It is in some way been a 12 months since Samsung introduced the Galaxy S24 Extremely, a telephone we touted as one of the best premium Android expertise all through 2024. Samsung launched the telephone with a newly minted flat show, a novel anti-glare layer on the display screen, a stronger titanium body, and a stronger software program replace assure than ever.
At launch, it was clear what Samsung would wish to do to make the Galaxy S25 Extremely a greater telephone. However whereas 2024’s finest premium telephone launched sturdy, nagging points crept up all year long.
The flowery new show was discovered to undergo from some unusual high quality and configuration points, and a few construct high quality points with the glass have crept up after a number of months of use. Samsung’s Android 15 replace was delayed a number of instances, and whereas we’re already on One UI 7 beta 3, the ultimate model is not anticipated till at the least someday in late January on the earliest.
One UI 7 has additionally been the supply of a lot criticism and, humorous sufficient, reward attributable to some main UI design modifications. However whereas One UI 7’s new design does not appear to be everybody’s cup of tea, Samsung is delivering some main enhancements for the S24 Extremely that can finally please followers ultimately, particularly because the newer Galaxy S25 sequence approaches.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely: Show and design
Ever because the Galaxy S24 Extremely’s launch, customers have been complaining in regards to the show. Whether or not it was the graininess of the pixels or the everlasting smudges which have began showing on some folks’s telephone shows, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely’s show has been a little bit of a disappointment.
Complaints have revolved round a number of issues, a few of which could be thought of main given the excessive worth of the Galaxy S24 Extremely. All Galaxy S24 Extremely items are affected by mura, which signifies that every pixel is not reaching the identical brightness stage as adjoining pixels. This does not simply occur at excessive brightness, and it exposes a top quality downgrade we did not count on to see in a Samsung flagship.
We have additionally seen a number of cases of individuals getting everlasting “smudges” on their screens. Based mostly on a number of examples, it looks as if it is the results of the oleophobic layer rubbing off prematurely. There is no approach to repair this if it occurs outdoors of changing the outer glass fully, so it is best to put a display screen protector on it as quickly as you unbox it to stop this difficulty.
Samsung may need mounted the boring display screen difficulty a few month after launch however the firm remains to be seeing complaints of lowered show brightness and colour banding throughout social media. A number of the brightness points must do with thermal administration, because the telephone tones down the brightness after a couple of minutes to maintain it from getting scorching.
Nonetheless, the largest difficulty is that Samsung artificially reduces the utmost brightness by utilizing PWM dimming. This dimming technique helps improve colour accuracy on OLEDs at low brightness however Samsung is utilizing it in any respect brightness ranges for an unknown motive. Utilizing PWM dimming at excessive brightness reduces the perceived brightness stage of the show, one thing Samsung may repair it it provided a correct PWM-free dimming mode as rivals just like the OnePlus 13 do.
The Galaxy S24 Extremely’s show has been the middle of consumer complaints in regards to the telephone, starting from show high quality to early put on and tear on the glass.
We have additionally seen a number of stories of customers on Reddit getting micro scratches on their shows regardless of claiming to watch out with their telephones. Smartphone glass has developed lots through the years, however there appears to be one thing completely different in regards to the glass used on the S24 Extremely. My unit additionally has a number of micro scratches regardless of it not being my principal telephone all year long.
Each time I’ve used the Galaxy S24 Extremely over the previous 12 months, I’ve had points utilizing the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Whereas some people favor ultrasonic sensors, folks like myself discover them to be much less dependable than optical sensors, particularly when a display screen protector is utilized. Fortunately, the upcoming One UI 7 replace addresses considerations of fingerprint sensor pace and accuracy and, to this point in my testing, has made it considerably extra dependable.
In case you love the sq. corners of the Galaxy S24 Extremely, you would possibly wish to maintain on to the telephone for so long as potential as Samsung is alleged to be rounding them off with future telephones.
