AI in a compact form: review of Samsung Galaxy S24 smartphone

Over the past 10 years, smartphone manufacturers have paid less and less attention to the compactness of their cases. Instead, they have been enlarging displays. Of course, a large screen greatly improves the convenience of typing, viewing photos and videos, reading comfort, and many other things. However, large dimensions in no way improve the ease of use, carrying in a pocket, etc. However, they still have their exceptions. And in today’s review, we will take a closer look at one of the best such offers – Samsung Galaxy S24.

Samsung Galaxy S24 specifications

Package contents

Since Galaxy S24 is part of the flagship line, the smartphone has a typical modern package for such a gadget. The small box with the device has only a USB-C-to-USB-C cable and a pin to open the SIM card compartment. Samsung is not the only manufacturer that supports this trend, and this kind of minimalism is not new. Therefore, it is unlikely that this will come as a surprise to buyers. (Unfortunately, the device came to me without a bundle, so I can’t demonstrate it.)

Of course, the store will immediately offer a suitable charger among the accessories. In addition to it, branded additions will also include smart watches, TWS headphones, induction charging stations (even for cars), and, of course, covers and protection for the front glass.

Design and usability

Despite the slight aesthetic changes, there is still a sense of something new about Galaxy S24. And I propose to immediately abstract from the “popular association” that is often mentioned by vigilant fans. The shape and finish of the body have some changes. However, the average buyer will only be able to notice them when comparing them directly, and it will be even more difficult to find the updates if you have a protective case.

The dimensions of the case have hardly changed: 147×70.6×7.6 mm with a weight of 167 grams. Compared to the previous model, Galaxy S24 is slightly taller. At the same time, the aluminum frame is now flatter and more matte. The former minimally affects the feel of the device in your hands, and the latter has a practical effect on the experience of using it, because this way there are no noticeable fingerprints on the frame, and fewer small scratches will be visible over time. In addition, the aluminum of this model should be stronger than previous versions.

The front and back panels have not changed. They’re still made of Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is just as damaged as before. Even the brand-new Galaxy S24 received a few small scratches on the display on the way to the editorial office. So it still makes sense to use protective accessories if the user plans to keep the appearance of the smartphone in good condition for as long as possible. In turn, the rear glass is still matte and looks and feels good.

Four colors of the case were brought to Ukraine: Onyx Black, Cobalt Purple, Marble Gray, and Amber Yellow. In other countries, as always, there are additional options. We got the most restrained ones. But they will most likely end up under a cover, so the four available options are quite enough. Still, it’s a pity that we don’t get the whole range.

The camera protrusions are also left behind. Without a case, they will prevent the device from lying flat on a flat surface, so using it in this position will be accompanied by a characteristic bounce of corners on the table. This is a common story for modern smartphones. However, the design itself, in my opinion, is still one of the neatest on the market.

At the same time, the smartphone has not lost its convenience, water and dust protection (IP68), excellent build quality, and overall pleasant appearance. For those who are looking for a compact smartphone, Galaxy S24 should be one of the first options, if not the first. Especially since its ergonomics are much better compared to the vast majority of large smartphones.

Display

Another subtle improvement is the larger display. Previously, its diagonal was 6.1 inches and the screen occupied approximately 87% of the front side. In the Galaxy S24, it has grown to 6.2 inches, increasing the coverage to almost 91%. The small black bezel still remains, but it’s hard to call it very noticeable. In terms of aesthetics, everything is at a very high level.

At the same time, the manufacturer retained the resolution of 2340×1080 pixels, reducing their density from 425 to 416 ppi. The 19.5:9 aspect ratio is also unaffected, so there will be no changes in operation. The front camera notch hasn’t disappeared either, and it hasn’t moved from its old place in the upper center of the display. The image refresh rate is already standard for this category at 120 Hz (now it’s an LTPO display, so it should be more flexible with FPS depending on the current tasks).

