Only a few days left until Samsung unveils its masterpieces this year at the highly-anticipated Samsung Unpacked event. The launch is set to take place on January 17 at 1 pm ET in San Jose, California, but anyone not attending will still have a chance to watch it live.
Here's a breakdown of what we expect to see and how you can tune into Samsung's Galaxy S24 launch.
How to watch the next Galaxy Unpacked
Apart from the lucky few who got invited to the in-person event in California, Samsung will livestream the launch on its official website and YouTube platforms. The company has done this in the past, and we expect the same this time around.
Samsung has already posted the live stream link on the company's official YouTube channel. Be sure to set a reminder or hit on the "notify me" button to give yourself a heads-up before the live stream begins.
So what can we expect from the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event, and will Samsung's new offerings be just as exciting as the hype they’ve created around AI this year?
What to expect from the next Galaxy Unpacked?
As anticipated, Samsung is expected to launch its flagship S-series phones at this year’s Galaxy Unpacked, successors to the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, and the S23 Ultra. However, Samsung is reportedly going to integrate its Galaxy AI for the first time in these phones. With AI comes an array of features and capabilities, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus
Rumors suggest that Samsung might maintain the Galaxy S24 prices at the same level as the S23 series, with the smaller S24 potentially starting at $799 and the S24 Plus at $999. In mid-October, leaks hinted at a variety of new colors for the lineup, including black, grey, violet, and a striking new yellow option.
However, camera upgrades for the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus seem unlikely, and leaks indicate the use of the Samsung Exynos 2400 processor in European models, along with much faster charging. The Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus may sport the LTPO OLED displays this time around, bringing them up to par with the Ultra model.
We might also get larger batteries in both models, with the smallest S24 moving up to a 4000mAh battery and the S24 Plus getting a 4900mAh unit. Combined with the improved efficiency of newer chips, this should lead to better battery life overall.
Samsung S24 Ultra
When people think Ultra, they think big. That’s exactly what we’re expecting to see with this year’s S24 Ultra. It looks like this device is expected to have some major shifts in terms of specs.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is anticipated to undergo significant changes, with speculations suggesting a shift from a curved to a flat display, making it easier for those S Pen enthusiasts to work with their documents.
Samsung is also rumored to be upgrading the frame on the Galaxy S24 Ultra from Armor Aluminum to Titanium, which follows a similar move from Apple and should make it feel lighter to hold.
One potential rumor suggests that the Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera configuration shows a 10MP sensor behind a 10x telephoto lens and a 50MP sensor behind a 5x telephoto lens. The other set of rumors seems to be leaning towards a 50MP sensor behind a 5x telephoto lens and a 10MP sensor behind a 3x telephoto lens.
Either way, it looks like we're getting a 50MP upgrade on one of the telephoto cameras. When it comes to capturing videos, there are speculations that the Galaxy S24 Ultra is said to be able to record 120fps video at 4K resolution, which would match Sony's flagship Xperia phones.
Some leakers believe that the Ultra is set to get faster charging this year, i.e., 65W. This would be a welcome increase if true since Samsung has stuck with the same charging speeds for years.
For pricing, our guess is that the S24 Ultra will debut at $1,199, similar to the S23 Ultra.
Galaxy AI is here
Artificial Intelligence is the most 'it' thing these days, with every single tech company dancing to its tunes, and Samsung has joined the league. With the Galaxy S24, Samsung is said to be launching One UI 6.1 alongside a host of new AI tools. These tools are called "Galaxy AI."
One leaker, BenIt Bruhner Pro, revealed a slew of them, including AI wallpaper, real-time phone call translation, a Magic Editor-like photo enhancement tool for Samsung Gallery, and more.
Several leakers have been dropping hints on some of these AI tools, and more recently, one tipster took to X to talk about how users will be able to pick from five conversational tones with Samsung keyboard, including professional and casual. Plus, you can add emojis right into your sentences, making the chats more engaging when using the keyboard.
Even note-taking on Samsung devices could be reorganized with the help of AI processing.
Galaxy AI is also integrated into Samsung Keyboard and Samsung Notes on the Galaxy S24 series. 👀This one person who tried the S24 has always used GBoard, but they're willing to switch to Samsung Keyboard just because of those features.Some of the new features on Samsung… pic.twitter.com/xl57wljONcJanuary 11, 2024
The company announced this week that it’s introducing pop-ups in select cities worldwide to showcase the new S24 series and unveil its Galaxy AI features. These Samsung Experience Spaces will open after the Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17. At these spaces, you can visit and get glimpses of Samsung’s latest innovations, particularly how the tech giant is incorporating AI into its products. Here's the full list of cities.
Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Fit 3, and Galaxy Buds 3
Other than its major phone drops, there's been talk that Samsung could reveal some other devices at the launch.
Last year, a Naver report showed Samsung's smart ring patents, signaling that Samsung could be branching out its wearable efforts and that a so-called "Samsung Galaxy Ring" was in the works to take on devices like the Oura Ring. It was rumored that it could control smart home devices and that the smart ring would bundle PPG and ECG sensors for tracking heart rate, irregular heart rhythm, and blood pressure. And while it was thought the ring could debut alongside the S24, The Elec stated that the "Galaxy Ring" is expected to be released in the third quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2025.
It's been over three years since the Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 tracker launched. In December 2023, the Bluetooth SIG listing confirmed a new Samsung fitness tracker called the "Samsung Galaxy Fit3" is arriving. Previous leaks have shown the Galaxy Fit 3 will have a wider AMOLED display and a larger battery than the Fit 2. While we speculated that the Samsung Unpacked would be a perfect stage to reveal a new fitness tracker, we've got our fingers crossed.
Lastly, we would like to think Samsung is preparing to launch new flagship earbuds during Unpacked, but the latest Galaxy Buds 3 Pro rumors indicate that we won't likely be seeing them launch alongside the S24.
