Samsung's latest Galaxy S24 FE seems to close the gap between Fan Edition phones and the upper-premium Galaxy S series like no other FE phone. The Galaxy S24 FE looks good and performs great. It is chock-full of Galaxy AI tools.Summarize in one-click with Galaxy AI
It also joins a short list of select Galaxy flagships that benefit from extended firmware support that includes seven major Android OS upgrades. However, one thing the Galaxy S24 FE is missing is the Always On Display (AOD) wallpaper feature.
Samsung introduced AOD wallpapers at the beginning of 2024. The Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra were the first to boast this new upgrade, and the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 also support it, with some caveats.
As the name implies, the feature lets users set wallpapers to the Always On Display. They can be full-screen or based on photo crops that cover the screen only partially. It would've been a welcomed addition to the Galaxy S24 FE arsenal, but it wasn't meant to be. Here is why.
Galaxy S24 FE screen is great, but not good enough for AOD wallpapers
Despite all the flagship-like qualities the new Galaxy S24 FE has, the phone doesn't meet the necessary hardware requirements to support AOD wallpapers.
The Galaxy S24 FE is equipped with a 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with Vision Booster technology. However, unlike the rest of the Galaxy S24 series, it doesn't have an LTPO backplane and supports refresh rates of 60Hz and 120Hz.
More specifically, the Galaxy S24 FE screen supports only 60Hz and 120Hz modes with no granularity in between. It can't drop to a refresh rate of 24Hz, let alone anything below that, like 1Hz. The display is advanced, but not advanced enough to support AOD wallpapers.
Even without AOD wallpapers, from what we've seen so far, the Galaxy S24 FE appears to be a great phone and a worthwhile release under the Fan Edition brand. And the fact that it doesn't offer everything the pricier Galaxy S24 premium flagships have is only natural. Fan Edition phones always have to walk a fine line between a lower price and the upper-premium segment.
Samsung will release the Galaxy S24 FE on October 10, but the device is available for pre-order in most markets for $649 and up.
