To nobody’s astonishment, AI took heart stage at Samsung’s Galaxy S24 collection launch occasion. The Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Extremely usher within the age of Galaxy AI, with Samsung liberally throwing the buzzword round. What’s lacking is notable upgrades on the {hardware} entrance; the Galaxy S24 collection has a number of new modifications, however there actually is not a groundbreaking new {hardware} characteristic that makes these telephones stand out.
I do know we’re previous the purpose the place we get thrilling upgrades year-on-year, however seeing as how final yr’s Galaxy S23 collection was virtually equivalent to the S22 portfolio, I used to be holding out for main {hardware} revisions this time round. That hasn’t materialized, and the Galaxy S24 collection is predictably boring.
Copy/paste {hardware}
Let’s begin with the Galaxy S24. The telephone is indistinguishable from the S23 in relation to the design, and the one modifications are the inclusion of LTPO tech for the 120Hz panel and a slight 100mAh battery uptick that brings it to 4000mAh. You get the identical cameras, connectivity, and charging tech as final yr, and whereas the telephone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, most international fashions characteristic the Exynos 2400 as a substitute.
Hardwired
In Hardwired, AC Senior Editor Harish Jonnalagadda delves into all issues {hardware}, together with telephones, storage servers, and routers.
The Galaxy S24+ is basically the identical; aside from an LTPO panel and a battery that is 200mAh bigger, there isn’t any tangible distinction to final yr’s mannequin, and international variants use Exynos. The Galaxy S24 Extremely is the one which acquired a bulk of the eye, with Samsung switching to a titanium chassis, a flat panel that is simpler to make use of, and a brand new 50MP telephoto lens that now hits 5x optical zoom.
Apple justified using titanium as a method to meaningfully shave weight, and the iPhone 15 Professional Max is 19g lighter than its predecessor. You do not get the identical weight financial savings on the S24 Extremely, with the telephone simply 2g lighter than the S23 Extremely whereas utilizing the identical 5000mAh battery.
Whereas the brand new 50MP sounds fascinating, Samsung did not change the remainder of the sensors, and meaning the S24 Extremely is not going to be markedly totally different to final yr’s mannequin in most eventualities. In a yr the place OnePlus, OPPO, and Xiaomi have made important beneficial properties on this space, Samsung may find yourself being on the backfoot.
The worst half is that Samsung did not repair long-standing points with its cameras; the S23 Extremely wasn’t nice at taking photographs of shifting objects, and the S24 Extremely is not significantly better both. The Pixel 8 Professional continues to be the perfect total gadget at this, and I had plenty of luck with the OnePlus 12 just lately.
Samsung hasn’t made any modifications to charging tech as properly, and the S24/S24+ proceed to cost at 25W whereas the S24 Extremely goes as much as 45W. Most different Android telephones reliably go as much as 100W and past, and these requirements have been round for a number of years now, so we all know there is no measurable distinction in battery longevity towards a slower-charging telephone.
All of the AI you (do not) want
Then there’s Galaxy AI. Look, I do not care about AI — I do not want generative AI to edit photos, I do not need instantaneous translations when making telephone calls, nor am I fascinated by getting a abstract of my voice memos. Samsung is positioning AI as a key differentiator on the Galaxy S24 collection, however the truth stays that almost all of those options depend on an web connection — the queries are dealt with by Google’s Gemini Professional AI fashions. Solely the interpretation options and edit solutions use on-device AI.
As a result of many of the AI options make the most of Google’s AI mannequin, Samsung will begin charging for his or her use on the finish of 2025. Samsung hasn’t detailed what these options will finally price, however paying a month-to-month payment on high of what’s already an exorbitant asking value simply to entry a number of AI utilities is asinine. That is why it is refreshing to see the likes of the OnePlus 12 not leaping on the AI bandwagon.
In the event you’re already utilizing any of the units within the Galaxy S23 collection, it makes little sense to improve — Samsung will deliver the entire flashy new AI options (and the subscription charges) to final yr’s units through the One UI 6.1 replace. I’ll agree that it is a good transfer by Samsung because it would not restrict the supply of those options, but it surely additionally means there’s even much less motive to choose up this yr’s telephones.
The Galaxy S24 collection is not unhealthy by any measure; I simply needed Samsung to roll out significant digicam and charging upgrades, and that is not the case. I used Samsung flagships extensively over the course of the final two years, and whereas the software program wants a bit of labor (that deserves an article of its personal), these are terrific units that get quite a bit proper. However with the remainder of the sphere going above and past this yr, I do not see myself switching to the Galaxy S24 Extremely anytime quickly.
