On Wednesday, Samsung unveiled its latest flagship smartphone series, the Galaxy S24, which comes in three versions: the S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra.
Long considered to be one of the best Android smartphones, the S24 series will be powered by the Snapdragon Series 8 Gen 3 chipset that is optimized for the devices.
In the US, all three variants will come with the Snapdragon Series 8 Gen 3, while some other markets will get a mix of Qualcomm’s systems-on-chips (SoCs) and Samsung’s own Exynos chipset on the S24 and S24 Plus models.
The main subject during Samsung’s keynote was how capable the AI system built into the Galaxy S24 models was at performing tasks. “Ben Wood, a chief analyst at CCS Insight said the S24 together with Google’s Pixel range “mark the dawn of the consumerisation of AI in smartphones.”
He also added that the trend will be adopted by all smartphone makers, including Apple, as they add a growing number of AI capabilities to their upcoming devices.
This year, the Korean electronics giant didn’t change much on the design front, keeping the same dimensions as its predecessors, the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra.
The S24 Ultra maintains the 6.8-inch display but has a flatter screen this time around rather than the slightly curved edges on last year’s model. Another hardware upgrade was the titanium frame, making it a lot lighter and sturdier than the S23 Ultra, which had an aluminum body shell.
Meanwhile, the standard S24 and S24 Plus retain last year’s design and shape but with better specifications.
Samsung Introduces The Galaxy AI
However, it is what is inside that counts and Samsung has taken that ethos seriously.
Samsung has bet big on artificial intelligence and claims its smartphones now have “on-demand” AI that can carry out workloads on the device and deliver results instantly, rather than moving the computation over to the cloud.
The electronics behemoth describes the Galaxy AI as a “comprehensive mobile AI experience” that will add a level of “universal intelligence” that has never been seen before on smartphones.
The on-demand AI will be powered by a combination of onboard and cloud processing. This is necessary considering the amount of computing power that is required for some tasks.
With that being said, let us take a look at some of the AI-centric features that will be found on the Samsung Galaxy S24 series smartphones.
1. Click to Search By Google
The Click-to-Search feature developed by Google is expected to make web searches even more efficient. The feature that is coming to all new AI-powered Android smartphones debuted on the Galaxy S24.
It allows users to long-press the home button from within any application and simply circle, highlight, or tap any piece of information on the screen to run a Google search. Users can search for results by circling locations on the map or directing the S24’s camera at an object, or on a picture in their gallery, without having to leave the app they are currently using.
For instance, if you see a shoe that you liked while scrolling through Instagram and want to know more about it, then all you need to do is hold on to the home button and draw a circle around the object and the Galaxy AI will show you appropriate results from Google Search for the shoe.
This feature will be easier to use with the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s S-Pen stylus.
2. Generative Image Editor
Another feature touted by Samsung was the ability to edit photos and videos using generative AI on the S24.
Samsung’s Generative Edit is very similar to Google’s Magic Editor found on the Pixel, where you can make complex edits like moving the subject in the picture from one side to the other or removing reflections from a picture you had taken without needing any pro-level editing skills.
Generative Edit allows you to move, resize, or remove a subject in a photo with a simple long tap. The feature also lets you improve images using generative fill, where the AI can get the job done with the help of prompts.
3. Live Translation
This feature also found on the Pixel line of smartphones, adds the ability to translate voice and text in real-time on the S24, making it ideal when traveling abroad. The tool is also capable of performing two-way translation.
For those who use voice memos, Samsung has introduced Transcript Assist to help with transcribing, translating, and even summarizing voice notes. Users can also customize how the summaries will be presented.
More noticeably, all the computations required to perform these tasks are done on-device, meaning there is no need for the S24 to be connected to the Internet.
4. AI Watermarking
Keep in mind that you can’t simply edit images on the Galaxy S24 and pass them on as legitimate shots. For this reason, whenever a user edits a photo using Generative Edit, the S24 will keep a log of what has changed and store it in the metadata.
The image will also have a watermark on the bottom left corner to identify that the content has been edited using AI.
Galaxy S24 Starts From $800
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series comes in the standard 5.79-inch S24 variant, the bigger 6.39-inch S24 Plus, and the larger and more premium S24 Ultra, which will start at $800, $1,000, and $1,300, respectively.
The devices can be pre-ordered starting today and are expected to reach stores in February.
