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Samsung’s Galaxy S24 FE is a bit pricey for a ‘Fan Edition’

It has a solid camera and specs, but wait for a sale to buy it

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 FE is now available for $919 CAD in the 8GB RAM/128GB storage model. The Fan Edition handsets are more affordable versions of the company’s flagship devices, which we all know and love, but with some of the fun of said flagships. 

Samsung describes the Fan Edition devices like this:

Simply put, when you speak, we listen. For each generation of the flagship Galaxy S series, we take on your feedback and produce a device packed with all of your favourite features.

So my question is, when did ‘Fan Edition’ phones get so expensive?

Last year, MobileSyrup contributor Karandeep Oberoi reviewed the S23 FE, which he said “balances affordability with some high-end features.”

Overall, he had positive thoughts about Samsung’s old Fan Edition device, and while I don’t have a lot of bad things to say about this year’s S24 FE, I’m a bit disappointed in the South Korean phone maker — the handset has such a huge price difference compared to its predecessor.

The Galaxy S24 FE offers a larger display than the S23 FE. The handset now has a 6.7-inch panel, compared to a 6.4-inch panel on last year’s model. This handset’s screen offers a 120Hz refresh rate and 1900 nits of peak brightness.

The S24 FE also features an Exynos 2400e chip on a 4nm process, alongside 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage.

Camera-wise, the handset has slightly different shooters than last year. It sports a 50-megapixel primary shooter, an 8-megapixel telephoto lens, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens with a 123-degree field of view. The handset also has a 4,700maAh battery, which is bigger than the S23 FE’s 4,500mAh power cell.

Here are some photos I took with the S24 FE: 

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Looking at all of the above, the S24 is a solid device with both mid-range and flagship qualities. While I didn’t play around with the device for too long, I could tell that the build quality isn’t too bad (it reminds me of what an iPhone 14 feels like to hold), and the camera is solid. I took some decent and vivid shots, and the 2400e is a mid-range chipset with a 4nm process and 10-core setup, which isn’t too shabby either. It’s worth mentioning this design, though the handset’s sides could be rounded, as it’s a bit sharp to hold. But slapping a case on this bad boy will fix the issue.

However, is all of this worth its nearly $1,000 price tag?

Last year, the S23 FE’s 128GB/8GB version was available for $649.99. A $270 price jump is crazy, and the differences don’t seem worth the cost. Samsung, that’s a lot of money for a non-flagship. The base S24 costs $1,099, so I’d say save your money and just get the upgrade.

With the promo code S24FESale, you can get the S24 FE for $200 off, which is worth it if you buy the handset. However, I wouldn’t purchase this handset at full price. If you can wait for a sale, such as the current S24 FE sale, Black Friday, or Boxing Day, the S24 FE might be a good pick. Otherwise, just save a bit extra and grab the base S24.

When Samsung hadn’t released an A7* series device in a year, we needed the S24 FE to be more of a bridge between the S series and A series instead of making the Fan Edition an overpriced mid-range-ish S series device.

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