But is the complaints uproar valid… or is it just fantasy?
Let’s see what’s (claimed to be) wrong and what’s (probably) not.
The screen shock
In terms of scratch-resistance or anti-flare capabilities, this year’s Samsung flagship display is insanely good.
Some, though, have problems with something else – the colors. “Dull and muted” is what many are accusing the Galaxy S24’s display of. The trouble seems to be that the Vivid screen mode option just doesn’t get as vibrant and saturated as the Vivid screen mode on Galaxy S23 or Galaxy S22.
Going from Natural to Vivid used to produce a noticeable difference in the Galaxy S24’s predecessors, but the same can’t be said for the latest South Korean champion. Users complain the difference is barely perceptible and are not happy to lose what they’re used to.
Samsung took the “It’s a feature, not a bug” stance with an official explanation for the phenomenon:
We have adjusted the colors and brightness of Galaxy S24 series products to provide more accurate and comfortable viewing during use. Some changes have been made to the display technology to provide a more natural viewing experience, so users may notice differences in color depth compared to older devices. This display behavior is an intentional color adjustment and is not a product defect, so it can be used safely.
On a side note: some owners have found out that this washed-out phenomenon is present only upon viewing a photo in Chrome or “on the wallpaper”. If a photo is opened in Gallery, it looks saturated and vibrant, according to them.
Apart from the muted colors, some are reporting another screen issue – grainy textures on dark/gray backgrounds.
There’s a Reddit poll that invites Galaxy S24+ owners to vote on the matter and share if they experience the same grainy problem. As of the time of writing, over 150 users said “Yes” (as in “Yes, I’m seeing grainy textures on my phone”) and over 90 – “No”. Another 116 are so far “Not sure”.
The camera gloom
Moving on to the back of the Galaxy S24 and, more specifically, the camera. That’s one of the most sensitive matters for any flagship, as any flagship maker will tell you.
Some Galaxy S24 Ultra owners in India, Spain and Thailand reported “faulty cameras”. A user found out that transition between zoom levels (going from 2x to 3x, to 5x) is anything but smooth and looks jerky.
Samsung India admitted that some first-batch Galaxy S24 Ultra units had the problem and promised a replacement unit.
Apart from that, some complained that the Galaxy S24 phones produce “lower-quality photos” than the Galaxy S23 line.
“Photos come out looking super overexposed, grainy and just downright poor quality”
That’s what a Reddit user said.
The speakers situation
Next in line is a phenomenon that’s not as popular as the two above – some are dissatisfied with the Galaxy S24’s speakers. They find them to be “tiny and hollow” with some even claiming the speakers here are worse than on the Galaxy S21.
Here’s how Reddit user TheRealJockoJohnson summarizes it:
The speaker opening at the bottom of the S24+ is just a very thin slot, whereas on the 23+, it’s a wider grill-type opening. I guess they made the speaker smaller to make room for other stuff. I was able to compensate somewhat with the equalizer, but even then, it’s still worse than the S23+.
The thin green line horror
If none of the above has impressed you, here’s a problem that’s nothing short of pure horror: the thin green line display bug. But wait, there’s more: sometimes, there’s a thin white line, too.
The thin green line is running down vertically across the S24 Ultra’s glorious display, while the white line is horizontal (if present).
That’s definitely not a “it’s a feature, not a bug” type of situation as lines – no matter how thin, or whatever color – have no place on a phone’s display.
So far, only devices bought from carriers seem to have this problem, but nothing else is clear about the issue, apart from the fact that it’s a manufacturing defect. When owners of such faulty devices tried to sort things out with warranty or returns, the catastrophe turned into a fiasco: Samsung would not exchange the device for a new one and instead suggested that the defective unit be returned and then repurchased.
This, of course, means that the user – which has no fault in the first place – is to lose any of the pre-order discounts that he/she received when buying the Galaxy S24 initially. Samsung eventually told the phone owners to complain to the carriers they bought the phone from…
Anything else?
(Since you’re asking – yes)
Enter the battery. Some claim their Galaxy S24 drains “a lot of battery” on idle and overnight, but these kinds of reports are too few (for the moment) for a larger pattern to be recognized.
The importance of being earnest and adaptive (and when not to be)
Once upon a time, I bought myself a decent pair of studio monitors. Nothing too fancy – I needed a desktop solution that was to serve as a moderate substitute for the dedicated stereo system in the living room.For the first 30 minutes, I hated every single note that came out of those desktop monitors.
And then it struck me – I realized I hadn’t played the living room stereo in months and I was accustomed to the 2.1 lame setup I was using on my computer. My ears, victims of year-long audio mediocrity abuse, were faulty, not the brand-new studio speakers. Shortly after, things came into place and I began experiencing great joy out of the very thing I was so dissatisfied with at first.
What I’m saying is that after years (decades!) of horrible oversaturated, oversharpened and overcooked photos from our handsets we’re kind of used to the mobile photography look. So, anything that’s too different feels “unnatural” and we can’t get a kick out of it right away.
It’s important not to adapt too much, though.
To make my point, I’ll use another simple example – this time it’s about photography. Don’t ask why, but years ago, I used a TV as a computer monitor – a mid-range TV, at best. I used to edit photos on that thing and you can imagine my surprise when I realized that the photos I was editing were completely different – and not in a good way – when seen on my TV screen and then on a proper computer screen (or printed).
See, our adaptiveness is both a blessing and a curse.
The fact that everything seemed OK to me on my TV when editing meant little to nothing in reality – my photos were ruined because of the TV’s distorted color, contrast, sharpness, saturation, brightness, etc. That’s why I got a dedicated proper computer monitor.
That said, it’s crucial to reach out to communities with likewise interests and adjust your clock if you think something’s off. Sometimes it’ll be just you and your perception of things that’s distorted, sometimes things could really be in dire straits (like that thin green line nightmare).
For finals
As the Reddit user Dr_3x21 puts it:
“Every new model sub-Reddit is full of complaints. This was the same a year ago with the S23 series. Six daily threads at least, people s*******g on the SOT and camera. AI post-processing and oversaturation (oh the irony) was really bad then”.
It’s very important not to forget that updates are a thing and often they bring real improvements. So maybe wait it out and see?
I think if you give it a try, you’ll find that things (including phones) can sometimes prove to be satisfactory in time, not right away. It’s just that there’s an adjustment period.
I also think you don’t have to put up with straightforward horrors like thin green lines.
