The time has finally come for Samsung to announce its non-foldable flagship smartphone lineup for 2024. The Galaxy S24 series is now official after an exciting presentation in San Jose, and much to our expectations, the series consists of three models: a base, a Plus, and an Ultra S24.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is different enough from the rest of the lineup to warrant a separate discussion. So, right now, we're focusing on the base and Plus Galaxy S24 variants. Here's what they have in store.
On the outside, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ look very much like their 2023 predecessors, except the 2024 models have flat frames. On the hardware side, the latest models feature new chipsets and brighter, better displays.
As for software, this is the area in which Samsung appears to have spent a lot of energy. The Galaxy S24 series ships with One UI 6.1, which brings numerous improvements enabled by clever AI. Furthermore, the new flagship is guaranteed to receive more firmware updates than ever.
Better chipsets with improved cooling and ray tracing
In most markets, including Europe and India, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ are powered by Samsung's new Exynos 2400 chip. It's a 4nm deca-core SoC (3.2GHz + 2.9GHz + 2.6GHz + 1.95GHz).
In select regions, including the USA, Canada, and China, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, which features eight CPU cores (3.39GHz + 3.1GHz + 2.9GHz + 2.2GHz).
To improve performance and cooling in demanding tasks, Samsung has fitted a 1.5x larger vapor chamber on the Galaxy S24 and a 1.6x larger one on the Galaxy S24+. The new chips also provide better ray tracing performance for next-gen mobile games.
The base Galaxy S24 model ships with 8GB of RAM and 128GB/256GB of storage, whereas the Galaxy S24+ has 12GB of RAM and 256GB/512GB of storage.
When AI meets Camera and Gallery
Both phones are equipped with a 12MP selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture and Dual Pixel Autofocus, and a triple camera setup at the rear.
The Galaxy S24 / S24+ has a 50MP primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture, Dual Pixel Auto Focus, and OIS, a 10MP telephoto sensor with an f/2.4 aperture, 3x optic zoom, PDAF, and OIS, and a 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide shooter with a 120-degree field of view.
Third-party social media apps also take advantage of Galaxy AI's camera system and can integrate HDR.
Speaking of AI-powered Camera and Gallery features, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ take advantage of AI Edit Suggestions, Generative Edit which can fill parts of an image background, enhanced Nightography, and Instant Slow-mo, which generates additional frames to turn regular videos into slow-motion clips.
Better, brighter displays, larger battery on S24+
The Galaxy S24 is the smallest variant, featuring a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080, an adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, and improved Vision Booster technology.
The Galaxy S24+ has a larger 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a higher resolution of 3120 x 1440. It, too, offers an adaptive refresh rate of 1-120Hz, HDR10+, and Vision Booster.
It's the first time the non-Ultra models get an adaptive refresh rate that can go as low as 1Hz instead of 48Hz. And this year, brightness levels have gone up considerably across the series. As a result, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ displays can go as bright as 2,600 nits peak. Furthermore, to recreate more natural colors in any lighting conditions, the new flagships come with a new feature called Adaptive Color Tone. It uses the cameras to adjust colors and white levels according to the environment.
Because there's a size difference between the base Galaxy S24 model and the Galaxy S24+, battery capacities differ. The S24 has a 4,000mAh battery with slower 25W fast charging, whereas the Galaxy S24+ has a 4,900mAh unit with 45W charging. Both models offer 15W wireless charging and Wireless PowerShare.
One UI 6.1 features and improved firmware support
Finally, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ ship with a new version of Samsung's proprietary software, One UI 6.1, and there's a lot to unpack here. We'll take a closer look at One UI 6.1 in our upcoming videos, but in short, some of the latest additions and AI-powered features include:
- Circle to search (powered by Google), including Gesture Search & in-depth answers, and Conversational search.
- Auto Summary and Transcripts for Notes, Internet, and Voice recorder.
- Translation for Call, Voice Recorder, and Interpreter.
- Chat Assist with real-time conversation translation.
- AI-powered tone suggestions for messages.
- Generative wallpapers.
- Generative Edit with background fill.
- AI-powered instant slow-mo video playback in the Gallery app.
- AOD wallpapers.
- Unified AOD (Always on Display) and lock screen wallpapers and UI elements.
- New Ambient Color Tone for the display — uses the cameras to adjust the screen's colors and white balance based on ambient lighting conditions.
- AI-powered Photo Assist with Edit suggestions and Generative edit.
- New accessibility feature: Relumino Mode.
- Family payment method for Galaxy Store
- New feature to find family members in Samsung Find.
- New feature to check Samsung Care+ sign-up date and activated status. Automatic IMEI fill-in.
One UI 6.1 will also be coming to older Galaxy flagship phones, but specific AI features might remain exclusive to the Galaxy S24 series. Time will tell. In addition, Samsung says the Galaxy S24 series will get seven OS updates and seven years of security patches.
Samsung will release the Galaxy S24 and S24+ at the end of January, and you can now pre-order yours from the company's online store. Standard color options include Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, and Amber Yellow. Online-exclusive colors include Jade Green, Sandstone Orange, and Sapphire Blue.
