Samsung unveils its new Galaxy smartphones and surprises everyone

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Samsung lost the title of largest smartphone manufacturer to Apple in 2023. With the new Galaxy S24, which as usual appears in three variants and sizes, the South Koreans want to get back to the top.

AI finally makes smartphones smart

What’s exciting about the new models is less the design or the hardware, which at first glance differs little from their predecessors. Rather, Samsung wants to score points with seven years of software support and a number of AI features in the areas of cameras, image editing and live translation of conversations, phone calls and text messages – as Google impressively demonstrated with the Pixel 8 (Pro). has.

For example, the Galaxy S24 (Ultra) translates text messages and emails written in a foreign language or shows a written live translation of the conversation on the screen during phone calls in another language.

That’s not all: the “interpreter” feature allows conversations between people speaking different languages ​​to be translated to the other person in a split-screen view. This also works offline, so directly on your mobile phone, which can be especially useful abroad. All you need to do in advance is download the appropriate language pack (English, French, etc.).

The smartphone can also convert recorded voice recordings into text, summarize them if desired and translate them into another language. This should also work when multiple people are speaking, as is common in meetings.

Samsung’s note-taking app Notes can generate AI-powered summaries of texts. Another AI application lets you circle or highlight things on the screen after a long press of the home button, to receive Google search results directly in that app.

The feature called ‘Circle to Search’ is based on Google Lens and is also coming to Google’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. The image search is accessible in any app and aims to make it even easier to find more information about products, attractions or anything else.

AI for better photos and easy image editing

Like Google with its Pixel smartphones, Samsung uses artificial intelligence to optimize photo and video quality, especially at night and when zooming. The fivex optical zoom lens in the Galaxy S24 Ultra is said to deliver virtually lossless quality even at tenx magnification. There is a good chance that this will actually work – partly thanks to the larger image sensor compared to the S23 Ultra.

The AI ​​also enables simple, post-image editing directly on the smartphone. For example, you can move, reduce or enlarge people and objects in the image and have the background of the original location automatically regenerated by the AI. Also practical: If a photo has unsightly reflections, the AI ​​can remove them at the touch of a button.

The Galaxy S24 is basically the mobile phone with integrated Photoshop for dummies, as the following video shows.

When the Galaxy S24 uses generative AI to enhance a photo, a watermark appears on the image and metadata. If desired, you can set that no data is processed online for AI functions; However, not all services are available in this way.

Seven years of operating system updates

Samsung also takes Google as an example when it comes to the update guarantee: Galaxy S24 users now receive seven generations of Android updates (previously 4) and seven years of security updates (previously 5). So if you buy a Galaxy S24 with Android 14 this year, you can theoretically use it without any worries until 2031 with Android 21. Apart from Google, no other major smartphone manufacturer offers this. Since Samsung sells many more mobile phones than Google, its extensive software support could actually make a significant contribution to reducing e-waste.

To reduce environmental impact, at least 50 percent recycled cobalt was used for the battery in the Galaxy S24 Ultra for the first time.

And the hardware?

The Galaxy S24 Ultra with optional pen control remains the flagship of the Galaxy S series. Customers get a 6.8-inch, ultra-bright display with adaptive refresh rates from 1 to 120 Hz to extend battery life. Visually, the thinner edges and the no longer rounded screen are particularly noticeable.

The Galaxy for power and business users comes with up to 1TB of storage and 12GB of RAM. Interesting for gamers: the S24 Ultra runs on Qualcomm’s latest chip Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, an optimized cooling system and, like the S23 Ultra, supports ray tracing in real time. The battery is still 5000 mAh and can be charged with up to 45 watts.

Thanks to the newer and larger image sensor and the more powerful AI chip, photos and videos should now have less image noise, even in low light. The highlight of the S24 Ultra remains the zoom, which was already excellent with its predecessor and should deliver good results even at a magnification of 10x or 30x.

Samsung’s new top model is now available in gray, black, purple and yellow 1299 francs can be ordered. Early orderers will receive the 512 GB version for the price of the 256 GB model. Other colors such as orange and mint are only available online.

The Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus models, which mainly differ in size, are significantly cheaper.

At 6.7 inches, the Galaxy S24 Plus has virtually the same screen size as the Ultra model, but is considerably more compact and cheaper. If you want a large display but can do without the pen and slightly better zoom of the S24 Ultra, this is the way to go.

However, it must also be said that Samsung has omitted the latest Qualcomm chip from the Ultra model in the S24 and S24 Plus and has instead installed its own, slightly slower Exynos 2400 chip. How this will affect battery life remains to be seen. Last year, our S23 and S23 Plus were also equipped with the more efficient Qualcomm chips. In return, prices were slightly reduced this year: by 50 francs for the S24 and by 100 francs for the Plus model.

As usual with modern top smartphones, the camera of the S24 Plus also allows very good ultra-wide-angle shots and zoom shots of up to three times magnification without loss of quality. By the way, it is the same camera as in the smaller S24. For the higher price compared to the smaller model you get a bigger screen, faster charging and probably slightly longer battery life.

At 4900 mAh, the battery in the S24 Plus is slightly larger than last year and noticeably larger than in the smaller base model. Instead of a quiet 25 watts, charging is done with a maximum of 45 watts, which enables a reasonable charging speed.

The Galaxy S24 Plus in black, gray, purple and yellow has a recommended retail price (RRP) of 1,049 francs out now. Early orderers will receive the 512 GB model for the price of the 256 GB version.

The Galaxy S24 is the smallest, lightest and cheapest model of the new Samsung trio. It offers a 6.2-inch, razor-sharp and very bright OLED display, 128 or 256 GB of memory, 8 GB of RAM and the same Exynos processor as in the Plus model.

Compared to the S23, the battery (4000 mAh) has become slightly larger. The S24 is charged via USB-C cable with a maximum of 25 watts (or wirelessly with a maximum of 15 watts). In any case, the gentle charging pace protects the battery, which should extend its lifespan.

The camera matches the 50 MP camera in the Plus model, allowing ultra-wide-angle shots and zoom shots of up to three times magnification without loss of quality.

The Galaxy S24 is available in black, gray, purple and yellow with a suggested retail price (RRP) of 849 francs can be ordered now. Early orderers will receive the 256 GB model for the price of the 128 GB version.