The Samsung Galaxy S24+ may sit below the S24 Ultra in Samsung’s flagship line-up but would still be considered one of the best camera phones for photography. Its likely appeal lies with those who want many of the advanced specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but perhaps don’t have quite the cash available to spend.
Amateur Photographer verdict
The 50 MP camera performs well in a wide range of situations, and delivers excellent quality images however a dedicated macro mode would have been a welcome addition at this price.- High resolution main camera
- Selfie camera has AF
- 8K video
- No macro mode
- Lower resolution additional cameras
- High price
Samsung Galaxy S24+ At a glance:
- 50MP f/1.8 24mm equivalent main camera, OIS
- 12MP f/2.2 14mm equivalent ultrawide camera
- 10MP f/2.4 67mm equivalent telephoto camera, OIS
- 8K video at up to 30fps
- 4K video at up to 60fps
- 6.7-inch, 3120 x 1440 pixels, 2600 nits peak brightness, 120Hz AMOLED screen
- Operating system – One UI based on Android 14
- Processor – Exynos 2400 for Galaxy
We recently named the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra as the best smartphone for photographers, and we gave it the award for the best smartphone of the year, too. But, it’ll set you back a minimum of £1249/$1299. That’s not to say that the S24+ is cheap – starting at £999/$1079 it really isn’t – but it’s a little more affordable than the Ultra.
For the drop in price you get a slightly smaller screen, one fewer camera unit and a marginally smaller battery. All of these might be great sacrifices to make for the price saving, but we’ll explore the differences a little more closely as we go through the review.
The S24+ follows on from the Samsung Galaxy S23+. Compared to that, you get a slightly bigger and brighter screen, a newer and faster processor, an upgraded battery and a new suite of AI tools.
How we test camera phones
We review smartphones from the perspective of choosing one for its photography and camera performance. We look at what the Samsung Galaxy S24+ offers, and the features included for photography and video, paying particular attention to the cameras on the phone, photo editing capabilities, as well as the output from each different lens.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ Features
With its triple-lens setup, the S24+ is much like many other smartphone flagships, despite not being at the top of Samsung’s line-up.
You get a 50MP “main” camera, which is 24mm f/1.8 equivalent. This is the main point of difference from the S24 Ultra, which instead has a 200MP sensor – but really, who actually needs that many megapixels in a smartphone camera?
The S24+’s main sensor is joined by a 12MP 14mm f/2.2 ultra wide and a 10MP 67mm (3x) f/2.4 telephoto lens, with OIS. Again here’s a point of difference with the Ultra, which has a fourth 5x telephoto lens – how much you’d actually use this a matter of personal preference, the 3x will likely be more than enough for most cases.
It’s also worth mentioning at this point that the standard Samsung Galaxy S24, with its 6.2” screen has the same camera array as the S24+, so much of our review can be considered as a review of both models.
With the introduction of the S24 series, Samsung has jumped aboard the AI bus. For the S24+ uses AI when taking photos and gives you special tools for editing your photos after the fact too. The shooting tools aren’t anything you actively select, but are said to bring enhancements to night photography, zoom, colour reproduction, HDR (high dynamic range) and noise reduction.
Editing tools make use of AI to remove reflections, move and replace objects, or even crop and rotate images and generate content to fill any gaps in the frame. All clever stuff, but not anything we haven’t seen before from the likes of Google – expect Apple to add their own version in the next iteration of the iPhone 15 Pro and claim to be revolutionary.
Other notable specifications of the S24+ include a 4,900mAh battery, wireless and quick charging and other AI tools including Circle to Search. As is fairly standard nowadays, no charging plug comes in the box – just a USB-C cable which you can use with any existing power supplies.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ Handling and Design
The design of the S24+ (and the S24) is quite plain or pedestrian. It has rounded off square edges, making it arguably a little less sleek than the S24 Ultra. That said, some might appreciate its boxiness – it’s also quite similar to an iPhone in design.
