Samsung’s newest smartphone packs a plethora of the most recent flashy AI gear in an try to enhance textual content, pictures, video and seek – with each hits and misses.
The brand new Galaxy S24 Extremely comes supplied with a mix of Samsung and Google’s newest AI layered on peak of one of the succesful telephones in the marketplace, crammed to the brim with competition-beating specifications.
All this capacity comes at a steep £1,249 (€1,469/$1,299.99/A$2,199), which is identical value as its predecessor in the United Kingdom however dearer in the USA and different areas.
The total design differs handiest iteratively from predecessors, with a completely flat relatively than curved display and new titanium aspects, very similar to the iPhone 15 Professional Max, which provides it a gripper end and in concept makes it more potent and harder. The display has Corning’s newest Gorilla Armor glass this is extra scratch-resistant and far much less reflective, considerably lowering glare which, mixed with the super-bright display, makes the use of it outside as simple as indoors even at the sunniest of days.
The S24 Extremely has the most recent top-of-the-range chip from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, providing a 20% pace build up, 26% sooner graphics and larger energy potency on earlier generations. This can be a very rapid telephone that handles video games, not easy apps and multitasking with aplomb, however the prolonged battery existence is extra noticeable in daily use.
The telephone lasts as much as 60 hours of basic use when taking footage, surfing, messaging and the use of 5G for a few hours with the remaining on wifi, making it one of the vital longest-lasting telephones I’ve examined. Top-end gaming or extra extensive duties hit battery existence – an hour of Diablo Immortal fed on 18% of the battery. However differently I handiest had to fee it each and every 3rd day.
Specs
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Major display: 6.8in QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X (500ppi) 120Hz
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Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
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RAM: 12GB
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Garage: 256, 512GB or 1TB
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Running gadget: One UI 6.1 in keeping with Android 14
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Digicam: 200MP + 12MP 0.6x + 10MP 3x + 50MP 5x; 12MP front-facing
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Connectivity: 5G, USB-C, wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, UWB and GNSS
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Water resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)
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Dimensions: 162.3 x 79 x 8.6mm
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Weight: 232g
Sustainability
Samsung does now not supply an anticipated lifespan for the battery nevertheless it will have to final in way over 500 complete fee cycles with a minimum of 80% of its unique capability.
The telephone is in most cases repairable. Display upkeep price about £270, whilst the battery is replaceable through accepted provider centres. Samsung additionally gives a self-repair programme.
The telephone comprises recycled aluminium, metal, cobalt, glass, plastic and uncommon earth parts. Samsung gives trade-in and recycling schemes for previous units. The corporate publishes annual sustainability experiences however now not have an effect on tests for person merchandise.
S Pen, seven years of make stronger and AI in all places
The S24 Extremely has Samsung’s fan-favourite S Pen stylus that slides smartly into the ground. It is very good for speedy scribbles, doodles or enhancing paperwork. The One UI 6.1 device, in keeping with Android 14, is full of customisation choices and gear around the gadget and runs neatly. New for 2024 is the promise of device and safety updates for seven years from free up, bringing Samsung as much as par with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Pixel 8 with handiest Fairphone providing longer.
The flashiest additions are in keeping with generative AI, only a few of which might be hits and lots of are merely catching up with the contest. The telephone has the similar cool AI wallpaper generator because the Pixel 8 Professional. The keyboard has more than a few AI gear in-built, together with language translation, complex grammar and spelling, plus the power to rewrite your messages in more than a few kinds equivalent to with a certified, well mannered or informal tone. It makes you sound a little generic, however I will see it being helpful for many who fight to write down suitable emails to their boss.
The Samsung Notes app can summarise paperwork, however handiest the ones beneath 8,000 characters (about 1,500 phrases), which turns out a leave out. The Samsung Web browser too can summarise articles, even very lengthy ones, with a minimum of superficially spectacular effects.
