The Galaxy S24 feels better than ever — and more like an iPhone

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Samsung’s latest Android flagship is in some respects similar to the iPhone.

It’s a tale as old as time (or at least as old as the Galaxy S line), and often overblown; there are only so many ways to design a phone, and a lot of companies use similar tricks. That said, bear with me here: the new Galaxy S24 really feels a lot like an iPhone.

That might seem especially odd given that, at first glance, Samsung hasn’t really changed much about the standard S24 and S24+’s design language. The sizes haven’t changed much, the body is still built from aluminum and Gorilla Glass, and the flat back packs an identical-looking triple rear camera. What you might not spot from product renders and hands-on shots is that the new S24 models feature one change: flat sides. Just like a certain Cupertino company has used since the iPhone 12.

It’s a relatively small tweak, but one that made both me and AP editor-in-chief James Peckham immediately remark on how iPhoney the phones feel within seconds of picking them up. It’s an effect exacerbated by the move to a more symmetrical bezel around the display, achieved by trimming a precious few pixels from the new phones’ chins, and even more noticeable on the S24+, since its larger display is a little closer to Apple’s boxy form factor.

Let me be clear: this is no bad thing. The S24 may feel a little more Apple, but it also just feels better than last year’s phones. Holding an S23 and S24 side-by-side, there’s an ineffable edge to the newer phone, a slick, premium quality that’s probably 90% design and 10% association with the other guys.

Samsung has — subtly — made the design its own at least. While the bezel may be symmetrical, the body isn’t quite. The rear edge, where the frame meets the phone’s back, has been softened ever so slightly to reduce the feeling of the phone digging into your palm. Samsung may have taken a page out of Apple’s book, but it’s arguably done one better along the way.

Phablet fans may be pleased to know that none of this applies to the S24 Ultra. That phone still feels distinctly Samsung, with the blocky build that has defined most of the Ultra and Note devices, and it retains a curved frame on its sides.

Even with the Ultra’s move to a flat display and titanium body — two changes that the Internet was quick to point out bring it closer to the iPhone — you’d never mistake this phone for anything else, for better or worse.

I probably wouldn’t even be writing about how the S24 feels in the hand if the phone brought bigger upgrades to the table. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is welcome, of course, though the jump to a 1-120Hz LTPO display in every model is the bigger draw for me. Neither could be described as a game-changer though.

And with the S24 arriving hot on the heels of news that Apple has overtaken Samsung in global phone shipments, it’s hard to imagine that straight sides and a new chipset are likely to turn the tide, and nor are the much-hyped array of ‘Galaxy AI’ machine learning tricks.

So sure, Samsung’s flagship phone looks and feels better than it ever has before. But right now, I’m pretty sure that’s not enough.