I review phones for a living — and the Galaxy S24 is the first truly great Samsung flagship I've tested

[admin]

Our managing editor for mobile has recommended Galaxy flagships in the past. But the Galaxy S24 has the right mix of features and price to really impress him.

I review phones for a living — and the Galaxy S24 is the first truly great Samsung flagship I've tested : Read more

 

[prowler99]

What did you think of the dull washed out colors even in vivid mode? Thousands of users are complaining about s24, plus, and ultra models with the same problem all over social media yet none of the official reviews touch on this issue. Is your review sample on the AWM9 firmware or a preproduction different build?

https/us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S24/S24-colors-washed-out-and-AOD-missing-options/m-p/2787203

 

[HankBuck!]

The first truly great Samsung flagship phone? Good lord the Apple cult juice is a strong brew.

 

[fivestringer]

After having owned a Pixel 5 for several years, I just switched to an S24. Bad move on my part!

No review of a Samsung device is either complete or accurate without mentioning the incredible amount of bloatware. It never seems to end!

Several observations on the S24:
- Samsung camera app REQUIRES location permission or else it won't work. How stupid is that?
- Most of the Samsung crap-ware cannot be uninstalled (by the normal user at least).
- You made no mention of the now-infamous Samsung "Pending" download hangup at the Play store. Toggling wifi sometimes works, other times a reboot works, other times you just have to cancel and come back another day.

I agree the photo editing AI feature is pretty nifty. I haven't done much with it yet, but, as you state, the best use of it is to delete people/objects. But really, can you see yourself using it on a regular basis?

The cameras? Not really a whole lot to get excited about, certainly not enough to justify spending big bucks. If you want to take really good photos, get a real camera.

To me it really seems like you were going out of your way to point out the gimmicks (yes, most of the stuff is nothing but gimmicks) without pointing out any of the significant drawbacks to this device.

I will probably keep this thing for the next 2 years, then upgrade back to a Pixel device. No excessive bloat/crap-ware. Cameras may not be as good, but that's what I've got my digital Canon for - to take real photos. Does Google spy on you? - Of course, but at least you don't have to resort to a 3rd-party camera app to keep Samsung from tracking you. And why in the world would anyone seriously want or need a Samsung account? It's just an invitation to load more crapware on your device.

I made a mistake getting the S24 - you can bet I'll never make that one again.