Some noticeable changes have occurred with the Dynamic AMOLED 2X matrix. Traditionally, there are two color profiles in the settings – Vivid and Natural. The second one is practically the same as in the previous model, but Vivid has lost a lot in color coverage. So now the difference between the two is barely noticeable. They also became a little colder than before (although Vivid additionally has some manual settings). There is also automatic correction, so the smartphone will adjust the picture to the lighting. But this will not add color saturation, which will be noticeable to experienced S-series users.

Vivid profile measurements:

Nature profile measurements:

However, the manufacturer heard the feedback from the first customers and is already working on additional saturation settings. (At the time of writing, the test smartphone has not yet received the add-on.) It should be added that automatic color correction also significantly affects the display of colors, and they are quite comfortable. Although the previously familiar saturation may indeed be lacking for connoisseurs of such an image.

But the brightness has received a significant boost. While last year’s model could demonstrate up to 1750 cd/m² at its peak, the Galaxy S24 can do it at 2600. Just like all the new models in the line. Indoors, the colorimeter showed a maximum backlight of 872 cd/m² (507 with Extra brightness mode turned off), and the minimum was 1.3. At the same time, the light sensor works perfectly, and during the test there was never a need to adjust the brightness on your own.

Security

Samsung Galaxy S24 did not receive any fundamental changes in unlocking the system. Face and fingerprint scanning remain among the quick access methods. In the first case, the front-facing camera is used, and its features remain unchanged. Yes, in the dark, the display will have to be illuminated to trigger the face, and large glasses or a mask will interfere with the operation. However, in all other cases, there are no problems.

Fingerprints are detected by an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. It hasn’t changed position, so you won’t have to look for it. The device can store four prints in its memory. And everything is in perfect order. The smartphone always responds quickly to touching a certain area. Moreover, the sensor works even better than the previous ones with wet fingers after, for example, washing your hands, when previously it could ask you to try again.

This way, the user almost always has a convenient and fast way to unlock the system, access passwords, classified information, etc. In principle, it’s the same as before. As expected, even the “youngest” model of the flagship line has no problems with authorization.

Sound

Galaxy S24 hasn’t changed much in terms of sound. The design of the main speaker is now made in the form of a single long notch, and the earpiece speaker is also masked right under the bezel. They work together to play music, accompany videos, games, etc. And for such a small body, the volume and sound quality of the smartphone is quite enough. S24 will not disappoint in this regard.

Phone calls will also be fine. Despite the fact that the earpiece speaker’s opening is getting smaller, the volume does not affect the volume. So you can hear the other person without any problems, even with loud noises around you. On the other side of the conversation, everything should be fine, too, as the noise reduction system of flagship models usually does not let you down.

There will most likely be no separate headphone jack. That’s why wireless headphones are among the first accessories offered for such smartphones. Or, of course, you can buy a USB-C headset or adapter. However, given the current options, it won’t be too difficult to find good TWS headphones, and they will be much more comfortable.

Performance and software

Last year, Samsung’s flagship lineup was not divided into different versions depending on the location, and all models had Qualcomm processors. This time, however, the division has reappeared, although it applies to the Galaxy S24 and S24+ models. So Exynos is still in the game, so to speak.

Thus, Galaxy S24 came to Ukraine with Exynos 2400. As with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it is also a 4-nanometer processor, but it has 10 cores (Cortex-X4 with a frequency of 3.2 GHz, two Cortex-A720 with 2.9 GHz, three more Cortex-A720 with 2.6 GHz, and four Cortex-A520 with 2 GHz), and the Xclipse 940 graphics accelerator. A separate NPU unit for AI tasks is also provided. Only two memory combinations were offered – 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB drives. Additionally, it is worth remembering that the smaller drive is UFS 3.1, while the larger one is UFS 4.0.

Everything is also stable in the connectivity section: there is a slot for two SIM cards, support for 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and several navigation systems. The smallest of Samsung’s flagships still lacks support for the company’s UWB connection for searching for other gadgets, which can only be offered by the two “older” models in the lineup and folding Fold smartphones.

