Samsung has wrapped up the January, 2024, edition of Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, the launch event for the Samsung Galaxy S24. If you want to relive the excitement, the anticipation, and all of the snark, you can read our moment-by-moment breakdown of the event here.
Of course, we've gotten to spend quality time with the new phones, so you can also check out our hands-on look at the new Galaxy S24, the Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra. Or you can read on if you don't like to spoil the surprises.
Of course, the biggest surprise was the appearance of Mr. Beast! Just kidding, it was Samsung's last-minute, one-more-thing, the Galaxy Ring. We really don't know anything yet about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Ring, but we've heard plenty of hints and rumors over the past few months (or years?), and now it's finally official.
We've already seen all the new phones, and we're keeping up with all of Samsung's announcement and special guests, including Mr. Beast, Pokimane, and even Hiroshi Lockheimer from Google!
If you want to watch the showcase again, or for the first time, check out our how to watch Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024. And for video impressions and reactions, do make sure to follow the TechRadar TikTok account.
For all the updated from Galaxy Unpacked and the last-minute tips, rumors and leaks, you're already in the right place. So read on for our Galaxy Unpacked live blog.
Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024 live: last-minute leaks, rumors and more
Good morning! It's Roland Moore-Colyer here, managing editor of Mobile Computing at TechRadar and your sherpa in the run up to Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024 and what we expect to be the launch of the Galaxy S24 series.
So join me, dear reader, as I chew over any last-minute leak and rumors, as well as what we know so far.
So I'd bet a small fortune (if I had one) on this Unpacked being very smartphone focused, with the official unveiling of the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra taking place.
What may look like iterative upgrades are apparently tipped to come with a whole suite of generative AI features.
'What the heck is generative AI?' I imagine you asking. Well, it's when artificial intelligence algorithms are used to make something new rather than serve up existing data or figure out if its a dog or a cat in a photo.
ChatGPT is one example of generative AI. While the smart tech in Google's Pixel 8 and its Magic Editor is another. Tech fanatics tout it as revolutionary, while others tend to think it may be a handy tool at best or a mess at worse.
For the Galaxy S24 series, generative AI is almost certainly going to yield Samsung's own take on Google's Magic Editor. But from the rumors of the Galaxy S24 being able to detect the tone of texts, I suspect there'll be more to the phone's AI than just image manipulation.
Expect text translation, summaries and data extraction as a bare minimum.
Of course, Samsung will need to bring its A-game to AI if it's to compete with the AI-centric Pixel phones. But with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 tipped to be at the heart of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and perhaps other Galaxy S24 models, the phone should have the hardware to power onboard AI tools.
Speaking of chips, the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus are tipped to use the new Exynos 2400 silicon outside the US and China. Normally that would make tech fans groan as the Exynos chips have always played second fiddle to their Snapdragon counterparts.
But early Galaxy S24 benchmarks and the promise of improved hardware-accelerated ray tracing could make for more impressive Exynos part than ever before.
If you want a rundown of all the rumored specs for the Galaxy S24 phones, then check out our round up of the Galaxy S24 specs rumors and the Galaxy S24 Ultra specs rumors.
The latter phone naturally has the more impressive parts tipped for it, but the former two aren't likely to be slouches either.
If you want to see how the Galaxy S24 Ultra could square up to its main rivals, do take a look at our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Google Pixel 8 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15 showdowns.
If these rumors are anything to go by, then the Galaxy S24 may indeed be worth waiting for.
When it comes to phones worth waiting for, I'm casually excited about the Galaxy S24 Ultra. While it's going to be a lot like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, a phone I'm using at the moment, I think a host of small tweaks could make it rather compelling.
A tipped 50-megapixel main camera on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and a new titanium-framed design, has my attention...
Let's dig into the 50MP telephoto camera that's set to have a 5x zoom and replace the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x optical zoom lens. What might seem like a downgrade in optical range should offer greater detail and the scope to easily crop into 10x without a huge loss in quality.
