The Samsung Galaxy S23 line may have only come to market in February 2023, but that hasn’t stopped us looking ahead to what the Samsung Galaxy S24 might bring to the mobile table next year.
Samsung’s latest flagships are three of the best phones money can buy right now (read our Samsung Galaxy S23 review, Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus review and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review to find out why), and early signs suggest that the next few entries in the brand’s popular S series will continue to push boundaries for mobile performance and battery life.
Naturally, we’re still a while away from the release of the Samsung Galaxy S24 and its siblings, but we’ve nonetheless put together this one-stop-shop guide to all the latest news and rumors about Samsung’s next Galaxy S phones.
Samsung Galaxy S24: Release date
Samsung released its Galaxy S23 series in February this year (Image credit: Samsung)
January or February 2024 is likelyThere might not be a Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus
Given that Samsung only fairly recently lifted the lid on its Galaxy S23 line, we’re not expecting to see the brand’s Galaxy S24 smartphones released until 2024. That said, we can make an educated guess as to when these devices might appear.
Samsung debuted its Galaxy S23 phones at Galaxy Unpacked in February, with the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus and S23 Ultra all going on sale from February 17. The Samsung Galaxy S22 range was revealed around the same time a year prior, so we’d expect next year’s Galaxy Unpacked event – which will likely fall in either January or February – to play host to the launch of the Galaxy S24 line.
So far, the only Samsung Galaxy S24 release date rumor points to January, so that’s probably the most likely month.
It’s worth noting that we don’t yet know whether Samsung will again release three Galaxy models in the S24 line – a vanilla S24, an S24 Plus and an S24 Ultra. The company has stuck with a three-pronged release strategy every year since 2020, but The Elec reports that Samsung may be preparing to ditch the Plus variant due to “polarization in the flagship product market” and the “stagnation of the entire smartphone market”. Though we’ve elsewhere heard that the Plus is still planned.
Samsung Galaxy S24: Price
The Samsung Galaxy S23 is the cheapest model in the S23 line, and the standard S24 will likely follow suit (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Likely to be upwards of $799.99 / £849 / AU$1,349The Ultra could cost more than the S23 Ultra
We haven’t heard much about Samsung Galaxy S24 pricing, but using this year’s Galaxy S23 phones as a marker, though, we can safely assume that the vanilla S24, S24 Plus (which may not be arriving at all) and S24 Ultra will cost at least $799.99 / £849 / AU$1,349, $999.99/ £1,049 / AU$1,649, and $1,199.99 / £1,249 / AU$1,949, respectively.
However, one leak points to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra costing even more than the S23 Ultra, so you’d better get saving.
Samsung Galaxy S24: design and display
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is expected to improve upon its predecessor’s already impressive camera array (above) (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Likely to have roughly the same screen sizes as last yearIdentical designs to last year are rumored for the S24 and S24 PlusThe S24 Ultra might have a slightly different camera layout
Assuming there are three models in the S24 line, you’ll likely have to decide between the Galaxy S24’s 6.1-inch display, the Galaxy S24 Plus’s 6.6-inch one, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 6.8-inch screen (that’s assuming these phones adopt the same display sizes as their respective predecessors).
That said, the middle model might be marginally larger at 6.65 inches according to one Galaxy S24 Plus screen leak.
Unless Samsung rocks the boat, we’d expect the vanilla model and the S24 Plus to stick with the S23’s 120Hz AMOLED display (2340 x 1080 pixels), with the S24 Ultra sporting the S23 Ultra’s glorious dynamic AMOLED 2X panel (1440 x 3088 pixels), as well as its dynamic refresh rate that can scale between 1Hz and 120Hz. That might top out at 144Hz this time around though.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra boasts an AMOLED 2X display (Image credit: Peer Hoffmann)
However, one leak suggests both the Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S24 Plus will also be able to dynamically adjust their refresh rates between 1Hz and 120Hz. Their predecessors could only drop to 48Hz, so this would be a big upgrade, and could help improve battery life.
