The Morning After: Samsung reveals the Galaxy S24 Ultra
Samsung's big Unpacked event yesterday unashamedly focused on the company's annual flagship phone refresh. No smart speakers, no tablets, no wearables (pretty much...) just three more phones, each with entirely different unique features. Just kidding: It's mostly just changes to cameras and screen size. Same as it's been since the Galaxy S20.
While introducing the Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra, the company wheeled out streamer and YouTuber Pokimane to cheerlead the even brighter screens, while MrBeast - who Samsung couldn't afford to have there in person? - showcased some of the camera tricks and specs of the flagship S24 Ultra.
However, beyond the predictable spec bumps, Samsung went to town on AI features this year. And they're intriguing, inching beyond what Google's been doing on its Pixel series for years.
Sure, there are photography-augmenting features, with the S24 sniffing out unwanted reflections and shadows, but now generative AI will power auto-fill features, extending the background of shots to help recompose wonky photos. With video, a new feature will use AI to generate more frames to create slow-mo clips not actually captured in slow motion.
Samsung's added AI smarts beyond the camera too, with new features for search, translations, note creation and message composition. New transcription tricks, when you record meetings and other conversations, mean S24 will split audio recordings into separate people talking and reformat it on the fly. You can even share selected parts or get the smartphone to summarize meetings and notes for you. I'm intrigued to see what my smartphone thinks is important during my weekly catchups with the Engadget team.
I'll dig into the specs for the new flagship S24 below (it's a Samsung-heavy TMA), but this year, it's really about the software. And the good news is that many of these features will make their way to selected older Galaxy devices later this year.
- Mat Smith
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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra hands-onTitanium phones for power users.The $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra is Samsung's biggest AI bet yet. Sure, the hardware design doesn't appear to have changed much, but there's now a titanium frame (available in colors beyond monochrome shades, Apple), ensuring the biggest flagship should feel lighter and easier to wield than previous iterations. The S24 Ultra's telephoto camera is now based on a 50-megapixel sensor (up from 10MP on the S23 Ultra) with a 5x optical zoom. If you're obsessed with specs, you might recall the S23 Ultra packed a 10x optical zoom. The company apparently chose this tweak based on customer feedback and use patterns, which saw 5x as the most frequently used zoom mode. We've got first impressions right here.
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But if Samsung's getting involved with smart rings, all we can say is: Watch out, Oura.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-samsung-reveals-the-galaxy-s24-ultra-121629916.html?src=rss