to buy more, and use more.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
I just want simplicity.
I just want it to work.
All the apps preloaded on the Galaxy S24
Then there are all the apps.
On a Samsung phone, running a Google operating system?
Good job, Microsoft.
I hope it got what it paid for.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Most of the great work Samsung has done improving its image processing carries through here.
You also get a real zoom lens with the Galaxy S24, and it helps a great deal.
In practice, these are surprisingly useful.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
I like erasing spectators in the way when Im trying to see my kid on the field.
The generative AI did a nice job without a heavy hand, and the results usually looked natural enough.
What can you do with that performance?
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
you could run Adobe Lightroom and watch your photo edits happen in real-time as you move the sliders.
you’ve got the option to run Samsung DeX and open multiple windows on your monitor simultaneously.
Theres a ton of power packed into this phone.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
The only time I saw a real delay was when I used the new Google and Galaxy AI features.
Holding down the home button to activate Googles circle to search took a few moments.
Using Samsungs Galaxy AI features caused a similar delay.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
When I asked the keyboard to rewrite my text messages, there was a long pause.
There are bottlenecks with both.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra technically outperformed the Galaxy S24, likely due to the extra RAM on board.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
The Galaxy S24 only ships with 8GB of RAM installed, while the S24 Ultra comes with 12GB.
On a normal day of use, the Galaxy S24 lasted until bed time with no trouble.
I wish the Galaxy S24 would charge faster, as things havent improved since the last generation.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S24?
Samsung didnt skimp on its smaller models power like Apple does.
If youre in an iPhone crowd, its worth considering.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Plus, Google promises seven years of Android updates, just like Samsung.
You just dont get everything in the Galaxy with a OnePlus.
I used the Galaxy S24 to its limits, testing every new feature, especially AI.
I also tested DeX for work, Bixby for interface control, and many other Samsung features.
I play games at the maximum parameters, with Bluetooth headphones and a Bluetooth joystick attached where appropriate.
I used a Dell monitor, Razer Blackwidow keyboard, and Logitech Master MX 2 mouse for DeX.
I tested the Galaxy S24 camera in a shootout against the OnePlus 12 and Galaxy S24 Ultra.
I took hundreds of photographs under the same lighting conditions for each, with similar configs enabled.
Then, I compared the photographs when viewed on a professional Dell monitor at full resolution.
Read more about how we test
First reviewed February 2024
