Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review

An updated triple camera system

The triple camera system on the rear of the Galaxy S24 FE looks deceptively similar to the one on the S23 FE, at least at first glance. However, this year, Samsung has tweaked and changed some of the hardware.

The main camera is a 50MP unit based on the Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3 sensor, more commonly known as the ISOCELL GN3. It has a 1/1.57" sensor size and 1.0µm individual pixels. There is a dual-pixel PDAF and an f/1.8, OIS-stabilized lens for the camera. This camera hasn't changed from the S23 FE. In fact, it is the same camera found on the Galaxy S22, the S23, and S24.

However, the 8MP telephoto has been changed. Instead of the 10MP Hynix Hi847 sensor found on the S23 FE, S21 FE, and S20 FE, the S24 FE gets an 8MP Omnivision OV08A10. It is a 1/4.4" sensor with 1.0µm individual pixels. The 3x telephoto gets phase detection autofocus and OIS on its f/2.4 lens.

Finally, we have the 12MP ultrawide. The ultrawide camera relies on a 13MP 1/3.0" Samsung S5K3L6 sensor with 1.12µm pixels and a 13mm f/2.2 lens. The focus is fixed at infinity. This camera is advertised as 12MP, so we guess some cropping (or downsizing) is involved here. It is the same as on the S23 FE.

The selfie camera is based on the 10MP Samsung S5K3J1 sensor, which is taken from the Galaxy S20 series and has a 1/3" optical format with 1.22µm pixels. The lens on this camera has a 25mm equivalent focal length and an f/2.4 aperture. There is no autofocus; it's fixed at infinity.

• Wide (main): 50 MP Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.57", 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; 8K@30fps, 2160p@120fps
• Ultra wide angle: 13 MP Samsung S5K3L6, f/2.2, 13mm, 1/3", 1.12µm; 2160p@30fps
• Telephoto: 8 MP OmniVision OV08A10, f/2.4, 1/4.4", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; 2160p@30fps.
• Front camera: 32 MP OmniVision ov8856, f/2.0, 22mm, 1/4", 1.12µm; 1080p@30fps

The camera app is the same as you'd find on every Samsung phone these days. You get Pro mode on all three of the rear cameras. Night mode can also be used across all cameras, including the selfie cam.

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

The main camera on the S24 FE is well-known and has already proven its salt time and time again. The detail is great. There is a little bit of noise on surfaces, but nothing severe. We would call the overall look quite natural. This includes colors. While they have a bit of Samsung-style "pop" to them, we would say they are pretty true-to-life.

Dynamic range could be a bit wider, but we aren't complaining. Contrast isn't perfect either, but it's good enough.

Overall, we are looking at flagship-grade photos from a few years ago.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP main camera samples

Photos of people come out looking very natural with great skin texture and definition. Portraits look very convincing as well. We like the quality of the background blur.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP main camera portrait samples

The main 50MP camera on the S24 FE uses a Quad-Bayer filter and captures binned photos by default. In traditional Samsung fashion, these photos come out in exactly 12MP instead of the expected 12.5MP. You can force the main camera to capture in its full 50MP resolution. This results in slightly cleaner photos with a bit more detail, meaning that there are some benefits to using the 50MP mode. You'll have to decide for yourself whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages of the bigger file sizes.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 50MP main camera samples

The main camera on the S24 FE can do 2x digital zooms. We would always prefer to do 3x with the dedicated telephoto, but if you really want to, the 2x toggle is there. These photos look pretty close to 1x ones, just a bit softer and slightly noisier.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP main camera 2x zoom samples

Telephoto camera

The dedicated 3x optical telephoto camera captures nice shots with very good level of detail. There is still a bit of noise here and there on surfaces, but nothing too severe. The colors look great and are very well-matched to the main camera. Dynamic range and contrast are also good.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP 3x telephoto camera samples

As mentioned, for consistency, Samsung saves these photos in 12MP resolution as well. This means that some digital upscaling from 8MP is taking place.

