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00:00This is the new Galaxy S24 Ultra.
00:04No, it's not.
00:05I can't lie to you.
00:06This is the new Galaxy S24 Ultra,
00:08although from the outside at least,
00:10aside from the new colours,
00:11you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.
00:13The main changes are the much less curved,
00:15almost flat screen.
00:17It's also a good deal brighter.
00:18Their Vision Booster has been,
00:20well, boosted to 2500 nits peak outdoor
00:23up from 1700,
00:24and you can definitely see the difference,
00:26including the viewing angles.
00:28They've slimmed the bezels down a touch
00:29and also reduced the size of this selfie camera hole punch.
00:32We get tougher Gorilla Glass armour now,
00:34which is more durable than Victus 2,
00:36which we still get with the regular S24 and the Plus,
00:39and apparently it's also 75% less reflective,
00:42although I can't say I noticed that much difference.
00:44There's also this new titanium frame because,
00:47well, I guess Apple did it, so why not?
00:49Although while I am told it is tougher
00:51and more scratch resistant,
00:52it doesn't actually make it any lighter.
00:54It doesn't reduce the weight like it did with the iPhone
00:56because they went from stainless steel to titanium
00:58and we've gone from aluminium to titanium,
01:01which actually is heavier.
01:02So Samsung had to make changes elsewhere on the phone
01:05to keep it a similar overall weight.
01:07So make no mistake,
01:08this is a very big phone
01:09with the squared off corners,
01:11the usual 6.8 inch screen with the Ultra,
01:13and it's actually a full millimetre wider than before.
01:17Now on the inside,
01:18we've gone from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
01:20to, you can probably guess,
01:22the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy.
01:24And as a whole,
01:25we're looking at about sort of 20 to 25% performance boost
01:28over the Gen 2.
01:29And with that custom for Galaxy version,
01:31which is essentially a slightly higher clocked version
01:33of the same chip,
01:34you can probably expect a sort of 5% bump
01:37over the other 8 Gen 3 competitors.
01:39I'm also very pleased to see
01:41they've nearly doubled the size of this vapour chamber cooler.
01:44You can see the difference versus last year,
01:46and so with better heat dissipation
01:47means we get better sustained performance,
01:49which of course is a big deal for all you gamers.
01:51And also while the battery size has stayed the same,
01:54unlike the regular S24 and the Plus,
01:56which have had a bump in size,
01:57Samsung tell me because of the new AI algorithms
02:00and the more efficient chip,
02:01the new S24 Ultra should last a good hour or two longer than this.
02:04Obviously that is something I'll put to the test in my full review,
02:07but a nice little bump in battery would be nice.
02:09And then we have the camera,
02:11and they switched out the 10 megapixel 10x zoom
02:14for a 50 megapixel 5x.
02:16And of course, there are a billion new AI features.
02:20And if you can tell me the number of times I say AI
02:22in this video in the comments,
02:23you'll get 10 tech chat points.
02:25Tech chat points have no value whatsoever
02:26and is purely an engagement tactic.
02:27Please don't waste your time with Tom's BS.
02:29So on the face of it, it does all feel kind of iterative.
02:32And I must admit when I came out of Samsung's briefing,
02:36I was a little bit underwhelmed and also a little bit confused
02:38because obviously they've announced the return of Exynos chips
02:41for the regular S24 and the Plus,
02:44but only in previous Exynos territories
02:46like the UK, Europe, India, I think,
02:48whereas America gets Snapdragon throughout,
02:50and also the Ultra will get the Snapdragon throughout as well.
02:53So it looks like I'm going to have to go back
02:54to making these videos again.
02:56But I have to say, after playing around with the new phones
02:58for a good couple of hours,
02:59after initially being quite sceptical,
03:02I did come away impressed.
03:03There's a lot more to this than the spec sheet will tell you.
03:06For example, one of my biggest criticisms
03:08of the S23 Ultra is how janky it can be
03:11going between the different zoom lenses.
03:13It's not as smooth as the iPhone.
03:14And if you're shooting a 4K60 video,
03:16you can't actually switch between the lenses
03:18once you start recording.
03:19Well, I have good news.
03:20The S24 Ultra is so, so much smoother.
03:23Recording this at 4K60
03:25and switching between the ultra-wide,
03:27the 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x,
03:29and then all the way back, much smoother.
03:31And also it seems to be a lot more stable now
03:33when you are zoomed in.
03:34Samsung tell me the S24 Ultra uses a wider OIS,
03:37or optical image stabilisation,
03:39which uses a new gyroscopic analyser
03:41and new AI algorithms for a steadier zoom.
03:44And it seems to be doing a good job.
03:47I smuggled the phone outside for a few minutes as well,
03:49and they say night-time zoom video
03:51has also been improved
03:52thanks to a new dedicated ISP for it
03:54and also that gyro sensor.
03:55And while I definitely need to do a side-by-side
03:57with the S23,
03:58it looks like a solid improvement.
04:00Although switching between lenses in low light
04:02did seem a little bit more jumpy
04:03than in good light,
04:04pre-release software perhaps.
