The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Uses AI To Make Photos, Language Translation & Web Browsing Better
The top-shelf Samsung smartphone is an artificial intelligence powerhouse.
The brand new Galaxy S24 Ultra smart phone may not flip or fold, but it does leverage new artificial intelligence technology to earn its top spot in Samsung’s smartphone lineup.
Out of the box, the Galaxy S24 Ultra immediately feels different from previous Samsung offerings. This is a weighty, well-built phone that forgoes the impossible thinness (and flimsy feeling) of the prior iterations in favor of something that feels thick and significant during use.
Samsung never lets Apple pull too far ahead in terms of form. So, like the recent slate of iPhone 15 Pro phones, the S24 Ultra sports a titanium body that adds significant sturdiness and durability. It’s a flatter phone than before, resulting in a better grip and more protection for the 6.8-inch AMOLED screen and large camera array.
That screen and camera array combine to make photography a pleasure on the S24 Ultra. The new, 200-megapixel main camera takes sharp, bright pics even in low-light environments. Samsung has also ditched the 10x optical zoom, replacing it with a 5x zoom that relies more heavily on software to make up the difference. It’s a wise decision since no one is likely to lament the loss of a 10x zoom in favor of a more useful 5x that’s better suited to everyday life.
Shooting pictures is only half the equation with the S24 Ultra though. As anyone posting to Instagram will say, post-production is paramount, and that’s where the artificial intelligence that’s woven throughout the phone’s operating system begins to shine.
For photos, images are automatically made better by the generative AI elements. The ability to actively remove photo-bombs or fill an empty space accurately while cropping is a feature to behold. Users can do all of this directly on the device in only a few seconds.
Video is also enhanced with AI. The S24 Ultra can take a regular video and create Instant Slo-Mo, a feature that allows video that wasn’t originally shot in slo-mo to still be slowed down. AI generates the additional frames needed to bring the video to a snail’s pace without noticeable quality degradation.
The application of artificial intelligence in the S24 Ultra isn’t limited to images or videos. Samsung has always made internationally friendly phones, and that worldliness comes to a peak with AI translations. The slick interface splits the S24 Ultra’s screen in two, one for each speaker and language.
As one person speaks English and the other speaks, let’s say, German, the AI automatically generates a translation that accurately captures the flow of the conversation. All of this can be done on-device without an internet connection, which is perfect for traveling without service or real-time phone calls with speakers of different languages.
The S24 Ultra also boasts new features that utilize AI to supercharge internet browsing, from searching straight from an image or distilling information from web pages into their most consumable form.
Aside from these new AI features, the Samsung S24 Ultra brings with it the reliability and speed that the Galaxy S series has always delivered. This is Android at its finest and some of Samsung’s biggest guns, all tossed into one device. And, of course, there’s still a stylus that slips right into the frame.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra smart phone starts at $1,299 for the 256 GB models—an increase over last year’s offering—and tops out at $1,659 for the 1 TB iteration. Several titanium colors are available on all configurations this year—the Titanium Yellow’s gold brick is a favorite. Pre-orders are open now for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which rolls out on January 31.