Why You Can Trust CNET
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. How we test phones
Samsung's $650 Galaxy S24 FE offers newer AI features at a lower price than the standard $800 Galaxy S24. The phone was revealed Thursday during a launch event at the company's Samsung 837 store in New York. It will be available to order on Oct. 3.
The phone includes many of the features found on earlier Galaxy S24 phones, including Galaxy AI features such as Live Translation, Circle to Search, Generative Edit for removing unwanted objects from photos and Note Assist for formatting, translating and summarizing notes. It'll come with seven years of software updates along with security updates like the S24, further signaling how Samsung is bridging the gap between its more budget-friendly and high-end devices. Samsung's emphasis on Galaxy AI also underscores that it sees the technology as being a critical part of its mobile devices moving forward, coming after Apple touted Apple Intelligence as being a key feature in the iPhone 16.
The Galaxy S24 FE has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display and a 4,700-mAh battery. There's a 50-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with a 3x optical zoom and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens, which on paper sounds similar to the Galaxy S24's camera setup.
Samsung's $800 phone also has a 50-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide, but it comes with a 10-megapixel telephoto camera. But Samsung is also hyping up its new ProVisual camera engine, which it says uses AI to improve detail and textures.
The S24 FE will run on Samsung's Exynos 2400e processor, breaking from the Qualcomm processors used on the flagship Galaxy S24 phones and last year's S23 FE. Samsung has used Exynos processors in its more affordable Galaxy A phones, and the choice to move to its own processor might play a part in how the phone can hit a lower price. The company also says the Galaxy S24 FE has a larger vapor chamber for improved cooling while gaming. The phone will come in four colors: blue, mint, gray and graphite.
Samsung's Galaxy S24 FE will have AI features like Circle to Search.
SamsungThe launch continues Samsung's expansion of more value-oriented devices, including the $200 Galaxy Watch FE. An LTE model of the Galaxy Watch FE was also announced at Thursday's event, which will start at $250.
Samsung has spent much of 2024 touting its Galaxy AI suite of tools, and the Galaxy S24 FE is further evidence of that direction. Samsung is just one of several phone makers going all-in on AI, including Apple and Google. Both companies also used AI as the focal point of their most recent phone launches in September and August respectively.
According to a CNET survey in partnership with YouGov, a quarter of smartphone owners don't find AI features on phones helpful. Instead, longer battery life and more storage are the top reasons smartphone owners upgrade their devices, the survey found.