If you’re looking for better low-light performance and improved zoom, you might prefer the S24 Ultra (by my colleague Sam Rutherford). reviewed). Still, the S24 and S24+ should be more than enough for your everyday shooting, and for me the results were usually consistent across the three rear cameras. Indoor shots were a little on the darker side and noisier than the results I got on my main phone. OnePlus Open (there are newer and larger sensors). As the environment darkened, the difference became more apparent, especially with the aggressive sharpening of pale reds (as in taxis and traffic lights) and bushes.
On a more positive note, I’d like to echo my colleague Cherlynn Low’s praise of the S23+’s selfie camera in her review from last year. The S24 and S24+ inherited the same setup. In fact, it shows so many details on my face – pores, dry skin, facial hair, etc. – I began to miss the beautification options offered by Chinese phones. I was also impressed with the video recording capabilities, as the 4K clip I shot at 60fps on the bus ride home looked silky smooth. Relatively low lighting does not seem to affect video stabilization much.
Software: Building a powerful case for practical generative artificial intelligence
I spent most of my time testing “Galaxy AI” with the S24+, which is billed as the first privacy AI suite powered by the neural processing unit inside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. In other words, these phones can perform some “advanced intelligence” tasks on the device and have the option to go completely offline for added privacy, but the results may not be as good or new. On a related note, Samsung promises that it will never use your data “for machine learning or ad targeting” and that “your data will be immediately deleted from our servers or our partner’s servers as soon as generation is complete.”
Samsung Galaxy AI can be divided into six functions: “live translation” for voice calls, live translator (for private conversations), keyboard typing assistance (for quick translations and changing the tone of your drafts), note-taking assistance (for automatic summarizing and formatting), transcript assistance ( with translations of your posts) and generative editing in the gallery app. The translation features are based on Samsung’s own language packs, which currently include English (US and UK), Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish (Mexico, Spain and US). , Thai and Vietnamese. The company promised it would be added later.
Before I go any further, I’d like to point out that it wasn’t immediately obvious where I could enable these AI features. They are disabled by default and there is no single switch to enable them all at once. It took me a while before I discovered the “advanced exploration” center in system settings. Even for Google’s self-explanatory Circle for Search, I had to go through multiple settings pages to get it to work.
Perhaps the most prominent feature of Galaxy AI is the real-time two-way translation for voice calls offered by Samsung. from November. First, I had to enable live translation in the settings of the calling program, where I had to set my own and the recipient’s languages (it’s easier if you install the necessary language packs in the “advanced intelligence” center in advance). Then when you finally make a phone call, you also need to tap the “call assistance” button and then the “live translation” button to start.
It took me a few runs before I realized I had to hit it Both of press the buttons to do this, then the live translation tool will broadcast an alert that the call is being translated and has live subtitles. Speaking of which, be aware that the phone app doesn’t save these transcripts for later (I found out the hard way), so don’t forget to take screenshots or jot down important information before hanging up.
I recruited my Ghanaian friend, Paul, who speaks French (and better Mandarin than I do). It took a few runs to let Paul get used to the delay (again, not a privilege in the real world), and then we concluded that Samsung’s French language pack had trouble picking out some of the names and culinary terms. probably because it doesn’t play well with Paul’s regional accent. Other than that, Paul and I were able to understand each other’s translated speech.
Paul and I also tried the split-screen translator tool during a face-to-face conversation. The tool was hard to find — it’s on the second page of the system’s drop-down menu; there is no program shortcut. After studying the timing (especially with the pauses required for the AI to kick in), most translations were accurate as long as Paul’s accent didn’t confuse the software.
Samsung’s system performed better in Korean, which is no surprise. I brought the S24+ to dine at a Korean restaurant, and after paying the bill, I complimented the establishment in two or three lines using a translator. The manager’s eyes lit up when he saw the fast and accurate Korean translation. He then served me some of his restaurant’s best dishes through a translator, but when I went to look up the names of the dishes the next day, I found out that the system only stores conversations for 24 hours. I lost all my previous call recordings. A disclaimer about transcript history would have helped. The Samsung system works better in Korean, which is no surprise. I brought the S24+ to dine at a Korean restaurant, and after paying the bill, I complimented the establishment in two or three lines using a translator. The manager’s eyes lit up when he saw the fast and accurate Korean translation. He then served me some of his restaurant’s best dishes through a translator, but when I went to look up the names of the dishes the next day, I found out that the system only stores conversations for 24 hours. I lost all my previous call recordings. A disclaimer about transcript history would have helped.
