Samsung needs to do more to get me excited about the Galaxy S24

As this goes live, we’re just one day out from the official announcement of the Galaxy S24 series, and usually, I’d be getting excited about a shiny new phone by now. I’ve upgraded my phone every year for the last decade, and this is the first time since 2014 that I don’t feel particularly excited about my upgrade, even though I love Samsung phones. What’s changed? Have I become less interested in smartphones, or have smartphones become less interesting?

Incremental upgrades aren’t bad — they’re boring

Take one look at the last two Ultra phones from Samsung, and you’d be hard-pressed to figure out which phone is which. Even I can’t tell the two phones in the above image apart. Our very own Daniel Bader took the photo at a Galaxy S23 event, and I know he owned an S22 Ultra. But whether one of the phones in that photo is his, or if they’re both S23 Ultras, it’s near-impossible to say without more context. The design didn’t change in any perceptible way between the last two phones, and while leaks show the S24 Ultra is finally gaining a flat display, it’ll rock a similar look overall.

Samsung isn’t the only company to find comfort in an otherwise-stale design language. Apple has stuck with its current flat-edged look since the iPhone 12, and Google’s Pixel lineup have found a camera bar-shaped groove, too. There’s an obvious upside to recycling looks, aside from the obvious: these companies develop brand recognition through their style alone. When I used a Pixel 6 Pro for a few weeks in 2021, people would stop and ask me what phone it was, but when I used the Pixel 8 Pro last fall, those same people would ask, “Is that the new Pixel?” Brand recognition is a good thing, but you have to ensure customers aren’t getting bored, and it’s clear that Samsung fans are growing tired.

Phones today are better than ever, but the sense of excitement is lost in perfecting the formula. Going back a few years, each new phone felt like a technological leap. Look at the Galaxy S8, for example. That phone — alongside the LG G6 — ignited the war on bezels in Western markets, and even today, it’s a beautiful device to behold.

Beyond design, the rest of the phone also seems like a set of micro-upgrades. A new chip, optimized cameras, perhaps with a new telephoto sensor, a stronger titanium build, and a flat screen. These are welcome changes, and maybe the rumored AI features will be fun to mess around with, but there’s nothing ground-breaking circling around the rumor mill.

A silver lining in stale design

Putting aside the complaints for a moment, there are good things about the formula Samsung and others are currently using. My S23 Ultra is the smoothest and most reliable phone I’ve ever used, and I know you’re probably tired of hearing me say that. Smartphones have become this reliable due to the minor upgrades year after year. Smaller leaps in technology allow designers and engineers to focus on just a few things at a time, ensuring they get them right before they’re pushed out the door to customers.

People are keeping their phones for longer than ever before, and that’s a positive change. It’s better for our wallets and the environment and a testament to how well-engineered the modern smartphone is.

Can smartphone excitement make a comeback?

To paraphrase the kid from The Incredibles, I don’t know what I’m waiting for, but it has to be something amazing. I desperately want smartphones to be exciting again, to have a headline feature that feels like the next big step. At the same time, I appreciate the result of playing safe. I value a dependable smartphone, something I know won’t let me down.

This could be a problem only I’m having, but I don’t think it is. It’s easy to find people online reminiscing about when phones used to be exciting. Michael Fisher has a whole series dedicated to the subject titled When Phones Were Fun, and the waves of nostalgia that can be felt looking back on those devices remind me how much of that excitement is missing today.

A balance needs to be struck. Phones will need to become exciting again if we don’t want the market to stagnate, but companies will need to be careful to ensure that reliability doesn’t get thrown out the window in the process.

And while foldables have brought back that sense of excitement, Samsung is struggling here, too. Even with devices like the OnePlus Open and Motorola Razr+ keeping things interesting throughout 2023, Samsung’s Fold devices in particular have barely changed over the last three generations.

As for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, yes, I will be buying one. If I were your average consumer, I wouldn’t be. My S23 Ultra is a fantastic phone with years of life left, but the new phone is little more than a work expense for me. I was okay with that a while ago; it was an excuse to get the shiny new rectangle. Now, that excitement is gone, and I can’t see myself Naruto-running down the stairs when my Galaxy S24 Ultra finally arrives at my doorstep.