Phone upgrades are more incremental than ever — is titanium enough to get you hyped?
What a start to this year. While I’m busy recovering from my first-ever CES — I’m not sure I was prepared for just how exhausting that show could be, even with last year’s MWC under my belt — the rumor mill has continued churning. We’re just a few days away from the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series, which seems certain to keep me occupied through the end of the month. That’s not even including the near-simultaneous global launch of the OnePlus 12. With four smartphones arriving over the next couple of weeks, it’s enough to keep any AP reader excited.
Or is it? While we already know nearly everything there is to know about the OnePlus 12 — an early launch in China will do that — that’s not technically true for Samsung’s upcoming trio. Sure, leaks have left little to the imagination: a titanium chassis on the Ultra, the likely return of international Exynos models for the smaller two phones, and a big focus on AI all seem certain. Even last minute leaks, including the likelihood of a Google-matching seven years of support policy, make it difficult to feel truly excited about what otherwise seems like a routine iteration.
Of course, that’s where the entire mobile ecosystem is these days. 2023 was chock full of excellent smartphones, and more surprises than I had expected this time last year. It’s possible that 2024 delivers similar results, though starting off with what seems like a fairly similar trio of devices isn’t setting us off on that path. Then again, my personal dislike of curved displays might leave the S24 Ultra feeling like a huge leap over its predecessor — I’ll have to try the device out for myself before I know for sure.
While I usually use pre-announcement polls like these as a chance to see if you’re interested in checking out a particular company’s announcement, with the S24, I’m taking a different approach. Between Samsung’s own teases and pre-order bonuses and the months of leaks we’ve spotted, there’s certainly enough to convince Galaxy S21 owners to upgrade, but what about everyone else?
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