Typing assistant AI tools are more conveniently located – right on top of the Samsung keyboard. I could quickly translate short phrases while typing in the field – I only had to give it a second or two before it automatically replaced my typing with its translation. However, I noticed that the Chinese for “Korean BBQ” (“韓式燒烤”) was not properly translated into Korean – it became “코리안 周聫” which is “Korean yaki” (which led me to Google okonomiyaki pancakes), Google- It should be “코리안 바비국” as un correctly deduced. I’m sure the accuracy of Galaxy AI will improve over time, but be prepared to encounter silly mistakes like this every now and then.
As a reporter, I look forward to trying out the AI transcription feature in Samsung’s Voice Recorder app in future interview opportunities. No settings are required and it can recognize multiple speakers just like Google Recorder. But unlike the Pixel version, you can only transcribe it after you’ve finished typing (using any downloaded language pack) rather than seeing it live. This is a bit odd considering Samsung has a live translator tool; perhaps it should have rushed this unpolished Galaxy AI package in time to launch.
Samsung’s other text-based AI tools will also come in handy, especially since I occasionally switch between English and Chinese. I was able to play with both the ‘typing style’ and ‘spelling and grammar’ tools on the Samsung keyboard. In Samsung’s Notes app, you can also use Galaxy AI for automatic summarization and formatting, which can be useful after taking notes from press events and interviews.
Sure, you can already perform similar tasks using ChatGPT, but it’s nice to have these features just a few clicks away on our phones. I wouldn’t trust all of the grammar recommendations because some of them didn’t make sense. Not all of the writing styles listed will suit your needs, but they provide some fun ones – like how to write a professional letter to your love interest.
Performance and battery life
Like the S24 Ultra, the S24 and S24+ are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor – but only in the US, South Korea and China. If you’re buying in the UK, then you’ll have to settle for the Samsung Exynos 2400, although benchmarks have shown that its performance isn’t far off from Qualcomm’s, and on paper it actually has faster 5G. modem. As for options, the S24 starts at $800 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for the base model, while the S24+ starts at $1,000 with 12GB of RAM and double the storage.
I’ve yet to experience any hiccups on either device, and the smooth Android 14 animations made it easy to switch between apps. In Geekbench 6, the S24 and S24+ CPUs saw notable improvements in their multi-core performance scores, reaching 7,049 and 6,641 respectively. Both models saw a bigger increase in GPU scores to 15,082 and 14,982 respectively.
The S23+ already impressed us with its 25-hour result in our video battery test last year. This time, the S24+ lasted 25 hours and 50 minutes, beating its predecessor by almost an hour. The little S24 didn’t disappoint either, lasting around 24.5 hours, so battery life isn’t an issue if one-handed operation is important to you. The S24+’s battery life is more generous in the real world: With occasional Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and camera tests throughout the day, I often had 50 to 60 percent of power by the time I got home. evening. If I forget to charge the phone overnight, it can last a day.
Collection
I started my research on the S24 and S24+ with low expectations. After all, they did not differ much from their predecessors (it seems). But as I spent more time with these devices, their minimalist design and elegant UX grew on me. Then came built-in generative AI features that are more convenient and intuitive than other third-party bots. There is even greater potential with live translation tools, especially with international travel to pre-pandemic levels. New software enhancements, along with subtle design changes, help make the S24 and S24+ more attractive to upgrade from the S22 or earlier models. Or switching from other brands.
While OpenAI and Google are already well ahead in the generative AI game, Samsung still deserves some credit for simplifying these features — at least continuing to offer Galaxy AI for free until the end of 2025. For now, Samsung has to figure out these features. a way to polish the whole package and get some AI features easier. More importantly, users should be offered the option to save transcripts after each translated phone call or private conversation. I’m sure Samsung wouldn’t want Galaxy AI to become a vent.
