Every beginning of the year, we call the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S model to be the worst-kept secret, and it continues to be the case this year with the Galaxy S24, with leaks pouring out information left and right. Well, the cat is soon to be out of the bag, as Samsung has finally announced that this year’s Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event will be happening on 18th January at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
The event is the earliest Samsung has held its first-half-of-the-year event since 2021 and the first to be held in California since 2020. It’s particularly noteworthy (no pun intended) that the company has chosen SAP Center, an indoor hockey arena, as the venue, as it’s a mere 13km away from Apple Park—the site of all iPhone launches—in Cupertino.
Samsung is making a big push into AI with its latest devices, promising to offer an “all-new mobile experience” powered by the technology with the S24 with something it calls Galaxy AI. The use of multi-star iconography in the video above—the kind also seen on many generative AI models like ChatGPT and Bard—only reinforces this.
What to expect with the Samsung Galaxy S24?
We already know plenty regarding the S24, thanks to leaks of both the specs and the looks of all three phones—the S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra. The base models looks set to retain the “floating lens” design pioneered by last year’s S23 but adopt very iPhone-like flat rails, whereas the S24 Ultra should get a very similar design to the S23 and S22 Ultra—albeit with a titanium frame (also used on the iPhone 15 Pro) and a flat front and back (finally, no more curved screen!).
As for specs, the S24 series is expected to be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, which features built-in generative AI support which should power the S24’s Galaxy AI features. These include a live call translation feature Samsung already announced late last year, along with rumoured camera enhancements such as object recognition and a Photo Remaster feature that will likely let you remove or edit objects.
It should be noted that the 8 Gen 3 may not be offered in all regions, at least on the base S24. Rumour has it that this device will utilise a new Exynos 2400 outside the US and China, and even the S24+ is set to use it on certain variants—unfortunate for those of us who prefer Snapdragon chips. Samsung appears to be going back to touting its Exynos chips in some markets, with the S23 FE using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in the US and the Exynos 2200 elsewhere in the world (including Malaysia).
What about the cameras?
On the camera side, the latest leak indicates that Samsung will continue to use a 50MP main camera, 12MP ultra-wide and 10MP 3x telephoto on the S24 and S24+, the same ones that debuted on the S22 back in 2022. The company is at least following in the footsteps of the iPhone and Google Pixel by offering a 2x “optical zoom” feature through a crop of the main sensor.
The S24 Ultra, meanwhile, will use the same 200MP main camera that debuted on the S23 Ultra last year, but the big news this year will be the addition of a 50MP 5x telephoto that replaces the 10MP 10x periscope telephoto; Samsung will retain the 10x “optical zoom” function through a crop of that sensor.
One new function for video is the ISOCELL Zoom Anyplace feature that uses the 200MP main camera and the AI smarts of the 8 Gen 3 chip to provide fast-paced subject tracking and stabilisation. This also adds dual recording of the full frame and a zoomed-in crop (both in 4K), as well as the ability to zoom into a certain subject—even at the edge of the frame—without moving the camera.
Register interest to receive RM400 voucher, gifts
To sweeten the deal, Samsung Malaysia is offering a couple of freebies for those who register their interest on the official website. The company will give you an eVoucher worth up to RM400 to spend at its store; you’ll also be in the running to win daily mystery gifts worth up to RM23,000.
