Unless rumors about an earlier-than-usual Samsung Galaxy S24 release date are way off base, we're just about a month out from the expected appearance of Samsung's next flagship phone. And while the Galaxy S24 Ultra is understandably getting the bulk of the pre-launch attention — it's the phone that tops Samsung's product line, after all — there's plenty of reasons to be excited about the standard Galaxy S24, too.
True, it's the Galaxy S24 Ultra that's likely to see titanium sides and an upgraded telephoto lens. But the Galaxy S24 has its own share of potential changes, and it figures to be more affordable than the Ultra.
Which Galaxy S24 rumors stand out from the rest? Here are the most critical things we've heard about that are expected to appear in Samsung's next phone.
The Galaxy S24's different chipsets
The Galaxy S23 was a bit of an aberration from recent Samsung flagships in that every model released across the globe featured the same silicon — a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. For startters that meant a consistent experience no matter where in the world you used one of Samsung's phones. It also helped that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was also responsible for a noticeable boost to power efficiency — a point supported by the across-the-board battery life improvements for the S23 models.
That may turn out to be a one-and-done approach for Samsung, as rumors suggest the phone maker is going back to releasing Galaxy S24 models with different chipsets in different markets. For North America, that likely means a Galaxy S24 running on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 system-on-chip, while other parts of the world would see an Exynos 2400-powered S24. (There will no such confusion with the Galaxy S24 Ultra apparently — it's supposed to use Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon regardless of where it ships.)
Getting a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered S23 could be quite a coup. Early benchmarks for that chipset suggest it'll deliver the best performance of any Android phone, getting awfully close to iPhone 15 Pro numbers on some benchmarks. That's S24 Ultra-matching performance in a handset that figures to cost hundreds of dollars less.
More storage, more RAM in the Galaxy S24
The Galaxy S23 is the only phone in Samsung's current Galaxy S lineup to feature 128GB of on-board storage in its base model after the Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra jumped up to 256GB. Multiple reports have claimed that Samsung is going to make 256GB the default storage for base models across the Galaxy S line, which would give the Galaxy S24 a significant storage edge over the iPhone 15's 128GB starting capacity.
We're less inclined to believe a similar rumor about an increase in RAM for the Galaxy S24. Early reports claimed the entry level model would offer up to 12GB of RAM. That may will be an option, available when you upgrade the storage on your phone. But a more recent claim from a leaker suggests that Samsung will stick with the 8GB of memory found in the Galaxy S23 base model.
We can certainly see why phone makers are going to be tempted to add more RAM, given the explosion of on-device AI coming to handsets in the very near future. (Nore on that in a bit.) But those memory-hungry AI features aren't available yet, so boosting the RAM at this point may feel like taking on unnecessary costs.
The same price as the Galaxy S23
Remember how we said that evidence points to Samsung opting for different chips for some Galaxy S24 models? There's apparently a very good reason why Samsung would do that, despite everyone praising the more consistent approach to silicon with the Galaxy S23.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a pretty costly system-on-chip, which is understandable given its feature set. Using the Exynos 2400 on some phones instead would help Samsung keep costs down, letting the phone maker hold the line on pricing for the Galaxy S24.
In the U.S. that would mean the entry-level model would cost the same $799 Samsung charged for the Galaxy S23 at launch. At a time when other best phones have seen price hikes, keeping the S24's price unchanged from generation to generation could be treated as a win For Samsung.
More Ultra-like refresh rates
When you're scrolling through a web page or playing a graphically intensive game on a Galaxy S23 — or an S23 Plus, for that matter — the phone's display can scale up to 120Hz. But when things get more static on the screen, that adaptive refresh rate can only scale down to 48Hz. The Galaxy S23 Ultra, meanwhile, is capable of scaling all the way down to 1Hz, helping that phone preserve battery life.
The reason boils down to an LTPO display — the S23 Ultra has one, the standard S23 does not. But that's apparently changing for the Galaxy S24.
Specifically, a well-sourced leaker has said the Galaxy S24 is in line to get an LTPO panel. That would allow the new phone to have a more expansive display rate range, presumably helping it squeeze out more battery life. Yes, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is set to get an upgrade of its own, potentially getting a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. But a better panel for the Galaxy S24 would definitely be something worth getting excited about.
New AI features for the Galaxy S24
Samsung has already indicated that on-device AI is going to be a part of its phones going forward — and not just high-end models like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, either. The Galaxy S24 should see many of these features, too, giving you the same capabilities as the Ultra but at a lower cost.
We've already heard reports that an on-device generative AI model called Samsung Gauss is set to appear on the Galaxy S24 models. Meanwhile, a One UI 6.1 leak revealed what kinds of features to expect — everything from AI-generated wallpapers to in-call translation and note organizational tools.
The photo editor on board the Galaxy S24 may been the most welcome updates, including the ability to expand the borders of photos and move subjects around a la Google's Magic Editor when it's time to fine tune your photo.
It all sounds like an exciting development for Samsung's phones — and more critically, one that won't pass over the Galaxy S24.
