The Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 borrow a few of the greatest concepts from Apple and Google, taking a operating bounce with them into the AI period.
The flat-edge design is undeniably iPhone, and the AI tech is basically Google. The software program, for higher and worse, is all Samsung. However I wouldn’t name both cellphone the perfect of all worlds. And though it’s tempting to name them higher Google telephones than the Pixel, I don’t suppose that’s all the way in which true.
The usual Galaxy S24 nonetheless begins at $799 and the Galaxy S24 Plus begins at $999 — it’s solely the Extremely that went up in worth this yr, to $1,299. Except for display screen measurement, the non-Extremely fashions share many of the similar options, so I’ll confer with them interchangeably all through this overview except in any other case specified.
The hole between the common fashions and the Extremely is wider than earlier than, however the advantages of stepping as much as the Extremely don’t really feel extra compelling. Positive, you get a much bigger, higher display screen, extra zoom, and an S Pen, such as you all the time do. However a number of what makes the Extremely good are options it shares with the cheaper fashions.
That features all the extremely touted Galaxy AI options, like generative picture enhancing, reside language translation on cellphone calls, and automated recording summaries. Like most issues AI proper now, they’re often nice and generally bizarre. However on the entire, they do extra good than hurt, and it’s type of cool understanding my cellphone can translate a name with somebody talking Spanish if I want it to. For all of the quirks in Samsung’s software program, that’s one thing that the Pixel 8 Professional — or every other cellphone, for that matter — can’t do proper now.
Shows and design
Samsung managed to cram some additional display screen into the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus with out making the telephones meaningfully larger — the S24 Plus went from a 6.6-inch to six.7-inch panel, and the S24 has a 6.2-inch versus a 6.1-inch display screen. How did Samsung handle this? Each telephones are barely taller now, and the bezels are only a hair slimmer on the brand new fashions.
Additionally they get just a bit brighter in direct daylight, as much as 2600 nits. It’s not an enormous distinction and also you don’t get the superb glare-reduction on the S24 Extremely’s panel, which actually does make a distinction, nevertheless it’s one thing. Oh, and the S24 Plus’ panel is now 1440p, and it’s about time Samsung upgraded it from 1080p.
There’s one year-over-year design distinction that I’m significantly grateful for: the slight curve on the sides is gone instead of gloriously flat sides. It’s very a lot giving iPhone vibes, and I believe that’s simply tremendous. I discover a flat-edge cellphone a lot simpler to choose up with out it flying out of my fingers, and I don’t discover it any much less snug to carry in a single hand.
That design language isn’t the one cue Samsung’s taking from Apple — One UI 6.1 provides wallpaper dimming for the always-on show, within the method of latest Professional iPhones, although just for the S24 telephones. Higher but, there are widgets! You may organize a handful of them in a bar beneath the clock to point out you your cellphone’s battery life or your subsequent calendar occasion at a look, hands-free. We’re in an period of telephones doing extra for you whenever you’re not actively utilizing them, and I’m right here for it.
Efficiency, battery, and software program
In the event you purchase the Galaxy S24 or S24 Plus within the US, it’ll include a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, similar to the Extremely. However not like the Extremely, fashions offered exterior the US will preserve with one in every of Samsung’s personal Exynos chips. I examined the Snapdragon variations of the S24 and S24 Plus and actually can’t discover a fault with them, performance-wise. The S24 Plus comes with 12GB of RAM, whereas the bottom mannequin S24 (together with my overview unit) comes with 8GB of RAM. I didn’t discover any vital variations between the 2 in day-to-day efficiency.
Now that I’ve used all three S24 collection telephones, battery efficiency appears roughly the identical on all of them — the larger the cellphone is, the extra power-hungry it’s, however the distinction is offset by a much bigger battery. On earlier generations, the smaller cellphone was noticeably worse, however I believe that downside has been largely solved at this level with extra power-efficient chipsets and barely larger batteries. One factor I do want Samsung had integrated? Qi2. There’s no assist for the MagSafe-esque normal, and that’s a disgrace.
On this, the yr 2024, Samsung nonetheless ships its high-end telephones with three-button navigation because the default. I normally plan to spend a bit additional time untangling a few of Samsung’s weirder default settings each time I take advantage of a brand new Galaxy cellphone, and the S24 units have been no exception. No, I don’t need to speak to Bixby after I long-press the facility button. No, I don’t need my app drawer organized in a nonsensical order the place I can by no means discover something. As standard, placing in a bit work upfront to de-Samsung your cellphone is a fundamental requirement.
Placing in a bit work up entrance to de-Samsung your cellphone is a fundamental requirement
That’s the place I’ve a tough time calling the S24 an outright winner over the Pixel. Upon getting every little thing the place you need it, the S24 is a triumph. However Samsung actually makes you’re employed for it, and Pixel telephones simply run higher software program proper out of the field. Living proof: the Pixel 8 Professional doesn’t assist widgets on the always-on show just like the S24 does, however At a Look will floor helpful data there with out you lifting a finger. All of it simply feels a bit extra turnkey.
