Expected release date and feature wishlist

Update: January 2, 2024 (04:00 AM ET): We have updated the Samsung Galaxy S24 series rumor hub with the leaked launch date, possible pre-order benefits, leaked AI features, and Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 4K 120fps video recording leak.

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Original article: Every year, smartphone fans look forward to Samsung’s latest flagship Android phones. In 2023, those flagships were in the Galaxy S23 series. In 2024, however, we expect to see the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. At this point, the launch is likely just weeks away, so we know quite a lot about the devices!

Below, you’ll find all the latest credible rumors surrounding the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus, and Galaxy S24 Ultra. We’ve also included a wishlist, which comprises things we hope to see but don’t have any evidence for yet.

Will there be a Samsung Galaxy S24?

Although nothing is ever certain in the tech world, the likelihood of Samsung launching a Galaxy S24 series is incredibly high. The company has released Samsung Galaxy S phones every single year for the past 13 years. We see no reason why it would stop now.

Of course, Samsung has thrown us curveballs before. In 2020, for example, it switched up the naming strategy for the phones by jumping from the Galaxy S10 straight to the Galaxy S20. The company did this so the name of the phones would line up with the year in which they were launched. However, we don’t have any evidence to suggest Samsung has a change to its naming strategy on the way. As such, we fully expect to see a Galaxy S24 launch in 2024.

• Galaxy S21 launch: January 29, 2021
• Galaxy S22 launch: February 25, 2022
• Galaxy S23 launch: February 1, 2023

Over the past few years, Samsung has launched a new Galaxy S series in the first or second month of the year. You have to go back all the way to the Galaxy S8 to find a launch that didn’t happen in January or February (the Galaxy S8 launched in March 2017). With that in mind, our money is on Samsung launching the Galaxy S24 series within the first few weeks of 2024.

Ice Universe was one of the first to offer a rumor about the release date, suggesting it could launch on January 18 next year. This was further supported by a report claiming that Samsung’s manufacturing partners plan to begin mass production a month earlier than usual.

A report from SBS Biz, on the other hand, claims the launch could happen on January 17. It looks like the outlet may be right on the money, as The Elec reports that Samsung is readying for a January 17 launch for the Galaxy S24 lineup. The report states that pre-orders could start on January 17, and buyers would probably receive the phones sometime between January 26 and January 30. General sales for the Galaxy S24 series could reportedly begin on January 30.

Leaker Arsène Lupin also corroborates the January 17, 2024, date as the launch date for the Galaxy S24 series. According to them, Samsung will hold its Unpacked event in San José, California, at 10 am PST.

In the past, Samsung used major tech events to launch its Galaxy S phones, most notably at Mobile World Congress. However, the company has moved away from this and recently created its own events catered explicitly to a Galaxy S launch. We expect the company to do the same thing in 2024. In other words, expect a flashy Samsung-specific launch event with hundreds of people in attendance in some major city.

What features could the Galaxy S24 series have?

As always, rumors about unreleased phones should be viewed skeptically. However, there are certainly a few notable rumors we’ve heard so far, and we can always make some educated guesses based on things Samsung has done in the past.

Ever since the Galaxy S20 series, there have been three models in each Galaxy S family: a standard model, a Plus variant, and the mighty Ultra model. We expect Samsung to continue with this formula in 2024. There will almost certainly be a Samsung Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus, and Galaxy S24 Ultra.

However, there was a rumor floating around that Samsung could skip the Galaxy S24 Plus. This rumor originated with a relatively unknown leaker and has been shot down by other, more prominent leakers. It doesn’t sound too far-fetched, considering the Plus model is usually the weakest seller in the series. For now, though, we think Samsung will stick with its tried-and-true system of launching three Galaxy S24 devices.

We saw the first renders of the Galaxy S24 Ultra quite early this year. On September 29, 2023, reliable leaker OnLeaks posted some Galaxy S24 Ultra renders in partnership with SmartPrix.

