Samsung Galaxy S24+ Review: Bigger Is Better

Samsung’s Plus variant is the middle child in the Galaxy S lineup that is most likely to be ignored. The Galaxy S24+, to most people, is simply a Galaxy S24 with a bigger display and battery. Most people will shell out more and go for the superior Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, that’s not all there is to the Galaxy S24+. Yes, it features mostly the same specifications as the Galaxy S24, but bigger is better, which I’ve realised after using the Galaxy S24+ for about a week.

Should you consider the Galaxy S24+ instead of 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.

Galaxy S24+ supports 45W fast charging but doesn’t include a charger

As for colour options, the Galaxy S24+ is available in Cobalt Violet and Onyx Black, but you can also get the phone in exclusive finishes such as Sapphire Blue and Jade Green when purchasing online. We received the Cobalt Violent option with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage.

The box contains the phone, some paperwork, a SIM ejector tool, and a USB Type-C to Type-C cable.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ 5G Review: Design

In terms of design, it’s basically a larger Galaxy S24 or a Galaxy S23/Galaxy S22. The design hasn’t changed in the last couple of years, but you do get better and stronger materials. Compared to the Galaxy S23+, the new Galaxy S24+ comes with a stronger Armor 2 aluminium frame. Despite the bigger 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 (I did not try).

The Galaxy S24+ features an Armor 2 aluminium frame

You get slim display bezels on the front that are uniform all around, which are now slimmer than last year. There’s a slit at the top for the speaker/earpiece and an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. The Galaxy S24+ features the same Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection and IP68 rating found on the smaller sibling. At the back, there’s the familiar triple-camera system, with each camera housed in a separate metal ring. The LED flash is next to the three vertically placed sensors but is positioned lower than the Galaxy S23+.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ Review: Specifications and software

The only difference between the Galaxy S24+ and the Galaxy S24, when it comes to specifications, is the larger battery. It is equipped with the 4nm Exynos 2400 SoC, paired with the Xclipse 940 GPU, up to 12GB RAM (up from 8GB on Galaxy S23+), and up to 512GB 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 set of GPS satellite support.

Samsung’s ultrasonic fingerprint reader is reliable as well, and I honestly think more smartphone brands should use this technology instead of the optical sensor. It’s faster and more accurate, and I have never faced any issues with it.

Samsung has promised seven years of software updates on the Galaxy S24+

The Galaxy S24+ has a 4,900mAh battery, much bigger than the 4,000mAh cell on the Galaxy S24 and slightly larger than the 4,700mAh unit on the older Galaxy S23+. However, the phone still only offers 45W fast charging support 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 Android 14-based One UI 6.1 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 Exynos 2400 SoC on the Galaxy S24+ offers flagship performance in all scenarios. If you look at benchmark numbers, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy SoC will be superior, but you won’t notice any difference in day-to-day use or gaming. I ran some tests on the Galaxy S24+, and its scores were similar to those of 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 score, but the Geekbench score was higher. This is probably because the Plus model offers a larger area for cooling. Results were similar on GFXbench.

The display on the Galaxy S24+ offers a peak brightness of 2,600nits

Now, let’s talk about the display, 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-inch). The display also gets slimmer bezels and is a brighter LTPO AMOLED 2x panel with 2,600 nits peak brightness and QHD+ resolution. It continues to offer a 120Hz refresh rate. The display is plenty bright and is easily readable outdoors.

The phone features a hybrid dual speaker setup, which is loud and offers decent bass. Call quality is also excellent.

Gaming on the Galaxy S24+ is a similar experience to gaming on the smaller S24. All games work in their highest settings, and you will not notice any lag. What you may notice is the heat. The phone does heat up a bit during long hours of gaming. I also found the phone to heat up quickly when running the benchmarking tests.

The phone did heat up when charging and while playing games

Moving on to the 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 usage, the phone lasted over a day with ease. However, with heavy usage, the phone needed a charge at the end of the day. Charging the phone takes about 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-wide unit with 120-degree FoV. For selfies, it has a 12-megapixel sensor with auto-focus support.

The Galaxy S24+ takes excellent photos in daylight conditions

Honestly, there’s no difference in the photo and video performance between the two phones. However, compared to last year’s Galaxy S23+, you will see slightly less saturation and more contrast. Ultra-wide shots are good, but you still don’t get auto-focus, which leads to some blurry shots, especially in low light. Talking about lowlight, Night shots are good from the primary camera. Below are some sample shots to gauge the camera’s performance.

Main rear camera samples: Top – Daylight; Bottom – Lowlight (Tap to expand)

Ultra-wide camera samples: Top – Daylight shot. Bottom – Lowlight

3x Telephoto samples: Top – Daylight. Bottom – Lowlight (Tap to expand)

You can also head 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 option 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 stills, 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 lacking 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-sized display, S-Pen support, a bigger battery, and better cameras. You can probably get the phone for about the same price as the Galaxy S24+.

As I mentioned at the start, the Galaxy Plus variant is usually neglected by consumers as it only offers a bigger screen and battery compared to the smaller S variant. While that may have been the case in the last couple of years, the Galaxy S24+ changes things. You now get a better, brighter display, improved build quality, 12GB RAM as standard, and seven years of software updates. It’s closer now to the Galaxy S24 Ultra in terms of specifications and, therefore, is a better buy if you want to save some money and aren’t particularly interested in the better cameras offered by the Ultra but want a bigger display and battery.