There’s also talk of a new, more power efficient M13 OLED panel at work on at least the S24 Ultra, with scale of production dictating whether this more power efficient panel also gets used on the S24 and S24 Plus.
Intriguingly, the actual look of the phones may be very different to what we’re used to. Samsung recently hired Hubert H. Lee, a former design executive at Mercedes-Benz, to lead its smartphone and smartwatch design department from 2023 and beyond, so the S24 and S24 Ultra may veer away from recent Galaxy S models in terms of aesthetics.
One leak also suggests we’ll see some non-specific design changes for the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus, along with smaller bezels. These two phones are rumored to be getting flatter around the edges, following the lead of the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
That said, another leak suggests that actually the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus will look identical to their predecessors, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra will only have a slightly tweaked camera layout. Another still says the S24 Ultra could flatten out its display and join the S24 and S24 Plus, leaving curved displays in the past.
We’ve also heard though that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra might use titanium for its frame, rather than the aluminum of its predecessor. Titanium is stronger, but also more expensive.
The same source has since made this claim again, though specifying that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will use a titanium alloy, and that it will apparently weight 233g. That’s 1g less than the S23 Ultra, and if the change in frame material is the main factor affecting the weight then that’s likely to mean the S24 Ultra will be substantially stronger than its predecessor.
Samsung Galaxy S24: camera and battery
Largely the same camera hardware as last year has been rumoredThe Galaxy S24 Ultra might have some upgrades to its 10x telephotoThe Ultra might have a 50MP telephoto camera
As for the phone’s cameras, tipster Ice Universe claimed that Samsung would replace the S23 Ultra’s telephoto sensor with a “new solution” on the S24 Ultra, while the phone’s main camera “will remain the same.”
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is expected to replace the telephoto sensor and adopt a new solution. I think the main camera will remain the same or be slightly changed.December 28, 2022
More recently, another tweet from RGcloudS suggests the S24 Ultra will adopt a “Gen4 optics” zoom camera design to “significantly improve” the phone’s zoom capabilities.
In practice, that could mean a wider 2.5-2.9 aperture and the possibility of 150x digital zoom on the S24 Ultra, which would offer better low-light performance than its predecessor and trump the latter’s already impressive 100x Space Zoom capabilities.
We’ve elsewhere heard that these upgrades could mean a variable telephoto camera, which can move between 3x optical zoom and 10x. It’s not totally clear whether it would be able to optically zoom to levels between those two (such as 5x) or just to those two levels though. Either way, it would mean only one telephoto lens is needed rather than two.
Disappointingly though the same source has since said that while this feature was planned, it now won’t be happening, and that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have the same cameras as the S23 Ultra, other than “minor improvements” to the 10x zoom lens. That would mean a 200MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, a 10MP 3x telephoto and likely a 10MP 10x telephoto.
They also add that apparently the standard Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus will have the same 50MP main camera as their predecessors.
That said, another source claims that Samsung will use a 1-inch sensor in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. This would allow more light in, likely improving low light shots and dynamic range. However, the source doesn’t have much of a track record, so we’re skeptical.
Indeed, Ice Universe – who was one of the original sources pointing to a variable optical zoom – has since returned with detailed camera specs from “Korean sources” and they don’t include either a variable zoom or a 1-inch sensor.
According to Korean sources,The S24 Ultra rear camera has not changed except for the negligible adjustment of 10x. pic.twitter.com/wGTaStUAQ0June 11, 2023
In fact, they’re exactly the same specs as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has, including exactly the same sensors, with the only different being a ‘+’ version of one of the sensors being used instead, which they claim makes for a “negligible” improvement.
But in a more recent leak, the same source has said the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a new 50MP 3x zoom telephoto camera, which is at odds with their claim above.
