Galaxy S24 vs Galaxy S23: The top 4 things you need to know

The 2024 refresh of Samsung’s mainline Galaxy phones are here and there’s quite a bit that separates the Galaxy S24 from the Galaxy S23.

Samsung just pulled back the curtain on the all-new Galaxy S24 line-up of phones that are set to go head to head with the biggest handsets currently on the market from the likes of Apple, Google and OnePlus. While much of the fanfare is undoubtedly centred around the high-powered Galaxy S24 Ultra, it’d be a disservice to sleep on the humble entry-level phone in the new range: the Galaxy S24.

After all, while they haven’t been the most exciting smartphones of all time, the S24’s predecessors have been solid all-rounders, each of which have been easy to recommend. The Galaxy S23 was certainly no different, but this time around there have been a few key changes that might even tempt an upgrade or two of those who bought the S23 at launch.

To know the key headlines that separate the S24 from the S23, just keep reading on.

AI is here in a big way

It should come as no surprise to anyone, particularly as Samsung teased as much in the run up to its announcement, but the Galaxy S24 is chocked full of AI features. Via the new Exynos 2400 for Galaxy chipset, the S24 can pull off a number of on-device AI interactions that the S23 is simply unable to do.

One of the biggest areas where AI comes into play is in photo editing on the S24, which is handy as the cameras are largely the same. When editing, you can move or get rid of subjects completely and have Galaxy AI fill in the gaps with what it believes to be an appropriate fix.

Another example is ‘Circle to Search with Google’ which, as its name suggests, lets you circle part of an image which is then used to facilitate a Google search, upon which Galaxy AI can offer tailored results with unique information such as travel guides if the subject you’ve highlighted is a real-world location.

The newer display has four key upgrades

The Galaxy S23 is no slouch when it comes to the display but Samsung’s found a way (four ways in fact) to bring noticeable upgrades here on the S24. For starters, the screen itself is slightly bigger, jumping from 6.1-inches to 6.2-inches.

Accompanying that size bump is a reduction in the bezels that surround the display, creating a more end-to-end feel when using the phone. The display itself is also brighter with a peak nits rate of 2600, a marked increase from 1750 on the S23.

As a final flourish, the S24 now benefits from an adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate, which means the display can reduce the refresh rate depending on the type of app you’re using, saving the device’s battery life in the process.

There’s a slight battery boost

Speaking of battery life, the S24 gets a small (but noteworthy) bump here too, with the battery capacity jumping from 3900mAh to 4000mAh. On paper, that’s not a groundbreaking leap but when paired with the adaptive refresh rate of the display, could potentially lead to noticeable gains during everyday use which is always a boon.

The S24 dominates on software support

No doubt inspired by Google’s pledge to offer long-term support to both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, Samsung has now committed to providing seven years of software and security updates to the entire Galaxy S24 line-up.

When you compare that with the Galaxy S23’s four and five years of software and security updates respectively, the S24 seems like a far better investment to any new adopters looking to pick up a Samsung handset.

Early verdict

The Galaxy S23 was so similar to its predecessor that we honestly weren’t expecting too much of an upgrade in the S24 but now that Samsung’s come clean on what it’s bringing to the table, the S24 could be one of the company’s most alluring entry-level smartphones to date.

The new AI features, alongside better battery life and some major changes to the quality of the display, all make the S24 sound like a contender for one of 2024’s best Android phones, and that’s before mentioning the seven years of software and security updates thrown in. There’s still more to find out once we get the phone in for testing, but things are certainly looking bright for the Galaxy S24.