Galaxy S24 Ultra, S24 Plus and S24: Galaxy Unpacked 2024 recap

Samsung unveiled its 2024 flagship lineup quite early. Samsung itself speaks of a paradigm shift in communication, creativity and entertainment. Based on what I have seen, I do not even find that exaggerated, because the focus is clearly on the new Galaxy AI. First, though, a quick look at the hardware.

The three models and their hardware

Samsung sticks with last year’s lineup and again brings three models: the S24 at 6.2 inches, the S24 Plus at 6.7 inches and the flagship S24 Ultra at 6.8 inches. The differences from the S23 models are modest.

• S24 Ultra display: no longer curved, but completely flat. The bezel has shrunk by 15%, so writing with the S Pen is much better, including near the edge.
• Frame: Like the new iPhone, the S24 Ultra has a titanium frame, which is supposed to be sturdier and longer-lasting than stainless steel. The S24 and S24 Plus have a flat Armor aluminum frame that gives them a modern, angular look.
• Build quality: very high quality again on all three devices.
• Processors: The S24 Ultra comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. The S24 and S24 Plus use the new generation of Samsung’s in-house Exynos 2400, which is said to be on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. I am curious about the first tests and hope Samsung does not suffer a debacle like with the S22 Ultra, where an Exynos was last used in the flagship.

Prices

Model	Storage	Price	Compared to predecessor
Galaxy S24	128 GB	€899	€50 cheaper
Galaxy S24 Plus	256 GB	€1,149	€50 cheaper
Galaxy S24 Ultra	256 GB	€1,449	€50 more expensive

Galaxy AI: the highlights

Live translation during phone calls. This blew me away at the presentation. You speak German into the phone, and the person you are talking to in Hawaii receives it in Hawaiian, and vice versa. Only one of you needs to own an S24, and the other phone can even be a landline. For me this is a milestone in international communication.

Writing assistant in the Samsung keyboard. After writing, you can have the text adapted to the occasion before sending it. “Hey bro” turns into “Dear Sir or Madam”. This makes official communication much easier, including for people with reading and spelling difficulties or anyone who struggles with wording.

Circle to Search. Samsung developed the feature together with Google. You circle something on the screen, such as a landscape, an unknown animal or new sneakers, and Google delivers the search results. It is a further development of Google Lens and even simpler and more specific, because you do not have to take a screenshot first.

Other AI features, some of which we already know from the Pixel 8:

• automatic summaries of transcripts
• moving, resizing or deleting objects in a photo
• When you straighten a photo, the resulting edges are recalculated by AI so the image does not have to be cropped.

Seven years of updates

With the S24, Samsung offers seven years of OS and security updates for the first time, matching Google. I think this is a big and important step toward sustainability.

Verdict

For me, the time of outward appearances is over; now it is about inner values. The hardware is only a little bit new, and Galaxy AI is the real reason for the interest. There will be detailed reviews of the individual devices on the channel.