However whereas the show may not be one of the best factor on the planet, Samsung’s design and construct high quality of the S24 Extremely’s remaining {hardware} has shone via. The titanium body has obtained loads of reward and holds up nicely with use, though a number of customers have discovered that sure circumstances can scratch the body. It is unusual, for positive, however one thing to look out for should you’re nonetheless rocking a pristine Galaxy S24 Extremely.
Whereas Samsung has been utilizing very sq. corners on the Galaxy S Extremely line because the Galaxy S22, rumor has it that the Galaxy S25 Extremely will cast off these for extra rounded corners. Regardless of rounding out the corners, Samsung is reportedly making the perimeters of the telephone utterly flat throughout.
This design would match that of the Galaxy S24 which obtained the flat therapy final 12 months. Personally, I hate the flat aspect rail design and would slightly see Samsung preserve the curved sides from the Galaxy S24 Extremely, that are a lot nicer to carry and make it simpler to select the telephone up from a desk or different flat floor.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely: Software program and updates
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely arrived with the primary seven-year replace promise Samsung has ever made for its telephones. Whereas that sounds good on paper, Samsung will likely be roughly 4 months late in delivering its Android 15 replace by the point One UI 7 lastly makes its public debut.
Android 15 definitely is not the largest replace on the planet however One UI 7 appears to be like to be well worth the wait. I attempted out the second One UI 7 beta again in December and was usually impressed with what I noticed. Samsung lastly ditched the age-old paginated app drawer for a vertical app drawer by default, though you may change again to the previous type should you favor that.
The corporate can be utilizing a brand new design for its multitasking interface that appears nearly an identical to an iPhone. Some folks may not be proud of the change for that reason, nevertheless it’s much more sensible than the terrible previous side-by-side design. This design makes it simpler to rapidly multitask as you may “peak” on the subsequent few apps whereas scrolling via the tiles whereas the earlier design solely confirmed one app’s tile at a time.
Samsung can be borrowing Apple’s break up notification pane design, making it in order that the telephone’s notification pane solely seems when swiping down on the left aspect of the standing bar, whereas swiping down on the fitting aspect brings up a full-screen fast toggles pane. This design is polarizing because it’s opposite to plain Android design, however some people favor the bigger fast toggles pane to be the default.
No matter your desire, practically the whole lot could be personalized out of the field to fit your preferences. The one exception, for now, is the multitasking interface, which often requires Samsung Good Lock to vary. Fortunately, Samsung is alleged to be giving Good Lock a complete overhaul when One UI 7 formally launches later this month, so it’s best to be capable of change it should you’re not a fan of the brand new design (or like one of many many options Samsung has at all times provided).
Samsung’s actual power has lengthy been providing one thing for everybody, and the Galaxy S24 Extremely’s software program expertise completely embodies that mantra.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely: Efficiency and battery life
As we anticipated when Samsung introduced it final 12 months, ray-tracing on telephones hasn’t caught on but. Diablo Immortal launched its huge ray-tracing replace, however we have not seen an enormous push for utilizing this expertise on telephones, presumably attributable to battery life and efficiency constraints that telephones uniquely face when in comparison with consoles or PCs that push the identical tech.
General, although, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely nonetheless delivers stellar real-world efficiency. Newer telephones just like the OnePlus 13 considerably outpace it by way of efficiency and thermal limits, however that is absolutely anticipated from a brand new era. For its half, the Galaxy S24 Extremely by no means feels sluggish, however Samsung tends to throttle brightness fairly a bit when the telephone begins to get heat.
This retains efficiency excessive and prevents the telephone from overheating, nevertheless it’s annoying to must cope with low brightness on the worst time: within the vivid solar. Exterior of this example, nonetheless, the S24 Extremely performs admirably and may please even the pickiest of customers, even a 12 months later.
General efficiency remains to be implausible even a 12 months later, however the telephone’s show dims too rapidly when the telephone will get scorching.