04:07Oh, and speaking of video,
04:08you can, for the very first time,
04:10record 4K at 120fps.
04:13Yes.
04:14Yes.
04:15Yes.
04:16I don't know how often I'll use it,
04:17but I like I have the option,
04:18although it is only available in the Pro Video mode
04:20in the camera app.
04:21But the headline has to be
04:22that they switched out the 10x telephoto zoom
04:25with a 5x.
04:26So now you've got the ultra-wide,
04:27the 1, the 3, and the 5.
04:29Why?
04:30Well, I actually think it's a pretty good idea.
04:32Because most people tend to go for the 3 to 5x zooms,
04:35and with the S23 Ultra,
04:37there's a big gap in quality
04:38after 3x all the way up to 9.9x
04:41before that 10x kicks in.
04:43And even then, the 10x has a pretty small sensor,
04:45narrow aperture,
04:46it's only 10 megapixels,
04:47although I'm still pretty impressed with myself
04:49for snapping this photo of Miss Swift last year
04:51on the S23 Ultra.
04:52But I did have to drop the exposure right down
04:54and rely on the stage lighting.
04:57So now, with the S24 Ultra,
04:58we have the same 12-megapixel ultra-wide,
05:01the same 200-megapixel main lens,
05:03same 10x 3x telephoto,
05:05and the new 50-megapixel 5x telephoto,
05:08which does give us a 60% larger sensor
05:11than the current 10x,
05:12so it should be quite a lot better,
05:13especially in low light.
05:14And then when you zoom up to 10x,
05:16it uses a crop of that higher 50-megapixel resolution,
05:19so we end up with a 12-megapixel photo,
05:22with what I'm told should be a very similar quality
05:24to the S23 Ultra's optical 10x.
05:28Oh, and you can now shoot portraits
05:30with the new 5x lens,
05:31something you couldn't
05:32and would probably struggle to do anyway
05:33with the 10x before.
05:35Now, I was a little bit disappointed
05:37to find out that this was the only hardware change
05:39with the camera,
05:40the change of the zoom lens.
05:41Everything else, in terms of hardware,
05:42front and back,
05:43is exactly the same as this guy,
05:45which doesn't sound like much of an upgrade.
05:47But you'd be wrong.
05:48Or at least, I was wrong.
05:50Samsung tell me their new ProVisual engine
05:52will make a big difference
05:54across all five cameras on the phone.
05:56And without boring you all to death,
05:58this includes their Cognitive Aware engine
06:00for better subject and lighting and scene recognition.
06:03Previously, this was only used on the selfie.
06:05And also improved adaptive pixels,
06:07so when you take a shot and the photo is processing,
06:10the 16 into 1 pixel binning
06:12that we get with that 200 megapixel main camera,
06:14this is now processing at an individual pixel level,
06:17promising better contrast, lighting, colour,
06:19and just overall more realistic photos.
06:22And together with the smoother camera app,
06:24the better stabilisation,
06:25the fact that we now get super HDR
06:27in the preview window now,
06:28not just after it takes the photo,
06:30and improved third-party support,
06:32so your Instagrams, your TikToks,
06:33and your Snap cameras
06:34can now use more of the S24's native camera features,
06:37like laser autofocus, OIS, and super HDR.
06:40It is all stacking up to be a pretty nice upgrade,
06:42although of course I will withhold judgement
06:44until I can test it properly against this guy
06:46and also the 2024 competition.
06:48The one thing I do hope we see,
06:50and I need to spend more time to actually see
06:51if this is the case,
06:52is whether they've improved shutter lag.
06:54It's been an issue I've had with Samsung's cameras
06:56since the beginning of time really,
06:58how long it takes to go from pressing the shutter
07:00to actually taking the picture.
07:01But with what Samsung are saying
07:03and what I've seen so far,
07:04it should be better.
07:06So Samsung is really banging on
07:08about how much AI is being used
07:10in the camera throughout.
07:12From the preview, taking the shot,
07:13processing, and then sharing.
07:15But that's just the start.
07:16This year is all about Galaxy AI.
07:18And you'll also start to see this little three-star icon
07:21indicating there's some AI wizardry about to happen.
07:24Little factoid for you guys,
07:26Samsung actually means three stars in Korean,
07:29and the original logos all incorporated three stars.
07:31And starting with the Gallery app,
07:33Samsung supercharged the AI photo editing.
07:36Open up a photo,
07:37and you'll get up to 12 different suggestions
07:39to remaster it.
07:40From removing reflections,
07:42moiré, unwanted shadows,
07:44very handy for quick touch-ups to your shots.
07:46And it's more powerful than ever
07:47thanks to the new MPU on the chip.
07:49Although I think generative edit
07:51could be my new favourite feature.
07:52You can tilt or crop the background,
07:54and like we get in the latest versions of Photoshop,
07:56it'll use Gen AI to expand your photo
07:59and fill in the background.
08:00You can also long press or draw
08:02around an object and resize or remove it completely.
08:05Although this does use Cloud AI,
08:06so you'll need an internet connection.
08:08But it will work on any image,
08:09not just ones taken on the S24.
08:11Then we have instant slow-mo.