At first glance, it looks like the Galaxy S24 Ultra will look very similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. However, there’s one huge change: the display is flat, or at least flatter. It’s a bit difficult to be totally conclusive from these renders, but it looks like Samsung has either removed the curved edges entirely or made them so subtle that they’re barely noticeable.

Sonny Dickson has shared images of dummy units of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and the unit looks quite boxy and sharp.

Unknown X user David Martin posted images purportedly showing a real Galaxy S24 Ultra model. The images largely line up with OnLeaks’ renders, suggesting a flat display and some sharp edges. We’d take this leak with an entire bag of salt, though, given that the source is an unknown social media user.

In early December, we got a new set of leaked images. These appear to be official renders, i.e., ones made by Samsung. They give us a great idea of what to expect as far as colors:

According to the leak, the four colors here are called Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow. As the names suggest, the “titanium” aspect is likely a reference to the metal chassis being a titanium alloy, similar to the one included with the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. These images also support the rumor that the Ultra model will come with a flat display for the first time.

The dimensions of the device have also shifted slightly. At 162.3 x 79 x 8.7mm, it is a tad shorter than the Galaxy S23 Ultra but also a bit wider. Allegedly, thanks to the rumored titanium frame, the phone could also be 1g lighter than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which would mean 233g.

Another leak provided a comparison between the Galaxy S23 Ultra and what is believed to be the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Those images revealed a few changes to the design, namely different housing for the speaker, a flatter base for the S Pen, and slightly thicker buttons.

It doesn’t look like Samsung will change things up too much in 2024 when it comes to the vanilla and Plus models. Renders of the standard Galaxy S24 were leaked by tipster OnLeaks and SmartPrix, showing a Samsung phone similar to the Galaxy S23 with flatter, polished edges. The rear camera cutouts, flat panel, and center-mounted punch-hole also scream the same design language Samsung used on its 2023 Galaxy S series flagships.

Sonny Dickson has shared images of dummy units of the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus, and the phones look like they borrowed the design of the iPhone 14 Pro.

We can see the flat side and sharp edges quite clearly in the dummy units. On the iPhone 14 Pro, this type of design gave a solid feeling to the phone but was also criticized for being unergonomic, especially on the larger iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Along with the Ultra images we saw in early December, we also saw some for the vanilla and Plus models:

These images support the rumors that the non-Ultra models won’t be much different from the previous generation as far as design goes. The renders also show that the colors for all three phones will be similar.

However, since the S24 and S24 Plus won’t include titanium, the names of the colors are a bit different. According to the rumor, the colors are Onyx Black, Marble Grey, Cobalt Violet, and Amber Yellow.

With only weeks to go before the expected launch of these phones, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. That being said, you should always take rumors with a grain of salt. Regardless, here’s what we’ve heard.

Exynos or Snapdragon processors?

In 2023, Samsung did something it hadn’t done in a long, long time: it released all Galaxy S23 devices with the same chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Previously, there were two types of Galaxy S phones: a Qualcomm Snapdragon model and a Samsung Exynos model. Snapdragon models would usually hit the United States, South Korea, and Singapore, while the rest of the world would see Exynos models. This sounds like it wouldn’t be a big deal, except that Snapdragon models were universally superior to Exynos models.

In 2024, will Samsung stick with this strategy? We hope it will, but evidence suggests it won’t. Initially, we expected Samsung to release all Galaxy S24 models globally with Snapdragon processors. Then, we heard a rumor saying that the vanilla Galaxy S24 would get an Exynos processor globally, but the Plus and Ultra models would have Snapdragon regardless of location.

Another rumor suggests that Samsung might go back to how things were — mostly. According to the Korean outlet The Elec, Samsung could launch the Galaxy S24 series with Exynos processors in all areas except for the US. The only exception would be the Ultra model, which would be all-Snapdragon everywhere.

Thanks to a comment from Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, we now know that the split will happen. The CEO stated during an earnings call that it would have the “majority share” of the Galaxy S24. Unfortunately, there was no clarification on how the split would work.