Ultrawide camera

It is advertised as a 12MP ultrawide camera with a 13MP sensor, but it saves 12MP shots. The ultrawide camera on the S24 FE is very wide, which we count as a plus, but there is some fish-eye distortion as a result. Corner softness is very minimal. The level of detail is not amazing but it's good for an ultrawide. The colors are well-matched with the other two cameras.

We do wish there was autofocus here, but it is what it is.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP ultrawide camera samples

Selfie camera

Of course, we would have also loved to see autofocus on the selfie camera, but we guess it was not in the cards for yet another year.

Still, this particular 10MP selfie produces some great lookig selfies. Faces come out sharp and clean with nice colors and skin tones. The focal plane is pretty wide and forgiving.

The dynamic range is also pretty good.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 10MP selfie camera samples

Low-light camera quality

The main camera on the S24 FE does quite alright in low-light conditions. The photos it captures are solid with great detail, good contrast, and dynamic range. Our only real issue with these shots is that they are a bit noisy.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP main camera low-light samples

The S24 FE has an automatic night mode that kicks in from the main photo mode. However, there is a dedicated night mode that has longer capture times and more stacking and processing. This tends to result in cleaner photos with less noise. We honestly recommend you try the dedicated Night mode.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP main camera Night mode samples

Zoom shots at 2x from the main camera are pretty good, too, just a bit on the softer side with some noise.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP main camera 2x zoom low-light samples

The dedicated telephoto fairs noticeably better when it comes to captured detail, but not necessarily noise. These shots are also quite noisy.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP 3x telephoto camera low-light samples

Again, we would strongly recommend using the dedicated Night mode since it cleans up the noise like a charm and produces much cleaner shots.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP 3x telephoto camera Night mode samples

The ultrawide camera is decent in low light but far from spectacular. The detail is there, and dynamic range is fine enough, with well-developed shadows and highlights. However, there is plenty of noise in the frame.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP ultrawide camera low-light samples

Yet again, the dedicated Night mode comes to the rescue, cleaning up the pesky noise nicely. We have to say that the extra sharpening it applies to ultrawide shots does border on artificial and exaggerated, but that's only noticeable if you zoom in quite a bit.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 12MP ultrawide camera Night mode samples

The selfie camera captures solid photos. Skin tones look nice, and some skin texture comes through. The focal plane is wide and forgiving, keeping the subject in focus at an arm's length away.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: 10MP selfie camera low-light samples

In case you were wondering, the dedicated Night mode brings little benefit to the table when it comes to selfies.

Video capture quality

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.

The Galaxy S24 FE can capture video at up to 8K@30fps on its main camera. This is an upgrade over the S23 FE, which only did 8K@24fps. We have the newer chipset, and its better ISP to thank for that.

Since shooting 8K on a smartphone with a 1080p screen is impractical, we are much happier that the S24 FE can now do 4K@120fps now.

By default, videos get saved in HEVC/h.265 for better space efficiency, but you can also switch down to AVC/h.265 for better playback compatibility. 4K videos get recorded with around a 41 Mbps video feed and a stereo AAV 48 kHz audio feed inside an MP4 container. There is also a high bitrate option in the camera settings, which doesn't seem to affect quality in any meaningful way.

The main camera captures very clean and sharp 4K videos with amazing detail, perfect sharpness and great colors. There is practically no noise. Dynamic range is okay, though it could be a bit wider. Overall, these are some excellent videos.

2x videos from the main camera are just as excellent, honestly. If we try really hard, we can see some extra softness. The same goes for the 3x telephoto camera. It is a bit challenged in terms of dynamic range, but nothing severe.

The S24 FE has video stabilization at up to 4K resolution. It works very well.

For particularly shaky situations, there is Super Steady as well, which gets its video feed from the ultrawide camera and records in up to QHD.

The S24 FE holds up very well in low-light conditions across all of its cameras. We have no complaints.