Samsung Galaxy S24 review

Competent triple camera on the back, superb selfies

The Galaxy S24 and S24+ come with what appears to be unchanged camera hardware compared to last year's models. That includes a somewhat pedestrian but still full-featured triple setup on the back, joined by a better-than-most selfie unit.

The main camera does report to be using the same sensor as last year, and so too does the telephoto. Samsung isn't quite as forthcoming about the other two imagers, but continuity would indicate those to be the Sony IMX564 (or a similarly specced Samsung counterpart) for the ultrawide and the Samsung S5K3LU for the selfie camera.

Samsung Galaxy S24 camera specs

• Wide (main): 50MP Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)GN3, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, f/1.8, 24mm, dual pixel AF, OIS; 4320p@30fps, 2160p@60fps
• Telephoto: 10MP Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)3K1, 1/3.94", 1.0µm, f/2.4, 67mm, AF, OIS; 2160p@60fps
• Ultrawide: 12MP, 1/2.55", 1.4µm, f/2.2, 13mm, fixed focus; 2160p@60fps
• Front camera: 12MP, 1/3.2", 1.12µm, f/2.2, 26mm, PDAF; 2160p@60fps

It's worth pointing out that Samsung is continually refusing to fit an ultrawide camera with autofocusing capability on anything but the Ultra model, which we consider unacceptable at this point. On a positive note, however, the S24 remains one of the better equipped smartphones for selfies, with both autofocus and 4K60 video recording on the front.

Daylight photo quality

The photos from the main camera of the Galaxy S24 in broad daylight are hard to fault. We wouldn't expect to see Samsung letting us down in terms of color and dynamic range and indeed we have little to complain about in terms of global properties.

White balance is on point both outdoors and in, and we're getting vibrant colors that are still not off the charts - Samsung's been done with that overly saturated look for a while now. Exposures on the S24 are consistent and the phone captures subtleties at both tonal extremes while at the same time delivering great overall contrast. We'd say the S24 is introducing a bit more contrast, compared to the S23 - not a huge difference, but it's there if you look for it.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

Sharpening has been toned down coming from the previous generation and detail has a more natural rendition. Another aspect of that transition to more restrained processing is the grainier structure of these images - we don't mind a bit of that luminance noise when it means finer textures and a more organic presentation.

Overall, these aren't 'wow'-grade results, but at this point are we really hoping for 'wow'? 'Excellent' should be good enough.

Daylight 1x comparison: Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S23

There's no 2x zoom level directly accessible in the viewfinder but pinching to that is an option, plus a 2x button does appear when you tap on one of the immediately available magnifications. Normally we wouldn't bother, since the default 3x is close enough to 2x and the Galaxy's 3x is one of the shorter 3xs, so to speak, but a slip of the finger resulted in a few shots. These do tend to bring out the noise a bit more and random textures don't look pin-sharp, but we wouldn't mind having the occasional 2x photo on the S24.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x)

The 3x telephoto is another proven performer with a gently tweaked output compared to the previous generation. The nudge in contrast can be seen here too, and the grain we mentioned on the main camera is here as well - neither really a downgrade, but rather both changes contributing to a slightly different character. Detail is great - you wouldn't think to suspect there's upscaling going on (which there has to be with 12MP images from a 10MP sensor).

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x)

Here's how the same scenes look when captured on the previous generation.

Daylight 3x comparison: Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S23

The utlrawide's hardware may appear unchanged, but we are seeing improvements. The new approach to noise reduction means you're still getting some grain, but it's finer than the S23's blockier rendition in the lower midtones or dimmer indoor scenes. We'd say the new camera's shots are generally sharper too.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), 12MP

Most notable on the ultrawide is the shift in the way Samsung's color science treats blues - you could see it on the other cameras, but it's most prominent here. It's yet another step (possibly the final one) in an ongoing process of de-cyanization of skies - one of our main gripes with older Galaxies' processing. In that sense, there's nothing to complain about when it comes to color rendition, and we feel the same way about dynamic range.

Daylight 0.6x comparison: Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S23

People shots, portraits

The Galaxy S24's Portrait mode gives you three zoom levels - 1x and 2x are captured on the main camera, while the telephoto is in charge of the 3x mode.

Portrait mode samples, 1x

Portrait mode samples, 2x

Portrait mode samples, 3x

If you don't care for the faux blur, here's how our subject looks when captured in Photo mode at 1x and 3x.

Photo mode samples, 1x

Photo mode samples, 3x

Selfies

The Galaxy S24's selfie camera remains unchanged from the previous generation, when going by the numbers, and that's no bad premise - the S23's selfies were top-class. Indeed, so too are the S24's.

We're looking at excellent detail coupled with relatively low noise - lower than the S23's. The skin tones are life-like and the overall color rendition is nice too.

