Chances are, the Samsung Galaxy S24 has taken a backset during the past couple weeks to thoughts of presents, family get-togethers and other holiday festivities. But while you took some time to celebrate the festive season, the Galaxy rumor mill rumbled on, churning out even more details about the upcoming phones from Samsung.
With the date of the next Galaxy Unpacked event now official — Samsung's planning on holding its next big product launch on January 17 — it's time to get back up to speed. The Galaxy S24 should be here before you know it — exactly two weeks from now if Samsung does use the January 17 Unpacked event to show off new phones. And some big changes are about to take place.
We're guessing you may already know about the rumored chipset upgrade to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, at least for the Galaxy S24 models shipping to North America. There's also the matter of the Galaxy S24 Ultra getting a higher resolution telephoto lens, though possibly at the expense of a longer optical zoom. And all the displays in the Galaxy S24 lineup figure to be even brighter than their predecessors, at least based on the rumors we've been hearing thus far.
But new rumors have told us more about the camera specs and AI features coming to the Galaxy S24. We've also heard more about color options and pricing in recent weeks. Here's the latest on all the Galaxy S24 models based on the latest rumors that you might have missed.
Galaxy S24 Ultra camera details
Of the different S24 models, it's the Galaxy S24 Ultra that figures to see the biggest camera changes. While nothing's happening to 200MP main camera from the Galaxy S23 Ultra or the 12MP ultrawide angle lens, Samsung sounds like it's going to change up the telephoto capabilities on the new model. Gone is the 10MP lens with a 10x optical zoom in favor of a 50MP lens that offers a 5x zoom; the 10MP telephoto camera with a 3x zoom will remain.
Samsung appears willing to trade longer zooms for sharper images. (And in theory, you could crop those 50MP shots to zoom in further than 5x.) The most recent report on Samsung's S24 Ultra camera plans features photos of that model's camera module, confirming the four lens setup.
Galaxy S24U (G928) rear cam pic.twitter.com/5khVEQoPvqDecember 23, 2023
An additional camera rumor points to improved video capture capabilities for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Like its predecessor, the new phone can record 4K video, but a new rumor claims the S24 Ultra will be able to do so at 120fps, doubling the 60fps cap on the S23 Ultra. This would give Samsung's phone a feature Apple's current iPhone 15 Pro models can't match.
More details on AI features
You don't have to wait until January 17 to save on whatever Samsung's planning to announce at Galaxy Unpacked. Go to Samsung's website or the Shop Samsung app, and reserve your spot to preorder Samsung's latest products. You'll get a $50 credit toward your purchase from Samsung, with no obligation to follow through on your order.
It's no secret that artificial intelligence figures to be a focus of all three Galaxy S24 models. Samsung has said as much already. What we're still waiting to find out is specifics on what AI-powered capabilities are being added to the phones.
A leak of what looks to be Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Plus marketing materials gives us some pretty solid insight as to what's coming to those phones. The listing talks about a Live Translate feature that will work within the Phone app on both the Ultra and Plus.
There's also mention of a Generative Edit feature that sounds a lot like the Magic Editor on Google's Pixel 8 phones. LIke that feature, you'll be able to move and remove objects in an image, and you can create objects to fill a space. It sounds like Generative Edit will be a cloud-based tool, as you'll need an internet connection to make it work.
One other feature of note in that list is Nightography Zoom, which seems to promise better zoom shots using Samsung's low-light photo capabilities. Presumably, AI-powered photo processing will keep the zoomed-in image sharpe and free of noise.
A specs comparison for all three Galaxy S24 models
We've got an early Galaxy S24 vs. S24 Plus vs. S24 Ultra comparison looking at the potential differences between the three new models Samsung is likely to introduce this month. But why take our word for it when you can see a breakdown of the supposed specs by model in an official-looking table?
That's what leaker WigettaGaming posted on the website formerly known as Twitter on Christmas. And if you're doubting the authenticity of the post, note the listed January 17, 2024 release date which matches the now official Galaxy Unpacked date right down to the San Jose, Calif., location.
Tbe chart confirms that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will power all Galaxy s24 Ultra models as rumored; Qualcomm's silicon will be found in the North American releases of the S24 and S24 Plus, with those models running on an Exynos 2400 chipset elsewhere. In addition, the chart confirms previous rumors about the display brightness (2,600 nits across the board), battery sizes and charging speeds.
Additional color options
Previous Galaxy S24 color rumors have pointed to four choices for the standard phone and the Plus version — black, gray, violet and yellow. As for the Ultra, it's rumored to be offering those first three colors, plus a more golden version of the yellow hue.
Those are just rumors about the official colors available at all retailers and carriers, though. Samsung has been known to offer exclusive colors when you buy the phone directly from its site. And a post from WinFuture’s Roland Quandt points to a vendor offering replacement SIM card trays for the Galaxy S24 in orange, green and blue. Those might be Samsung exclusive colors — it certainly lines up with earlier rumors about that possibility.
Galaxy S24 pricing questions
If you logged off before the holidays, you might have been encouraged by Galaxy S24 pricing rumors that suggested the Galaxy S24 models would have the same starting prices as their predecessors. Since then, things have gotten more complicated.
A Dutch site claims to have the Galaxy S24 prices for Europe, and it lists the Galaxy S24 Utra as costing €50 more than the S23 Ultra (€1,449 vs €1,399). That same report had the S24 and S24 Plus costing €50 less than their S23 counterparts.
Phone makers set different prices for different regions, so even if that's an accurate reflection of what the phones will cost in Europe, it's not necessarily the case that U.S. pricing will follow suit. Think of it as one thing that remains up in the air in advance of that January 17 Galaxy Unpacked event.
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