The Samsung Galaxy S24 is a smartphone that marks a historic milestone for the leading consumer electronics market. The trio consisting of the S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra represent the first examples of AI phones. These models integrate artificial intelligence within them and are able to perform more and more tasks and execute them flawlessly. The linchpin of the paradigm shift that leads to smartphones no longer being evaluated for their hardware features but for their software is Galaxy AI, the generative artificial intelligence that Samsung unveiled last November during the AI Forum 2023, anticipating a series of functions that software would endorse if integrated into a smartphone.
The phone that breaks down language barriers
The key innovation is breaking down language barriers, as the digital brain allows the Galaxy S24 to eliminate incommunicability between people who speak different idioms. With Live Translate, voice and text translations of calls can be easily obtained in real-time in a two-way manner. It’s nothing new, but instead of using a portable translator or resorting to third-party apps, Samsung reduces the time-consuming steps as everything is done within the phone app. And the transcription remains available on the phone so that any forgotten details can be checked later.
Similar with Interpreter, which allows the conversation to be instantly translated and the two language versions displayed on the split screen of the smartphone, thus facilitating the verbal exchange between two people standing in front of each other. One aspect not to be underestimated is that this functionality is also available without a data or Wi-Fi connection, so wherever and whenever you are, the phone displays the translation to make things easier.
Suppose, at times, the dialogues via apps have seemed too antiseptic in tone and, therefore, ineffective. In that case, Samsung Galaxy S24 solves the problem with Chat Assist, which helps ensure that the conversation respects the communicative intention for messages and other apps. To do this, it sets up an exchange with a polite, ironic or businesslike tone depending on the interlocutor and the type of relationship established with them.
The Samsung keyboard’s built-in AI can also translate messages, emails and more into 13 languages in real-time. At the same time, Android Auto automatically summarises incoming messages and suggests responses in relation to the context and upcoming engagements. One example is sending someone the estimated arrival time so that they can resume the dialogue later and focus their attention on driving.
Very useful for those who use notes to take notes, fix ideas, and appointments will prove to be Notes Assist, a function that uses AI to summarise scheduled tasks, allows for predefined templates and formats to jot down what is of interest and creates covers to personalise notes and find them instantly when searching. Speaking of utilities, Transcript Assist is ideal for recording interviews, meetings or any other vocal expression because AI can transcribe what is said by recognising up to ten different voices, summarise it into a short note with the most important points addressed and translate the entire recording.
The importance of the Samsung-Google partnership
Before discovering the new smartphones’ functionalities, it should be noted that Samsung presented the first Unpacked 2024 in San Jose, in the heart of Silicon Valley and just over 20 km away from Mountain View, Google’s headquarters. This choice was anything but coincidental because the partnership between the two companies has played a major role in the evolution and growth of the smartphone market. For more than a decade, Samsung has been Apple’s only rival at the top end of the market; Google with Android is the base on which a sector that has been enriched over time by many manufacturers has taken flight.
Shifting our gaze from the past to the present, the Samsung S24 is the first phone to exploit Gemini Pro, Big G’s most powerful generative artificial intelligence model. The exclusive element that puts the turbocharger on an engine that is already running at high levels thanks to unprecedented innovations signed in four hands with Google itself.
An example is Circle to Search, which, by means of a long press on the Home button or selection with the S-Pen for those using the S24 Ultra, allows you to draw a circle on the element of interest in a photo, a screenshot, a message on social media or a frame of a video (even on YouTube) to obtain information on the object instantly: the history of a monument, the price and how to buy a garment, and so on. Circle to Search does not work with people’s faces out of respect for privacy, nor with encrypted apps such as Netflix and Disney. Again, this is not a revolution, but the impact of AI on a smartphone: doing more and more things for us, with good results that will become excellent over time.
New ‘magic’ effects for the camera
In keeping tradition, Samsung presented three models: S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra. The first two also share many aspects on the hardware side, while the most powerful and coveted trio stands apart in power, size and performance. Only he counts on the titanium body, 6.8-inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor optimised for Galaxy, 5000 mAh battery with zero to 65% charging in 30 minutes and quad camera on the rear, with two wide-angle and two telephoto lenses.
The 200-megapixel primary camera has optical image stabilisation, while the telephoto camera with a 50MP sensor has a 5x optical zoom, numerically inferior to the S23 Ultra but improved in shooting quality. Characterising the photographic compartment is the ability to exploit AI to effect, add, delete, resize and remaster captured elements from the shot. As if by magic, the blur and dark corners of a photo give way to a new light that can show the details of a bench captured initially from afar. Then, the possibility of playing with the subject in the foreground, changing its position and putting it at an angle, or cutting out unwanted elements because the AI fills in the blanks.
Editing becomes easier with Edit Suggestion, which recommends photo changes, or with Generative Edit, which fills in the gaps. Note that on each AI-generated image, Samsung inserts a watermark to avoid misunderstandings between real and trick images.
Colours, availability and price
As for the other models, the S24 is the smallest and lightest, with a 6.2-inch screen and a weight of 167 grams, while the S24+ has a larger battery (4900 mAh versus 4000 mAh for its little brother). Both have displays, flat edges and the same processor, the Exynos 2400 developed by Samsung. Common to all three is the longer-than-usual support guaranteed by the Korean manufacturer, which has assured 7 Android OS updates and 7 years of security patches, replicating what Google decided with the Pixel 8.
Samsung S24 Ultra is available from 25 January in Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet and Titanium Yellow, while the Galaxy S24+
and Galaxy S24 can be picked up in Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet and Amber Yellow. Additional colours will only be available for online buyers.
These are the Italian prices of the three S24 Ultra configurations:
12GB + 256GB for €1,499
12GB + 512GB for €1,619
12GB + 1TB for €1,859
There are two purchase options for the S24:
8GB +128GB at €929
8GB +256GB for €989
This is the price for S24+:
12GB + 256GB for €1,189
12GB + 512GB for €1,309