As someone who loved the periscope 5x camera on the Oppo Find X2 Pro, I'm all for a 5x optical zoom with a higher megapixel sensor over a lower-quality 10x camera.
No other major camera hardware upgrades have been tipped for Galaxy S24 family, but I'm forecasting improvements on the software side to go alongside the AI tools and features.
There's scope for improved nighttime photography and video. But I'm hoping for Samsung to keep pushing forward with the work it's done on making photos on the main camera more natural and not overly saturated with color.
Neither have we heard much about any big video recording improvements for the Galaxy S24 series. But there's scope of improved stabilization and thus better clarity and low-light performance.
Sure, the Galaxy phones can do 8K video but they still lose out to iPhones in sheer quality and ease-of-use. I'm really hoping Samsung has done some work here.
Let's swing back round to the rumors: yesterday, leaked Galaxy S24 pre-order bonuses hinted at a good value proposition for the next-gen Galaxy phones.
But I reckon if the Galaxy S24 comes in at under $800 / £800 it could be onto a winner, especially if it does indeed get all the rumored AI tech. I've always rather liked the standard Galaxy S phones, and I'm hoping the S24 variant continues to impress.
Another recent leak, this time showing off leaked Samsung Galaxy S24 marketing images referencing numerous AI skills, was attention-grabbing.
As James Rogerson reported, some of the images "are focused on AI features, including Note Assist, which can automatically summarize, format, and translate your notes, and Live Translate, which can provide live translations of calls."
He added: "The images tease the ability to circle or tap within any image, video, or text to search for the exact thing you’re interested in, with the example shown being a specific backpack in a photo."
All rather interesting I reckon.
Speaking of AI, senior phones editor Philip Berne reckons the rumored Galaxy AI could be Samsung’s last chance to redeem Bixby. And I'd tend to agree.
Of all the virtual assistants, Bixby was, and arguably still is, one of the worst. It never felt smart or responsive enough and got in the way too much. But with a dose of AI smarts, perhaps it could make a comeback and challenge the mighty Google Assistant.
Over on Twitter... ahem... X, it looks like some excitement is brewing for Galaxy Unpacked 2024. But maybe not in the most positive way.
Through a popular Spider-Man meme, content creator Neil Sargent highlights a wry thought that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will be hard to tell apart from its tow predecessors, the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy S22 Ultra.
It’s that time of year again new phone and same phone 😅 #Samsung #SamsungUnpacked #S24Ultra #GalaxyUnpacked #GalaxyS24Ultra pic.twitter.com/NaBprjOPpOJanuary 17, 2024
Hmm it's all rather quiet on the last-minute leaks front for now.
So why not check out our Samsung Galaxy S24 deals page for a taste of what we could expect and details on preorders and bonuses for getting in an order early.
In case you didn't know it, TechRadar has a TikTok account. And on it, we have a load of tech videos, me making a fool out of myself, and some Galaxy S24 insights. Without giving the game away, you'll definitely want to check out our TikTok over the next day or so...
For now, take a look at the video below with senior Editor Alex Walker-Todd on how the Galaxy S24 could go up against the Google Pixel 8.
@techradar ♬ Living in a Haze (Instrumental) - Milky Chance
Right, let's look at some more rumors. We've got a suite of hubs running down specific things to expect from the Galaxy S24 series.
So take a look at our round ups for the Samsung Galaxy S24 colors, Samsung Galaxy S24 cameras, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra cameras, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra design and Samsung Galaxy S24 battery.
I've long been a fan of Google Pixel phones, but I've got a sneaking suspicion the Galaxy S24 phones could tempt me away from my Google-phone love.
And I've written about how that may be the case. So while we wait for Galaxy Unpacked, give my 3 ways the Samsung Galaxy S24 could crush my Google Pixel love article a gander. And let me know your thoughts too.
I guess my only concern in the Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Google Pixel 8 showdown, is how well will Samsung integrate the rumored AI features. In the past, I've found Samsung's One UI to be rather messy compared to Google's Pixel Launcher it pops on top of stock Android. Often I feel like Samsung's native apps get in the way of Android's stock apps.
