Samsung Galaxy S24+ review

Display

The Galaxy S24+ sports a 6.7-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display, and this model once again offers Quad HR resolution. It has quite tiny bezels, offers 1440p resolution (1,440 x 3,120, 513ppi), and there is a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and HDR10+ support.

The display is protected with a Gorilla Glass Victus 2 shield.

Samsung is advertising this screen not only for its dynamic refresh rate but also for the 2,600 nits of peak brightness - 50% brighter than the Galaxy S23+'s.

We've completed our brightness test, and the manual brightness is in line with previous Galaxy S models - 441nits in its default mode and 781nits with the Extra brightness boost from Settings.

The Auto brightness, just as promised, is now higher - we measured 1,452nits with our standard white patch taking up 75% of the screen. Once we started to shrink the white patch, the brightness went north of 2,000nits so we have no doubt the advertised values are achievable.

The minimum brightness at the all-white screen was just 0.9nit, which is great.

Refresh rate

The Galaxy S24+ comes with an LTPO display, and it supports a dynamic refresh rate. It still has two Motion Smoothness modes - Adaptive (refresh rate) and Standard (refresh rate). According to the description, the Adaptive one switches automatically between different modes and can do up to 120Hz, while the Standard one does the same but can go up to 60Hz for longer battery life.

When using the Adaptive mode, we saw the screen use 120Hz across the interface, all compatible apps, and quite a few games. When the picture is static, then the software usually dials down to 24Hz in most cases. We noticed 80Hz, 70Hz, 50Hz and a few other values when switching between apps, videos, browsing, etc.

Video streaming and playback are done in an adaptive fashion, too, depending on the frame rate. For example, 24fps videos are shown at 24Hz refresh, 30fps use 30Hz, and we also saw 60Hz used on 48fps and 60fps videos across different apps.

The Always-on display works with 24Hz refresh rate and that's the lowest possible.

When using the Standard mode, the refresh rate behaves as in Adaptive - using 24Hz, 30Hz, and 60Hz where applicable. Games and video playback will not use 120Hz modes if Standard is selected.

Battery life

Our new Active Use Score is an estimate of how long the battery will last if you use the device with a mix of all four test activities. You can adjust the calculation based on your usage pattern using the sliders below. You can read about our current battery life testing procedure here. For a comprehensive list of all tested devices so far, head this way.

The Galaxy S24+ has both improved hardware and software, and we expected longer battery life than the Galaxy S23+. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

The Galaxy S24+ achieved an Active Use Score of 12:30, 80 minutes less than the Galaxy S23+.

While the video streaming did improve over the S23+, all other tests, calls included, returned lower times.

Charging test

The Galaxy S24+ supports 45W fast wired charging, or as Samsung likes to call it, Fast Charging 2.0. The phone also supports 15W wireless and reverse wireless charging.

Of course, the S24+ ships without a charger, or if you get it on pre-order, it will arrive with a bundled 25W power adapter, which will still get the job done, but not in the fastest possible time.

You can use any 45W+ modern charger, which supports USB PowerDelivery+PPS. But you will also need to use a better cable, as the S24+ ships with a 3A-rated USB-C cable that supports maximum 25W charging. How about that?!

We used a proper 45W power adapter with a 100W-rated cable for our test.

We recorded 41% of charge in 15 minutes, 74% in 30 minutes and 100% in 58 minutes.

Using a 25W power adapter will add 10-15 more minutes to the time needed for a full charge, and 30 minutes of charging will net you 60% of charge instead of 74%.

There is Battery Protection mode, which can help improve battery longevity. You can choose between Basic (stops at 100% and starts again after a 5% drop); Adaptive (adjusts by your charging and sleep patterns); or Maximum (limits to 80%).

Speakers

The Galaxy S24+ has stereo speakers of the hybrid variety - meaning there is one speaker at the bottom of the phone, and the earpiece acts as a second one. Just like any other hybrid pair, the earpiece is quieter and focuses mostly on high and mid-tones, while the bottom full-blown speaker has bass and good vocals.

The Galaxy S24+ also supports Dolby Atmos with Movie, Music, Voice and Auto presets. There is also a specific Dolby Atmos for Games option.

The speakers on the Galaxy S24+ scored a Very Good mark on our loudness test. The audio quality is very good, too - the vocals are great, the high frequencies are well presented, but the bass is barely there. In fact, both Galaxy S24 and S24+ appear to feature identical speakers.