Tests have shown that the new platform has more performance than the previous one. Of course, for one of the flagships, Galaxy S24 really works with lightning speed and without any hints of problems or delays. In fact, this is exactly the kind of performance that a buyer of such a smartphone expects. And quite predictably, even the smallest representative of the entire lineup will perform absolutely perfectly. And synthetic tests showed a slight difference with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which has a Qualcomm chip.

However, certain “flagship” features have not yet been resolved (in fact, like those of competitors with other processors): under maximum load, the case heats up significantly. A significant part of the performance is lost. However, in everyday use, users are unlikely to encounter such situations often. Actually, during testing, only games could “warm up” the case, and definitely to a lower temperature than during stress tests. And in any case, this did not lead to noticeable delays in operation. So, the new enlarged evaporation chamber can be praised, given that it is now the most compact case in the new model range.

The smartphone will also come with Android 14 and the proprietary OneUI 6.1 interface. Among the notable changes is an updated Quick Settings panel, and the use of an LTPO matrix has added options for the lock screen (which can now not turn off the image completely). At the same time, new widgets for branded applications have been added, which complement the interface well.

However, Samsung decided not to stop there. A very pleasant bonus was the support of updates for seven years, which will significantly extend the relevance of the smartphone throughout its life cycle, as owners of such devices are unlikely to use one model for so long. This year’s “icing on the cake” was the additional AI capabilities.

Galaxy AI

A big part of the presentation of the new Galaxy S24 models was the Galaxy AI additions. Among these features, the smartphones will offer: Circle to Search, Live Translate, Transcript Assist, Generative Edit, and Chat Assist. It is worth noting that, unfortunately, not all of them can work with the Ukrainian language. Therefore, translation of telephone conversations or transcription of voice recordings will remain for other languages for now.

However, there are exceptions to this. For example, in the Notes app, you can process notes by changing formats or summarizing notes. It’s hard to say how often users will use such scenarios, but it works well.

But what I personally liked more was Circle to Search. This is not actually a Samsung development, but the Galaxy S24 is currently one of the few smartphones that can offer this functionality. Hold your finger on the navigation bar and an animation for searching appears. Here you can circle the desired object, after which the AI will independently identify it and provide Google search results. It’s a kind of “Shazam for images”. It’s a very convenient thing when you come across something interesting, say, while browsing a social media feed and immediately want to learn more about the object. Before using this feature, I hadn’t even realized how often I encountered such scenarios and how they could be made easier.

Image processing can also be more interesting with AI. This functionality can be divided into two points. The first is working with objects in the photo. AI can try to remove or move something. However, this will not look good in every situation, so it will depend on specific circumstances. You shouldn’t rely on “magic Photoshop” (especially when it comes to objects with shadows).

The second option is photo processing. Right in the image gallery, AI can offer its own options for blurring the background, processing shadows, glass glare, or color correction. Your smartphone will immediately show you what changes have been made, and you can, of course, choose not to apply them. In fact, it’s similar to working with image filters in photo processing apps, except that here it’s done by AI. It can even use colors to create a fake time-lapse.

AI-generated time-lapse:

However, AI will not offer all available options for each photo, but only those it finds relevant. Sometimes, even after suggesting a remaster, it will “think” a bit and… give a notification that no changes are needed. And especially for evening shots, it will not always do better, while daytime photos are better. So maybe it’s not an essential feature, but you can still get some benefit from it.

In fact, smartphones have been doing something similar with photos for a long time. Certain post-processing has been in place for a long time, and similar algorithms still affect the final images in one way or another. Previously, they could strongly extract saturation, individual colors, significantly lighten shadows, and so on. The new options are much more careful with photos. And it’s still early days, so we can expect better performance and more features over time.