But Samsung's has improved on this a lot over the recent years. So if it can seamlessly integrate AI into One UI, it could win my attention with the Galaxy S24 range.
So if Samsung's next-gen Galaxy phones do win me over, which would I go for?
Well if money was no object, I'd take a Galaxy S24 Ultra as it's looking like it could be a fantastic, albeit minor, evolution over the Galaxy S23 Ultra; that's my current Galaxy phone of choice.
That being said, I do love how compact and neat the standard Galaxy phones have been of late. They are also feature packed for the price, and I can see the same happening with the Galaxy S24. In fact, that's likely to be the phone I'd recommend to most people, if indeed it does live up to its rumors.
One model I'd avoid is the Galaxy S24 Plus. While it could have a few tricks up its sleeve, the rumors aren't really touting many. And I've always thought the Plus model was a bit of an awkward middle-child of the Galaxy S-series.
And the pricing of the Galaxy Plus models have always been a bit close to entry-level iPhone Pro models. And now that the likes of the iPhone 15 Pro have a suite of modern features, like 120Hz displays, they are more appealing than ever.
Overall, I think the Galaxy S24 range could dominate the conversation around smartphones until the iPhone 16 family comes around, likely this September.
I think the tipped nips and tucks to the Galaxy phones, and then the added AI smarts, plus Samsung's brand power, could easily leapfrog all of the best Android phones, and perhaps steal some focus from Apple phones, especially as the Android ecosystem is now rather expansive and has a good degree of interoperability.
One way the Galaxy S24 series could really appeal beyond Samsung fans and people on upgrade cycles is the tipped 7 years of updates for the Galaxy S24.
That would give these phones a class-leading level of software support. And that's great, as smartphones are so well-spec'd they never feel slow or less capable even after several years of use. The only real downside is Lithium-ion battery degradation that leads to compromised battery life.
Taking a break from phone chat for a moment, and I'm rather sad that we'll very likely not see the Galaxy Ring today. This is tipped to be Samsung's first smart ring and I'm here for it.
Galaxy devices generally have some solid interoperability, and I do like the idea of a fitness/wellness tracker that hides all its tech in a subtle ring.
The idea of a simple bit of wearable tech particularly appeals to me the more a fledgeling interest in traditional watches grows. I don't need a smartwatch for much beyond step tracking and some monitoring, and the limited battery life of such techie watches can be irritating.
So a smart ring, has, well... a great ring to it. And I reckon one from Samsung would integrate nicely with the Galaxy devices I already have. But I suspect we'll not hear about the Galaxy Ring until later on in the year.
Right readers, it's time for me to hand over the live blogging reigns to Philip Berne. He'll be your guide from now and across Galaxy Unpacked, so get ready for his insights and analysis, as well as any leaks that pop up in the eleventh hour.
Bye for now!
Good morning Samsung fiends and phone fans alike! I'll be running this Samsung Unpacked Live Blog through the event, as our reporter on the scene Axel Metz wakes up in San Jose, CA, maybe the only place in the US that isn't freezing right now.
I feel personally invested in this event, literally, because I am not just a Samsung phone reviewer, I'm also an owner. I spent my own money, repeatedly, on Samsung phones, even though the company sends us samples to borrow for free. My current Samsung is the mighty Galaxy S23 Ultra, which I bought after I put it atop out list of the Best Phones you can buy. After naming the Galaxy S23 Ultra the best phone overall, I decided I needed to own one.
Of course, I won't need TWO Galaxy Ultra phones, so as soon as the Galaxy S24 Ultra goes on sale, I'll be looking for a great trade-in deal. In the past, AT&T has offered $1,000 for any Galaxy as a trade, and that's how I got my current phone. But I'm not looking for a long-term payment plan this time, so I'll probably look at what Samsung is offering for trade.
