What we like
Bright, sharp 1440p display
Excellent update commitment
All-day battery life
Solid cameras
Handy Galaxy AI features
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What we don’t like
Galaxy AI barely works without the cloud
Camera still struggles with motion
Relatively expensive but no titanium frame like S24 Ultra
AI features only guaranteed to be free through 2025
Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus
The Galaxy S24 Plus is ideal for anyone who wants a big, powerful Samsung phone but doesn’t want to overspend on the increasingly expensive Galaxy S Ultra series.
The Galaxy S24 family has landed with super-long update support and Galaxy AI in tow. The Galaxy S24 Ultra might get the lion’s share of attention in Samsung’s marketing, but you would do well to remember Samsung’s oft-forgotten middle child before buying a new smartphone. It has much more screen real estate than the baby S24, but it’s not as heavy or expensive as the monstrous S24 Ultra, offering a competent middle ground. Sure, it’s missing some Ultra-tier features like the S Pen and dual telephoto camera lenses, but the Galaxy S24 Plus has a lot to offer the right buyer.
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Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: At a glance
- What is it?The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus is the mid-tier option in Samsung’s Galaxy S24 lineup, featuring a 6.7-inch OLED screen, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, and a triple camera array.
- Where can you buy it?The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus is available unlocked directly from Samsung, but it’s also at all major carriers and retailers like Best Buy and Amazon.
- How did we test it?I tested the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus for two weeks. The review unit was supplied by Samsung.
- Is it worth it?The Galaxy S24 Plus is ideal for someone who wants a big, powerful Samsung phone withoutoverspending on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
What I like about the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus
There’s a flat panel of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back, a flat aluminum frame between them, and three camera cutouts on the back. The phone is almost all display from the front — the OLED takes up 92% of the footprint, with a narrow, symmetrical bezel running all the way around. It is the flat slab smartphone, distilled to its most essential elements.
If you choose to fondle the S24 Plus caseless, you’ll be impressed with the build quality. The frame is extremely rigid, and the buttons are clicky and wobble-free. The iPhone-y flat edges don’t feel much different than the Galaxy S23’s rounded shape. Samsung did round off the edge where the frame meets the back, making it more comfortable to hold.
The Galaxy S24 Plus is the flat slab smartphone, distilled to its most essential elements. But the build quality is sublime.
The centerpiece of the Galaxy S24 Plus is the 6.7-inch OLED screen, which has been upgraded this year from 1,080p to 1,440 x 3,120. That’s the same resolution as the S24 Ultra, and the panel itself is only a tenth of an inch smaller. It’s still a 120Hz display with a great peak brightness of 2,600 nits, so it’s still a little off Samsung’s top dog in the specs race, but even phones with half as much luminance are pretty readable in direct sunlight, so you can bet this one is, too. The S24 Plus gives you an option if you want a larger screen than the baby S24’s (6.2-inch) but without going all the way to the S24 Ultra.
The Galaxy S24 Plus runs Android 14 out of the box with One UI 6.1 on top, and while we always like to see the latest version of Android, that’s not what makes this phone’s software special. Samsung and Google have been going back and forth as they strive to offer the longest Android software support, and Samsung has set a new milestone. All members of the Galaxy S24 family get a whopping seven years of OS and security updates. That means the Galaxy S24 Plus could be running Android 21 in 2031, putting it in line with the Pixel 8 series as the best update policy in the game. So far, our Galaxy S24 Plus has picked up its share of security patches, but we’re still waiting on One UI 6.1.1, which will add Galaxy AI wrinkles like the Portrait Studio.
Whether or not the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will still be fast enough to run the show in seven years is uncertain. As it currently stands, this phone is ludicrously fast. Apps open immediately, multitasking is a breeze, and games render at the highest quality. Samsung phones have great speed in short bursts, but they (Galaxy S24 Plus included) tend to heat up quickly.
If you’re playing a high-end game for longer than a few minutes, you’ll lose some of your performance from thermal throttling. The graph above shows the worst-case scenario, keeping the SoC cranked to the max for 20 minutes. In some of these tests, the chip drops 30-40%. Luckily, Samsung’s overclocked version of Qualcomm’s 2024 flagship chip — dubbed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy — has speed to spare. Even when it gets warm, the phone can handle the basics.
Of course, the elephant in the room on performance is that not everyone will get to enjoy the power of Snapdragon. In various global markets, including the UK and across Europe, the Galaxy S24 Plus is instead powered by the Exynos 2400. Thankfully, our testing has shown that unlike the darker years of the Snapdragon vs Exynos battle, Samsung’s own silicon actually holds up pretty well this time. Check out our Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Exynos 2400 deep dive or watch the video below for all the nerdy data.