Samsung goes toe to toe with Google’s new coverage of supporting its flagship telephones with seven years of software program updates — OS upgrades and safety updates included. That feels extra essential within the S24 and S24 Plus, which I think persons are extra more likely to maintain onto for longer than an Extremely proprietor who needs to chase the most recent tech.
The S24 units have the identical AI options throughout all the collection, which is not the case on the Pixel 8 collection — some options are reserved for the larger, pricier Pixel 8 Professional, regardless of it utilizing the exact same processor because the Pixel 8. I coated lots of the S24 AI options in depth in my Galaxy S24 Extremely overview, so you possibly can verify that out for an in depth take a look at voice transcription and summaries, cellphone name translation, and a few of the generative AI picture enhancing options.
The brief model is that none of those options really feel indispensable, however a lot of them are genuinely useful even after they’re not good. Having a real-time translator on a name with somebody who speaks one other language is under no circumstances worse than not having one. Generative AI picture edits are actually uneven in high quality, however there’s no hurt achieved if you wish to merely reside your life with out utilizing them. Samsung may begin charging for these options after 2025, so it’s correctly giving itself some runway to get AI off the bottom. Proper now, there’s nothing value paying for.
One factor I’ll add now that I’ve been enjoying with AI on the S24 for a few weeks is that Samsung’s generative picture editor appears far more liable to including bizarre shit into your photographs than the Pixel. I attempted erasing my husband’s arm out of the identical picture on each the Galaxy S24 and the Pixel 8 Professional. The Pixel did its greatest to simply replicate the sofa within the background the place his arm was — the S24 as a substitute changed it with a brand new arm made out of pillows. Samsung! Why?
Digital camera and picture high quality
The enhancing software program could also be radically completely different, however the digicam {hardware} on the S24 and S24 Plus hasn’t modified from the earlier era. You continue to get a 50-megapixel major digicam, 12-megapixel ultrawide, and an precise 3x telephoto zoom irrespective of which of those two cellphone sizes you select — and that’s darn good of them.
There are a number of processing updates beneath the hood, even within the absence of latest {hardware}. Low-light photographs taken at 2x zoom now use a lossless crop from the center of the sensor; on the S23 collection, the digicam reverted to digital zoom in dim gentle.
Samsung has additionally added foreground blur in portrait mode, which appears like a small factor, nevertheless it makes an enormous distinction in your photographs wanting much less like cardboard cutouts. These little tweaks construct on what was already a darn good digicam system. Samsung’s coloration processing leans exhausting into vibrant reds and blues, per standard, which isn’t all the time my favourite. However when it’s good, it’s good.
Samsung is definitely one step forward of Google in adopting Extremely HDR, the brand new picture format supported by Android 14. It’s the good HDR, not the unhealthy stuff, and it permits your photographs to pop in a method that’s not attainable with the usual dynamic vary photographs we’re used to seeing. Samsung not solely helps Extremely HDR picture seize, it’s also possible to edit your photographs and share them to Instagram with out dropping the HDR data. The Pixel 8 collection shoots Extremely HDR, however doesn’t but assist HDR enhancing in its personal Images app or sharing to social media.
A few of the greatest components of the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus aren’t completely unique to Samsung, and I believe that’s tremendous. Adopting a popular, purposeful design and leaning on Google for AI is simply good — why reinvent the little black rectangle?
And in contrast to flat system edges, AI options have lots to show. The S24 is a lower-stakes technique to get in on the AI future than the $1,300 Extremely, or another extra radical concepts floating round on the market.
Most significantly, it’s only a good, dependable cellphone. The screens on each units are glorious, and the smaller Galaxy S24 stays top-of-the-line moderately small telephones you should buy proper now. In the event you’re a small cellphone fan like me, then it’s the one to choose.
The Galaxy S24 Plus strikes me as the last word crowd-pleaser
So far as large Android telephones go, you actually can’t do higher than the Galaxy S24 Plus proper now by way of efficiency and worth. Positive, you possibly can go Extremely and get absolutely the most cellphone, with an enormous, incredible display screen, higher zoom, and a built-in S Pen. However I believe the Extremely demographic is a bit more self-selecting, and the S24 Plus strikes me as the last word crowd-pleaser for somebody who simply needs an awesome Android cellphone.
That stated, there are some good causes to contemplate the Pixel 8 Professional as a substitute. Its 5x telephoto has only a bit extra attain for these distant topics in comparison with the S24’s 3x zoom, and Pixel software program is much less fussy than One UI. However the Pixel’s Tensor G3 processor can run a bit hotter than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in case you push it, and Google caught with the curved edge design, for now not less than. Generally, the neatest transfer is to acknowledge a good suggestion and embrace it — even when another person considered it first.
Images by Allison Johnson / The Verge
