Samsung Galaxy S24 Preview: All we know days before the launch

UPDATED: JAN 15, 2024, 2:38 PM 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Intro

Struggling to find a good compact phone? In just a few days, Samsung is unveiling three new Galaxy phones and among them the vanilla Galaxy S24 model promises a compact size, all-around refinement, big performance upgrades and even a sprinkle of magical "Galaxy AI".

"Compact" here is a relative term: at 6.2 inches, the Galaxy S24 is nowhere nearly as small as mini phones of the recent past, but in 2024 when most phones come with giant 6.7-inch+ screens, it fits the bill.

If we have to be even more specific, this new Galaxy S24 is a tiny bit bigger than last year's 6.1-inch Galaxy S23 model, but in exchange for that you get a new design along with quite a few other advantages. So let's take a look at all the new features and see why the Galaxy S24 could well be the best compact phone of the year. 

What’s new about the Galaxy S24

• Evolved design with flat sides

• Slimmer screen borders, uniform bezel

• Compact 6.2" size (but slightly bigger 6.1" S23)

• Fast Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor (in most markets)

• But still 8GB of RAM

• New "Galaxy AI" features

• Same triple camera hardware, but new camera processing

• Slightly bigger, 4000mAh battery

• Unchanged charging speeds 

Galaxy S24 Design & Colors

Thanks to numerous leaks, the Galaxy S24 design is not much of a secret.

First of all, it is ever so slightly larger at 6.2 inches, but still very much compact. The sides of the phone now seem to be completely flat, a look much like recent Apple iPhones. We find phones with flat sides are easier to grab from a table, so most will probably like this new style.

The Galaxy S24 is still likely to have an aluminum frame. The fancier and more durable titanium will only be used on the pricier S24 Ultra version.

We will learn about the exact dimensions and weight in just a few days, but you should not expect big changes from the previous model.

Up front, borders around the screen could get smaller for a more modern look, and we could also have uniform bezel.

The rest is expected to be the same as before: IP68 rating, USB-C port on the bottom, and power and volume keys on the right hand side.

Here are the expected Galaxy S24 colors:

• Marble Gray

• Cobalt Violet

• Onyx Black

• Amber Yellow

Galaxy S24 Display

Leaks say the Galaxy S24 is getting a slightly larger 6.17-inch screen, and it could have the same 1-120Hz refresh rate which you previously only had on the expensive Ultra model.

New here is the ability to drop all the way down to 1Hz for static content, and this also means the phone can be more frugal in terms of power use.

Expectations are we will have slimmer borders around the screen too, and higher brightness for easier outdoor use.

Resolution is not expected to change at 1080p, but we don't really mind as that is sharp enough for the vast majority of people.

We will run our display lab benchmarks and will give you a detailed breakdown of the S24 screen quality soon.

As for biometrics, you have an ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint reader, unchanged in the last few generations, and you also get 2D image-based face recognition.

Galaxy S24 Camera

With a triple lens system on its back, the Galaxy S24 camera looks much like the previous model.

Leaks also say that Samsung will use the same main camera sensor for a third year in a row, and there will be no changes to the ultra-wide and 3X zoom camera hardware either.

But don't rush into blaming Samsung for being lazy.

Rumors say Samsung might finally bring new color science to images, so they no longer look overly saturated, plus Samsung itself dropped a few teasers for a bunch of new "Galaxy AI" camera features that will give the S24 "Magic Editor" photo and video powers. We also expect to see cleaner recordings in low light conditions, and a few other camera improvements.

In a different "Zoom with Galaxy AI" demo, Samsung shows how you can get cleaner zoomed shots too.

We will be updating this section with a lot more detail as it is revealed, so stay tuned.

Galaxy S24 Performance & Benchmarks

The Galaxy S24 will run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip in most but not all markets. Some countries are expected to receive a different version, based on a Samsung Exynos chip instead, and those chips - while being flagship-grade - are traditionally not quite as powerful. In the United States, the UK and Western Europe, you will presumably have the Snapdragon version.

And while performance will certainly improve and we have seen glowing reviews of this new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, Samsung seems to be focusing more on what it calls "Galaxy AI".

Think ChatGPT-like features all around the Samsung interface and the camera experience. We are yet to learn the extent of that in the next few days, so stay tuned for the exciting details here.

In pure specs, the Galaxy S24 is expected to get 8GB of RAM on board, less than the 12GB projected for the larger models. Less RAM means app in the background will have to reload more often and multitasking might not be as smooth for power users, but we will have to test this out to see if it makes a real-world difference.

Just like last year, we expect to see a base 8/128GB configuration and a second 8/256GB option.

Galaxy S24 Software

The Galaxy S24 will arrive with Android 14 and Samsung's latest One UI 6.1 on top of that.

This is the same software as we have seen arrive recently on the Galaxy S23 series, but we still don't know if all the new Galaxy AI features will be exclusive to the new S24 series, or if they will make their way to older models.

Samsung has shown a few Galaxy AI demos already, and in one of them we saw how you can take an ice cream cone and enlarge it easily in the gallery app, so photo editing will receive a big boost on the S24.

Finally, we are yet to hear about software updates on the Galaxy S24. Previous Galaxy models come with four years of major OS updates and five years of security updates, but the recently launched Pixel 8 series raised the bar with a promise for seven years of OS updates. Will Samsung announce something similar? We will update you once we know.

Galaxy S24 Battery

With the larger physical size, the Galaxy S24 battery also gets a boost to 4,000mAh, up from 3,900mAh on the last year's model.

Combine this with a more economical chip, more frugal screen thanks to the newly supported 1Hz refresh rate, and all the possible AI enhancements, and we might get some decent battery gains. Of course, remember that this is a compact phone after all, and expectations cannot be sky high. 

We are not so optimistic about changes to charging speeds. For years, Galaxy phones have used 25W charging via a wire, and roughly 15W wireless charging speeds, and that's exactly what we expect again on this here S24.

Galaxy S24 Audio Quality and Haptics

Samsung tweaks the speakers on its phones ever so slightly, and while it may seem like nothing is changing, if you listen to a Galaxy phone from just a few years ago, you will spot the difference.

The Galaxy S24 with its larger size, might have slightly boomier speakers too.

We have not heard anything about changes to the vibration motor, however, so Samsung might stick with the same haptics as in previous phones (quite decent, but not as good as the best phones).

Galaxy S24 Competitors

Rumors say the Galaxy S24 is likely to stick with the $800 price, same as in previous years. 

And if you are looking at the Galaxy S24, chances are you want a compact phone. This means, you basically have only two good alternatives: Google's vanilla Pixel 8 model, and the Apple iPhone 15 Pro.