The Samsung Galaxy S24 is the company’s latest flagship series and is available in Kenya starting from Ksh 124,500. The price will vary depending on where you get it from.
I have had the Galaxy S24 for a few days and thought I should write a short post highlighting what you get with this phone. This is the successor to the Galaxy S23 from last year. You can read my thoughts on that phone here. While at it, you should also read my post on the Galaxy S23 FE.
Back to the Galaxy S24, I have the 128GB variant that was provided to me by Samsung for review.
The Galaxy S24 has the flagship specs you would expect on a phone within its price range and most are slight upgrades when you compare it to the S23. Let us highlight the key specs of the Galaxy S24 below.
- Display: 6.2-inch (1080 x 2340 pixels), AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+.
- Processor: Exynos 2400.
- Rear Camera: 50MP + 10MP + 12MP: Records 8K videos at 30fps.
- Front Camera: 12MP
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 128/256/512GB
- Battery Capacity: 4,000mAh, 25W charging
- Android 14, OneUI 6.1
First Impressions
The Samsung Galaxy S24 is almost the same size as its predecessor, the Galaxy S23. its design has slightly changed though and now features a flat frame with rounded edges. Some may argue that it now looks a lot more like an iPhone but I still like it. Even though the display sees a slight bump, the overall size is the same as the S23 thanks to the thinner bezels on the S24.
Still on the display, we do have a Dynamic AMOLED panel that supports 120Hz refresh rate. As this is an AMOLED display, you expect an elevated viewing experience and that is exactly what you are getting. It is perfect for media consumption and you can use it outdoors under direct sunlight. Samsung has always nailed it with its displays and the S24 is not any different.
The display has an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that is placed in the right position so you do not have to perform any gymnastics when unlocking the phone. It is not all the way at the bottom like we see on most other smartphones on the market. The fingerprint scanner works smoothly and is very accurate all the time.
It is worth mentioning that the S24 comes with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and not Corning Gorilla Armor which is available on the S24 Ultra models only.
The build quality of the S24 is overall really good. I wasn’t sure about the size but using the phone for a few days, I have gotten used to it. It is not too small nor is it too big.
Performance
Under the hood, the S24 is powered by the Exynos 2400 processor and not the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 which is available in the US and a few other markets. The variant I have has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. If you are planning to take lots of photos, you may want to opt for the 256GB model or one with even more and this will fill up fast.
For the OS, we do get Android 14 out of the box with OneUI 6.1. This phone will get up to 7 Android OS updates so it will still be relevant 6 years from now.
Galaxy AI
OneUI 6.1 on the S24 has very useful features and most revolve around AI. Most of these are tied around Galaxy AI which you may have heard Samsung using a lot during the launch of the S24 series. The main ones I think that will excite people include the Voice Transcription feature that lets you create text transcripts, summaries and translations of your recordings. This is good for meetings that you can record and instantly get a summary of what was discussed. The feature does a good job in isolating the different people you may have recorded.
There is also the Text Call feature that lets you answer calls and use the voice assistant to read out loud what you type for the caller to hear that instead of your voice. Anything the caller says will be presented to you in text format. There is also the Live translate feature that provides real-time translations during phone calls.
Samsung has also included the Circle to Search feature on the S24 series. This is not new on Android as it is available on some Pixel devices. It lets you search anything on the display by just circling it. You may be browsing any website and all you have to do is press and hold the home button and the option to circle to search will appear. You will see the results and can go back to the page you were before seamlessly when done.
Cameras
The cameras have seen some improvements even though the megapixel count remains the same. They take some good photos but I will be testing them out for a bit longer and share my thoughts in the full review. Just keep in mind that the upgrades and not extreme with this series. From the few days i have had this phone, I noticed the colors are really good for both back cameras and selfies. The back camera can record 8K videos as well.
The battery used here is a 4000 mAh one that supports 25W charging. This is not impressive from Samsung as 33W charging should be the least we get on a phone within this price range. Overall, the battery life has been decent so far and the charging speeds are just good, not great.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S24 base model may not look exciting on paper but I am excited to see what it offers. I have enjoyed using it so far and can’t wait to share more in the review. The display and build quality of this phone have impressed me. Performance is also good but I really want to see how the Exynos CPU handles the more I use it. So far I am not happy with the 4000 mAh battery and 25W charging but I am staying positive and hoping it does not disappoint.
Check back in about a week for the full review. To make sure you do not miss that follow us on X (Formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn and Telegram. You can also send us tips or just reach out on info@techarena.co.ke.
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