Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 First Impressions: A New Era of AI Phones

Samsung is bringing the power of AI right inside your smartphone. The company’s latest Galaxy S24 series smartphones come packed with a host of powerful and highly useful AI-powered features under the ‘Galaxy AI’ umbrella. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 also feature several major hardware upgrades, but Galaxy AI will get all the attention. 

With on-device AI and deeper native integration of its Galaxy AI features the new Galaxy S24 series smartphones will inspire a whole new generation of ‘AI phones’ while making lives a lot easier for consumers. 

We got a chance to check out the brand-new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 at the company’s first Galaxy Unpacked event of the year. Let’s walk you through everything that’s new.

The magic of AI right inside your phone

Before we get to the smartphones, we should briefly touch upon the ‘Galaxy AI’ features that are commonly available across the new Galaxy S24 lineup. Samsung has added a suite of AI-powered tools to make it easier to communicate, search for information, and improve photography. These features are baked right into the default apps, eliminating the need for any third-party app. 

AI-powered camera features make editing a lot simpler

Live Translate offers a two-way, real-time voice and text translation of phone calls. It works right inside the native calling app and uses on-device AI to ensure privacy. Chat Assist is like having a tool like ChatGPT built into the messaging app. It can help you craft messages based on your requirements, like turning an informal text message into a more polished, formal version. Samsung Keyboard uses AI to translate messages in real-time in Hindi and 12 other languages. 

Note Assist, built inside the Notes app, uses generative AI to draft summaries, create covers, and more. Circle to Search, built in collaboration with Google, lets you circle or highlight anything on your screen to search for relevant answers. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra continues to remain the premium, feature-packed smartphone in the flagship Galaxy S lineup. The Galaxy S24 Ultra now comes with a new titanium frame and a thinner body compared to its predecessor. It comes with a 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with slightly slimmer and even bezels. The display offers a dynamic refresh rate of 120Hz and a peak brightness of up to 2,600 nits. The front display is protected by Corning Gorilla Armor which promises to keep the display safe from minor scratches while reducing reflections by up to 75 percent. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra packs a bunch of powerful features

Carrying on from last year, Samsung is pushing up its efforts in sustainability by using 50 percent recycled cobalt in the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s battery and 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in its speakers. Samsung has set a new goal to incorporate at least one recycled material in each module of its mobile offerings by 2030. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. Just like last year, Samsung has managed to get a customised version of Qualcomm’s latest chipset that promises NPU improvements for more efficient on-device AI processing. The Galaxy S24 Ultra features a larger vapour chamber to manage heat. The premium smartphone will be available with 12GB RAM and 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options. 

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with a quad rear camera setup consisting of a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 200-megapixel wide camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera. For selfies and video calls, you get the same 12-megapixel camera. The camera setup is getting a massive boost in software-based capabilities, all thanks to a suite of AI-powered tools. 

Samsung has added a host of generative AI features to make editing photos a lot easier for general users. You’ll be able to erase and move objects, remaster images, and re-compose images using AI. Samsung is clear about the risks involved in using AI for imaging. A watermark is added to the image and in metadata every time you use generative AI to modify an image. Most of these AI-powered image editing tools work across the Galaxy S24 lineup. 

As for the battery, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra still comes with a 5,000mAh battery with support for 45W fast charging and Fast Wireless Charging 2.0. The smartphone runs Android 14-based One UI 6.1 out-of-the-box. Galaxy S24 Ultra will come in Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow colour options. 

Samsung Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24

While the Ultra model in the flagship series gets most of the attention every year, those looking for a more affordable flagship experience prefer to go with the Plus or the vanilla variant. This year, however, the advanced AI-powered tools make the regular S series models very exciting as well.

Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 also include Galaxy AI capabilities

Samsung Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 feature a 6.7-inch QHD+ and 6.2-inch full-HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. The displays are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus Armor, while the phones are IP68 certified for dust and water resistance. The Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 will be available in Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, and Amber Yellow. Samsung says all the Galaxy S24 series models will get additional colour options that will be exclusive to online customers. 

The camera setup on both smartphones consists of a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 50-megapixel wide camera, a 10-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 12-megapixel front camera. Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 also feature the ProVisual Engine suite of AI-powered tools for editing images. Samsung claims the smartphones can now capture much better low-light photos with upgraded Nightography capabilities. 

Samsung Galaxy S24+ will ship with 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, while the Galaxy S24 will be available with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. The former packs a 4,900mAh battery while the latter will come with a 4,000mAh battery, noticeable upgrades compared to the Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23. Both the phones will also get Android 14-based One UI 6.1. 

With an early launch, Samsung is setting the gold standard for the next generation of AI-powered smartphones. With on-device AI and a wide range of hardware and software improvements, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series smartphones certainly look quite promising. Will they live up to the hype? Will they continue to remain category leaders for the rest of the year? We’ll have all the answers and a lot more for you in our in-depth review. Stay tuned to Gadgets 360 for more.