If various reports are to be believed, Samsung will reveal the Galaxy S24 next month. The company is tipped to unveil three handsets — the S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra — at an event in San Jose on January 17, with release to follow on the 30th.
But while the Ultra model is tipped for all kinds of exciting upgrades, the version that most people will purchase — the regular S24 — sounds a lot more incremental. Even the image above, via OnLeaks and SmartPrix, looks somewhat familiar.
It's generally incremental in hardware terms, but there’s still one big development that could be a game-changer in terms of how you interact with your phone.
Samsung Galaxy S24 vs S23: Specs
Samsung Galaxy S24: Core specs
As you can see from the chart above, on paper there’s very little change in the rumored main specs. To save you from a game of ‘spot the difference’, it essentially comes down to two things: processor and battery capacity.
The latter is pretty unexciting: a 100mAh jump represents around a 2.5% gain on the previous generation. That’s around a third of the size of an average smartwatch battery.
Of course, actual stamina may be far better than the numbers suggest, thanks to efficiency improvements of the processor. In America, the Samsung Galaxy S24 is likely to get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 — probably with a slightly souped-up ‘For Galaxy’ version like last year.
In other regions, the phone is likely to get Samsung’s homemade solution — the Exynos 2400. In the past that might have prompted disappointment, but Samsung has been talking up the new chip’s graphical grunt, so we should reserve judgment and see what the benchmarks say.
Samsung Galaxy S24: Display
Once again, on paper, the specs appear the same, aside from a tiny 0.1-inch increase in screen size. Hardly disastrous, given the Samsung Galaxy S23 has an excellent AMOLED screen, but limited reasons to upgrade all the same.
There may be one, however. The S24’s panel is reported to get significantly brighter, reaching up to 2,500 nits, eclipsing the S23’s 1,750. That could be handy if you frequently find yourself using your phone in direct sunlight.
This information is obtained from Samsung Display.The base model of the S24 shares the same display features as the Plus/Ultra, except for the resolution. All models feature LTPO, M13, and a brightness of 2500 nits. pic.twitter.com/Zl6pjAN00pOctober 17, 2023
Samsung Galaxy S24: Camera
While the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is tipped to get big camera changes, the specs chart shows identical hardware for the base S24.
That doesn’t necessarily mean there will be no difference in performance, of course. Hardware is only half the picture, and photographic quality also comes down to image processing.
Plus, Samsung might have a big ace up its sleeve in the field of artificial intelligence.
Samsung Galaxy S24: Artificial intelligence
For its next phone, Samsung is reportedly planning to go big on artificial intelligence, and this could be the Galaxy S24’s secret weapon. Even if the specs are similar on paper, if AI is as transformative as the company hopes, it could feel like a whole new smartphone experience.
One example Samsung has already shared is called AI Translate Call, which, as the name suggests, will offer real-time translations to phone calls.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A recent Windows Report article suggests that artificial intelligence will power “a variety of apps and features” with generative AI helping to “edit and improve your photos” and bring “enhanced search capabilities”.
Hopefully Samsung won’t undermine its killer feature by putting artificial intelligence behind a paywall, as rumored.
Samsung Galaxy S24: Outlook
A glance at the rumored specs table makes the Samsung Galaxy S24 look like the very definition of an iterative update: a new processor, a slightly bigger battery and just enough design changes to ensure your existing case doesn’t fit.
But if artificial intelligence is as game-changing as it's proving to be elsewhere, then the Galaxy S24 could well be remembered as a turning point for Samsung. Next month we’ll find out if it’s the next big thing for the company, or just another Bixby.
