Samsung’s next Unpacked event has come and gone, and it revealed the next generation of its main flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S24 series. Whether you’re interested in the base Galaxy S24 or the flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra — or want to go right in the middle with the S24 Plus — all three phones are worth checking out.
While the S24 line looks like it will be quite impressive with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, new smart AI features, and improved cameras, some may think of these as more iterative upgrades. If you can hold out a little longer, it may be worth waiting for the Galaxy S25 instead. Here are a few reasons why.
Better cameras
We already know what to expect with the S24 series. For the most part, the S24 line doesn’t change too much from its predecessor, though the Ultra does get some noticeable changes.
The standard S24 and S24 Plus still have a 50-megapixel main lens, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. The S24 Ultra again has a 200MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a new 50MP telephoto camera for up to 5x optical zoom — as well as the returning 10MP telephoto lens for 3x optical zoom.
But if mobile photography is your main reason for getting a new phone, you might want to consider waiting for the S25 Ultra — or even the S26 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy Camera Roadmap
S24U:
– Folded telephoto upgraded to 50MP with 0.7um.S25U:
– Wide-angle lens upgraded.
– Folded telephoto lens upgraded with variable capabilities.
– Ultra-wide-angle upgraded to 50MP.S26U:
– Wide-angle upgraded to 200MP with 0.7um and… pic.twitter.com/7FKi6HxMMw— Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) December 17, 2023
Some rumors floating around seem to indicate that Samsung will be doing some major camera upgrades in the next few years. The Galaxy S25 Ultra may see an upgraded main lens, a folded telephoto lens with “variable capabilities,” and a 50MP ultrawide lens — a big jump up from the current 12MP ultrawide sensor currently on the S24 Ultra.
The entire Galaxy S25 lineup could also switch from the current Samsung ISOCELL GN3 sensors to a Sony sensor. There’s no word on exactly which Sony sensor would be used, but it would still be an upgrade in quality.
It’s generally safe to assume that camera tech will get better with every new generation of smartphones, and that seems especially true for the S25 Ultra next year.
A possible redesign
There’s one problem with most of the phones that are available right now: the design. New phones look like the previous generation, which also resemble the ones from two years ago. Most brands, including Samsung, have used the same design for the past several years.
The Galaxy S24 series’ design looks nearly identical to the Galaxy S23, which, in turn, looks similar to the S22 before it, just without the camera island module. But that may all change with the Galaxy S25.
Ilhwan Lee, formerly a designer at Mercedes-Benz and current Design Team Leader of the MX division, is focused on the task of redefining the Galaxy brand's past image to provide a fresh feel. Significant design changes are expected from the S25 onwards.
— Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) December 6, 2023
A leaker who goes by the name “Revegnus” claims that there will be significant design changes with the S25 and onward. That’s because Ilhwan Lee, formerly a designer at Mercedes-Benz and currently the Design Team Leader of Samsung’s mobile division, has been tasked with redefining the Galaxy’s image for a “fresh” feel.
We have no leaks about what a redesigned Galaxy S25 could look like, but if you’re tired of the current aesthetic, it might be worth waiting for.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip
While the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip in the S24 series should be more than capable, Qualcomm’s next chip could be even better.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 still uses a 4-nanometer process, but the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will reportedly utilize the 3nm process. The only other chip on the smartphone market currently using the 3nm process is the A17 Pro in Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro series. With the iPhone 15 Pro beating out the competition in benchmarks, Android phones need a similar equivalent, but that may not happen until the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
8G4 is very powerful. Is it thanks to the 3nm process?
Adreno 830 holds a comprehensive 10% performance advantage compared to Apple M2's GPU. In 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, it achieved a score of 7200 points.
CPU is also very powerful.
– Based on Geekbench 5: Single-core 2000+…
— Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) November 4, 2023
Qualcomm will reportedly use an octa-core CPU that has two high-performance Phoenix L CPU cores and six power-efficient Phoenix M cores. The Gen 4 will be denser than the Gen 3, which only has one prime core, five performance cores, and two efficiency cores. Revegnus also claims that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will have an Adreno 830 GPU inside, which is 10% more powerful than Apple’s M2 chip used in devices like the iPad Pro and MacBook Air.
Of course, Apple now uses M3 chips in the top-of-the-line MacBook Pro laptops, but it’s still impressive that a smartphone chip could potentially be more powerful than what’s in laptops and tablets. We’ll have to wait until the Galaxy S25 series to see how capable Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be, so if performance is your thing, you might want to hold off.
Improved AI features
With the Galaxy S24 series, one of Samsung’s big selling points is its proprietary AI mode, aptly named “Galaxy AI.” These new AI features run locally on the phones and can help out with things like photo editing, phone calls, and more.
Some of the AI features for the S24 include real-time phone call translation, a photo editing tool similar to Google’s Magic Editor, note summaries, and more.
This will be Samsung’s first generation of big AI-powered features, so there may be some bugs or glitches, as we’d expect from any first-generation product. Since it doesn’t look like AI will go away anytime soon, if you really don’t care for possible kinks with AI features, you could wait for the Galaxy S25. It’s likely that most of the potential issues we may see with Galaxy AI will be worked out in the next version. Plus, it’s all but guaranteed Samsung will cook up other new AI features for next year that weren’t ready for the S24.
More interesting colors
It seems that it’s getting harder and harder to get good colors for smartphones these days. The colors Samsung chose for the Galaxy S24 lineup are better than what some of the competition has come up with (cough, Apple), but they’re still not great. Of course, colors are subjective, but there’s room for improvement.
If you’re like us and don’t see a particular color that you’re in love with for the S24 lineup this year, then maybe waiting for the S25 will be a better choice. With a rumored redesign coming, who knows — perhaps Samsung will bring some fresh new colors to go along with it.
The Galaxy S24 is a small update
Though the Galaxy S24 lineup looks quite capable across all three phones, it feels like another iterative upgrade. It’s a good option to consider if you’re still using an older phone, but if you have something more recent, then it’s likely that you can hold out a bit longer.
With the rumors of better cameras and even a big redesign coming, waiting for the Samsung Galaxy S25 could be the way to go.
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