New Galaxy S24 pricing details emerge — and it's bad news for the Ultra
Galaxy S24 Ultra price could go up — at least in Europe
We're less than a month away from the rumored launch of the Samsung Galaxy S24, and an extensive list of rumors have given us a pretty clear idea of what to expect from the upcoming line of flagship phones. But the forecast for Galaxy S24 pricing has gotten decidedly more cloudy.
The latest rumor comes from GalaxyClub, a Dutch news site which has posted the alleged prices for all three likely Galaxy S24 models in Europe. According to the post, the Galaxy S24 is set to start at €899, while the Galaxy S24 Plus has an €1,149 price tag. The report also lists Galaxy S24 Ultra pricing at €1,449. As with last year's Plus and Ultra models, the Galaxy S24 Plus and Ultra should feature 256GB of storage in their base models, while the Galaxy S24 is expected to ship with 128GB.
The prices posted by GalaxyClub paint a mixed picture when compared to Galaxy S23 pricing in Europe. The Galaxy S24 Ultra would actually cost more than its predecessor, as the Galaxy S23 Ultra had a starting price of €1,399, according to site. Meanwhile, the S24 and S24 Plus would be cheaper than their predecessors, which started at €949 and €1,199, respectively.
This new report is quite a contrast to earlier pricing rumors from just a few weeks ago. In that report, a Twitter leaker had indicated Galaxy S24 prices would remain unchanged from last year based in part on Samsung's reported decision to use Exynos 2400 chips instead of the more expensive Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon on some models released in some markets.
A more expensive Galaxy S24 Ultra in Europe doesn't necessarily mean U.S. shoppers will be paying more for the phone, just as lower prices in Europe for the S24 and S24 Plus wouldn't necessarily ensure price cuts here. Phone makers tend to set pricing on a regional basis, so Samsung may wind up going in a completely different direction for the U.S. prices of its new phones. For context, the Galaxy S23 starts at $799 for the standard model with the Plus and Ultra versions costing $999 and $1,199, respectively.
An Ultra price hike would be oddly timed given that Apple, Samsung's main rival in the phone market, just raised the price on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That phone now costs as much as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, eliminating an advantage Apple once enjoyed over the best Samsung phone.
We expect more pricing details will emerge between now and the rumored launch of the Galaxy S24 lineup, with most observers expecting a Galaxy Unpacked event to take place on January 17. Samsung has yet to send out invitations for any sort of product launch in the new year.
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The Galaxy S24 Ultra figures to see the most significant changes in Samsung's upcoming release, with the phone maker reportedly turning to titanium for the phone's frame and adding a higher resolution telephoto camera. All three phones are expected to get a boost from AI-powered features as Samsung brings generative AI to its flagship phone lineup.
One feature that apparently won't be coming to the Galaxy S24 is the ability to connect to satellites to send emergency messages. Samsung had been expected to add such a capability after it debuted in 2022 on the iPhone 14, but a report in ETNews claims that no such feature appears to be present in the test units Samsung is using to check out compatibility with Korea's wireless providers.
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Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.