Samsung has announced the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+) models during its first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2024, and each offers a swathe of upgrades that should make them among the best Android phones around.
Both feature redesigned bodies with flatter edges and a new feature set powered by the manufacturer's "Galaxy AI" suite of tools.
Each of the handsets also features a larger display, in comparison with their respective predecessors. That's thanks to a slimmer bezel this time around and means the Samsung Galaxy S24 now comes with a 6.2-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus ups that to 6.7-inches.
Both now also sport dynamic refresh rates up to 120Hz, so should run applications and games as smoothly as possible.
That's enhanced through custom Exynos 2400 processing, plus 8GB of RAM on the standard S24, 12GB on the S24 Plus. The smaller of the two has the wider storage options, with 128GB, 256GB and 512GB variants available. The Plus doesn't come in 128GB, but does offer the other sizes.
Around the back, you can find a three camera system on each device, with the same specifications – 50-megapixel wide lens, 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and 10-megapixel telephoto (with 3x optical zoom).
The front-facing camera is hidden behind a hole-punch cutout at the top-middle of the display. It can take 12-megapixel snaps.
The battery on the standard Samsung Galaxy S24 is 4,000mAh, while the S24 Plus has a larger 4,900mAh alternative. The S24 is limited to 25W fast charging, while the Plus gets 45W.
Both handsets are IP68 certified for water and dust resistance.
Samsung Galaxy S24 AI features
The entire Samsung Galaxy S24 series, including the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, feature a suite of AI tools that sit under the same banner – Galaxy AI.
This includes some interesting new photography features, such as Generative Edit, which allows you to take an object in a photo, resize and/or move it, and then ask the AI to fill in the cutout that's left behind. The same feature can also be used to automatically straighten a picture, with the AI filling in the edges to make it look as good as if it was taken that way.
There is now a Live Translate feature, too, which uses AI to interpret a call between two different languages in real time. Each listener can then hear the conversation in their native tongue.
Another interesting tool is Circle to Search. The S24 series is the first line of phones to implement it and can use Google to find out information on an object in a photo, or line in some text, just by the user circling it.
There are several other new tools too, which will be fun to find out more about when we get the phones into T3's test labs in the near future.
Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus on-sale date and price
Pre-orders for both the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus are available now, with shipping expected on 31 January 2024.
Both handsets will be available in Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, and Amber Yellow (with a few other colours exclusive to online stores). The S24 is priced at £799 for the 256GB model, £859 for 256GB. The S24 Plus will cost you £999 for 256GB, £1,099 for £512GB.
If you pre-order either handset from Samsung.com, you can get double the storage. So, order the 128GB Galaxy S24 and you get the 256GB model for the same price.
