This week’s unpacked event brought Samsung’s latest flagships – the Galaxy S24 trio. You can check out our hands-on review for an introduction to the new features and hardware upgrades. And if you’re curious what all those AI features are all about, watch these videos.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is a rethink on how the long telephoto lens should work – instead of a fixed 10x lens, Samsung went for 5x magnification and a high resolution 50MP sensor that offers high quality zoom between 5x and 10x. And more, it enables 8K video recording and 4K @ 120fps from the tele camera.
Then there’s the Samsung Galaxy S24+ at €300 less than the Ultra. Except this year it has the same RAM (12GB) and boasts a flat 6.7” LTPO display with QHD+ resolution and 1-120Hz refresh rate, same as the Ultra. The battery capacity is just 100mAh shy of the Ultra too. This is the best S+ that we’ve seen in years and (unless you care about the S Pen), the only real downside of going Plus instead of Ultra is that the cameras are basically the same as on the S23+ and those already felt outdated.
You can go down €350 and get the small Galaxy S23 – it’s not tiny, but it is the smallest new phone that Samsung sells. However, you only get 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage (vs. 512GB on the S23+ and S23 Ultra) and the display is stuck at FHD+ resolution (four years after the S20 brought the last QHD+ display in the line). Also, charging happens at just 25W, not 45W like the two larger models.
We should note that Samsung will deliver 7 generations of OS updates and 7 years of security patches. Even if you personally don’t keep it for that long, you can sell it off or hand it off to a relative and they will still get up to date software. Also note that the current storage capacities are doubled due to the pre-order bonus.
Amazon is selling official silicone and vegan leather cases for the Galaxy S24 trio, which are available in a variety of colors.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE costs €690, but that’s with only 128GB storage. This one also has an FHD+ display (though it isn’t LTPO) and 25W battery charging (for a 4,500mAh battery). However, it uses the old Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and will get more limited software support (3 OS updates one of which already happened, plus 5 years of patches).
You might also want to consider the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Currently, Amazon Germany has them paired up with Google Pixel Buds Pro, the bundles cost less than a Galaxy S24 and S24+ respectively.
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