Samsung Galaxy S24 series battery life: What to expect?

New smartphone releases have become increasingly iterative over the years, but some specs do still improve between generations. Battery life and charging speeds are at the top of this short list, with longer endurance often sealing the deal for many buyers. For years, smartphone makers like Samsung has capitalized on that fact and this year continues that streak. The company’s new Galaxy S24 series boasts some big battery life gains on paper. But how much of a difference will it make over the outgoing Galaxy S23 family? Let’s break it down.

Samsung Galaxy S24 series battery specs: What changed?

Samsung increased the battery capacities of the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus compared to their respective predecessors last year. That singular change made the smallest smartphone in the lineup far more usable day-to-day. One year later, we’re happy to report that Samsung has taken another step in the same direction.

The Galaxy S24 has gained 100mAh for a total of 4,000mAh, which translates to a 2.5% increase year-over-year. However, the Plus model’s battery capacity has jumped 200mAh and now packs a total of 4,900mAh. That’s as much as the S24 Ultra, which unfortunately remains unchanged at 5,000mAh. However, we recorded excellent results from the latter in our real-world tests. Keep reading to learn more.

Galaxy S24 series battery life: What to expect?

The Galaxy S24 series have some impressive battery-related specs on paper, but how much has changed and what can you expect from them in the real world? Here’s an early battery life breakdown of each smartphone, based on our experience with the previous-gen S23 family. We’re still conducting our full suite of battery and charging tests on Samsung’s smaller 2024 flagships, so check back soon for detailed graphs and usage numbers.

Galaxy S24

The Galaxy S24 is the smallest smartphone in the lineup by far and, consequently, has the smallest battery as well. However, this is not as big of a problem as you might think. The Galaxy S24 packs a 6.2-inch screen, which means it will draw slightly less power while in use. In other words, it’s unfair to compare the S24’s battery capacity to the larger phones in the family.

In our Galaxy S23 review last year, we praised the phone for its excellent battery life, especially as it was a sore spot on the S22 that came before it. Samsung also made the switch to the much more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC last year. Until that generation, Qualcomm’s flagship chips were fabricated on a less efficient manufacturing node. Both of those factors combined to deliver exceptional endurance, enough to end most days with 40% left in the tank.

This year’s Galaxy S24 has a slightly larger display, moving from a 6.1-inch panel to 6.2 inches instead. However, the battery capacity has also gone up by 100mAh. Those two aspects should balance out in the end. We’re still a few days out from our full review, but the Galaxy S24 should net you about as much battery life as we reported last year.

One caveat worth noting is that the Galaxy S24 will use Samsung’s Exynos 2400 SoC in most regions outside North America instead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. This could translate to slightly lower battery life on international models.

Galaxy S24 Plus

The Galaxy S24 Plus got the biggest battery boost of this generation, going from 4,700mAh to a whopping 4,900mAh. That’s within spitting distance of the largest S24 Ultra.

Samsung’s middle-of-the-pack flagship usually impresses the most in the battery life department every year. However, the S24 Plus packs a slightly larger 6.8-inch display this generation. The Korean giant has also brought back the Quad HD resolution, a feature that was once a big selling point for the Plus model. Both of these factors could lead to slightly higher power draw.

Last year, we reported that the Galaxy S23 Plus was capable of delivering two full days of battery life in ideal conditions. Luckily, the increased battery capacity of this generation should keep that status quo intact.

Galaxy S24 Ultra

For the fourth year running, Samsung has stuck with a 5,000mAh cell in its flagship Ultra model. That’s right, the Galaxy S24 Ultra hasn’t registered a battery capacity gain on its spec sheet year-over-year. Still, we didn’t foresee battery life being a problem as our Galaxy S23 Ultra review last year reported excellent endurance. And we found that to hold true in our Galaxy S24 Ultra battery test where the phone delivered better results than its predecessor almost across the board.

In particular, we recorded a whopping 45% improvement in full-to-empty times on the S24 Ultra during 4K video playback. In other scenarios too, we noticed the phone lasted 16% longer than last year’s Samsung flagship. The only exception was camera capture minutes, where the newer phone came up 33% short (nearly two hours difference).

The Galaxy S24 Ultra will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip in all regions, unlike its smaller siblings. This spells good news for buyers outside the North American market as it means predictable performance for Galaxy AI features and other demanding tasks. The same predictability stands for battery life too.

How long does it take to charge the Galaxy S24 series?

Ever since the Note 7 debacle, Samsung has seemed reluctant to push the envelope when it comes to charging speeds. This year is no exception as the Galaxy S24 series’ charging performance remains unchanged. The smallest smartphone in the family tops out at just 25W, while the Plus and Ultra models keep their 45W maximums.

When we measured the charging performance of the Galaxy S23 Ultra last year, we noticed slightly better 0-100 times. This is because it could sustain its 45W charging power for roughly 10 minutes longer. Samsung says it has massively improved thermal management on this year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, so a similar charging time reduction might be on the cards this year too.

For reference, the Galaxy S23 Ultra took 57 minutes to go from 0 to 100% with a 45W adapter. You’ll need a Super Fast Charging-capable charger as Samsung will not include one in the box. Any adapter sporting USB PD PPS with 45W or higher will do the trick. The power requirement drops to 25W for the regular S24.

While the vanilla S24’s 25W charging may seem slow compared to 45W, it was enough to fully charge up last year’s S23 within 70 minutes. As for the S24 Plus, expect similar charge times to the Ultra given the matching 45W spec and nearly identical battery capacities. Put simply, all three phones in the S24 series will take about an hour to fully charge up.

Wireless charging speeds remain unchanged this generation as well. The Galaxy S24 series relies on the first-gen Qi wireless charging standard, which goes up to 15W. We hoped that Samsung would adopt the newer Qi2 charging standard, but it still seems a ways off. With the existing charging tech then, you’re looking at 1.5 to 2.5 hours for a full charge, with the smallest battery taking the least amount of time and vice-versa. You can’t get better charging times with the Qi wireless standard.

Galaxy S24 series battery vs the competition: Is it good?

In terms of battery life, you won’t be left disappointed regardless of which device you get from Samsung’s latest Galaxy S24 lineup. Considering the broader smartphone market, however, some competitors may deliver better endurance figures.

For example, the Asus Zenfone 10 packs a larger 4,300mAh battery in a similarly-sized body as the Galaxy S24. However, it comes at the cost of a thicker design and plastic back to keep weight down. Likewise, the OnePlus 12 should end up priced lower than the Galaxy S24 Plus when it launches globally. However, it includes an even larger 5,400mAh battery alongside its 6.82-inch display.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra also concedes to some smartphones like the OnePlus 12, but it’s also on par with Google’s Pixel 8 Pro. The same holds true for charging speeds as well. Samsung’s 45W maximum may seem slow in the context of OPPO and OnePlus’ 100W SuperVOOC charging. However, it’s still ahead of what Apple and Google offer on their respective flagship phones.

Overall, Samsung has refined its 2024 flagship series to alleviate battery-related pain points rather than win any awards for the longest-lasting smartphone on the market. As a fan of the smaller phones in the Galaxy S24 lineup, the battery capacity gains will certainly sway my purchasing decision towards the new models.

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