The voice recorder app can transcribe to textual content, however now not in genuine time like Google’s model. The telephone app can do real-time voice translation, so you’ll be able to try to grasp a dialog throughout languages. It really works neatly sufficient for extra formal issues equivalent to creating a reservation, however predictably struggles with extra informal language and slang.
I wouldn’t agree with any of those options wholeheartedly with out totally checking the output, however they’re helpful in a pinch.
Generative Edit within the picture gallery app is Samsung’s model of the Google Magic Editor on Pixel telephones. It is in a position to resize, reframe, erase or transfer gadgets and different edits, the use of AI on a server to regenerate the picture every time. It is very good for speedy tweaks that will require firing up Photoshop to do correctly, however too can make a proper mess of items. Any pictures edited with AI are watermarked with somewhat image within the backside left nook in order that other folks can inform it’s now not totally unique.
One distinctive function is the power to transform any video to gradual movement, the use of AI to generate the extra frames with some beautiful nice effects, so long as you don’t glance too onerous for artefacts.
Finally, Circle to Seek is a brand new Google function at the S24 and Google’s Pixel 8 collection. Dangle the house button or gesture bar, circle what you’re in search of to your display together with your finger or stylus and Google does the remaining, appearing you details about an actor, in search of a work of clothes or the highlighted textual content. It’s rapid, environment friendly and temporarily was 2d nature. Technically Google Lens has been ready to do one thing equivalent, however by no means on this intuitive and fast approach.
Digicam
There are 4 cameras at the again of the telephone and a just right 12-megapixel selfie digicam on the peak of the display. 4 of the cameras are the similar because the S23 Extremely, together with the primary 200MP digicam, the 12MP ultrawide and 10MP 3x telephoto generating similarly spectacular effects.
New for the S24 Extremely is a 50MP 5x telephoto digicam, changing the 10MP 10x from its predecessor, which will additionally carry out an in-sensor zoom for 10x magnification. The 5x magnification provides but some other instrument to the S24 Extremely’s armoury, and in side-by-side comparability it’s very tough to inform the variation at 10x zoom to pictures from its predecessor.
All in, the S24 Extremely has probably the most succesful and adaptable digicam gadget of any smartphone.
Value
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely prices from £1,249 (€1,469/$1,299.99/A$2,199) with 256GB of garage.
For comparability, the Galaxy S24 prices £799, the S24+ prices £999, the Z Fold 5 prices £1,749, the Google Pixel 8 Professional prices £999 and the iPhone 15 Professional Max prices £1,199.
Verdict
The Galaxy S24 Extremely is the Swiss military knife of telephones. This can be a monolithic slab of top rate titanium and glass that may just about do the whole lot.
Between the tough device, the stylus, the highest chip, lengthy battery existence, super display and the great adaptable digicam that out zooms the contest, there’s little the S24 can’t organize. It might even turn out to be a complete Android desktop pc plugged right into a observe and keyboard if you need. And with a complete seven years of device make stronger you’ll be able to safely use the telephone for longer.
The AI options are a little hit-and-miss. Some are definitely helpful, however none of them are a reason why to shop for this actual telephone over a Pixel or others as Google’s Circle to Seek will come to different Androids quickly. Word too that the details states that each one of them are unfastened to make use of till a minimum of the tip of 2025, however some would possibly include an additional price after that.
It should handiest be an iterative replace on its predecessors and different telephones would possibly do positive bits higher, however now not many can do all that and extra. However you do pay an overly heavy value each within the pockets and measurement for the potential. The S24 Extremely is a large telephone and in a global stuffed with foldable units, it appears to be like more and more dull without reference to its stellar efficiency.
Execs: implausible display, probably the most succesful digicam with 3x, 5x and 10x optical zoom, new AI gear, just right device with seven years make stronger, S Pen stylus, peak efficiency, very lengthy battery existence, comprises recycled fabrics.
Cons: huge, heavy, extraordinarily dear, S Pen could also be superfluous function for lots of, AI options now not a reason why to shop for.