08:13Again, in the Gallery,
08:14just tap on any video,
08:15and using AI,
08:16it'll analyse the movement in the video
08:18and interpolate or create new frames
08:21at four times the frame rate of what you've recorded.
08:24So a 30fps video becomes 120,
08:2660 becomes 240, etc.
08:28And then opening it up in the Video Editor,
08:30it'll automatically add the slow motion
08:32at the points you've tapped.
08:33Very cool.
08:34Beyond the camera,
08:35we have this new Circle to Search with Google.
08:38So now, when you long press the Home button,
08:40which previously would bring up the Google Assistant,
08:42it now opens up Circle to Search,
08:44where, as it says on the tin,
08:45you just circle an area on the screen
08:47with your finger or the S Pen,
08:48and it will search for it,
08:49whether it's a jacket, an animal, a place, a person.
08:52You could kind of do this before
08:53by maybe using the S Pen to take a screenshot
08:55and then using Google Lens on it,
08:57but it's a bit more baked in now,
08:58and it will then follow up with relevant questions.
09:01Then we have Interpreter.
09:03Hola, como estas?
09:06Hello, how are you?
09:08Now, this can be all done on device,
09:10so I'm going to turn on Airplane Mode now just to prove it,
09:12and if I swipe down and open the Interpreter shortcut,
09:15from here you can speak in your language,
09:17and it will then transcribe it,
09:19translate it,
09:20and speak it back to whoever you're with in their language,
09:23even if you don't have an internet connection.
09:25Are there any good bars around here?
09:27Although, I must admit,
09:28our little Spanish to English conversation
09:30wasn't quite as accurate as I'd hoped.
09:33This one worked much better, though.
09:35Transcript Assist.
09:36Say you've had a long lecture or meeting at work,
09:38and you've recorded the audio to listen back later.
09:41Now here, just open it up, hit Transcribe,
09:43select your language,
09:44because of course it can translate it for you as well,
09:46let the magical Galaxy AI do its thing for a moment,
09:49and it will transcribe everything
09:51and even break down multiple speakers
09:53within the same audio clip.
09:54But the best part is it can also summarize
09:56this whole transcription,
09:57and in just a few seconds,
09:58it'll spit out a bullet point summary.
10:00You can then add this to your notes,
10:02use the auto-format tool for the layout you'd like,
10:05and all I know is,
10:06I would've paid a lot of money for this at university.
10:09Chat Assist is also new,
10:10using AI to help you change the tone of your messages,
10:13hit the stars AI button,
10:14and then you have different options for translation,
10:16writing style, and spelling and grammar,
10:18mostly pretty self-explanatory,
10:20but writing style will then give you
10:21five different options to change the tone of your message
10:24to suit the situation.
10:25But this does only work with the Samsung Messages app.
10:28There's lots more too,
10:29like Live Translate,
10:30where you can speak to someone on the phone,
10:32and then it will transcribe it,
10:33translate it,
10:34and then they both can read and hear
10:37that translated message back,
10:38and then they can do the same back to me.
10:40They did have a demo,
10:41I didn't film it because it was like 8.30 at night,
10:43and I was starving,
10:44I had to run away and go to another meeting at CES,
10:46but I promise you it exists.
10:47But certainly there is a big emphasis
10:48on this sort of translating, transcribing,
10:51with the new AI.
10:52So let's wrap up,
10:53and we're getting a less curved, brighter screen,
10:55tougher glass,
10:56and a new titanium frame,
10:57Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip
10:59with a beefier vapor chamber cooler,
11:01the promise of slightly longer battery life,
11:03although no change to charging,
11:05a new 5x zoom,
11:06more video options,
11:07better stabilisation,
11:08and improved quality across the board,
11:10although TBC on how big of an upgrade it really is,
11:13lots of new quality of life AI features,
11:16with some you'll probably use more than others,
11:18and that is about it.
11:19What do you think?
11:20Are you tempted to upgrade
11:22to the newest 24 lineup?
11:23I would actually say,
11:24while we haven't really covered that in this video,
11:26the S24 Plus may be the one to go for,
11:29I'll cover that in a full comparison video,
11:31but my only concern is,
11:32as I say, outside of the US,
11:33we are getting an Exynos chip
11:34rather than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3,
11:36and I just don't know how it's going to perform yet,
11:38Samsung aren't telling us,
11:39so maybe hold off on that.
11:40And even though it is a bit iterative,
11:42I think, this year,
11:43I'm still pretty excited for it,
11:44and if you do fancy pre-ordering one for yourself,
11:46because there are some fancy pre-ordered bonuses,
11:48I will leave a link in the description below.
11:50But what do you think?
11:51Are you going to upgrade?
11:52Do you have anything you'd like me to test
11:53or try out on the new phones?
11:54Drop a comment below,
11:55and make sure you have hit that subscribe button,
11:57because there's going to be tons of videos,
11:58you'll be sick of me by the end of the month,
12:00comparing the S24 and reviewing it,
12:01and all those good things.
12:02So, stay tuned,
12:03and I'll see you next time,
12:04right here on The Tech Chat.