As phone reviewers often say, nobody pays full price for a Samsung, so don't let those high prices scare you away. After the phone launches, we'll have plenty of deals to consider if you need the next big thing, without the next big price tag.
Are we expecting any surprises at this Samsung event today? Well, no, not really. As my colleague Roland Moore-Colyer explained earlier, the Samsung Galaxy Ring does not seem likely to make an appearance today, at least not as a product to go on sale this month. It could show up as a preview for the future, though.
We'd also expect Samsung might try to steal a little thunder from Apple's Vision Pro launch and upcoming reviews with its own AR/VR news, but we haven't heard anything specific.
When Qualcomm recently announced its new Snapdragon AR2 Plus Gen2 chipset, it mentioned Google and Samsung as partners for an upcoming headset. It also told us to expect more news in the very near future. Could Samsung have One More Thing planned, in the old Steve Jobs style? It's possible we could get a preview, but I don't expect any products to arrive soon.
Nope, this event will be pure Galaxy S24 fam. We're expecting the Galaxy S24, the Galaxy S24 Plus, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and that's it. No new Galaxy Watches. No Galaxy Fit. No Samsung Gear VR 2 virtual headset, at least not yet.
So what I'm saying is that if today doesn't seem exciting enough for Samsung fans, just wait. It could be a very interesting year for the electronics giant.
Samsung picks its launch locations very deliberately. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 were launched in Seoul, South Korea, because Korea is more enamored with foldable phones than any other market, by a double-digit margin. The Galaxy S24 is being launched in San Jose, CA, which is especially interesting.
Samsung has offices all over the US, but the most notable locations are in New York/New Jersey, Texas, and San Jose. The headquarters is in New Jersey, with important folks stationed in NYC as well. A lot of sales, development, and technical work, as well as some marketing and PR is handled in Texas. In California, we find Samsung Research America (SRA), which is an entirely research-focused arm of the company.
If Samsung wanted to launch in it's home town, that would be New York City here in the States, and it has hosted many launch events in NYC. Hosting in northern California puts Samsung in Apple and Google's backyard, among many others.
While San Jose isn't a well-known city outside of the US, the suburbs of San Jose include Mountain View and Cupertino, as well as pretty much every other town-name that you associate entirely with a tech company. Santa Clara's NVIDIA? That's San Jose. Sunnyvale's Yahoo!? That's San Jose. Meta in Fremont? That's San Jose.
Whatever happens today, it seems that Samsung feels very confident with what it will be offering. It is taking the fight directly to its biggest competitors, and its biggest partners. Our reporter on the scene, Axel Metz, says that San Jose felt like a ghost town last night, but we'll see if things look more exciting when the sun rises in California today.
Our correspondent on the ground Axel Metz sends his first report from San Jose, with a photo of a surprisingly quiet city street for a Wednesday morning:
Good morning from (a surprisingly quiet) San Jose, folks! Galaxy Unpacked is just a few hours away, but you wouldn't know it by walking the streets of Silicon Valley’s main commuter hub. I’ve been on the ground for a couple of days now, and suffice to say San Jose is a very different city to Seoul, where Samsung hosted its most recent Unpacked event.
But despite the comparatively sleepy nature of San Francisco’s geeky neighbor, there's a method to the madness of Samsung’s hosting here. First, this area is known for being a home of technological innovation; a fitting place for Samsung to kick off what it’s describing as “the new era of AI." Second, San Jose is essentially Apple’s backyard (Apple Park lies just 13km west of where I’m standing). Talk about being behind enemy lines.
This is the earliest we've seen Samsung Galaxy Unpacked in a while, and it's only the second time Samsung has launched a Galaxy S phone in January. The Galaxy S21 was announced on January 14, and it went on sale January 29. Every other Galaxy S family was announced in February or later.
Why does this matter? CES. Samsung started hosting its own Galaxy Unpacked event to separate itself from CES and other big trade shows, like Mobile World Congress, the largest mobile-focused trade convention, which happens at the end of February this year.
