The Samsung Galaxy S24 is coming soon, but the Galaxy S23 saw great deals for Black Friday and Cyber Week, so you might wonder if it’s worth waiting for the next big thing or if you should just buy a phone now while the price is right. Wait!, especially if you don’t need a new phone right away. I don’t expect the Galaxy S24 will be a major technological leap over the Galaxy S23, but it could be much more future-proof: a phone that will probably last longer and improve over time more than phones you can buy today.
Samsung is usually the first major phone launch of the new year if history is our guide, so we expect to see the Galaxy S24 family, including a likely Galaxy S24 Ultra at the top, sometime in late January or early February.
In the past, Samsung has been the premiere phone for new Qualcomm chipsets, but this year the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has already launched in China in the Xiaomi 14. In any case, we expect at least some of the Galaxy S24 models will have Qualcomm’s fast new platform, though some could use Exynos chipsets.
The camera will probably get better, though Samsung may just change its focus a bit, figuratively speaking, away from the superzoom superlatives. The battery probably won’t get much bigger, though hopefully there will be other improvements that help the phone last longer. There’s also a rumor that Samsung could use titanium on some or all of the Galaxy S24 models, maybe to support the frame.
What else is there to anticipate, in terms of hardware improvements? Frankly, it doesn’t matter. That’s not the reason you should wait.
New AI features will need new phones
If Samsung uses the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, it will have a platform with a built-in neural engine, ready for machine learning features. Qualcomm showed us some of the potential the new Snapdragon holds, but it will be up to developers and manufacturers like Samsung to bring those AI features to life.
There will be some sort of AI on the Galaxy S24, and Samsung has already announced a large language model named “Samsung Gauss” that will feature on future phones. It isn’t hard to guess that Samsung will offer AI features. All of its technology competitors are talking about AI, so it follows that Samsung would need to give us some AI just to compete.
In other words, AI is going to be important on future phones, and you’ll want a phone like the Galaxy S24 that has the right parts to run the new software. It’s possible future One UI and Android features will only work on phones with a capable neural engine on the platform, similar to the way certain games will only run on a PC if you meet the minimum graphics requirements.
Samsung should copy the best thing about the Pixel 8
There’s another new Android feature that I hope Samsung will adopt, and that’s Google’s promise to support its new Pixel 8 phones for seven years. Apple has always supported its iPhones for up to five years after they hit store shelves, but Android phone makers have often maxed out at a three-year promise for major OS updates.
Samsung likes to claim a win wherever it can, and a promise for longer support seems like an easy box to check on a list of possible wins for the upcoming Galaxy S24. We would certainly hold Samsung to its promise, but the promise wouldn’t require any new technological leaps forward. It would just require a commitment to users. That’s better than any new sensor or spec Samsung could add.
So, the Galaxy S24 will have new AI features and it’s possible these won’t be backwards compatible with older phones. Samsung could also offer a longer commitment for software and support than we’ve seen in the past.
With that in mind, I recommend waiting for the Galaxy S24, which could join our list of best Samsung Galaxy phones, to see what Samsung will offer. There may be exciting new features on board that make the Galaxy S24 a better phone than the Galaxy S23, but I’m looking to a more distant future. More than we’ve seen before, the next generation of devices could leave the older phones behind, in both technology and longevity. It’s worth waiting a few more months for a phone that will give you a few more years.