At 6.7”, the screen size is on the large side, being in line with other flagships such as the iPhone 15 Pro and the Google Pixel 8 Pro, but it is slightly smaller than the S24 Ultra, which is 6.8”. Unless you absolutely want a very large phone, the S24+ might actually be a preferable size, being large but still just about manageable.
Size aside, it’s a very bright and clear screen, with images and videos displaying extremely well – as you’d expect for a high priced phone such as this.
Toughness wise, the S24+ has an Armor Aluminium Frame, plus a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 screen. This should mean it withstands normal wear and tear very well, but notably it’s not quite as tough as the S24 Ultra, which has a Titanium frame and Corning Gorilla Armor. Both are rated at IP68 for waterproofing and dustproofing, meaning you can completely submerge it to depths of 1.5m in fresh water for up to 30 minutes and it should be absolutely fine.
Despite its tough credentials, you might feel more secure purchasing a case for the S24+ – one doesn’t come in the box.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ Native Camera App
The native camera app is pretty comprehensive with the S24+, which is something we’re used to seeing with Android phones, especially Samsung models.
Using the default mode you get access to the three lenses, as well as digital zoom, and you can make changes to settings such as aspect ratio and resolution. If you tap the settings cog you can also adjust the amount of AI interference added to your photos by selecting “Intelligent Optimisation” and selecting Maximum, Medium or Minimum. Selecting Minimum promises to make the phone quicker in operation, but I can’t say I had any problems in the first place so I’ve generally been leaving it to maximum.
If the phone detects darkness, Night mode will automatically switch on. It will also detect faces that are in the frame, allowing you to add a background blur after the fact – handy if you forget to shoot in portrait mode. One big omission here is a macro mode. It’s surprising not to see one on a smartphone of this calibre and price point, but it’s one way to separate out the S24+ from the S24 Ultra, so perhaps it’s a deliberate way to get you to opt for the more expensive model.
Other shooting modes include Portrait, which does what you’d expect it to do – blurs the background for people (and animal) shots, a video mode which gives you options up to 8K and a Pro mode which gives you control over various shooting parameters. You can also download an ExpertRAW add on which gives you even more control – this is worth looking into if you’re a more advanced user.
The AI editing options available allow you to move and replace objects, or generate additional background if you change or crop your image. In practise this is fairly self-explanatory and quite quick – but the results can vary. For example, if you have lots of detail, it’s not always the smoothest finished result, but it can be reasonably good if you want to remove a stray tourist from an otherwise fairly clean scene, for example. Any edits you make using AI will be watermarked to say that the image has been adjusted with AI – this can’t be removed in the phone, and it’s also included in the image’s metadata. The watermark appears in the bottom left hand corner so presumably there wouldn’t be much to stop you simply cropping this out if you really wanted to.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ Image Quality and Performance
On the whole, images from the S24+ are very impressive – a good reflection of the high price for the unit.
Colours are nicely bright and punchy without being too unrealistically vibrant, while the overall impression of detail is very good. Colours are also pretty well matched between the phone’s three different lenses, which is good news. You’ll likely see just a touch more detail in shots taken with the S24 Ultra if you examine closely, but the 50MP available from the S24+ does a very good job for most ordinary situations.
As we usually see, the best results are indeed from the main sensor. At this price point it would be nice to see higher resolutions from the accompanying lenses, but it’s not a deal breaker. The ultrawide lens produces some pretty good shots, while the 3x zoom is also very usable. Digital zooming is available to get you closer to the action.
At 10x, it’s just about OK but there is a noticeable smudginess in details, but the 20x and 30x options I’d probably avoid altogether unless desperate.
It’s a similar story when looking at low light pictures. The best results come from the 1x lens, but the ultra wide produces very good results too. Images taken with the 3x lens in low light are probably not going to be very useful for much, while the digital options are very smudgy, even at the 10x option.
