Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: A Capable Phone Offering Flagship Features at a Lower Price”

Imagine you’re at a restaurant, staring at the menu. The Galaxy S24 Plus is like that $1,000 premium steak—high-end, maybe a bit much, but undeniably appealing. The Galaxy S24 FE, on the other hand, is the expertly cooked burger that gets the job done at half the cost. You might not get the fanciest ingredients, but it’s delicious, satisfying, and you don’t feel like you’re compromising much. That’s the Galaxy S24 FE for you.

At $650, it’s the kind of phone that fits into your life with ease, thanks to a huge 6.7-inch screen that makes streaming, gaming, and Zoom calls a breeze. And while it’s $150 cheaper than the standard Galaxy S24, you’re still getting a strong taste of Samsung’s premium features—like the telephoto camera and Galaxy AI suite—without needing to take out a second mortgage.

So, what’s the catch? Well, it’s got an optical fingerprint reader that’s a tad slower than its fancier siblings’ hypersonic one (basically the phone version of a slower, but not broken, drive-thru). But really, how fast do you need to unlock your phone? Blink and it’s done, so it’s hard to complain.

Performance-wise, Samsung’s Exynos 2400E processor in the U.S. edition keeps things snappy. It’s like picking up a sports car with slightly fewer horses under the hood—still fast enough to zip around, just not quite record-breaking. For everyday tasks, the S24 FE feels responsive and capable. Even if you’re someone who likes to flex their phone’s multi-core capabilities like you’re training for a geekathlon, this phone holds its own.

Now, battery life—something we all obsess over. With its 4,700-mAh battery, the S24 FE ends most days at around 30%, which is solid if you’re not constantly running YouTube and TikTok marathons. When you do need a boost, it charges back up to 56% in just 30 minutes with its 25-watt charger. Plus, it does wireless charging and has that cool PowerShare feature, so it’s basically the phone that gives your other gadgets a little juice when they’re running low.

Camera time! You get a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and an 8-megapixel telephoto. It’s a trio that delivers solid photos in both daylight and lower light, though nighttime shots can sometimes feel like they’re leaning a bit too much into the HDR territory. Not Picasso, but still a great effort for most situations. And selfies? Good enough for your next Instagram post without making you look like a Picasso painting.

Samsung’s Galaxy AI suite adds some fun to the mix. It’s like a Swiss army knife for creativity—turning sketches into images, translating languages, and even letting you search by circling objects on your screen. These AI features are more like party tricks at this point—useful in bursts, but still not revolutionizing your life. Still, it’s fun to play around with, like doodling on a photo and watching the AI make it look as if Dunkin’ really printed your custom heart logo on their coffee cup.

All in all, the Galaxy S24 FE feels like a smart investment for most people. It’s not flashy, but it hits the sweet spot of performance, price, and features. For anyone upgrading from a mid-range phone, it’s a massive step up without the premium price tag of the S24 or S24 Plus. It’s the burger that leaves you content, knowing you didn’t need to splurge on the steak this time around.