Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. Samsung Galaxy S23

With Samsung extending its software support commitment for its 2024 Galaxy S lineup, the question of whether you should buy this year’s flagship phone or last year’s top-of-the-line phone is more important than ever. That’s why many people might consider the cheaper Galaxy S23. The latter will likely get them where they need to go, but isn’t it worth spending a little more for the Galaxy S24?

Table of contents:

Samsung has made fairly subtle changes to its regular Galaxy S24 and Plus versions over the generations, but this year, we’ve got a lot more to cover.

The S24 brings small but significant design changes, a slightly larger and brighter display, new camera processing, and more battery. How do these changes relate to real-life experience? Are they significantly different compared to the S23? We explore this in more depth below.

For starters, you can compare the full specs sheet or proceed directly to our editors’ review in the text below.

size comparison

There’s not much to discuss about size and weight. The two phones are nearly identical, with the S24 being slightly taller but slimmer. That’s because it’s equipped with a 0.1-inch display,

Samsung was able to shrink the bezels even further this year, achieving almost the same footprint but with a larger screen. Still, a 0.1-inch increase isn’t a big deal, and the difference is negligible.

From a design perspective, the S24 comes with flat side frames instead of the slightly rounded side frames on the S23. Whether you like the change or not comes down to personal preference, but it’s important to note that the S24 features an upgraded aluminum Armor 2 frame – said to be stronger than before.

show contrast

Aside from the difference in display size (6.2 inches vs. 6.1 inches on the S24), the S24’s display is a slight upgrade over its predecessor. In our tests, the newer panel achieved about 1.400 nits, while the peak brightness boost during HDR playback can exceed 2,000 nits. By comparison, the Galaxy S23’s brightness is 1,200 nits and 1,700 nits respectively.

To the untrained eye this may not make a huge difference, but on a sunny day outside there are some potential benefits to the extra 200 nits.

Other core features like HDR10+ support and 120Hz refresh rate remain, but the latter has now been enhanced. The new LTPO panel supports more granular refresh rate control, potentially achieving better energy efficiency. The video playback scores probably bear that out, but more on that later.

Battery Life

Despite the rather modest battery upgrade, from 3,900 mAh to 4,000 mAh, the Galaxy S23 gets a higher active use score thanks to longer video playback times. However, the airtime score dropped significantly.

Of course, the Galaxy S24 scores better overall, but some users may prefer the Galaxy S23 if they make more calls on their phone every day. Others may choose the S24 over the S23 if multimedia is the primary use case.

charging speed

Unfortunately, there’s no upgrade to charging speeds, and like past generations, the regular Galaxy S24 supports 25W fast charging beyond the Power Delivery standard.Both devices charge similarly slowly compared to some rivals – taking approx. 1 hour and 15 minutes A complete charging cycle.

Speaker test

To our surprise, the speaker setup changed significantly this year. The S24 is louder, but misses the bass almost entirely. The Galaxy S23’s bass makes for a fuller, warmer sound.

Performance

Whether you buy the Exynos 2400 version or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 version, you’ll get a huge performance boost compared to the Galaxy S23.

The Exynos 2400 appears to outperform the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 by about 14% and 26% in both single-core and multi-core scenarios.

According to AnTuTu 10 data, the Galaxy S24 still performs about 16% better than the Galaxy S23 in comprehensive workloads.

The memory options available remain the same – base configurations are 8GB/128GB and go up to 8GB/512GB. The Galaxy S24 also comes with an additional option – 12GB/256GB.

Camera comparison

The Galaxy S24 and S23 feature the same camera hardware, but the new version promises better processing power thanks to an improved ISP. We have to say that we noticed some key differences, although it’s hard to tell which approach is better.

The Galaxy S23, for example, leans toward brighter exposures, more vibrant colors, and adds a bit of artificial sharpness to give the feel of cleaner photos. The Galaxy S24, on the other hand, goes for a more natural, warmer look. We also noticed less noise in the 3x telephoto photos.

Samsung Galaxy S24 daylight samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

Samsung Galaxy S23 daylight samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

The same goes for nighttime photos. The Galaxy S23 even over-processes in some scenes, with the added sharpness often introducing noise and making some surfaces look grainy. Shadows, on the other hand, retain more detail. The Galaxy S24’s strong suit is once again a more natural look, although one might say the sample looks soft.

Samsung Galaxy S24 low light samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

Samsung Galaxy S23 low light samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

Video recording quality

Similar trends can be observed in video processing. The main camera on the S24 captures slightly softer footage with slightly narrower dynamic range, but more saturated colors.

The S24’s ultrawide camera handles it better, though.

The telephoto camera outputs nearly identical video, but the S24’s lens has some extra contrast.

Samsung Galaxy S24 video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

Samsung Galaxy S23 video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

judgment

As you can see, the gap between last year’s Galaxy S23 and this year’s S24 is pretty close. Given the €200 price difference, the changes are rather subtle and difficult to justify. The Galaxy S24 will likely appeal to users who prefer a more natural look for camera stills, longer video playback times, a slightly brighter display, a more powerful SoC, and louder speakers.

On the other hand, the S23’s crisper, more dynamic processing might appeal to a different group of users, as well as those who spend hours on the phone every day. The stereo speakers also sound better.

Still, Samsung’s expanded software support is reassuring, and the modest upgrades the Galaxy S24 brings make the Galaxy S23 seem like a better deal.