Samsung Galaxy S24

At Rs. 289,999, the Samsung Galaxy S24 is a premium small phone rather than the best-value flagship. You pay for a compact design, a top-quality display, a capable triple camera with a 3x telephoto, up to seven major Android upgrades and strong resale value.

The compromises are the Exynos 2400 sold in Pakistan, which runs warmer than Snapdragon, a 4000 mAh battery with average endurance and slow 25W charging.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra costs Rs. 434,999 and adds better zoom, a bigger battery and the S Pen. The Google Pixel 10 Pro costs Rs. 283,999 and is newer, with 16GB RAM.

Verdict: worth it if you want the best small Samsung and plan to keep it for years. Heavy users who need all-day battery should look at bigger phones.

The 6.2-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X screen has a 1080 x 2340 resolution, an adaptive 120Hz LTPO refresh rate that drops much lower on still content to save power, HDR10+ and up to 2600 nits peak brightness. It is sharp and bright, with great contrast, viewing angles and colours, and the slim, even bezels look premium.

• The resolution is Full HD+ rather than Quad HD, but on a screen this size the difference is hard to notice.
• Gorilla Glass Victus 2 scratches more easily than the S24 Ultra's glass and lacks its anti-reflective coating.
• The Natural and Vivid colour modes look almost the same.

Galaxy S24 units sold in Pakistan use the Exynos 2400 (4 nm) with an Xclipse 940 GPU and 8GB RAM. It scores about 1.6 million in AnTuTu, which is fast but behind the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the S24 Ultra.

• Daily use: smooth, and the phone stays cool in normal use and while charging.
• Gaming: PUBG runs close to 90 fps and Genshin Impact around 60 fps at the highest settings, without stutter.
• Heat: after about 30 minutes of gaming, the phone reaches around 40°C in a 20°C room, and a stress test peaked at 42.7°C with limited throttling thanks to a larger vapour chamber. Opinions differ, though: it also warms up noticeably in benchmarks, unlike the S24 Ultra.

In a hot Pakistani summer, expect it to run warmer than these figures.

The rear setup has a 50 MP main camera with OIS, a 10 MP 3x telephoto with OIS and a 12 MP ultrawide, with a 12 MP selfie camera.

• Daylight: very sharp photos with nice contrast and strong dynamic range, though colours can shift between front and rear cameras in the same light.
• Portraits: 2x and 3x portraits give pleasing skin tones and natural blur, but there is no 5x portrait mode, and 10x or 20x zoom is not as clear as on the S24 Ultra.
• Ultrawide: less detailed than the main camera and without autofocus, so there is no macro mode.
• Night: bright photos with a slight blue tint; night mode can over-process.
• Selfies: a little over-brightened and not very natural.
• Video: up to 8K 30fps on the main camera, and stable 4K 60fps from the rear and selfie cameras. You cannot switch lenses while recording at 4K 60fps.

The Galaxy S24 has a 4000 mAh battery and gives around five hours of screen-on time, slightly less than the S23. Owners of earlier compact Galaxy phones will find it similar, but anyone coming from a phone with a 5000 mAh battery will notice the difference.

Charging is 25W wired, reaching about 50% in 30 minutes, which feels slow at this price. It also supports 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging for earbuds and watches.

The Galaxy S24 launched with Android 14 and its current listing shows One UI 8.0. Samsung promises up to seven major Android upgrades, which also helps resale value.

Galaxy AI tools include Circle to Search, live call translation, voice transcription, writing suggestions in messages, generative photo editing that can move, resize or remove objects and fill the background, and instant slow motion for any clip. The ultrasonic fingerprint reader is fast and accurate, the stereo speakers are loud and balanced, and the vibration is crisp.