Life comes at you fast, so I’m already recapping what we expect from Samsung’s Galaxy S24 flagship, just as this year’s release has started popping up all over holiday gift guides. But this is within Samsung’s timeline: the company launches its flagship first thing in the year before following up with something more exploratory in the summertime, right before Apple and Google refresh their respective lineups.
Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series is still freshly churning through the rumor mill, but it already sounds like next year’s release will be more than mere tweaks and enhancements. The Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is Samsung’s primary flagship model and the most expensive, is expected to debut the company’s new ISOCELL Zoom capabilities, which could help the manufacturer retain its throne in the digital zoom department.
Titanium is also coming to the Ultra’s chassis to better position it against the design of the iPhone 15's Pro series. And if you were tired of AI all over your smartphone, I’ve got bad news for you: there’s one more chatbot coming with the Samsung Galaxy S24.
Galaxy S24 Ultra Camer: Zoom, zoom, zoom
The last two generations of Galaxy Ultras have been the most you could get in a zoom from Samsung—up to 100x digital zoom. We know Samsung can do it, but it still needs to work on capturing that far sharply and steadily. The new ISOCELL Zoom Anyplace technology is supposed to help with that. It will likely come bundled with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. With a press release, Samsung made it official, so we expect to see more information about the capabilities toward launch time.
To be clear, the ISCOCELL Zoom Anyplace is a camera feature that will be a part of the 200-MP image sensor that’s become the marquee for the Ultra series. Samsung says the feature can “simultaneously capture the full field of view and zoomed-in areas on video,” so that video turns out sharp even when it’s zoomed in.
Galaxy S24 Ultra Design
Now in Titanium
The iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max looks good in titanium, even if reports claim it’s not as durable as it seems. Wouldn’t the Galaxy S24 look just as nice? Fortunately, titanium was an option on the Ultra’s manufacturing pipeline. There’s even alleged photo proof to help us believe Samsung’s succeeding Ultra will make the switch for its high-end devices. Titanium is on its way to becoming the next fad design flair for smartphones, so expect to see this material stick around for a while.
The Galaxy S24 Features
Samsung’s “AI phone”
Generative AI is the hot new value-add in gadgets, so you can expect a new chatbot to debut in Samsung’s Galaxy S24. We’ve already seen Samsung try its hand with digital assistants like Bixby alongside Google Assistant with mixed results. This bot will function similarly and hopefully aid in the Samsung experience rather than detract from it.
The bot is called Gauss, after Carl Friedrich Gauss, an 18th- and 19th-century German mathematician and physicist. It’ll help with things like composing emails and translating calls, but it’ll also offer camera-specific enhancements as Google does now with Gemini for its Pixel smartphones. Unfortunately, this seems to be the next hurdle for the Android user: figuring out whether you prefer Google or Samsung’s algorithms infused in your device. ¿Por qué no los dos?”
No sticker shock for the Galaxy S24—yet
I know smartphones have gotten more expensive over the years, but here’s to hoping the Galaxy S24 series sticks within the same price realm as its predecessors. There are rumors that the smaller variant of the Galaxy S24 will be priced at $800, the medium-sized Galaxy S24+ at $1,000, and the larger feature-packed Galaxy S24 Ultra at $1,200.