One downside that solely feels worse with time, nonetheless, is the dreadfully sluggish charging pace. Samsung, Google, and Apple’s telephones all nonetheless cost extremely slowly, even with a “quick” 45W charger. Telephones just like the OnePlus 12 can absolutely cost in about half-hour with the charger included within the field, however Samsung telephones nonetheless take nicely over an hour.
Some folks have gotten via this by having a nice wi-fi charger on their desk or of their automobile, nevertheless it does not exchange the right quick charging that almost all Android manufacturers provide. In any case, battery life remains to be nice a 12 months later and extra software-side tweaks in One UI 7 ought to additional assist preserve battery life nice over the seven-year lifespan of the telephone.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely: Digital camera
Once I revealed the Galaxy S24 Extremely digicam overview final 12 months, I marveled on the enhancements Samsung had made. The corporate had gone from mediocre to one of the best in most conditions, barring only one huge space: movement seize.
Whereas the Galaxy S24 Extremely provided up some choices to assist cut back blurry transferring topics — often children or pets that will not maintain nonetheless — its efficiency was nonetheless worse than the competitors. As of a 12 months later, this hasn’t modified a bit. If something, Samsung appears to be like worse than ever as a result of even OnePlus has mounted the identical downside that plagued its telephones for a very long time.
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Exterior of blurry transferring topics, the Galaxy S24 Extremely nonetheless suffers from an extremely irritating sluggish shutter pace downside. If you press the shutter button to take an image on a Galaxy S24 Extremely, there is a really annoying lag that takes place within the digicam viewfinder. I do not see this on any different telephone in the marketplace and it is one thing Samsung wants to deal with on the S25 Extremely.
Samsung nonetheless does a wonderful job of portrait images, however I have been much less impressed with the telephone’s digicam this 12 months than I used to be final 12 months. Low-light pictures aren’t pretty much as good because the Pixel 9 Professional or OnePlus 13, and even daytime portrait pictures aren’t as vibrant or lovely as I count on. Whereas images from some newer Android telephones is likely to be higher, the Galaxy S24 Extremely’s video recording high quality remains to be top-notch amongst Android telephones.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely: Is it nonetheless value shopping for?
With the Galaxy S25 Extremely on the cusp of being formally introduced, you are most likely questioning if it is nonetheless value shopping for the Galaxy S24 Extremely. Whereas I am unable to absolutely reply that query till the Galaxy S25 Extremely is definitely introduced, we all know for positive which you can get a Galaxy S24 Extremely deal that can prevent a whole bunch versus ready every week or so to preorder a Galaxy S25 Extremely.
The primary query is how choosy you may be about any potential show points you are certain to run into with the S24 Extremely. The show has garnered the most important variety of complaints I’ve seen in regards to the telephone over the past 12 months, and whereas a few of them are from energy customers who nitpick the smallest particulars, loads of issues have been seen by people who aren’t tech-savvy, too. There is no assure that Samsung will repair any of those with the S25 Extremely, nevertheless it’ll doubtless handle at the least a number of.
You may additionally want to contemplate the digicam, which can be the greatest motive to decide on one thing else. In case you primarily take photos of your children or pets, it’s best to contemplate a OnePlus 13 or a Pixel 9 Professional. Each take much better photos of transferring topics, with the Pixel taking a slight edge on this class. If this specific images class is not huge in your listing, the S24 Extremely might be an amazing decide.
Lastly, it’s possible you’ll wish to contemplate grabbing a OnePlus 13 over both a Galaxy S24 Extremely or a possible Galaxy S25 Extremely for battery life and charging pace. Samsung telephones, together with iPhones and Pixels, have lengthy been among the many slowest-charging smartphones in the marketplace. That is by no means been more true in 2025 when telephones just like the OnePlus 13 take 20 minutes to top-up the battery whereas an S24 Extremely would possibly take an hour and a half.
