The Itel S24 Debuts in Kenya: Here's What You Need to Know

After teasing the launch of their new lineup, the itel S24 series is finally available in the Kenyan Kenyan market. The S24 is the predecessor to the S23 series which was launched last year, so are there any improvements with this year’s S24? Let’s dive straight into it and find out.

Design and Build

The design of the phone is well-baked with a circular module at the back that houses the two cameras which actually looks better than the Itel s23, next to the cameras is a flashlight. The back of the phone also doesn’t seem to attract fingerprint smudges.

At the front, there is a punch-hole selfie camera and the overall bezels are slim except at the chin where the chin is quite thick. On the right side, there is a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and the volume rocker buttons, on the left side there is a sim tray that houses two sims and a micro SD card.

At the bottom, the phone brings a 3.5mm jack, speaker grill, and a type-c port.

Display: Size and Smoothness

The display of the s24 is still the same as last year’s s23, a 6.6-inch display paired with a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling and faster opening of apps, a resolution of 720 by 1612, and a peak brightness of 480nits.

The display on this smartphone is not impressive, it is not the kind of display that would catch the eye of someone looking for a high-end smartphone. However, if you are looking for a backup phone or buying a phone for someone who isn't too tech-savvy like a child or an elderly person, then the display should be good enough. But if you want a display that is vibrant and eye-catching, you should consider looking elsewhere.

It might be difficult for you to use your phone under direct sunlight due to its low brightness of 480 nits, which isn't suitable for outdoor usage. Personally, I would prefer a screen with an AMOLED display and 60Hz refresh rate over an LCD screen with a higher refresh rate, but this is just my personal preference.

Battery Life: Endurance on Charge

Just like with most smartphones in 2024, the Itel s24 packs a huge 5000mAh battery and it should last you an entire day depending on how you use the phone.

You get an 18w charger which according to itel should charge your phone from 0-50- percent in just 40 mins, which is an improvement from its predecessor which had a 10w charger.

The battery life is optimized with low screen resolution and a new processor, it has bypass charging and AI smart charging.

Camera System

On the camera front, the Itel s24 is the first of any itel smartphone to feature a huge 108MP main shooter and a gimmicky 0.08MP auxiliary lens.

The 108MP should take decent photos provided there is enough light, however, it might struggle to capture good photos in dark areas.

The 720p screen might give the impression of mediocre pictures but when viewed on a laptop or a device with a higher resolution the photos should be more appealing. 

During a phone review, a YouTuber by the name of Udi Shoots faced a problem with the camera. Whenever he took photos of human subjects, a message would pop up saying "Can't connect to the camera. Please make sure to close other apps that may use the cameras or flashlight." The YouTuber reached out to Itel to find out what was causing the issue. Itel informed him that it's a software problem and they will fix it in the next update. So, if you face the same problem, don't worry, it will be resolved soon with a future software update.

At the front, there is an 8MP selfie shooter and the photos should be good and sharp in good lighting condition.

Both the front and the back shoot videos in 1440p resolution (2k) but there is no stabilization, so the videos will come out shaky. The Itel s24 also has a feature called dual video mode where you can record videos with the selfie and the rear camera at the same time.

Performance and Software

The S24 is a smartphone that boasts a Mediatek G91 chipset. This 4G chipset has a 12nm processing capacity, which should enable the phone to perform better and consume less energy. Interestingly, the hardware of the Mediatek G91 chipset is the same as that of the G85 and G88. However, since the G91 is a new chipset, it is expected to offer better performance compared to the G85 and G88.

On the software side of things, the Itel s24  comes with Android 13 and ItelOS 13 the Android version is actually outdated, android 14 has been out for a while now I don’t know why they chose an older Android version.

However, as with a lot of Itel smartphones, they come with a ton of features that will help improve your experience with the phone and so is the s24 which brings an AI assistant called Aivana which you can interact with through text and voice by saying “Hi Aivana” to ask it something.

Itel has not stated whether the s24 will get future Android updates, but judging from previous itel smartphones they lack guaranteed software support into the future we don’t expect the s24 to get Android updates, maybe security patches but not for long, however, you should be notified about updates through the system notifications.

Storage and RAM

On board the storage the phone has  8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage which is enough for most people but you can still upgrade the storage using the dedicated microSD card slot. The capacity of RAM can be increased up to 16GB through the use of Virtual RAM Technology.

Other Notable Feature

The Itel s24 has a headphone jack for connecting your wired headphones and earphones. For biometrics, it has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for unlocking the phone.

It has a stereo speaker set up for an immersive experience, and the sound is tuned by DTS. The phone will come in three colors, Dawn White, Coastline Blue, and Starry Black.

Availability and Pricing

The Itel S24 will be available in all Itel retailer shops and you can buy it for KES 14,000.

The Itel S24: A Budget-Friendly Option?

The s24 has some slight upgrades as compared to last year's s23 ranging from fast charging, a unique design, an upgraded camera setup, and a new chipset.

Although the phone takes good photos in good lighting, in dark places it may struggle a little bit and may heat up when playing demanding games.

I would recommend this phone for someone who is new to smartphones, or for gifting to an elderly person or child.