Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24+: what to expect

Samsung will reveal the Galaxy S24 series on January 17 and put an end to the rumors and leaks. However, we’re still two weeks away and we’ve seen so many rumors and leaks that we have a pretty clear picture of what to expect. In case you missed it, check out the Galaxy S24 Ultra breakdown. Here we will focus on the two smaller models.

LTPO display, QHD+ for S24+

Embarrassingly for flagships, the Galaxy S23 and S23+ can only run their displays at a few pre-determined refresh rates. The long-awaited move to LTPO panels will allow 2024 non-Ultra flagships to vary the refresh rate between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.

The Samsung Galaxy S24+ is also expected to increase the resolution to QHD+ after several years of FHD+. The little S24, however, will remain with FHD+ (the S20 and S20+ had QHD+ displays).

Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24+

Both the Galaxy S24 and S24+ will expand the screen diagonal by a tenth of an inch, bringing them to 6.2″ and 6.7″ respectively. Most of this will come at the expense of bezels as the two models are expected to be roughly the same size as their S23 predecessors.

The new panels will also be noticeably brighter than before, reaching 2,600 nits compared to the 2023 generation’s peak of 1,750 nits.

(Slightly) larger batteries, same charging

Quickly, despite keeping the dimensions more or less the same, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ will have slightly larger batteries. The Petite model will have a capacity of 4,000 mAh (+100 mAh compared to the S23) while the Plus model will have 4,900 mAh (+200 mAh compared to the S23+).

However, don’t expect miracles when it comes to charging. The Galaxy S24+ will max out at 45W via USB-C, the S24 is stuck at 25W. Both will deliver 15W wirelessly. Technological progress, what is it?

The return of Exynos

Qualcomm’s CEO has all but confirmed that the Galaxy S24 and S24+ will use an Exynos chip – only the US and Canadian units will be spared and will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy (which is the only chip for the S24 Ultra).

The Exynos 2400 promises a 70% increase in CPU performance, but keep in mind that this is compared to the 2022 Exynos 2200 and not last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy.

Exynos 2400 for all Galaxy S24 and S24+ units except in the US/Canada

Samsung LSI didn’t provide many details when talking about the new Xclipse 940 GPU, which is based on AMD’s RDNA 3 technology. The Xclipse 920 found in the 2200 chip was based on the older RDNA 2. According to AMD’s numbers, RDNA 3 offers 50% higher performance per watt than its predecessor. The GPU will bring improvements to ray tracing, shadows, reflections and global illumination.

The chip is massively faster at AI tasks, 14.7 times faster. This will power features like live translation and generative editing. According to rumors, Live Translate will run on the device, while Generative Edit will rely on cloud support (just like Google’s Magic Editor).

We have some good news for future Galaxy S24+ buyers: RAM capacity will be increased to 12GB (the S23+ only shipped with 8GB). The small S24 will however only have 8GB. And it seems that it will not even receive an upgrade to the base memory, which will remain at 128 GB (that’s 256 GB for the S24+). You can’t have 512GB of storage on the small one (but you can on the S24+). Like last year, pre-order units will receive a free memory upgrade.

Same cameras

There is no indication that the Galaxy S24 and S25 cameras will be updated in terms of hardware. This means a 50MP main sensor. This year we won’t see any changes to the ultra-wide-angle (12MP) and telephoto (10MP) modules either.

The leaked image below mentions a “dual telephoto lens” with 2x and 3x options, but that’s just the 2x zoom in the main camera sensor and the 3x telephoto lens. The selfie camera will also retain last year’s 12MP sensor.

Aluminum armor 2.0

You may have heard that Samsung will follow Apple in adopting titanium for the Galaxy S24 Ultra chassis. However, it seems that the less premium Galaxy S24 and S24+ will have to make do with a new version of Armor Aluminum.

The phones will be IP68 rated for dust and water resistance as before. The S24 and S24+ will be available in four standard colors: Onyx Black, Marble Grey, Cobalt Purple and Amber Yellow. There should also be some Samsung.com exclusives, as well as additional shades launching later in the year.

Samsung Galaxy S24 colors: Onyx Black • Marble Gray • Cobalt Purple • Amber Yellow

Prices

Europeans may feel slighted that they will have no choice but to buy an Exynos-powered phone. Perhaps they will feel a little better when they see the prices: the Galaxy S24 and S24+ are expected to cost 50 euros less than their predecessors in the EU.

Prices in South Korea are expected to remain the same. We haven’t heard anything about the US (or Canada), but considering the amazing trade-in deals Samsung is offering there, upgrading from a 2022 or 2023 Galaxy S phone should be quite affordable.

And as mentioned above, the pre-order deal is expected to include a free storage upgrade. There may be more benefits, such as discounts on the Galaxy Watch or Buds, but that remains to be seen.