At its Unpacked event today, Samsung announced the Galaxy S24 series of smartphones, including the new S24, S24+, and flagship S24 Ultra.
For mobile photographers, the most exciting model is undoubtedly the S24 Ultra. The device has four rear cameras, dubbed the Quad Tele System, including a 200-megapixel main (wide) camera.
This 200-megapixel camera has an 85-degree field of view and an f/1.7 lens. While Samsung won’t disclose the precise sensor inside the S24 Ultra, it seems like it could be the new ISOCELL HP2SX. In any event, the 200-megapixel image sensor promises high-quality performance and includes pixel binning technology, which can effectively combine pixels into larger photosites, thereby reducing noise in low-light environments — plus reducing the megapixel count, of course.
Alongside the 200-megapixel wide camera, the S24 Ultra also includes a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view and an f/2.2 lens.
As for longer lenses, the smartphone has a 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, optical image stabilization, and an f/2.4 aperture. Alongside this camera is a new 5x optical zoom lens with a 50-megapixel image sensor. Samsung says that thanks to the “Adaptive Pixel” sensor, the 5x zoom promises “optical-quality performance” at 2x, 3x, 5x, and 10x magnification. It can also deliver 100x zoom with enhanced digital zoom. This f/3.4 lens also features optical image stabilization.
With smartphone photography, while hardware matters, software is vital. The Galaxy S24’s Space Zoom features upgraded “Nightography” performance, ensuring better image quality in dim conditions, even when zoomed in.
“Capture more light in dim conditions with Galaxy S24 Ultra’s larger pixel size, now 1.4 μm, which is 60% bigger compared to the previous model. Blur is reduced on Galaxy S24 Ultra with wider optical image stabilizer (OIS) angles and enhanced hand-shake compensation,” explains Samsung.
The S24 series also includes a dedicated image signal processing block specifically for noise reduction during video recording, enabling better noise removal in low-light environments.
While there are some hardware tweaks, like the new 5x optical zoom lens in the S24 Ultra, AI is one of the most significant new features in the Galaxy S24 family. With Galaxy AI editing tools, users can perform simple edits like erase, recompose, and remaster while also performing significant image tweaks with Generative Edit. The new Generative Edit tool can fill in parts of an image using generative AI. For example, if a user must straighten an image, which usually means cropping to remove blank areas on the edge, Generative Edit can fill in these blanks. Or if someone wants to move a subject or person within the frame, they can do that as well.
For those concerned about the misleading nature of AI-edited images, Samsung says that anytime an image is edited on device using generative AI, this will be detailed in the metadata and included in a watermark.
AI is also able to suggest how someone can tweak their images. Edit Suggestion uses Galaxy AI to recommend specific tweaks for any given image.
While the S24 Ultra is of particular focus for photographers, it is worth highlighting that despite having different camera systems, the S24 and S24+ still include impressive camera systems and offer the same great AI features as the S24 Ultra. The S24 and S24+ have an identical camera system comprised of a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera (120-degree field of view, f/2.2 lens), a 10-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom), and a 50-megapixel main, or wide, camera. The wide camera has image stabilization and an f/1.8 maximum aperture.
The primary difference between the S24 and S24+ is the display size. The smaller S24 has a 6.2-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, while the S24+ sports a 6.7-inch panel.
The S24 Ultra has the largest screen in the lineup, with its 6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED panel. It offers a Super Smooth variable refresh rate that ranges from 1 to 120Hz.
All three Galaxy S24 smartphones are powered by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform. They also each have many more exciting features, including some incredible AI features concerning search and translation. Additional details are available in PetaPixel‘s hands-on impressions.
“The Galaxy S24 series transforms our connection with the world and ignites the next decade of mobile innovation,” says TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. “Galaxy AI is built on our innovation heritage and deep understanding of how people use their phones. We’re excited to see how our users around the world empower their everyday lives with Galaxy AI to open up new possibilities.”
Pricing and Availability
All three devices are available to pre-order now and will ship on January 31. The Samsung Galaxy S24 starts at $800 with 128GB and 256GB storage options. The larger S24 Plus starts at $1,000 for a 256GB version, and a 512GB capacity is also available. The flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at $1,300 with storage capacity options of 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
Samsung is going all-in on Earth-inspired colorways for the S24. The S24 Ultra comes in titanium gray, black, violet, and yellow. However, for those who purchase through Samsung.com, titanium green, blue, and orange. The S24 and S24+ will be available in onyx black, marble gray, cobalt violet, and amber yellow, with jade green, sapphire blue, and sandstone orange on Samsung.com.