In early December, the Galaxy S24 series passed through the FCC. Through the listings there, we were able to see that all three Galaxy S24 devices in the United States will come with Snapdragon silicon. Of course, this doesn’t mean that models outside the US won’t see different silicon. The rumor that gave us the official render leak says that the Galaxy S24 will have an Exynos processor while the S24 Plus and Ultra will have a Snapdragon processor. In other words, the jury is still out on what exactly will happen, but it’s looking like all Snapdragon models in the US and an Exynos model of the vanilla variant in some countries.

On October 6, 2023, Samsung officially unveiled the Exynos 2400 chipset. This will undoubtedly be the processor we see in at least some Galaxy S24 phones.

RAM, internal storage, and colors

One area that might get an upgrade is memory and storage. One rumor from Ice Universe suggests the Galaxy S24 could have 8GB of RAM, while the Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 Ultra could have 8GB or 12GB of RAM, depending on the storage configuration. While this would be the same as last year for the base and Ultra models, the Plus model having a 12GB option would be new.

Storage capacities shouldn’t be too surprising. The most recent rumor suggests 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB versions of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 could have 128, 256, and 512GB options. The Plus model might only have two: 256GB or 512GB.

Arsène Lupin corroborated these leaks by listing out the possible RAM and storage variants, as well as color options:

• Samsung Galaxy S24: Expected in Gray, Black, Violet, and Yellow colors:
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Expected in Gray, Black, Violet, and Yellow colors:
  • 12GB + 256GB
  • 12GB + 512GB
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Expected in Gray, Black, Violet, and Yellow colors:
  • 12GB + 256GB
  • 12GB + 512GB
  • 12GB + 1TB

In the middle of December, tipster Evan Blass shared what appears to be an official Galaxy S24 series spec sheet. While the spec sheet doesn’t give all the details, it gives us some key information. It appears this spec sheet confirms most of the color, RAM, and storage stats provided by Arsène Lupin, except for the 12GB + 1TB configuration.

Other Galaxy S24 specs

The 2024 renders we’ve seen show phones that don’t look much different from their 2023 counterparts, but they could jump up to 13th-generation (M13) high-performance OLED panels. These panels are thinner and more power-efficient than the M12 screen on the iPhone 15. Tipster Ice Universe posted apparent S24 Ultra display specs in August. It’s believed that the screen will have the same resolution and aspect ratio but be significantly brighter (2,600 nits versus the S23 Ultra’s 1,750 nits).

A rumor from SamMobile also suggests the S24 series will get M13 OLED panels and 2,600 nits of brightness. The outlet’s rumor also claims these displays may have LTPO for variable refresh rate, and the S24 Plus could be upgraded to QHD+ resolution. The display could also come with Gorilla Glass Armor protection, as per Ice Universe.

According to Evan Blass’s leaked spec sheet, the Ultra and Plus are expected to get dynamic AMOLED QHD+ displays with 2,600 nits of brightness. The base model may get a dynamic AMOLED FHD+ display with the same amount of nits.

In August, we heard about rumored battery capacities of the three phones. Allegedly, the Galaxy S24 could get a nice increase to a 4,000mAh cell. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 Plus could have the biggest battery of any Plus model at 4,900mAh. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s battery would be the same as all other Ultras at 5,000mAh. Evan Blass’s leaked spec sheet also supports these battery capacities.

However, a rumor that came out in July from RGcloudS on Twitter suggested the S24 Ultra (and possibly the S24 Plus) could get a stacked battery. RGcloudS also claimed the phone(s) could have a charging speed of 65W. But China’s 3C certification website lists the Plus and the Ultra as having 45W charging. The base model will also retain the same charging speed as its predecessor, which comes out to 25W.

The leaked spec sheet also says that each model will come with an IP68 rating for water resistance. It may also support software features like a “smart keyboard” and dynamic lock screen.

So far, the biggest changes we have heard that could possibly come to the Galaxy S24 series surround the cameras. Evan Blass’s leaked spec sheet claims the main cameras for the series will be 200MP, 50MP, and 50MP for the Ultra, Plus, and vanilla models, respectively. It further adds that these cameras will be able to record 8K video.

