Samsung unveiled its current flagship phones, the Galaxy S24 series, during the company's Unpacked event on January 17, 2024, and released the phones on January 31.
Samsung's flagship lineup includes the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus, and Galaxy S24 Ultra. Beyond the usual processor upgrade that comes with every new generation, each Galaxy S24 model received other updates, ranging from design tweaks to changes to screen sizes and a big change to the Galaxy S24 Ultra's headlining camera specs.
Samsung's leading upgrade, however, is its Galaxy AI software, powered by Qualcomm and Google, which enables helpful features and enhancements to photography. All these upgrades combined to ensure that most of the latest Galaxy phones earned a place in our guide to the best Android phones of this year.
Samsung Galaxy S24: Price and release date
At launch, the base Galaxy S24 started at $799.99, the Galaxy S24 Plus at $999.99, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra at $1,299.99. It was familiar pricing for Samsung's premium flagship phones, except the Galaxy S24 Ultra cost $100 more than the previous generation.
Samsung released the Galaxy S24 phones on January 31, 2024, with availability from the Samsung website, carriers like Verizon and AT&T, and retailers like Amazon and Best Buy.
Trade-in offers from Samsung and carriers can go a long way in making the Galaxy S24 phones more affordable. Depending on your old phone and which Galaxy S24 model you're looking to buy, you could get a new phone for free.
Samsung has also periodically discounted its list pricing of the Galaxy S24 phones in various ways. For instance, Samsung's current starting price for the Galaxy S24 Plus is $924.99, a $75 discount from its launch price, and buying the phone in the Samsung-exclusive "Sandstone Orange" colorway takes an additional $200 off.
Samsung Galaxy S24: New features
Samsung made a few changes to every model in the Galaxy S24 lineup, but the Galaxy S24 Ultra received the bulk of the updates over previous models.
All of Samsung's Galaxy S24 phones run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Optimized for Galaxy processor. As expected, the Galaxy S24 series offers among the smoothest and fastest experiences on a smartphone, whether in light or heavy use. In terms of benchmark scores, the Galaxy S24 series scored higher than all competing Android phones we tested in 2024.
Samsung made some minor changes to screen size compared to previous generations. The base Galaxy S24 model is now 6.2 inches instead of 6.1, and the Galaxy S24 Plus is now 6.7 inches rather than 6.6 inches. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the same 6.8 inches as previous models, but Samsung finally, and thankfully, ditched the curved display edges for flat edges.
As we note in our Galaxy S24 Ultra review, the Ultra model's metal body upgraded from aluminum to titanium, contributing to a slightly thinner design. Otherwise, the Galaxy S24 Ultra isn't any lighter than previous aluminum models. Still, combined with the flat display, the Galaxy S24 Ultra's titanium frame looks gorgeous.
The base Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus also got a slight redesign with less rounded, more rectangular edges.
Samsung switched the Galaxy S24 Ultra's second zoom camera from an expected 10x optical zoom lens to a 5x optical zoom lens. Still, the Galaxy S24 Ultra can take photos with optical-quality 10x zoom with a pixel binning technique, which basically crops into the 5x lens' 50MP sensor. However, the spec discrepancy is a fairly major change to one of the Galaxy Ultra lineup's biggest party tricks and a feature that had long separated the best Samsung phone (specs-wise) from its high-end competitors among the best phones.
It seemed like a downgrade, but according to Samsung, the reason behind switching from a 10x lens to a 5x lens was the way most people use the Galaxy Ultra's zoom camera. The company said more people take photos around the 5x zoom range than in the 10x range. With that in mind, switching the second zoom lens from 10x to 5x makes sense, and our testing found better-quality photos in the 5x zoom range year over year.
Zoom ranges beyond 10x, when digital zooming takes over, are enhanced with AI. Many phone makers use AI to enhance digitally zoomed photos, but it just doesn't compare to photos taken with optical zoom, no matter how much AI Samsung throws at them.
On the topic of AI, Samsung made a big deal about AI and the features it enables in the Galaxy S24 lineup. In collaboration with Google, Samsung has applied its "Galaxy AI" software to photo editing and search features. One of the major new AI features is the "Circle to Search" function from Google, where users can circle or highlight any aspect of the phone's screen to search for the entailed image or information. It works surprisingly well, and I find myself missing it when I'm testing any phone that lacks the feature.
AI also powers Samsung's take on Google's Magic Eraser and Magic Editor, which lets you move or remove objects (or subjects) in photos from the Samsung Gallery app. Both features are best used on smaller objects, and in our testing, they're not on par with Google's equivalent features on the best Google Pixel phones.
The Galaxy S24 phones also have typing-based AI features designed to help you write in an appropriate tone of voice, depending on who you're writing to. Among the other new features in the Galaxy AI suite is a "Live Translate" function that enables two-way voice and text translations of calls in real time.
And for the Galaxy S24 Ultra with the S Pen, AI can summarize your hand-written notes, automatically format them digitally, and check spelling and grammar. These work surprisingly well, and they're worthy features for an upgrade if you're a fan of Samsung's S Pen.
As our Galaxy S24 review notes, Samsung's base model offers slower charging (25W) than its more expensive siblings (45W). Otherwise, the standard Galaxy S24 provides unbeatable value at its price point, which secured its spot as our top overall pick for the best Android phone in 2024.
Samsung Galaxy S24: Specs
| Specs | Galaxy S24 | Galaxy S24 Plus | Galaxy S24 Ultra |
| Display | 6.2 inches, FHD+, AMOLED, 1-120Hz | 6.7 inches, QHD+, AMOLED, 1-120Hz | 6.8 inches, QHD+, AMOLED, 1-120Hz |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Optimized for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Optimized for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Optimized for Galaxy |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB | 256GB, 512GB | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Rear cameras | 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom | 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom | 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom, 50MP 5x zoom |
| Front camera | 12MP | 12MP | 12MP |
| Battery and charging | 4,000mAh; 25W wired charging, up to 15W wireless charging | 4,900mAh; 45W wired charging, up to 15W wireless charging | 5,000mAh; 45W wired charging, up to 15W wireless charging |
| Starting price | $799.99 | $949.99 | $1,299.99 |
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