Samsung Galaxy S24 Review: Is It Worth Buying Over iPhone and Pixel?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 is the phone I keep recommending to people who ask me what to buy and then tell me they want something compact. In a market that’s moved toward 6.7 and 6.8-inch screens as standard, the S24’s 6.16-inch size feels almost rebellious. I’ve been using it for about four months now and here’s what that experience actually looks like.

The Size This Is the Phone’s Most Underrated Feature

167 grams. 147mm tall. Fits in any pocket, fits in one hand without rearranging your grip, doesn’t dig into your leg when you sit. These sound like minor things until you’ve spent two years with a large phone and then pick this up. My previous phone was 200 grams and 165mm and the difference is immediately noticeable.

The aluminum frame and glass back feel properly premium. Not plastic-pretending-to-be-premium. Actual premium. The phone doesn’t flex, doesn’t creak, and feels like it could handle being dropped without immediately shattering though I haven’t tested that theory. Water resistance adds the practical layer that any phone at this price should have.

Four color options Amber Yellow, Cobalt Violet, Marble Grey, Onyx Black. I have Onyx Black which looks professional and shows fingerprints less than glossy finishes typically do. The Cobalt Violet looks genuinely interesting in person if you want something less safe.

The Display

6.16-inch AMOLED at 418 PPI and 120Hz. Sharp, smooth, and the AMOLED brings proper deep blacks that make dark mode genuinely useful rather than just a feature toggle. The 120Hz smoothness is visible in every scroll and app transition.

Brightness is excellent for outdoor use I’ve checked maps and messages in direct afternoon sun without issues. Samsung’s display calibration is notably good colors look accurate without being oversaturated. Some Samsung phones lean into vivid mode too heavily but the S24’s default Vivid setting is tasteful rather than garish.

The compact size does mean less screen real estate than bigger phones. Reading long documents or watching videos on the S24 is comfortable but not the immersive experience of a 6.7-inch display. That’s the honest trade-off of choosing compact you gain handling comfort, you give up screen size.

Performance Flagship Without Drama

Eight cores, 8GB RAM, Android 14 with One UI. Four months of daily use and the phone performs the same as day one. No gradual slowdown, no random freezes, no apps crashing. It just works consistently.

For gaming this isn’t the most powerful chip in the market. Demanding titles at ultra settings will show its limits under sustained load. For typical usage including casual gaming it handles everything without complaint.

One UI gets a lot of discussion some find it feature-rich and well organized, others find it slightly cluttered. Coming from a Pixel I noticed the extra layers initially, but after a few days of using it the layout becomes intuitive. Samsung has genuinely cleaned up One UI over recent versions. The AI features Circle to Search, Live Translate, note summaries are built into daily workflows in a way that actually gets used rather than demoed once and forgotten.

Samsung promises seven years of OS and security updates for the S24 series. That’s the same commitment as Pixel now and significantly better than most Android manufacturers historically. For a phone at this price you’d reasonably keep it four to five years and the update commitment supports that.

Cameras

50MP main sensor with a triple camera setup. In daylight the photos are excellent detailed, accurate colors, good dynamic range that handles both bright sky and shadowed foreground in the same frame without losing either. Samsung’s processing has matured to the point where it doesn’t artificially sharpen or boost saturation unless you specifically choose a vivid mode.

Night photography is strong. Not Pixel-strong Google’s Night Sight still edges ahead in very dark conditions but genuinely good for most scenarios. Indoor shots at dinner, evening outdoor shots, dimly lit venues all produce usable results.

The 12MP front camera handles selfies and video calls well. Clean output, good detail in decent lighting, handles mild backlighting without completely silhouetting your face. For a professional video call you look presentable.

8K video recording is listed and genuinely available, though the file sizes at 8K are large enough that most people will use 4K for practical recording. 4K60fps is smooth and stabilized well.

Battery The One Area That Requires Managing

4000mAh is adequate rather than impressive. Under moderate use I end the day around 25-35%. Under heavy use navigation running, lots of camera use, constant messaging I’ve hit 15% by late evening and reached for the charger earlier than I would with a larger-battery phone.

The compact design is the direct cause of this. Samsung couldn’t fit a 5000mAh battery in a 167-gram, 147mm phone without compromising something else. This is the known trade-off of compact flagship design and the S24 is honest about it.

If you regularly have very heavy days and can’t easily charge mid-day, the smaller battery will be noticeable. If your usage is moderate to heavy with access to charging at work or home it’s manageable. This is the most important thing to be realistic about before buying.

Software

Android 14 with One UI 6. Samsung’s ecosystem benefits are real DeX for desktop mode when connected to a monitor, seamless integration with Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds, strong Samsung Pay support. If you have other Samsung devices the integration is genuinely useful rather than just marketing.

Pre-installed apps include some Samsung and Google duplicates. Removing or disabling the ones you don’t need is a ten-minute first-day task and after that the software stays clean.

Price

8GB + 128GB variant between ₹40,000 and ₹45,000. 8GB + 256GB between ₹47,000 and ₹49,500. Prices vary slightly by color and availability Amazon generally has the most competitive pricing. The 256GB variant is worth the extra for most users since the phone has no expandable storage slot.

S24 vs iPhone vs Pixel at This Price

iPhone 16 at similar pricing gives you Apple ecosystem, best-in-class video, and the best resale value. Non-negotiable if you’re an iPhone user already.

Pixel 10 at similar pricing gives you better computational photography, cleaner Android, seven years of updates, and AI features deeply integrated into the OS. Better camera software choice.

S24 gives you the best compact form factor of the three, Samsung ecosystem integration, One UI’s feature depth, and the most balanced all-round flagship experience at the price. Best choice if compact size or Samsung ecosystem matters specifically to you.

Four Months In

Still the right choice for my use case. The compact size makes daily carrying genuinely more comfortable. The camera produces photos I’m proud to share. The software is stable and the AI features actually get used. The battery requires a bit more awareness than a large-battery phone but hasn’t been a practical problem with the charging habits I’ve developed.

If you want a compact flagship that does everything well without forcing you to carry a large slab in your pocket the S24 is the clearest choice available right now.

Watch Before You Buy

1. Review by Mohit Balani

2. Review by Tech Buffet

3. Review by GadgetsLife

Samsung Galaxy S24 5G Full Specifications

Questions about specific use cases or how it compares to the phone you’re currently using drop them in the comments.