Of course this was a move to copy Apple, which dominated the CES 2007 news when it launched its first iPhone ... from Cupertino, CA. Apple wasn't even at CES, and it continuously launched its phones at standalone events, not trade shows. Samsung quickly followed suit, and as a result the big trade shows became less important.
This year could be problematic, though. Our reporter Axel Metz is on the scene, but I was also scheduled to attend Galaxy Unpacked this year. Unfortunately, I tested positive with COVID after CES, and it's the second time I've gotten COVID at CES. In fact, I've only had COVID twice, both times after that massive tech trade show that should probably be cancelled due to health concerns.
I'm very curious how many people had to change plans for Galaxy Unpacked due to illness contracted at CES. Hopefully next year Samsung will give us just one more week to recover between the cesspool of Las Vegas and the parking garages of San Jose.
Folks are lining up at the SAP Center in San Jose, waiting to get into Galaxy Unpacked. While folks there take coffee and wake up, the sun never sets on TechRadar, and our UK correspondents are live at the event in London to watch the announcements and check out the new devices in person.
Get ready, because London is very far north and it's already very dark there. This may break your brain if you're calibrated to Pacific Time or just enjoying the sunshine. As I told my colleagues, London is no San Jose, but it's still a fun place to be to watch the latest tech drop.
Our correspondents are arriving now, so we'll have a ton more photos and news to drop as the start time approaches in just over 30 minutes.
Here is the entrance to the Galaxy Unpacked event in London, and you can see the familiar star symbols that quite a few companies are using to designate AI. Samsung may have a unique claim on the logo, though not quite this four-star design you see here.
Many companies are using a cool three-star design for AI tools. Samsung's name in Korean, written in its Korean hanja symbol, means "three stars." It will be interesting to see if Samsung continues to develop this side of its branding, as the company logo has remained the iconic blue ellipse or the simple Samsung name logo for as long as it has been making smartphones.
We should see more AI features from Samsung soon, with new brand names and icons to boot. In the meantime, we'll keep looking for hints until the show starts.
We're in! We are live at the Galaxy Unpacked event at the SAP Center in downtown San Jose, CA, where Samsung is expected to announce its Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus, and Galaxy S24 Ultra, along with new developments in AI software on the smartphone. We don't know much, officially, but Samsung has used the words "AI Zoom" repeatedly on invitations, and that says a lot about the phones to come.
Our reporter Axel is on the scene, ready to take photos, write about what he sees, and get hands on as soon as the show starts. We'll have our impressions, hands-on with the new devices, and everything you need to know.
You can tune into Samsung.com to see the show live, or just stay here and read the most important stuff from our live blog. Or do both! Multitasking is good for the soul.
It's time to go! Samsung's Unpacked Livestream begins promptly at 1pm. We haven't heard any new leaks, and everyone is taking seats to get ready for the big news. This is your last chance to grab a snack and charge your phone before the news begins.
My last-minute predictions? I'm not going to say, I think we've read enough rumors and leaks to last us a while. I am hoping to hear more about devices beyond the Galaxy S, though. At CES, Samsung hinted at more interoperability between phones and its other products, especially home appliances. It talked about Bixby coming to more than just the phone, finally. I'd like to hear about that.
I'd also like to learn about the future products that are still just rumors. Is there really a Galaxy Ring? Will Samsung be launching an Apple Vision Pro competitor? How about a Samsung car? Why not? Obviously I'm curious about the new Galaxy phones, but as long as I'm making wishes, show me everything hidden behind the curtain.
Let's have fun, it's new phone day!
Okay, the show is getting started. What are you waiting for? Start your streaming engines and let's check it out.
Samsung is starting with a discussion of new Galaxy AI features, not the new phones. We hate to spoil the ending, but we've already posted our hands-on stories with the new Galaxy phones, including the mighty Galaxy S24 Ultra hands-on review by yours truly. Here is our Galaxy S24 hands-on, and our Galaxy S24 Plus hands-on.
