Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus hands-on: Small changes, again

The Samsung Galaxy S24 series is now official, and I’ve had the opportunity to use all three new phones. More than ever, the Galaxy S24 series feels like an iterative update to Samsung’s formula, and the truth is it’s difficult to get excited about these phones. The designs are similar to the 2023 handsets, the specs haven’t changed in many key areas, and Samsung’s main focus for new handsets is leaning into its new Galaxy AI features that I’m not certain anyone is clamoring for on their phone.

The Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ don’t get the top-end features you get on the flagship phone, which we’ve tried separately and you can read all about in our Galaxy S24 Ultra hands-on. Here I’ll be talking about the two other models. It’s worth noting first that the gap has grown again between these two models. For the last few years, the standard S model and the Plus variant have been similarly specced. The Galaxy S24+ feels closer to the Ultra than the last few S series phones from Samsung, and it may be this is the phone to beat this time around.

The most iPhone-like Galaxy yet

Samsung hasn’t made any radical changes to the design for either phone, but this is the most iPhone-like Galaxy handset I’ve ever held. When you pick up either of these two devices, especially the larger model, you’ll notice it. I think a big part of it is down to the new evenly-spaced bezel that runs around the entirety of the front of the phone in the same thickness that Samsung says is more aesthetically pleasing.

This iPhone-like feel isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does show that Samsung isn’t being as playful with its design as many Android fans want. We want Android phones to look and feel different, but this is neither a big departure from the last few years of S handsets nor all that different from what else is on the market. The displays are both slightly larger by 0.1 inches at 6.2-inches and 6.7-inches. I didn’t particularly notice that when holding either of these phones, though.

The Samsung Galaxy S24

The big notable change here is the Galaxy S24+ has moved back to a QHD display for the first time in three years. Every plus model since the Galaxy S21+ has featured a Full HD display, which always felt like an odd move to me. We were used to QHD displays on the larger variants, and then Samsung took it away for a while. Samsung has seen fit to change it this year. The Galaxy S24 remains Full HD, but it now joins the rest of the series with a 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rate screen.

I’ve used both phones intermittently for around an hour and a half, and both of them had strong displays during that time. Brightness seems impressive, and I liked the clarity on each. The performance seemed good in my limited time with the handsets, but I didn’t get to do much intensive testing with either of the phones. You’ll have to await our full review for a complete picture of that.

In the US, all Galaxy S24 series phones feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which should bode well for good performance. The Galaxy S24 features 8GB of RAM with options of either 128GB or 256GB of storage, while the Galaxy S24+ comes with 12GB of RAM with options of 256GB or 512GB. If you want larger storage, you’ll need to opt for the Ultra model, as none of the three handsets feature microSD support.

Samsung is gently increasing its battery sizes with each generation. The Galaxy S24 now features a 4,000mAh (compared to the S23’s 3,900mAh) while the Galaxy S24+ features a 4,900mAh cell which is 200mAh more than last year’s model. I’m hopeful that will mean improvements to overall battery life, and last year’s models did admirably in our review process, so this should mean solid battery life across the board. The Galaxy S24 features fast charging at 25W, while the Galaxy S24+ goes up to 45W, but as ever, you’ll need to buy a specific PPS charger to get those speeds.

The Samsung Galaxy S24+

The camera here is remarkably similar to last year, with both phones featuring a 50MP wide camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP telephoto. That telephoto is capable of 3x optical zoom with digital zoom delivering up to 30x on both of these phones. Samsung says there are a variety of software changes to help improve imagery, including improvements to nighttime photography, but we’ll see how that works in our full review before commenting on these changes. If you’re upgrading from an older Android phone, you’ll likely be impressed with what this camera can do, but if you own a Galaxy S23, we don’t expect there to be much reason to upgrade in the camera department.

Each of these handsets now includes Samsung’s guarantee of seven years of Android OS updates. Each features One UI 6.1 at launch, which is its version of Android 14, and you can expect it to get software upgrades all the way through to Android 21. That’s impressive considering two years ago the company was only guaranteeing two years of updates. This new policy matches Google’s updates on its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.

If anything’s new, it’s AI

Onto the AI features, and this is where you can expect Samsung to lean into this year in terms of marketing and its reasoning for why you should buy one of these phones. Expect many of these features to come to other Samsung phones with time, but for now, they’re exclusive to the Galaxy S24 series.

First up is a new Google feature called Circle to Search. Hold down the on screen home button and you’ll see a flash across the UI, then circle anything you see on the phone’s screen with your finger and it’ll do a Google Lens-like search for that image. In my limited testing of the feature, it worked perfectly, being able to identify relatively small London landmarks like the Crystal Palace dinosaurs with ease.

Samsung, and therefore Google, believes this feature will allow you to identify things like what someone is wearing quicker than ever. It’s neat in concept, but despite Samsung’s promotion, you won’t actually need to buy a Galaxy S24 to try it. It’s launching on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro today as well, bringing this new feature to Google’s latest hardware right alongside Samsung’s.

The other big element is AI editing for photography. The main example I was able to test was Samsung’s method of getting rid of reflections in imagery, which is automatically suggested whenever it spots a reflection in your image. You can see below a quick example of how this worked, and I was largely impressed with what it was able to do. It isn’t perfect, but the example I gave the phone to do was particularly hard.

Other features include a remaster feature for imagery, which you’re more likely to use for images you upload to the phone from other sources. I’ll be interested to see how it does with my Google Photos back catalog from much older phones, but I don’t currently see much use for this for photographs from this phone in the future.

Is 2024 the time to buy a new Samsung phone?

The truth is the Galaxy S24 series is more of the same, and it’s hard to identify which features here will change the way you use your phone if you own either a Galaxy S23 or a Galaxy S22 series handset. If you’re looking to upgrade from a much older phone, this is a good time to do it, but don’t expect anything game-changing here from the last few years.

The battery life is likely solid, we’re expecting good everyday performance, and the fact Samsung is matching Google on seven years of software updates is a joy for anyone who wants to keep their phone for longer than just a couple of years. If you buy the Galaxy S24, this could be the phone to see you through at least the next five years. Look out for our full reviews of each of these phones in the coming weeks, or, if you’re convinced, pre-order yours now. It’ll be on store shelves come January 31st.

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  Samsung Galaxy S24

  Samsung’s smallest smartphone gets a big upgrade in 2024. With new flat edges and a slightly larger display, this feels every bit as premium as its bigger brothers without taking up as much space in your pocket. And the new focus on AI should mean One UI is smarter than ever.

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  Samsung Galaxy S24+

  Samsung’s middle child might be the one to buy this year. With a display nearly as large — and as sharp — as its Ultra-sized big brother, you’re getting a premium phone experience without spending as much cash. Add in all of Samsung’s new Galaxy AI features, and it’s a pretty exciting upgrade from older devices.