Another source has echoed this 50MP camera claim, but said the other cameras will all have the same megapixel numbers as on the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
So the leaks are a bit all over the place, but most of them now point to minimal camera changes for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra at least, with less known about the cameras on the other models.
When it comes to the selfie camera, it looks like there won’t be any change: we’ll get a 12MP camera again, and no under-display technology. Once upon a time the Ultra model got an upgraded selfie camera, but not any more.
As for the battery, that might see improvements, with a report claiming that Samsung is working on an electric-vehicle style battery for smartphones.
This would use a stacked rather than rolled design, allowing for 10% greater capacity in the same space. Though whether this will be ready in time for the Galaxy S24 is less clear.
We’ve also seen a certification pointing to a 4,900mAh battery in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and a 5,000mAh one in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. That would mean a slight upgrade for the Plus model, as the S23 Plus was 4,700mAh, but no change for the Ultra.
We’ve since heard 5,000mAh mentioned again for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, along with 45W charging, which is the same charging power as the S23 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S24: specs and features
Expect an extremely powerful new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipsetSamsung might have an exclusive ‘for Galaxy’ version of the chipsetMight use an Exynos 2400 in some regions or modelsMore baseline RAM than the last few generations
Under the hood, the phones will probably be running Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon chipset, which looks set to be the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 come 2024.
That said, some regions might get an Exynos 2400 instead, which will probably be slightly less powerful. Alternatively, Samsung might equip the standard Galaxy S24 with an Exynos 2400, while the Plus and Ultra models get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
In any case, every model in the Galaxy S23 line runs on a bespoke version of Qualcomm’s already impressive Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, so the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 versions of the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra are sure to be even more powerful handsets than their predecessors. The Exynos models likely will be too, but perhaps not to the same extent.
Indeed, a recent leak suggests that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will be significantly faster than the 8 Gen 2, with the Galaxy-specific version of the chipset set to beat Apple’s upcoming A17 Bionic “on paper.” In other words, the Samsung Galaxy S24 and its larger siblings could be faster than the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro and much-rumored iPhone 15 Ultra (although these speed gains are likely to be negligible).
Snapdragon gen 3 is indeed strongBigger jump compared to last genApparently the main contributor was arm itself, especially X4 & 1,4,3 configi think it’s almost confirmed that gen3 for galaxy will beat bionic 17 frequency”on paper”up to 3.7+ghz for mobileMarch 3, 2023
To get more granular, leaker RGcloudS claims that the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will boast a high-performance Cortex-X4 core clocked at 3.7GHz, four low-frequency performance cores and three efficiency-focused cores. For comparison, the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 boasts a 3.2GHz clock speed, meaning its successor looks set to be 15% more powerful.
It’s currently unclear whether the Galaxy-specific version of Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will be even faster, but 3.7GHz nonetheless marks a sizable increase over the S23’s 3.36GHz clock speed.
Having said all that, a possible benchmark for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus shows this chipset as topping out at 3.3Ghz, and having a different configuration of cores to the above.
We’re more inclined to believe a benchmark, and if this is accurate then its performance might be similar to the A16 Bionic, but is unlikely to match the A17 Bionic, though things could always improve before launch. The benchmark also lists the Galaxy S24 Plus as having 8GB of RAM and running Android 14.
We’ve also heard that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra might come with up to 2TB of storage (which is double what the S23 Ultra has), and that the 256GB model might have 12GB of RAM. Though oddly this source also claims that there’s a chance of a 128GB/8GB model, despite the S23 Ultra starting at 256GB.
Contradicting the quoted memory above, however, the same industry sources that stated the Ultra (and possibly the other S24 models) will get an M13 OLED display also claim that the baseline amount of RAM might increase across the board; with the standard Galaxy S24 starting at 12GB (rather than the current 8GB) and a jump to 16GB for the S24 Ultra.
Finally, Samsung might swap from Google to Bing for its default search engine on devices, which is sure to please Microsoft and almost no one else. Then again, a more recent report says this won’t be happening.