Galaxy S23/S23+ vs S24/S24+: So many new good things

Samsung's yearly upgrade for the Galaxy S series is official. The tech giant announced the Galaxy S24 series at Unpacked in San Jose, and with official information in tow and some hands-on time under our belt, we can now compare the 2024 flagship with the Galaxy S23 released a year ago.

As is tradition by now, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ are like two peas in a pod — except one is bigger — whereas the Galaxy S24 Ultra strays from the formula a bit more and continues to represent a continuation of the now-retired Galaxy Note series.

For now, we'll leave the Galaxy S24 Ultra to the side and examine how the base S24 and the S24+ compare to the S23 and S23+.

A refined design with similar characteristics

It's no secret that Samsung no longer tries to redefine the smartphone design formula. The company has been using a streamlined “One-mass” design for a couple of years now, and the Galaxy S24 and S24+ look very similar to the Galaxy S23 and S23+, except the 2024 models have flat frames.

Story continues after our Galaxy S24 & S24+ hands-on video

That's not to say the Galaxy S24 and S24+ look bad or should have taken a different approach. The design was refined over many generations, and the new phones look gorgeous.

Besides, with years of experience under its belt, it is expected for a household name like Samsung to explore better ways to add value to new phones other than slapping a new camera housing design on the back of its devices every year.

Galaxy S24 bets big on improved displays

Speaking of meaningful ways to add value, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ boast incredible display improvements compared to the previous generation phones.

The new lineup offers Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays that are much brighter (up to 2,600 nits instead of 1,750 nits), have a faster touch response, improved Vision Booster technology, and a new feature called Adaptive Color Tone. The latter uses the cameras to adjust color and white levels to better match the environment.

Furthermore, while the S23 and S23+ displays could go only as low as 48Hz, the improved Galaxy S24 and S24+ panels have an adaptive refresh rate of 1-120Hz, which should, in theory, contribute to battery life gains.

These new panels have also allowed Samsung to integrate the lock screen's wallpaper with the Always-On-Display, and it's a sight to behold.

And last but certainly not least, the Galaxy S24+ gets a slight size upgrade from 6.6 to 6.7 inches and, more importantly, a resolution boost from FHD+ to QHD. That's right! The Galaxy S24+ offers a display resolution on par with the Ultra models.

More power, better cooling, and bigger batteries

Unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ introduce new chips. But unlike last year, when the Galaxy S23 used a Qualcomm chip worldwide, the new S24 and S24+ split the markets again between Exynos and Qualcomm chips.

Don't let that discourage you. The new Exynos 2400 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 are more powerful than the previous generation chips and offer vastly improved ray tracing and AI capabilities.

In addition, these new chips are backed by better cooling. The Galaxy S24 and S24+ SoCs are cooled by vapor chambers that are 1.5x and 1.6x larger compared to the S23 and S23+, respectively.

The Galaxy S24+ also benefits from more RAM as standard and ships with 12GB instead of 8GB. This upgrade isn't available for the base model, even if you'd be willing to pay extra for more RAM.

And finally, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ have slightly bigger batteries than the Galaxy S23 and S23+. They clock in at 4,000mAh and 4,900mAh, up from 3,900mAh and 4,700mAh.

One UI 6.1, AI features, and better firmware support

Samsung has spent a lot of effort improving the Galaxy S24 experience through software, and it shows in many ways, from all the new features added to the One UI 6.1 update and all the AI-powered tools to longer firmware support.

Some of the best One UI 6.1 and AI-enabled improvements and additions include:

• Circle to Search.
• Live Translation in calls.
• Chat Assist.
• Interpreter.
• Auto Summary.
• Summarize, format, and fix text in Samsung Notes.
• Transcribe and summarize audio in Voice Recorder.
• Generative Edit.
• Instant slow-mo playback.
• Always On Display improvements.
• Generative Wallpaper.
• Dual Recording mode for two rear cameras.
• Single Take for all cameras.
• More battery protection features.

There's a lot more to unpack regarding One UI 6.1, and you can check out a bunch of our demo videos for more details. All in all, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ come with many software and AI features and improvements, and some of these new AI tools won't be available on the Galaxy S23.

Finally, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ offer extended support for seven OS upgrades and seven years of security patches instead of four OS upgrades and five years of patches. This level of support won't come to the Galaxy S23 and S23+ and older flagships.

Samsung
Galaxy S23

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Galaxy S24

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Galaxy S23 Plus

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Galaxy S24 Plus

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