Portrait mode gives some good results, both for human and animal subjects. If you scrutinise very closely there are some slightly unrealistic results around fine hair and the like, but for Instagram and the like, the results are more than good enough, comparing well with other flagships such as the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the S24 Ultra.
The selfie camera has autofocus, which is always a bonus – many smartphones rely on fixed. This makes it a great option for those who like to take lots of selfies or vlogs. I like the fact that you can also use the selfie camera with portrait mode, as well as expand to a wider angle if you want to include another person in the shot.
It’s very disappointing that there’s no macro mode, as already mentioned. One way to work around this is to use the main camera, and add your own crop afterwards, but at this price point it’s frustrating that there is no macro mode. If you frequently like to shoot close-ups, this is perhaps enough to put you off buying the S24+.
Video recording up to 8K is available, though most will likely stick with Full HD or 4K. When recording in 8K or 4K, you can’t switch between lenses once you’ve already started recording, which is a shame, but you can in HD. Video quality is very good overall, being fairly smooth and showing off plenty of detail.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ Value for Money
The Samsung Galaxy S24+ is on the expensive end for a smartphone, putting it in the premium bracket. It compares to similar flagship smartphones such as the iPhone 15 Pro, but is more expensive than the Google Pixel 8 Pro (both with macro mode).
Where you might consider it offers “value for money” is the fact that it is cheaper than its ultra premium stablemate, the S24 Ultra. You can make a saving of around £250/$220 by opting for the S24+ instead. You do lose some features, but you still get an excellent device.
Thinking purely about the camera – you get a high resolution main camera which is joined by two well-performing additional units, along with all the same AI features as the S24 Ultra.
So, unless you desperately crave the very high resolution sensor of the Ultra, or the additional lens, it might be worth sticking with the cheaper version. It’s disappointing though that there’s no macro mode on the S24+ – that’s quite a big downside for a smartphone in this price bracket.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ Verdict
The specifications and price point of the Samsung Galaxy S24+ would put it at the top of most other company’s ranges.
If therefore you have your eyes on the S24 Ultra but are worried about paying such a high price, it could make a great alternative if you want to save a bit of cash.
That said, there is quite a bit you’re missing out on if you opt for the cheaper device. The biggest differences are the lack of a super-high resolution main sensor, no dedicated macro mode, and only three lenses instead of four.
Most people don’t really need 200MP so that’s not a huge loss, while the extra telephoto lens is more of a “nice to have” bonus, rather than essential. It’s a bit surprising to not have a macro mode though, especially as most competitors offer this.
Looking at the S24+ in isolation, images and video from it are very good in a wide range of situations. The size of the device is on the large side, but, that makes your images look great and it’s a pretty normal size by modern smartphone standards.
There are some useful updates when compared to the S23+, most notably the addition of AI functionality, both when shooting and editing. None of these are particularly mind-blowing however, and seem a bit “me too” considering what’s already available on the market – it’ll be interesting to see if Samsung makes more of the AI features in the coming months, either via software updates or newer phone models.
Overall, the S24+ is one of the best smartphones for photography that you can currently buy. It’s not revolutionary, but it does an excellent job. It’s priced at flagship level and mostly delivers – it’s just a shame there are a couple of niggles which stop it from being even better.
Specifications:
| Ultra-wide camera | 12MP 1/2.55” sensor, 13mm equivalent, f/2.2, fixed focus |
| Wide camera | 50MP 1/1.56” sensor, 24mm equivalent, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS |
| Telephoto camera | 10MP 1/3.94” sensor, 67mm equivalent, f/2.4, PDAF, OIS |
| Front selfie camera | 12MP, 26mm equivalent, f/2.2, Dual Pixel PDAF |
| Display | 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x Quad HD+ (3120 x 1440) 120 Hz |
| Operating system | Android 14 |
| Dimensions | 158.5 x 75.9 x 7.7mm |
| Weight | 196g |
Related reading:
Follow AP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok
