I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy S24 since minutes after it was announced on Wednesday, January 17. I’m working on my full review right now and it’ll be out next week. But right now, here are the three key features you need to know about.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
1. It Looks Spectacular
The titanium frame, carefully sculpted to fit the hand comfortably despite the phone’s large size, looks and feels great. It has a semi-matte finish that is easy to grip. Then there’s the display which, unlike last year’s model, is flat, that is, there are no curved edges sloping down the sides. I like a curved screen but I have to say this display is tremendous.
Not only does it mean you can write on more of the screen with the S Pen that slots into the phone’s body, it makes watching video on the inviting 6.8-inch display all the more immersive. The display is high resolution (505 pixels per inch) and it’s also very bright, up to 2,600 nits. Enough of the stats, this is a gorgeous display that you really can’t take your eyes off.
2. Galaxy AI Could Be The Game-Changer
Samsung is going big into AI. I’ve tested all the AI features and they work well—even if there is room to grow. The Translate feature, where you make a phone call to someone who uses a different language, is very neat. Initially, I worried that the opening gambit, where the person you’re calling hears a message saying, in their language, “Hello, this message is being translated and live captioned,” could be confusing, but we soldiered on. Booking a table at a restaurant was straightforward and quick. There were a couple of phrases which didn’t quite make it through the translation machine intact, but I ended the call confident my booking had been made.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Then there’s the Transcription Assistant, which takes your recorded interview or meeting and turns it into text. I usually use the Recorder app on the Pixel, which is awesome, but this turned out to be even more accurate. It has the advantage that it’s done after you’ve finished the meeting (which can last anything from 20 seconds to three hours) and connects to the cloud to do it. But even when I said words that were unexpected and out-of-context, like parsnips and flatulence, it still transcribed me perfectly. This is very impressive.
And then there’s Google Circle to Search, which lets you draw round an item on screen and it goes off to find out what you’re looking at. This is good already but could be great. Note that some of these AI features will also come to some earlier Galaxy phones.
3. Great Battery Life
This is the feature we as users can never take for granted, even if it feels like the manufacturers do. The fast processor and bigger battery make for a highly efficient experience and, so far, I’ve been very impressed with how long this lasts.
More to follow, but the first signs are looking very good.
