Samsung flagship shoppers are apparently in for a bad surprise with Samsung’s next wave of camera-centric Galaxy S flagship phones. The folks over at SmartPrix (in collaboration with @OnLeaks) have shared purported renders of the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and there are both good and bad surprises to unpack here.
Starting on a positive note, it looks like Samsung is abandoning the cause of curved screens, years after wowing the world with the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and continuing with its curved glass aesthetics for multiple generations. If the leaked media is anything to go by, the Galaxy S24 Ultra will serve a flat screen.
This is certainly good news for folks worried sick about ghost touches alongside the curved edges and the damage-prone nature of such a design. The curved glass exit is marked by the arrival of slimmer bezels, which are uniform on all sides. Apparently, the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have the slimmest bezels that Samsung has ever offered on a phone.
I am a sucker for curved glass aesthetics, but I would be lying if I disparage the looks of the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s impressively thin bezels. A few weeks ago, another leaker (@UniverseIce) posted a concept-based rendition of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, highlighting the fresh looks. The rest of the package, however, remains unchanged from a design perspective.
Just like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, we get flat metallic side rails with subtly rounded edges. Speculations point toward a 6.8-inch display with 2,000 nits brightness output, Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip inside, up to 16GB of RAM, 2TB storage, and four cameras at the back in a familiar floating lens look.
Next, we have alleged renders of the vanilla Galaxy S24. It takes the design foundations of the Samsung Galaxy S23 and gives it an unwelcome twist. I am talking about that flattened frame with sharp edges. Samsung is clearly imitating the looks that Apple introduced with the iPhone 12 Pro series (before it reversed course with the iPhone 15 Pro).
In my opinion, despite its relatively pocketable size, the iPhone 14 Pro is one of the most uncomfortable phones to hold because those sharp edges really dig into your palms. And that’s not a very nice experience, even though I desperately want to feel the cold stainless steel frame.
Samsung, after delivering an amazingly comfortable phone with the Galaxy S23 — thanks to its compact dimensions and slightly bulging sides — appears to be undoing all that goodwill with the Galaxy S24. The rest of the hardware profile remains identical, save for the addition of an antenna band for an Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip inside.
The internal hardware, however, would likely be the saving grace. SmartPrix predicts a 6.17-inch OLED display, Qualcomm’s next flagship chip, support for 45W charging, and a triple camera array highlighted by a 50-megapixel main snapper. But it looks like Samsung’s imitation runs deeper.
Just like the iPhone 15 Pro, Samsung also seems to be embracing titanium for the Galaxy S24 series. Titanium is lighter, more resistant to corrosion, and offers higher longevity compared to stainless steel. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get mired in the same kind of overheating mess that Apple’s flagships have courted this time around.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S24 will likely be announced in January or February 2024.
