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Samsung’s kicking off 2024 with quite a splash. At the Consumer Electronics Show, the tech giant unveiled an AI home robot and new TVs. Now, at its own Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, Samsung lifted the curtain on its latest generation of smartphones.

No, not successors to the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flips that were unveiled in July of 2023, but to the Galaxy S line of standard smartphones that typically launch early in the year. For 2024, the Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra stick with an existing design language but speed things up, add in some AI-infused features, and boost optics.

The S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra are all up for preorder now, with Samsung offering compelling reasons to make the leap. Below, we’re sharing how you can preorder, and the coolest new features.

How to preorder the Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra

Samsung is offering some impressive trade-in offers that make the $800 S24, $1,000 S24+, and $1,300 S24 Ultra significantly more affordable. When ordering the $1,300 S24 Ultra, eligible device trade-ins can knock up to $970 off the price, and you can see the value via Samsung’s trade-in tool before locking it in.

Additionally, they’ll instantly double your storage from 128GB to 256GB on the S24, or 256GB to 512GB and 512GB to 1TB on the S24+ or S24 Ultra. You’ll even score a $100 Samsung credit that can be used on accessories or another device.

Samsung’s Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra officially launch on Jan. 31 and that’s the earliest you can expect the phones to deliver. However, preordering sooner rather than later will ensure a faster delivery.

• Galaxy S24, from $800 at Samsung
• Galaxy S24+, from $1,000 at Samsung
• Galaxy S24 Ultra, from $1,300 at Samsung

Galaxy S24 Ultra: What you need to know

The S24 Ultra is the most premium, non-folding smartphone in Samsung’s lineup. It starts with a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display that is a joy to snap photos with, watch a movie, scroll through TikTok, or even browse the web. Samsung finally decided to make it completely flat this year, which means the smartphone is more comfortable to write notes on with the S-Pen.

While you’ll still see some reflections on the screen, it’s better-equipped thanks to Corning Gorilla Armor, which reduces reflections, and Samsung increased the maximum brightness up to 2,600 nits here (it’s quite the jump from the 1,750 on S23 Ultra). This way, you can see details on the display even on an ultra-sunny day or under bright fluorescent lights.

In terms of design, the S24 Ultra looks a lot like the S23 Ultra with one key material change. Just like how the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max were Apple’s first titanium smartphones, the S24 Ultra is Samsung’s first titanium-frame smartphone. After some hands-on time, I can say that it definitely felt slightly heavier and more durable. Samsung is also rolling out four distinct shades of the Ultra—Gray, Black, Violet, and Yellow—along with additional colors that will be exclusive to the brand’s online site.

Powering the S24 Ultra, as well as the S24 and S24+, is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip that’s designed for Galaxy. It’s paired with 12GBs of RAM, which should provide plenty of power to let you do any conceivable task you’d want to accomplish. You should have plenty of daily use time, if not longer, from the 5,000mAh battery as well.

These phones will feel pretty familiar to anyone who’s used a Galaxy smartphone in the past—they’re running Android 14 with Samsung’s OneUI 6.1—, but it has a number of new features under the Galaxy AI umbrella. Yes, AI and generative AI are arriving on Samsung’s smartphones, and lucky for us, they’re all pretty helpful.

A feature called Circle to Search will let you long-press the home button and use your finger (or the S-Pen on the Ultra) to circle something on the screen and learn more about it. It could be a fancy shoe on an Instagram post, a plant in the background of a video, or even a word on a piece of text.

In partnership with Google, you’ll be able to see search results without opening another app. Baked into Samsung’s own keyboard will be some generative AI tools that can help you adjust the tone of a message or even help you write. Within Samsung’s Notes application, you can have it summarize handwritten or processed text, plus it can correct spelling errors in handwritten notes.

The other feature I’ll highlight is Live Translate, which effectively can translate your voice into whatever language is detected by the other person speaking. It happens at nearly real-time speed. So, say you’re in a new country where you don’t speak the language and need to call for a taxi. This could let you do just that. 

Regarding photography and videography, Samsung is promising significant improvements to images shot in lower lighting conditions and extreme zooms. The S24 Ultra still features a 200-megapixel main wide camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera, a 10-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera. That lets you shoot from 0.5x all the way up to 100x. There’s even new AI editing features that let you completely edit the background.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is $100 more than the rest of the new lineup, but if you lease it or trade in a current device, you’re still getting a ton of value and one of the most premium smartphones. It’s up for preorder starting at $1,300 now and will begin shipping on Jan. 31.

Galaxy S24 and S24+: What you need to know

Just like the S24 Ultra, the S24 and S24+ come with the same laundry list of Galaxy AI features out of the box, and that’s good news.“Live Translate is a standout, but I’m eager to put the Chat Assist and the translator app through its paces in the real world as well.

The improved photo editing suite, including the ability to remove a reflection, will make the triple camera setup even more helpful on the S24 and S24+. Both devices still feature a 50-megapixel main wide sensor, a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera for up to 3x optical zoom and 10x Space Zoom.

Samsung’s sticking with an aluminum and stainless steel build for the more affordable S24s— $800 and $1,000, respectively— but there are four new colors to pick from: Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, and Amber Yellow. The Galaxy S24 lands with a 6.2-inch FHD+ screen, which should be great for everyday use and is slightly larger than the S23’s display. While the S24+ is also slightly larger at 6.7 inches, the more exciting upgrade is the QHD+ screen, which puts it in line with the S24 Ultra.

You can expect all-day battery life from the S24 (4,000mAh) and S24+ (4,900mAh), and when it does come time to recharge, you can place these on a Qi-enabled wireless charger or plug in via a USB-C port.

Like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the S24 and S24+ are powered by Qualcomm’s latest for Galaxy processor. The only difference is the entry-level Galaxy S24 pairs it with 8GBs of RAM, while the S24+ jumps up to 12GBs of RAM. Regardless, there should be plenty of power for the new AI features and any application you want to use on either phone.

While the Galaxy S24 or S24+ phones aren’t a complete redesign, they bring Samsung’s core smartphones forward and deliver some neat, new functionality.

Considering Samsung’s increased trade-in offers, trading in an S23 or S23+ for these phones could make sense. Still, you’re likely more inclined to do so if you have an S21, S20, or S10 to see the most significant jump in terms of display and camera quality, as well as overall performance.

Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra Specs