Samsung Galaxy Unpacked: Watch the S24 launch event right here

Looks like Samsung has some tasty pre-order incentives ready for early S24 adopters. Forbes is reporting that the manufacturer is giving away everything from a free Galaxy Watch 6 to a "double your storage" offer, where buying the 128GB model will be upgraded to the 256GB phone and so on.

Yay, free things!

I somehow missed this video when it came out (probably because it came out on January 04, when I was still recovering from new year overindulging), but it illustrates the AI-based Zoom feature that's being fully revealed at Unpacked. 

Of course, you take risks when you invite users to "pinch to enlarge" part of a photo they've taken… 

I'm curious: does anyone actually record 8K video on their phone? I mean, I was an early adopter of 8K cameras (having bought the Canon EOS R5 on day one) and even I barely shoot 8K when I'm doing proper video – let alone wanting to do it on my phone.

It kills battery and fills memory, and there's really nowhere to put it – 4K is fine for everything I shoot and, to be honest, the everyday tat I record on my phone is still in FullHD (although admittedly that's because I'm always doing the low memory dance). 

Still… someone must use it, right? 

Also, I'm curious as to the extent of the AI integration when it comes to the cameras in the S24 family. 

I know I'm not alone in being impressed at the cleverness of the AI in the Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 8 Pro. However, I also know that I'm not alone in wondering to what extent that AI cleverness compromises the actual art of photography. 

Personally I just want a phone that takes a photograph of what's in front of me. not one that embellishes and "improves" it for me. 

(Wow, I really am a grumpy old man today.)

I keep hearing conflicting rumors about the 10x zoom – or lack of it. It's long been rumored that the S24 Ultra will ditch the 10x zoom of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in favor of a better-quality 5x zoom. Which, no matter how good, will only be perceived as a downgrade by the consumer.

UNLESS… all this AI is used to give the S24 Ultra a 10x zoom via clever AI upscaling. 

Lots of naysayers online, as you can imagine. Among the more insightful naysaying…

Hmm, Samsung has turned off the chat and comments section on the YouTube stream. Spoilsport! 😞

SPOILER ALERT!

In case you can't be bothered waiting, here are the official announcements:

• Read the full Samsung Galaxy S24 specs, features and pricing

• Read our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 review

And if you're still interested in the pageantry and PR speak, HERE… WE… GO!

"Galaxy believes the next big thing is… you!" 

Aww shucks.

Galaxy AI opens more ways to… be creative and collaborate

That was a bit of an underwhelming intro. 

A new era of innovation. A transformative force that gives each of us the power to create, discover and innovate… and bring dreams to life.

Artificial intelligence will bring about great change in the mobile industry and in the ways we live.

Oof, quite a deep cut: "mobile devices will become the primary gateway to AI"

WE ARE LITERALLY HOLDING SKYNET IN OUR HANDS

"Anybody can perfectly frame, shoot and edit"

Laughs in photographer

"I know there are uncertainties for every new technological advancement." 

Nods towards Samsung Knox Security

"you will be able to use Galaxy devices for longer… we plan to offer 7 years of security and updates"

"We call it the Eureka moment of a generation, and it all starts with the Samsung Galaxy S24"

Now Drew Blackard, VP of product management, is here to show us what's up

"New way to connect"

Languages can be a barrier. Uses ride share app as an example, getting a call from a driver and not speaking the same language.

Solution? Realtime voice translations when you're on a call. Live translations both verbally and on-screen

(Love the concept. Also, people in the real world don't enunciate like they do in that video, especially over the phone)

Audio and text translations for 13 languages at launch – and remembers what languages your contacts speak. 

Translations work in-person, too, acting like a personal interpreter, via both text and audio

Direct keyboard translations, too, including in the chat window. Chat Assist detects the language and translates the message instantly. That's pretty cool.

Yikes, you can now use AI to tailor your chat text in your own language. Options include "Excited", "Formal" and "Shakespearean". 

Alas, poor Yorick.

AI transcription for meetings, withe the ability to create a short summary. Useful!

Note Assist tidies up your handwritten jotting, and typed notetaking – such as inserting bullet points and times into a cluttered text document. 

Galaxy AI also summarizes notes into key bullet points, for streamlined sharing.

"Working with trusted partners to bring best in class intelligence to your phones"

Hey, it's from some guy from Google! His name is Hiroshi!

And Samsung will be working with Google to create new AI experiences, including a new way to search using the S24. 

Google Cloud and Gemini models are unlocking new generative AI functionality on S24 devices, such as the text and transcription tech.

Google has been asking, how can AI help users search for information while inside phone apps? Now far beyond just text search. [Google Lens is used 12 billion times per month!!!!]

Meet Circle to Search, which uses gestures to search for anything; just circle, highlight, scribble or tap whatever you're curious about on your screen to learn more. 

For example, you want to know what outfit an influencer is wearing. No need to screenshots or opening another app; a touch of the home button, circle the outfit, and the AI will pop up with Google suggestions for you – and you can swipe it away to resume your browsing.

Circle to Search looks amazing… but there's no chance it's exclusive to Samsung. It's going to be an Android-wide thing. 

Knox Matrix will offer end-to-end data encryption across all your Galaxy devices

ALRIGHT BABY, IT'S CAMERA TIME!

Dr Hamid Sheikh is here to introduce AI-powered cameras with ProVisual Engine

Apparently it's a must-bring for concerts. 

Nightopgraphy and Space Zoom enables you to zoom in and get great quality even with bad lighting and cheap seats

As rumored, the 10x zoom is gone in favor of an improved 5x module with better quality and stabilization

They're definitely pushing that the 10x digital zoom using the 50MP 5x lens offers better quality – 12MP images using stacking.

AI analyzes images from both cameras before pressing the shutter, touching up skin, sharpening grass and tease, and reducing noise 

I've always HATED Samsung's skin smoothing. Hopefully this will be better

Nightography Super HDR and Video Stabilization are now available on in-app cameras on software like Instagram and Snapchat 

Instagram now supports Super HDR (the S24 series is the first to have HDR support on Instagram) and motion images

"Get pro level photos and videos without any extra equipment, even if you just point and shoot"

Automatic AI suggestions for editing options, with pop-up tools to fix things like glare and lighting. 

Generative AI enables you to realign photos while filling in edges of frame. You can also move subjects, such as taking a basketball player from feet on the ground to dunk-level jumping.

Digital watermarking and a label in metadata to denote editing

Now videos can be watched in slow-motion even if you didn't film it in slow-mo. 

A long-press of high-res video inserts interpolated, AI-generated frames to create slow-motion.

Ugh, I can't bring myself to recap Mr Beast. Sorry. 

Samsung has partnered with Google to make QuickShare the single share solution across all Android devices and Windows PCs.

Now they're running down techy stuff about the CPU, MPU and GPU. 

Long story short: more power, more performance, more ray tracing.

Ultra is getting a titanium finish, a la the iPhone Pro. 

That's all the important and interesting specs stuff.

TLDR, Samsung Galaxy S24 is all about Galaxy AI – because clever AI is more important than new cameras. And Samsung is trying to sell you a phone on the basis that it will be supported for seven years.

Here's everything you need to know!

• Check out all the Samsung Galaxy S24 specs, features and pricing

• Read our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 review