The first feature up is Samsung's amazing live translation feature. You can translate live, during a phone call, between thirteen different languages. It will even remember what language your contacts speak and automatically suggest the proper translation.
The new translation is part of the phone app, and it's also built into the Samsung keyboard, so it will work anywhere you type.
The next big feature is Samsung's writing assistant, which will change your writing style on the fly. You can read more about it in my Galaxy S24 Ultra hands-on, where I asked the phone to change the tone of a few different text messages I was planning on sending. Using AI on the phone, the Galaxy S24 will read your message and suggest a few different options to change your tone and style.
Samsung says this uses Google Gemini AI tools, which we haven't heard much about from Samsung's side. You can add emoji, hashtags, change the style, and even sound like Shakespeare in your notes.
Samsung is also talking about new AI features in Samsung Notes, but these are kind of boring. You can reformat notes to make them look nice. Meh. Show me imaging and writing tools, not formatting.
Here's where things get interesting. Samsung has just introduced Google's Hiroshi Lockheimer, Head of All Things Android, to the stage. Google doesn't usually participate in Samsung events at this high level. There are some very interesting partnerships between Google and Samsung for the new phones.
We've just heard from Samsung that it will support the Galaxy S24 series for seven years of Android OS updates and Security patches, and that was a move pioneered by Google's Pixel 8 phones. There's a lot more to come.
The Galaxy S24 will not only get some new Google Search features first, it's also getting some cool Pixel features that seemed destined to remain Pixel-exclusive, until now. You can read more about those in our hands-on review of the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the other Galaxy S24 phones.
In a fascinating twist, Google is launching a new search feature, as well as a new upcoming Pixel feature, on the Galaxy S24 first! There is a new circle-to-search that lets you draw a circle around anything on your home screen, and Google will search for it. It will try to figure out the type of search you need depending on the object.
You start by pressing the home button, which is funny because only Samsung still tries to push the home button on Android users. If you prefer gestures, you can just hold on the gesture bar at the bottom of the screen, you know ... where the home button was.
Then you circle the object, or even just scribble over the object to select it. Google will then search, and maybe even offer an AI explanation for what you see.
Frankly, this circle search stuff is useful, but it's kind of boring to talk about unless you like drawing circles around cute outfits, which is fun to do but not to watch. Let's get to the good stuff.
Camera time! The Galaxy S23 Ultra was our favorite camera phone for its all-around amazing versatility. We can now confirm that the Galaxy S24 Ultra drops the zoom lens from 10x to 5x, though Samsung is still making the dubious claim that it achieves "10x optical zoom quality." Sure, it has the same zoom quality as a poor 10X optical zoom lens, but is that really the claim you want to make?
The bottom line is that the new 5X camera looks much better than the old 10X camera, even at 10X zoom. I confirmed that in my hands-on time, and I'll test that further in my deep review of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It may be due to new AI features, but I suspect that using a much larger sensor with 50MP resolution make the bigger difference.
Also, zoom reduces light, so having less zoom gives you more light, which already starts you with a better potential image. I know that people will complain about the spec down from 10X to 5X, but I think the images will be worth the trade. Then, in the future, we know that Samsung can pull off a 10X lens, so it has room to improve on the next, next big thing.
Samsung is droning on and on about nightography and other Samsung shooting options, but I think the most impactful part of this announcement is that Samsung is bringing its native camera app, with all of its great shooting modes and tools, to third-party apps like social media networks.
This means you can take photos in Snapchat, Discord, Instagram, and other apps using the native Samsung camera. Your photos will look much better than before, and you'll have many more shooting options. I know that Samsung's Food mode is the most delicious I've tried on any modern smartphone, and it's portrait mode does a great job, even with my fuzzy puppy.
Oh lord, now Samsung is introducing Mr. Beast, who is using the Galaxy S24 Ultra as his official camera. I'm just gonna stop now.