In addition, it says that the base and Plus models will have 30x digital zoom, and a “dual telephoto” system with 2x and 3x zoom. Meanwhile, the Ultra apparently has a “quad telephoto” system with 2x, 3x, 5x, and 10x zoom being mentioned. However, this conflicts with earlier rumors that the S24 Ultra could have either a 3x and 10x dual telephoto camera setup or a 3x and 5x telephoto pairing.

Meanwhile, a prominent leaker suggested in April that Samsung has some big upgrades in store for the Galaxy S24 series when it comes to the camera software. Yogesh Brar says these changes will be “massive,” although he wasn’t specific on what those changes might be. Whatever happens, expect them to challenge to be the best camera phones as usual.

One of those massive software upgrades could be the ISOCELL Zoom Anyplace feature Samsung announced in late October. The tech giant claims the feature can simultaneously capture close-ups and full-sized video while using AI to track subjects and stabilize shots. This feature is made specifically for the company’s 200MP sensor.

Prominent outlet GalaxyClub claimed on July 21 that the S24 series will retain the 12MP selfie camera seen on the Galaxy S23 range. The outlet also asserted that Samsung wants to keep the punch-hole cutout as small as possible, suggesting that we shouldn’t expect a larger sensor, either. So the company will need to improve image quality via the processor and software.

More recently, Revegnus asserted on December 12 that these are the final camera specifications for the Galaxy S24 Ultra:

• 200 MP main camera
• 12 MP ultrawide camera
• 50 MP 5x telephoto camera
• 10 MP 3x telephoto camera
• 12 MP front camera

We’ll have to wait to see how the device finally pans out.

Ice Universe made more claims on December 19, asserting that the Galaxy S24 Ultra would have a better night mode (no surprise here) and that the 200MP mode has AI image segmentation. The leaker specifically claimed that the latter is able to identify up to 12 kinds of objects and apply adjustments to them for better image quality. This seems identical to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s real-time image segmentation tech, which now supports identification and segmentation for up to 12 objects.

Ice Universe also asserts that the Galaxy S24 Ultra could get 4K 120fps video recording. Further, the phone could allow for seamless zoom in 4K 60fps video recording, which indicates lens switching and parity of video quality across the rear lenses on the Ultra.

Other features

The previously mentioned improved display may be used for Ultra HDR, according to a rumor from Ice Universe. Samsung is allegedly working on bringing support for HDR on all three models of the Galaxy S24.

SamMobile also claims Samsung wants the S24 series to be the “smartest AI smartphones ever.” According to the publication’s unnamed sources, the company may achieve this by taking features from ChatGPT and Google Bard to give users the ability to “create content and stories.” Samsung may also create its own in-house text-to-image AI tool for the phones and enhance Bixby with generative AI to make it smarter and more human-like. A recent leak from Alvin also states that smart features powered by Galaxy AI will be the biggest improvement on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

In October, tipster Revegnus claimed that Samsung is considering a subscription service for the Galaxy S24’s AI tools. This would require users to pay to use the Galaxy S24’s arguably key feature.

Leaker Arsène Lupin points out that the AI features that could come to the Galaxy S24 series could include a Live Translate feature within the Samsung Phone app, and a Generative Edit feature (which would require an internet connection and a Samsung account log in).

Revegnus also leaked that Samsung, Qualcomm, and AMD are jointly developing “FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR)” software for Galaxy phones. This technology is similar to NVIDIA’s DLSS in that it uses upscaling and frame generation techniques to boost framerates in supported games. However, unlike DLSS, FSR doesn’t use AI to accomplish these tricks. It’s possible we could see this technology implemented in the S24 series.

In November, a rumor appeared suggesting there could be an option for a lock screen shortcut to Instagram. Currently, lock screen shortcuts are mostly reserved for system apps, so this would be a bit of an anomaly.

One UI 6.1

Details regarding the One UI 6.1 software skin leaked in December. Leaked features include AI-generated wallpapers, photo expansion using generative AI, the ability to use an image clipper to lift subjects and paste them into other images, summarization functionality, and real-time translation for phone calls.