Selfie samples

Selfie comparison : Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S23

Low-light photo quality

In low light, the Galaxy's auto Night mode implementation is a bit more lax than what we've seen on some other phones. As a result, the photos you'd get in Photo mode and those captured in the dedicated Night mode would often have notable differences in some aspects - not dramatic, but not insignificant either.

Main camera

Shooting in full auto, the S24's main camera produces very good images. Exposures are well judged and dynamic range is nicely wide - there's no pronouced brightening of shadows or aggressive highlight preservation, but it's not like there are large large swaths of darkness or excessively blown out highlights. We'd call it a balanced approach, if not necessarily entirely our cup of tea.

The grain we saw during the day is present at night as well, though the level of retained detail once again makes us appreciate the trade-off that Samsung's gone with.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

Night mode will introduce changes in the level of highlight restoration in bright point sources of light. The shadows in darker or more contrasty scenes will also get a visible boost, and both of these developments are for the better, generally speaking. The flipside is that both the grain and the fine detail are replaced with slightly broader strokes and flattened textures.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night mode

Comparisons against the older model are quite nuanced. The S23 tends to expose brighter and bring out more shadow detail in Photo mode, at the expense of higher noise levels. The S23's heavier sharpening isn't too likeable either.

Low-light 1x comparison: Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S23

Telephoto camera

The telephoto camera's output at night is less than perfect in a few ways. Most notable is the noise that you'll notice even at fit-to-screen zoom levels and you certainly won't be able to miss at 1:1. Scenes with more balanced lighting (and more of it) will be looking better, but there will still be a flaky quality to the detail rendition.

Even so, we'd generally prefer this approach over the alternative of zooming in digitally from the main camera.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x)

There's an alternative to be found in shooting in the dedicated Night mode, though that comes with its own set of peculiarities. First of all, we couldn't get a real Night mode picture in a few of the scenes we tried it - instead, it was a quick snap resulting in more or less the same photo as the one from Photo mode.

Then there's the matter of the telephoto's shaky auto white balance which gave us different results in back-to-back shots of the same scene - not every time, but way more often than we'd like.

Where Night mode does manage to kick in, you can expect superior images in many ways - whichever way the white balance sways. One of the greatest improvements is in noise performance - what were otherwise noise-ridden shots get substantially cleaner. A less significant but still welcome improvement can be seen in highlight restoration.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x), Night mode

Night mode white balance variation

In some ways, the new model's telephoto results are a bit of a downgrade compared to the S23's - last year's telephoto did slightly better with dynamic range in the highlights every now and then. Detail is not much different though.

Low-light 3x comparison: Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S23

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide camera is largely in the same boat as the telephoto at night. What that means is typically quite noisy results in Photo mode, though we did find the ultrawide is slightly more inclined to apply auto Night mode action, which is good. Also similar to the telephoto, the ultrawide exhibits unreliable auto white balance in Night mode.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), Night mode

Night mode white balance variation

We'll end on an overall positive note with a comparison against the S23's ultrawide, which we'd say the S24 wins.

Low-light 0.6x comparison: Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S23

Video recording

The Galaxy S24 records video up to 4K60 with all four of its cameras, and the main camera on the back can also do 8K30. The pre-set video codec is h.265 (HEVC) and you can further choose between prioritizing for quality (the default setting) or smaller file sizes. Alternatively, you can opt for the older and less efficient h.264 codec. Video stabilization is available in all modes on all cameras, but you can disable it in settings if you have other means of ensuring stability.

Audio is recorded in stereo at 256kbps, while the bit rates for video are a nice round 40Mbps for 4K30, 60Mbps for 4K60, and 80Mbps for 8K30 (h.265, quality priority).

The Galaxy S24's video quality is thoroughly excellent in good light, from all of its cameras. The rear modules are nicely color matched and deliver vibrant but realistic hues. Exposure is on point and dynamic range gives no grounds for complaint. Detail is great on all three rear modules and there's no detail penalty when shooting at 60fps - it's all the same between the two frame rates.

The selfie camera also delivers high quality clips and its field of view is wide enough that you can comfortably fit an entire head with some shoulders in landscape orientation at arm's length.

Stabilization is also superb on the S24. Shooting on the main or the ultrawide camera on the back (the selfie camera too) you can expect walking shake to be fully ironed out. All cameras pan smoothly, with no abrupt transitions, and all of them will also stay planted on your subject if just keep them pointed in one general direction.

Low-light quality is predictably not quite as universally likeable, though things aren't as bad as one might guess. Both the main and the ultrawide camera deliver respectable quality with good detail and reasonable noise performance. Dynamic range is alright and color saturation and fidelity is maintained as well. The telephoto lags a bit behind in most metrics, but can still be used in a pinch.

Check out the playlist below with daylight, low-light and handheld samples.