The battery life is not objectively amazing, but it’s improved from 2023’s Samsung flagships. I consider that a victory with the increase in display resolution from 1080p to 1440p. The battery growing from 4,700mAh on the S23 Plus to 4,900mAh on the S24 Plus helps there. You shouldn’t have any trouble making it through a day with the Galaxy S24 Plus. With a mix of browsing, messaging, games, and video, the S24 Plus has lasted roughly a day and a half with 7-8 hours of screen time during my testing. Two full days without a recharge was also possible, but only with careful battery management. That gives you some leeway as the battery loses capacity over the years, but you’ll probably need at least one battery swap if you use this device for the full seven years.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus camera review
The Galaxy S24 Plus camera setup has not seen any updates this year, so we’re still working with a 50MP primary, a 10MP 3x telephoto, and a 12MP ultrawide, just like the Galaxy S23 Plus. On the front, there’s a 12MP selfie camera. The Galaxy S24 Ultra adds a 5x telephoto lens, which is 50MP and can sensor crop for even more reach, as well as a 200MP primary camera. The base Galaxy S24 has the same camera setup as the S24 Plus.
Most of the photos I took with the S24 Plus looked great. The phone evens out highlights and shadows reasonably well, and there’s very little noise. But if you didn’t like Samsung’s photo processing before AI came to town, you won’t like it now. The camera leans toward longer exposures with higher brightness and more vibrant colors. The resulting photos really pop (especially if you use Samsung’s new Ultra HDR option), but they can look a bit unnatural. The longer exposures make motion harder to capture, too. In fact, Samsung’s issues with moving targets is yet again a general issue, just like it was with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus specs
| Samsung Galaxy S24 | Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.2-inch AMOLED, FHD+ resolution (2,340 x 1,080) 120Hz display refresh rate (1Hz-120Hz) HDR10+ | 6.7-inch AMOLED, QHD+ resolution (3,120 x 1,440) 120Hz display refresh rate (1Hz-120Hz) HDR10+ |
| Processor | US: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy Global: Samsung Exynos 2400 | US: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy Global: Samsung Exynos 2400 |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR5X | 12GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | 128GB or 256GB | 256GB or 512GB |
| Battery and charging | 4,000mAh 25W wired charging 15W wireless charging 5W reverse wireless charging No charger in box | 4,900mAh 45W wired charging 15W wireless charging 5W reverse wireless charging No charger in box |
| Cameras | Rear: – 50MP main f/1.8, OIS- 12MP ultrawide 1.4 μm, f/2.2, 120-degree FoV 1/2.55-inch sensor- 10MP telephoto 3x optical zoom 1.12 μm, f/2.4, 36-degree FoV 1/3.52-inch sensor OISFront: – 12MP f/2.2, 80-degree FoV, AF | Rear: – 50MP main f/1.8, OIS- 12MP ultrawide 1.4 μm, f/2.2, 120-degree FoV 1/2.55-inch sensor- 10MP telephoto 3x optical zoom 1.12 μm, f/2.4, 36-degree FoV 1/3.52-inch sensor OISFront: – 12MP f/2.2, 80-degree FoV, AF |
| Video | Rear: 8K at 24/30fps (main lens only) 4K at 30/60fps (all lenses)Front: 4K at 30/60fps | Rear: 8K at 24/30fps (main lens only) 4K at 30/60fps (all lenses)Front: 4K at 30/60fps |
| Audio | Stereo speakers Triple mics No 3.5mm port | Stereo speakers Triple mics No 3.5mm port |
| Connectivity | 5G (mmWave + Sub6) Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 NFC support USB 3.2 Gen 1 | 5G (mmWave + Sub6) Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 NFC support USB 3.2 Gen 1 UWB |
| Security | Ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor 7 years of security updates | Ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor 7 years of security updates |
| IP rating | IP68 | IP68 |
| Software | Android 14 One UI 6.1 | Android 14 One UI 6.1 |
| S Pen support | No | No |
| Materials | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back Aluminum frame | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back Aluminum frame |
| Dimensions and weight | 147.0 x 70.6 x 7.6mm 168g | 158.5 x 75.9 x 7.7mm 197g |
| Colors | Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, Amber Yellow | Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, Amber Yellow |
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus?
You want Ultra-level specs for a cut priceThe Galaxy S24 Plus is $200 / £250 / AU$500 cheaper than the Galaxy S24 Ultra, yet you still get an equally-powerful chipset, the same amount of RAM, the same charging capabilities, the same peak brightness, the same variable refresh rate, and even better battery life.You’re a fan of big phonesIf you’re after a big-screened Samsung phone that won’t weigh down your pocket, the Galaxy S24 Plus is as portable as 6.7-inch phones come.You want class-leading battery lifeThe Galaxy S24 Plus ranks among the best Android phones for battery life; if endurance is your primary concern, this is the phone to go for.