Samsung’s Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Have New AI Perks, Bigger Batteries and Brighter Screens
At its Unpacked event on Wednesday, Samsung launched its Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus phones, which have the usual incremental upgrades over its predecessors. But its biggest leap is that it’s among the first smartphones to include generative AI capability — the same tech powering ChatGPT, Midjourney and other AI tools — directly on the device.
The on-device generative AI capabilities are made possible in part by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which also powers the Xiaomi 14 that beat Samsung to the punch for the first phone with the technology. Samsung calls its flavor of generative artificial intelligence Galaxy AI, which is split between some features powered by on-device AI and others relying on cloud-based AI.
Read more: Best Galaxy S24 Preorder Deals
Cloud-based AI isn’t as secure as on-device AI since it’s sending personal data off the phone, but does enable one of the coolest new features: Circle to Search, which lets you use your finger to circle an element on your screen to have AI look up what it is. It’s perfect for looking up that landmark in the photo your friend just sent you, and it works in whichever app you have open.
Watch this: Samsung Reveals Its New S24 Series Phones and Their AI Chops
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Other AI features include the ability to summarize the notes you’ve taken and make suggestions for changing the tone of messages when chatting with different people — formalizing your missives when talking to your boss or making them more casual when talking to friends, for instance. This was a feature showcased when Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
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The generative AI extends to photo with generative editing, adjusting the tilt of the image, erasing reflections and shadows, and filling in the background when expanding an image (another trick Qualcomm showcased with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3). Some of these features will get better as you take more photos and the system learns from them, Samsung says.
You can also choose to take a normally recorded video and produce a slow-motion version by generating additional frames in between.
Interestingly enough, all these generative AI features are on the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra and will also be coming to several of last year’s phones, including the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 Fan Edition, Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 (as well as the Tab S9 tablet) by the end of the first half of 2024. That suggests the tech in those phones — presumably including the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip — can support generative AI, too.
Read more: Best Samsung Phones of 2024
Bigger phones, sharper screens
The cameras on the S24 and S24 Plus are largely the same as last year’s S23 and S23 Plus.
As for cameras, the standard S24 and S24 Plus are roughly unchanged from last year’s phones, with a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with 120-degree field of view, 10-megapixel 3x optical zoom camera and 12-megapixel front-facing camera.
There are other ways that more conventional AI will improve photos: Samsung says new advanced noise-reduction algorithms will distinguish between your movement and that of your subject, as well as reduce noise and improve object recognition. Low-light photography has also been improved.
In addition to enabling generative AI capabilities, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 offers better performance than its predecessor and improved ray tracing (introduced in last year’s S23 series). Samsung also improved the cooling system in all three phones, with a vapor chamber twice the size of those in the S23 series and two added layers of thermal interface material to better dissipate heat, as well as a final graphite sheet to assist the cooling.
Samsung simplified the storage and memory configurations of this year’s phones. The S24 is unchanged from its predecessor with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. The S24 Plus has 12GB of RAM (up from 8GB in the S23 Plus) and either 256GB or 512GB of storage.
The S24 has a 4,000 mAh battery (up 100 mAh from the S23) and the S24 Plus has 4,900 mAh (a 200mAh increase on the S23 Plus). The phones have 5% better battery efficiency thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Samsung says.
Better sustainability and a seven-year lifespan
Watch this: Samsung Reveals Its New S24 Series Phones and Their AI Chops
06:47
Samsung Galaxy S24 specs vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S23, Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
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