Samsung's Plus variant is the middle child of the Galaxy S line that is most likely to be overlooked. The Galaxy S24+, for most people, is simply a Galaxy S24 with a bigger screen and battery. Most people will pay more and go for the higher end Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, that's not all there is to the Galaxy S24+. Yes, it has mostly the same specs as the Galaxy S24, but bigger is better, something I realized after using the Galaxy S24+ for about a week.
Should you consider the Galaxy S24+ over the Galaxy S24 or even the Galaxy S24 Ultra? Find out below.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ Price in India
The Galaxy S24+ is expensive! It is available in two variants in India – the 12GB + 256GB option, which costs Rs. 99,999 and the 12GB + 512GB variant, which costs Rs. 1,09,999.
The Galaxy S24+ supports 45W fast charging, but doesn't come with a charger
In terms of color options, the Galaxy S24+ is available in Cobalt Violet and Onyx Black, but you can also get the phone in exclusive finishes like Sapphire Blue and Jade Green when shopping online. We got the Cobalt Violent option with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
The box contains the phone, some paperwork, a SIM eject tool, and a USB Type-C to Type-C cable.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ 5G review: Design
In terms of design, it's basically a bigger Galaxy S24 or a Galaxy S23/Galaxy S22. The design hasn't changed in the last two years, but you get better and stronger materials. Compared to the Galaxy S23+, the new Galaxy S24+ features a stronger Armor 2 aluminum frame. Despite the larger footprint compared to the standard Galaxy S24, the phone is still comfortable to hold in one hand, if you have large hands. It weighs 197 grams, but is almost the same thickness as the Galaxy S24 at 7.7mm. The phone feels premium and can take a beating (didn't try).
The Galaxy S24+ features an Armor 2 aluminum frame
On the front you have thin display bezels that are uniform throughout, which are thinner now than last year. There's a slot at the top for the speaker/headphone and an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner. The Galaxy S24+ has the same Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection and IP68 rating found on its little brother. On the back, there's the familiar triple-camera system, with each camera housed in a separate metal ring. The LED flash sits next to the three vertically placed sensors, but it's positioned lower than the Galaxy S23+.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ review: Specs and software
The only difference between the Galaxy S24+ and the Galaxy S24, in terms of specifications, is the larger battery. It's equipped with the 4nm Exynos 2400 SoC, paired with the Xclipse 940 GPU, up to 12GB of RAM (up from 8GB on the Galaxy S23+), and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. There is no expandable storage on the phone. For communication, you get tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 LE, a USB Type-C 3.2 port and the usual suite of GPS satellite support.
Samsung's ultrasonic fingerprint reader is also reliable and I honestly think more smartphone brands should use this technology instead of the optical sensor. It's faster and more accurate, and I've never had a problem with it.
Samsung has promised seven years of software updates on the Galaxy S24+
The Galaxy S24+ has a 4,900mAh battery, which is much larger than the 4,000mAh cell in the Galaxy S24 and slightly larger than the 4,700mAh unit in the older Galaxy S23+. However, the phone still only supports 45W fast charging and 15W wireless charging, which is the same as last year.
What's not the same this year is the promised software support, with Samsung now offering 7 years of Android OS and security updates. The Galaxy S24+ runs One UI 6.1 based on Android 14 out of the box. You also get the new Galaxy AI suite of features, which you can read all about in our Galaxy S24 review.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ review: Performance
Moving on to performance, the Galaxy S24+'s Exynos 2400 SoC delivers flagship performance in all scenarios. If you look at the benchmark numbers, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy SoC will be superior, but you won't notice any difference in daily use or gaming. I ran some tests on the Galaxy S24+ and its scores were similar to the Galaxy S24. On AnTuTu, the phone scored 1,457,608 points, and on Geekbench, it managed a single-core score of 1987 and a multi-core score of 6137. The AnTuTu score was slightly lower than the Galaxy S24's score , but the Geekbench score was higher. This is probably because the Plus model offers a larger area for cooling. The results were similar on GFXbench.
The screen of the Galaxy S24+ offers a maximum brightness of 2,600 nits
Now, let's talk about the screen, which is where you'll find the changes. The Galaxy S24+ comes with a slightly larger 6.7-inch display compared to last year's Galaxy S23+ (6.6 inches). The screen also has thinner bezels and is a 2x brighter LTPO AMOLED panel with a peak brightness of 2,600 nits and a QHD+ resolution. It continues to offer a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The display is very bright and can be easily read outdoors.
The phone comes with a hybrid dual speaker setup, which is loud and delivers decent bass. Call quality is also excellent.
Gaming on the Galaxy S24+ is a similar experience to gaming on the smaller S24. All games run at their highest settings and you won't notice any lag. What you can notice is the heat. The phone gets a little warm during long hours of gaming. I also found that the phone heated up quickly when running the benchmark tests.
The phone got hot while charging and playing games
Moving on to battery performance, the phone managed to last 19 hours and 17 minutes in our HD loop test with the screen resolution set to QHD+. The higher resolution screen is a battery thief, but you can get better battery life if you lower the resolution. With regular use, the phone easily lasted more than a day. However, with heavy use, the phone needed a charge at the end of the day. Charging the phone takes approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes if you use a 45W+ charger and a higher rated cable. The phone ships with a 3A rated cable that only supports 25W fast charging. I used a 125W charger for the charging test.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ review: Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy S24+ offers the same camera setup as the smaller Galaxy S24, which we've already reviewed. It has a 50-megapixel primary rear camera with OIS, a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom, and a 12-megapixel ultra-large unit with 120-degree FoV. For selfies, it has a 12-megapixel sensor with autofocus support.
The Galaxy S24+ takes excellent photos in daylight conditions
Honestly, there is no difference in photo and video performance between the two phones. However, compared to last year's Galaxy S23+, you'll see slightly less saturation and more contrast. Ultra-wide shots are good, but you still don't get autofocus, which results in some blurry shots, especially in low light. Speaking of low light, night shots are good from the main camera. Below are some sample photos to evaluate the performance of the camera.
Main samples of the rear camera: top – daylight; Bottom: low light (tap to enlarge)
Ultra-Wide Camera Samples: Top – Daylight Image. Down – low light
3x telephoto samples: top – daylight. Bottom: low light (tap to enlarge)
You can also head over to our Galaxy S24 review for more camera samples.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ review: Verdict
Before I give my final verdict, let's talk about alternatives. The OnePlus 12 (review) is an excellent choice with a bigger screen, slightly better cameras, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, a bigger battery and faster charging. It's also cheaper than the Galaxy S24+. The Google Pixel 8 Pro (review) will offer better camera performance in photos, added AI features, and a similar or better software experience. Again, the Pixel 8 Pro is also cheaper and has a better telephoto camera. You can also switch to the iPhone 15 Plus, which, while it doesn't have a telephoto camera, will offer battery life and performance. Finally, you can also give the Galaxy S23 Ultra a shot. It will provide better performance, a similar screen size, S-Pen support, a bigger battery and better cameras. You can probably get the phone for the same price as the Galaxy S24+.
As I mentioned at the beginning, consumers tend to leave out the Galaxy Plus variant as it only offers a larger screen and battery compared to the smaller S variant. While that may have been the case in the past couple of years, the Galaxy S24+ changes things. Now you get a better and brighter screen, improved build quality, 12GB of RAM as standard and seven years of software updates. It's now closer to the Galaxy S24 Ultra in terms of specs, so it's a better buy if you're looking to save money and aren't particularly interested in the better cameras the Ultra offers, but want a bigger screen and battery big.