Okay, just for the Mr. Beast clicks, I'm going to write about Mr. Beast. Mr. Beast is now shilling for Samsung during Galaxy Unpacked. What a surprise. The dude makes no bones about doing everything for clicks and cash, so I'm not surprised, but I am kind of pleased that Samsung is at least aware enough of the current zeitgeist to include the only phenomenon that seems more ubiquitous than AI.
Mr. Beast.
More fun time! Samsung is talking about gaming, and I won't get into the improvement specifics, but it's more and better in every way, of course. Most importantly, across the board the Galaxy S24 series will be able to achieve peak brightness of 2,600 nits in outdoor sunlight.
That's not quite the brightest phone you can find, but it's pretty close. Actually, getting much brighter could be harmful to your eyes, so we're fine with this limit.
Gaming should be improved with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and Samsung has a slightly overclocked version of Qualcomm's chipset again. It's just a bit faster on the prime core, but if you're a benchmark fiend or a hardcore CoD champ, you might just need that extra push.
You know what I like more than improved performance? Improvements to durability. The new Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a titanium frame, as we expected. That's going to make it tougher and more durable, but unfortunately it hasn't made the Ultra lighter than last year's Galaxy S23 Ultra.
That's really weird, because Apple managed to cut a lot of weight from the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max by using Titanium. Not for Samsung. The Ultra is just as big and heavy as ever.
Samsung is also the first to get Corning's new Gorilla Glass Armor. This Armor glass is supposed to be 4X more scratch resistant. That's great news. In the past, Gorilla Glass has been great because it wouldn't shatter when it hit the ground. Unfortunately, it wasn't as scratch resistant as more expensive glass options, like sapphire glass.
I'm happy to see Samsung continuing its leadership on durability. It was the first major phone maker to make water resistance a regular flagship feature. With seven years of OS support, the phone is going to need to last much longer, and Samsung is adapting in a few ways.
Sadly, the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus still use aluminum and older Gorilla Glass. You need to spring for the Ultra to get the titanium and armor, even though the entire family will get those seven years of big updates.
Samsung has finally announced pricing for all of the new devices. Unfortunately, the rumors were true, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra is going to be a bit more expensive this year. The model starts with 256GB of storage instead of 128GB, but it still hurts.
You can find all of the pre-order information online at Samsung.com, and Samsung is taking orders now. The new phones will all be available on January 31st.
We've been focused on the big Galaxy S24 Ultra, but the new Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus are going to be powerful, cool-looking phones that cost hundreds less than Samsung's big, heavy beast. You can see all the features that those phones share with the Ultra, as well as the color options for the aluminum models, including a nice amber yellow and a sleek cobalt violet.
Because many of the new features are based in AI, Galaxy S24 Ultra users won't be the only owners who get better photography, including better zoom and nightography.
Samsung Galaxy Ring!
Samsung Galaxy Ring gets teased at Galaxy Unpacked. I gotta admit, I was zoning out when the boring health guy was talking about AI this and monitoring that, but then he said Galaxy Ring and suddenly it felt like the whole audience woke up. A shiny, chrome-looking ring twisted a few times in the air, and then it was gone.
Seriously, they didn't say much at all, but not surprisingly Samsung's next big health product, the Galaxy Ring, will rely upon AI for health monitoring and analysis. We hope to hear more soon, but this is the first time Samsung has mentioned Galaxy Ring, either officially or unofficially.
Leave it to Samsung to step on their own big announcement. Just as we thought they might, Samsung has teased the Galaxy Ring in literally the last minute of the Galaxy S24 launch, leaving us with few details, fewer visuals, and many questions.
We've been hearing rumors about the Galaxy Ring for years, in various forms, and we've collected everything we know. There are very few successful smart rings on the market, outside of the popular Oura ring.
This is a very Samsung move, unlike Apple. Samsung likes to enter a relatively new category with a splash. The first product might not be great, but it will be unique and will be the result of Samsung's amazing engineering prowess.
Apple likes to enter a mature market to show everyone what they've been doing wrong, so maybe after a few generations of Galaxy Ring, we'll get an Apple Ring.
