Samsung has just taken the wraps off its new Galaxy S24 series, which once again includes three models: The Galaxy S24, the Galaxy S24+, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung’s high-end Galaxy phones continue to offer a combination of great design and excellent cameras, but this year, the biggest changes may be on the software front with Galaxy AI.
The Korean company has teamed up with Google to bring generative new AI capabilities to the Galaxy S24 series. Samsung announced today that it will be the first Google partner to deploy the company’s Gemini Pro and Imagen 2 models on its new Galaxy phones to provide new text, voice, and image features.
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I’ll have more on Galaxy AI later, but let’s start with the biggest hardware changes you can expect with the Galaxy S24 series
This year, the Galaxy S24 series introduces minor design changes with slimmer bezels and a flatter 6.8-inch display protected by Corning Gorilla Armor on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The S24 Ultra is also the first Galaxy phone to use a titanium frame, similar to what Apple did on its iPhone 15 Pro last fall.
“On Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24, a streamlined One-mass design satisfies a more aesthetic standard with seamless connection between the device’s rear cover and side frame,” Samsung explained today. Displays on all three models can now reach 2,600 nit peak brightness, and the 6.7-inch display on the Galaxy S24+ now supports the same level of QHD+ found on S24 Ultra. All displays also support 1-120 Hz adaptive refresh rates.
All Galaxy S23 Ultra models will ship with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The S24 and S24+ will also use the latest chip from Qualcomm in the US, but European models will use Samsung’s Exynos chips instead. Whether Samsung’s in-house chips can match the performance of Qualcomm’s latest silicon remains to be seen.
The Galaxy S24 and S24+ also include slightly bigger batteries this year with 4,000 mAh and 4,900 mAh, respectively. The S24 Ultra, however, still comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, but last year’s model already provided excellent battery life.
On the photo front, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ come with the same sensors as last year’s models, but Samsung says that its new ProVisual engine should make a noticeable difference for improving image quality. The Galaxy S24 Ultra, however, comes with a Quad Tele System with a new 5x optical zoom lens, wider optical image stabilizer (OIS) angles, and enhanced hand-shake compensation.
Following years of incremental hardware updates, Samsung’s new Galaxy AI is probably the biggest change brought by the Galaxy S24 series. Samsung says that its new generative AI technology can “enhance every part of life,” and here are the main features you can expect:
Circle to Search: This feature built in tandem with Google will let users highlight anything on their screen to get Google to provide more information about it, all without having to leave the app they’re in.
Live Translate: Samsung’s phone app will offer on-device real-time voice and text translations for your phone calls.
Interpreter: This is the same thing as Live Translate but for live conversations, with translations appearing on a split-screen view.
Chat Assist: This feature built into Samsung’s keyboard can change the tone of a message and translate messages in 13 languages.
Note Assist: The Samsung Notes app will be able to summarize content and help users to write.
Transcript Assist: This feature uses speech-to-text technology to transcribe, summarize, and translate recordings.
These new AI features are powered by Google’s Imagen 2 text-to-image diffusion technology, as well as the company’s Gemini Pro large language model. “After months of rigorous testing and competitive evaluation, the Google Cloud and Samsung teams worked together to deliver the best Gemini-powered AI experience on Galaxy,” said Janghyun Yoon, Corporate EVP and Head of Software Office of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics.
That’s another big announcement from today’s Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung will now offer customers seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates. That’s really good for Samsung’s new top-of-the-line smartphones, and maybe other smartphone manufacturers will take notice.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 starts at $799 for the 128GB model. The Galaxy S24+ starts at $999 for the 256GB model, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at $1,299 for the 256GB model. All three Galaxy S24 models are available to pre-order starting today, and they will start shipping on January 31.