Samsung Electronics is set to unveil its next line-up of flagship smartphones, the first major release of 2024, which is expected to be an interesting year for the market.
The world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer is scheduled to announce the line-up at its Unpacked event on January 17 at the SAP Centre in San Jose, California – Apple's home turf.
Seoul-based Samsung continues to lead the global smartphone market, with a 20 per cent share as of the third quarter of 2023, Counterpoint data shows.
Its biggest rival, Apple, is second with 16 per cent, followed by China’s Oppo and Xiaomi, with 14 per cent each.
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The National takes a look at what is expected at round one of Unpacked 2024.
What and how many devices will Samsung launch?
Barring any major surprises, Samsung will introduce the Galaxy S24 series, the latest version of one of the market's most popular smartphones.
For the fifth straight year, three devices are expected: the entry-level Galaxy S24, the Galaxy S24+ and the premium Galaxy S24 Ultra.
All of Samsung's Galaxy S line-up in the past four cycles, except for the S22, eventually had an FE (Fan Edition) model.
Key upgrades in store
The usual upgrades are in store, including improvements to its camera, build and, most notably, artificial intelligence capabilities, but more on that later.
Interestingly, it has been reported that Samsung will be using titanium – the same material Apple used on its latest iPhone 15 Pro models.
Like Apple, Samsung is expected to use titanium – lighter yet more durable – on the high-end Galaxy S24 Ultra.
In The National's review last year of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, we suggested that Samsung had put too much focus on the camera.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, given that it is one of the key components of a smartphone, but the focus may shift this year amid the AI craze.
How much AI would we see?
Given market trends, the rise of generative AI, an apparent growth in demand for AI-related services and Samsung's own teaser, it is certain the company will focus on introducing more AI features to the Galaxy S24.
Smartphones have used AI for a while, most prominently in digital voice assistants such as Samsung's Bixby, Apple's Siri and Google Assistant, as well as through incorporating machine learning capabilities to make devices smarter and tailored to user behaviour.
The more-AI-in-smartphones saga has even prompted ChatGPT maker OpenAI, former Apple design guru Jony Ive and SoftBank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son to collaborate and try to create the “iPhone of artificial intelligence”.
We can expect Samsung to ramp up its AI features on the Galaxy S24, including those for tweaking photos and managing, transcribing and translating calls.
Indeed, the company, during its November AI Forum in Seoul, unveiled Gauss, its platform that is capable of generating text, code and images – formally joining the generative AI race and challenging ChatGPT.
And that teaser? Samsung on Thursday said it will be opening experience zones at select cities across the world – Dubai included – to showcase the capabilities of its new Galaxy AI platform.
Key specs
There's nothing official, but German website WinFuture said it was able to get hold of the Galaxy S24 line-up's spec sheet.
For the S24 and S24+, their displays are slightly bigger at 6.2 inches and 6.7 inches, respectively, compared to their predecessors' 6.1 inches and 6.6 inches.
Both will have a triple-lens camera, with a 50MP main sensor, plus 10MP telephoto and 12MP ultra-wide lenses, and 30x Space Zoom. They will also use the Samsung Exynos 2400 chip.
The S24 Ultra, meanwhile, is expected to retain its 6.8-inch screen size. It will have a quad-lens camera bannered by a 200MP “super quad pixel” lens, plus two telephoto lenses with resolutions of 50MP and 10MP, and a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and 100x Space Zoom. It will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor.
Save for the 50MP bump-up on one of the S24 Ultra's telephoto lenses, that's practically the same camera specs as last year's S23 series.
Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 series
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Colour options for the S24 and S24+ are cobalt violet, amber yellow, onyx black and marble grey, while the titanium-clad S24 Ultra will have titanium black, titanium grey, titanium violet and titanium yellow.
As for storage, the S24 will apparently come in only 128GB and 256GB, with 8GB of RAM, losing the 512GB option, while the S24+ will retain 256GB and 512GB with 8GB of RAM.
The S24 Ultra, meanwhile, won't have a 128GB option, and will come in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB, all with 12GB of RAM; the S23 Ultra's 256GB came with only 8GB of RAM.
It's also been rumoured that Samsung has improved the devices' cooling system, which will help with another reportedly improved feature – gaming. The company is apparently positioning its devices to be more gamer-friendly to cater to that growing market.
How much will the S24 devices cost?
The spec sheet revealed by WinFuture showed that the starting prices of the Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra are €899 ($990), €1,149 ($1,260) and €1,449 ($1,590), respectively.
They are more expensive than their predecessors, which, at their launch, were priced at $799, $999 and $1,199. These price tags, however, will vary by region. It's expected that US pricing will remain the same.
Will Samsung launch anything else?
While the flagship smartphones are always the stars of Unpacked, never discount the possibility of Samsung introducing other hardware, such as smartwatches, laptops and audio devices, as well as new software updates to boost its ecosystem.
And since Samsung is launching the Galaxy S24 in the US – unlike the Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 that were launched in South Korea, surprisingly the first-ever Unpacked held on Samsung's home turf – we may not expect any cameo appearances from K-pop stars. Sorry, fans.
Updated: January 13, 2024, 3:00 AM
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