Cameras

The “younger” models of the lineup have not changed the number or capabilities of the cameras this time around. Only the telephoto changed its focal length from 70 to 67 mm. Nevertheless, the work continues and the image does not get worse. It’s difficult to compare directly with its predecessor, and last time the S23 processed evening images worse. This time, there are much fewer noticeable shortcomings. Let me remind you that the camera set of Galaxy S24 is as follows:

• wide-angle – 50 MP, aperture value ƒ/1.8, 24 mm,  optical image stabilization;
• ultra-wide-angle – 12 MP, 120° capture angle, ƒ/2.2 aperture and optical stabilization;
• and telephoto is 10 MP with ƒ/2.4 and 3x optical zoom.

Yes, these are not the same cameras as the Ultra model. However, this set will definitely be enough for the average user. Moreover, there are still some improvements to the image. Another update will be released soon, which should affect the already good photos.

In its standard mode, the 50-megapixel main wide-angle camera captures a 12-megapixel image. In the daytime, the camera no longer oversaturates colors and maintains generally close-to-realistic shades. There’s no “supernatural” shadow illumination either. But there is a lot of detail and generally good white balance. Thus, the user will get a picture closer to the real one, and it can be “colored” at the user’s request.

Video recording is possible with a maximum resolution of up to 8K, but it doesn’t make much sense. If you opt for 4K, the camera will have enough capacity for both stabilization while moving and good image quality.

This time, the evening mode lets you down only when there are light sources near the camera. Certain gaps in detail can be seen only by zooming in on the image, and the noise is quite good. At the same time, it seems that the night mode is faster than before. If future updates further correct the “aura” around the lighting elements, then the camera will be much more flexible in the evening.

Traditionally, the lower resolution of an ultra-wide-angle camera will leave less detail in the images, and the aperture will make them a little darker, which will be especially noticeable in the shade. Accordingly, the white balance will differ from camera to camera. On the other hand, the Galaxy S24 can still be praised for its excellent lens correction and post-processing.

You can’t record 8K video with this camera anymore, but it can handle 4K at 60 FPS. And the comments will generally repeat the situation with photos.

Night mode loses more detail and is more aggressive with “noise”. There are also problems with the lighting sources. However, compared to its predecessor, the picture is much better.

As before, the telephoto camera upscales photos from 10 to 12 megapixels, which does not create any noticeable problems. The photos have enough detail, color and lighting. The smartphone helps a lot during work, so it’s easy and convenient to focus and compose a photo.

At night, the smartphone works with this camera, and does not switch to the main one. At least this was the case with test photos (under other conditions, the main sensor can still “replace” the telephoto). And if there is still enough light on the street, the photos are quite satisfactory.

The front camera of Galaxy S24 is inherited from its predecessor: 12 MP, ƒ/2.2, 26 mm. The features are the same, with two capture angles, portrait mode, etc. This camera can be counted on both in daylight and artificial light.

Apart from the fact that the app now makes it a little easier to choose an image format, there are no other updates. Still, in the current model, the manufacturer has paid more attention to the AI gallery, and the camera control interface was still convenient and clear.

Battery

The Galaxy S24 continues to increase its battery capacity, which this year reached 4,000 mAh. On the one hand, such battery enhancements can offset performance gains. On the other hand, processors are also learning to be more economical with battery power from year to year. Thus, in the autonomy test, the smartphone lasted more than 13 hours, which is not much less than the S24 Ultra. Moreover, if the user does not play “heavy” games, avoids the abyss of “rills” and moderately uses the camera, you can count on more than a day of work. However, tasks that require a lot of performance will still quickly deplete the battery.

The smallest of the flagships is still slightly inferior in maximum charging power. USB-C does not support more than 25 watts. With the laptop power supply, the S24 was fully charged in 1 hour and 20 minutes (theoretically, the proprietary power supply may be more efficient in this case, but I can’t check it yet). The induction charging power is 15 watts (with the Moshi station, it took almost three hours to fully restore the battery). In case of charging other gadgets, the smartphone will offer 4.5 W of reverse power.