So you've got your brand new Galaxy S24 or Galaxy S24+ in your hands and are trying to connect to the swanky new router you've bought that outputs Wi-Fi 7 but with no luck. We have bad news for you because neither the Galaxy S24 nor S24+ can access Wi-Fi 7. Units sold in Europe and other regions don't support the Wi-Fi 7 standard. As for those sold in the US, Samsung decided to nerf the feature. Really.
Samsung Is To Blame
To put it bluntly, Samsung is to blame for this debacle. The Exynos 2400 that powers the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ outside the US doesn't support the Wi-Fi 7 standard. It's as simple as that. Conversely, as a thoroughly modern processor, it should come as no surprise that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip is Wi-Fi 7 certified.
Why Are US Versions Affected?
Samsung is also to blame for this decision, which must have been made deliberately and with some discussion. Because the Exynos 2400-powered models cannot access Wi-Fi 7, Samsung also decided to disable the feature from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered variants. Whether the decision was made following the old adage that you don't miss something you've never had, I can't confirm. But it's a decision that, considering the phone will receive seven years of software and security updates, limits its future-proofing.
Read: The best pre-order deals for the Galaxy S24 we have found
Why Did Samsung Revert To Using Exynos Chips In Europe?
Now, I'm not privy to Samsung's internal discussions, so I can't profess to know the official reasoning behind the decision. But as an educated guess, it all comes down to money. We all know that 2023 wasn't kind to Samsung regarding units shipped. Indeed, the Korean company recently lost its position as the top smartphone maker to Apple. This seismic event has been attributed to the current economic troubles the world market is experiencing and unsold inventories.
Also, when Samsung went all in on using Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips for the Galaxy S23 series, it cost more per unit to manufacture. Exynos chips are cheaper to make and, thus, cheaper to buy, which makes the profit margin on each handset a tad larger. Despite the overwhelming praise from reviewers and blogs for the switch to treating all Galaxy S customers like first-world citizens, Samsung decided its bottom line means more.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not shaming Samsung for making a profit. It's business, and making profits is quite literally its purpose. Rather, I'm calling them out because it purposely gave some customers an inferior experience.
Is It A Big Deal?
Yes and no. This is certainly one of those things that won't affect most Galaxy S24 and S24+ buyers right now, but in 2-3 years? Perhaps a few more will feel the frustration of being unable to connect to Wi-Fi 7 because Samsung disabled the function on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered models.
Does the lack, or removal of Wi-Fi 7 support on the Galaxy S24 and S24+ bother you in the slightest? If it is important to you, it's probably best that you splurge for the Galaxy S24 Ultra instead.