Samsung’s new skin might also give you better control over charging, offering you basic, adapt, and max charging settings. The max setting would ensure the best battery protection by stopping your phone from charging once it hits 80%. Meanwhile, the adapt charging setting would indeed adapt to your behavior so your phone hits 100% when you need it. Needless to say, the basic setting would simply charge your phone to 100% as normal.

Even more One UI 6.1 features for the Galaxy S24 series leaked in December courtesy of Bennett Buhner on X. They claimed that the phones will offer AI processing for video (e.g., low-light performance and improvements in areas like noise, exposure, and stability), subject/object erasing in video, an on-device AI chatbot, and info summaries for phone calls.

• Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, S21 Ultra: $799, $999, $1,199
• Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, S22 Ultra: $799, $999, $1,199
• Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, S23 Ultra: $799, $999, $1,199

As you can see from the list above, Samsung hasn’t altered its Galaxy S pricing strategy in the United States for three straight years. However, the same can’t be said for the rest of the world. In fact, this year, the Galaxy S23 series jumped in price in many prominent places, including the UK and most of Europe.

As such, we can only assume price jumps are in the cards for the United States soon. How much of a jump is a mystery, as is whether or not all three models would see an increase or just the Ultra variant.

Of course, we could be pleasantly surprised to see Samsung stick with the same pricing it’s used for the past three cycles, as a report from Korea Economic Daily suggests. In fact, one of the most recent rumors suggests we could even see price drops.

It’s unclear if these rumored price drops would translate to the US. For now, our money is on no pricing changes in the US for the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus and a higher price for the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

A post on Naver highlighted the possible pre-order benefits for the phone. Samsung could offer a free storage upgrade, and discounts on the Galaxy Buds FE or Galaxy Watch when customers pre-order the Galaxy S24 series.

As with most devices, the answer to this question depends on your situation. Based on the leaks and rumors, it sounds like the Galaxy S24 series will have some notable improvements over the previous generation. But will those improvements be enough to justify ditching your current phone for this phone?

If you have a Galaxy S23, it’d probably be better to stick with the phone you have. But if you have a phone older than that, it may be worth it to consider picking this handset up. However, if you need a phone right now, there are plenty of solid alternatives like the just-launched Pixel 8 ($699 at Amazon), the beefier Pixel 8 Pro ($999 at Amazon), or the iPhone 15 Pro Max ($1199 at Amazon).

Samsung Galaxy S24 series: What we want to see

Samsung always brings something new to its latest smartphones. However, sometimes it updates things we don’t care about or doesn’t update the things we want to see fixed. Below, you’ll find three things we hope to see with the Galaxy S24 series. We don’t have any evidence to support these things coming or not, but our hopes are high.

In the United States, the OnePlus 11 charges at a blazing 80W. That’s fast enough to charge from zero to full in under 30 minutes.

We don’t expect Samsung to reach those heights when it comes to charging speeds on the Galaxy S24 series, unfortunately. Despite Samsung’s good work with the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 45W charging, the regular Galaxy S23 is still stuck at 25W. With this in mind, we hope to see some advancements from Samsung in this regard.

Historically, Samsung has been on the slower end when it comes to rolling out increased charging speeds. It’s possible this could be lingering unease related to the debacle surrounding the Galaxy Note 7 series (that phone was at risk of exploding due to faulty batteries). We can’t blame the company for being conservative in response to that, but competitors are really slaying the market when it comes to charging, and Samsung can’t stay stagnant for long.

Thankfully, an early rumor suggests we could see faster charging speeds on the Ultra and possibly the Plus model. This would be nice, but we’d like to see faster speeds on all devices, if possible.

Our friends in Europe and the United Kingdom certainly got some sticker shock this year when Galaxy S23 pricing landed. In Denmark, the top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 Ultra saw a price jump of 3,300 Krone, which is around $480. That’s a significant increase.

In 2024, we hope Samsung can keep this going. The company could get away with increasing the price of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, especially if it significantly improves the camera, as has been rumored. But we hope the base model, the Galaxy S24, stays the same price. That $799 price is the perfect sweet spot for value, and we’d hate for consumers to lose that.