Samsung Galaxy S24: Everything We Know About The Upcoming Android Flagships
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The next Samsung Unpacked event is scheduled for January 17, and it will witness the launch of phones in the Galaxy S24 series. Unsurprisingly, leaks have spoiled almost everything about the upcoming devices, including the innards and the design. As usual, the Galaxy S24 series phones will be served in three sizes: a vanilla variant, a Plus model, and a top-tier Ultra version with all the camera-centric jazz.
Interestingly, Samsung's official invite also boldly promises new AI experiences. That's not entirely surprising, as chipmakers such as Qualcomm and MediaTek have heavily promoted on-device generative AI capabilities of the latest mobile processors, such as text-to-image generation, summarization, multi-modal inputs, and intelligent pixel fill for images, among others.
As it's done in recent years, Samsung isn't even waiting for Unpacked to start taking pre-orders for the Galaxy S24. If you like what you've been hearing from the leaks and teases, you can reserve a Galaxy S24 now to get a $50 Samsung credit when you eventually purchase the device. So far, leaks have given us a fairly exhaustive picture of what to expect from the Galaxy S24 series phones in terms of specifications and looks, but Samsung just might pull off some surprises at the launch. What follows is a rundown of all the information that has spilled over the internet so far from credible sources.
New paint job, same house
Starting with the design, well, it seems Samsung wanted to play it safe this year. Alleged CAD-based renders of the Galaxy S24 trio first surfaced online a few months ago. Then, in December, a user on X, formally known as Twitter, shared marketing-ready renders of the Galaxy S24, S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra in multiple colors. The quick glimpse before the tweet was pulled showed that the entry-point Galaxy S24 will share an identical design, which in turn takes generous inspiration from the Galaxy S23 series.
Over at the center is a flat OLED screen with a punch-hole cutout positioned centrally alongside the top edge. The rear shell is made of glass and features a vertical floating lens array of three camera sensors. Ross Young, a reliable industry analyst, and Display Supply Chain Consultants chief, claims that the Galaxy S24 trio will be available in Black, Grey, Violet, and Yellow shades.
He further adds that the Samsung store will also offer the phones in three exclusive shades: orange, light blue, and light green. As far as the Galaxy S24 Ultra goes, Samsung has given a slight flattening touch-up to the phone's side profile compared to its predecessor, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. The S Pen stylus makes an appearance, too, but once again, Samsung is not color-matching it to the phone's rear shell.
What you get with the vanilla Galaxy S24?
Reliable leakster Even Blass (aka @evleaks) recently shared some of the phone's key specs in the Galaxy S24 series, courtesy of an alleged marketing slide. Starting with the most affordable member in the series, the Galaxy S24 will reportedly offer a 6.2-inch OLED display. Notably, the screen's peak brightness goes all the way up to 2,600 nits for HDR content, putting it in the same league as the iPhone 15 Pro pair.
Evan Blass / X
The main camera is backed by a 50-megapixel sensor capable of 8K resolution video capture. It will be assisted by a 10-megapixel telephoto lens with up to 3x optical zoom output and a 12-megapixel ultrawide-angle snapper. Over at the front is a 12-megapixel selfie shooter, according to leaks. The phone is said to come armed with 8GB of RAM and will be available in two storage configurations, 128 GB and 256GB, without the scope for storage expansion.
The battery inside is a modest 4,000 mAh unit with support for fast and wireless charging. The build is IP68-certified, which means the phone can weather a few underwater immersion accidents and can also block dust particles from making their way inside.
What does the Galaxy S24+ offer?
The middle child of Samsung's flagship range will bump up the display size to 6.7 inches while also boosting the resolution to QHD+ figures. Once again, we are looking at Samsung's own Dynamic AMOLED 2x display tech that can crank the brightness levels up to 2,600 nits. The camera hardware on the Plus trim is reportedly identical to the one on the vanilla Galaxy S24, which is not surprising.
But there are still a few crucial differences under the hood. To start, the base storage capacity is 256GB on this variant and can go up to 512GB, while the RAM capacity has been bumped up to 12 GB. Samsung seems to have fitted a 4,900mAh battery inside this one, and notably, the charging pace is also quicker.
The leaked promotional slides promise up to 50% charge in 30 minutes for the base Galaxy S24 model. On the Galaxy S24+, half an hour of plugged-in time will take the battery from an empty tank to a 65% charging level despite the bigger battery inside. As far as the build goes, Samsung is using what it calls Armor Aluminum 2.0 for the frame on both variants.
What to expect from Samsung's next Ultra flagship?
The top dog of Samsung's flagship line is the Galaxy S24 Ultra; fittingly, this one gets special treatment. Starting with the build, this one ditches aluminum in favor of a Titanium shell, following in the footsteps of the iPhone 15 Pro duo. It also gets a bigger 5,000 mAh battery with the same charging stats as the Galaxy S24 Plus and a slightly taller 6.8-inch OLED screen with stylus support.
Leading the charge for photography on this one is a 200-megapixel main sensor capable of 8K capture. Leaks also mentions that it will be able to capture 4K videos at an impressive 120 fps, but rumors suggest it may not be ready at launch and could be released later via a software update.
The 12-megapixel ultrawide-angle camera sits alongside two zoom cameras. The first one is a 10-megapixel sensor that is said to deliver 3x optical zoom output, while the other one relies on a bigger 50-megapixel sensor. However, leaks are divided between 5x and 10x optical zoom output for the second telephoto camera.
Maybe, a welcome price shock?
All three Galaxy S24 series phones will draw power from Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, with all its generative AI chops in tow. Some rumors suggest that a certain batch of these phones will ship with the in-house Samsung Exynos SoC inside. That's a bit disappointing, as Exynos processors have an unsavory history with sub-par performance and thermal throttling.
But this time around, buyers might be in for a good-bad surprise. According to Galaxy Club, the Galaxy S24 will start at € 899, a healthy deduction worth € 50 compared to the Galaxy S23 last year. An equivalent price cut is also in the pipeline for the Galaxy S24+, which is claimed to go for €1,149 in the European markets.
However, folks eyeing the Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera chops could be staring at a bigger hit in their wallet. As per the aforementioned source, the flagship phone will reportedly start at € 1,449, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra commands a starting price of € 1,399 in the bloc. But do keep in mind that the pricing strategy could very well be different for the U.S. market and elsewhere. Plus, all this comes from leaks, so process their veracity with the proverbial pinch of salt.