Samsung unveils game changing new phone at Unpacked

Samsung has revealed its most anticipated smartphone line of the year, but things are a little different this time around.

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Ever captured that ideal holiday shot, only to realise later it was taken from an awkward angle? Or maybe you found a fantastic restaurant in France but couldn’t make a reservation due to the language barrier.

Thanks to Samsung, these issues may be a thing of the past.

Unveiled today at the Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 line-up marks the brand’s first official foray into the world of AI-smartphones.

Following previous S lines, three phones have been announced in the form of a base S24 model, S24 Plus and premium S24 Ultra, with the phones set to ship from February 7, 2024.

There are tonnes of new features which immediately created a buzz online.

“Frankly speaking, this is the most exciting Samsung product I have seen in years!” one tech journo wrote on X.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera test

Seagull sitting about 0.5km away

1x to 100x zoom test pic.twitter.com/w9Xb0olVyL

— Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) January 17, 2024

The Samsung Galaxy S24's are official, and they've got a TON of new AI features baked in. They're not all winners, but this one is an absolute classic 👌

Full video is live on our channel now! #SamsungUnpacked#GalaxyUnpackedpic.twitter.com/uprMjNTNF3

— Arun Maini (@Mrwhosetheboss) January 17, 2024

While scepticism and distrust around artificial intelligence remains at an all time high, AI isn’t actually anything new to mobile devices. You probably already use it in features like facial recognition and language translation, or to use a virtual assistant, like Alexa, to perform hands-free tasks.

RELATED: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2024

With the launch of its Pixel 8 line back in October, Google took things a step further, showing us what generative AI (AI that can create new content) could do for smartphone cameras.

A feature called Best Take offered the ability to analyse a bunch of group photos and swap facial expressions, so everyone looks their best in one shot.

Its Magic Eraser tool also got even smarter, allowing you to remove shadows from your background, along with objects, to create an ideal photo.

Now Samsung is “entering a new era”, using its own Generative AI, Gauss, along with “Galaxy AI” technology to bring users a bunch of new features that make editing photos, crossing language barriers and finding information a much simpler process.

So, what’s new?

RELATED: Samsung announces new state-of-the-art cooking range

Samsung shows off its new Galaxy S24 range to media in San Jose, California. Picture: Lauren Chaplin/news.com.au

What did you say?

Back in November, Samsung confirmed it would be bringing a new feature called ‘Live Translate’ to its next wave of smartphones.

Built on Samsung’s own language model, the tool allows you to translate voice calls or texts, either on WhatsApp or SMS, in real-time. The feature is also built right into the keyboard, so you can translate on the fly, without having to use a third-party app.

Call up that restaurant in France, and you’ll now be able to speak in your own language, while the AI translates for you on the other end of the line. Très cool.

Live Translate lets you chat in two different languages, while in translates in real-time. Picture: Lauren Chaplin/news.com.au

If the language barrier exists a little closer to home, you can meanwhile use a feature called Interpreter to translate live conversations. Stand across the room from a friend and you’ll be able to have a conversation in two different languages, with your speech appearing, translated, onto a split-screen view for both parties to read.

Where can I find...?

While Samsung has been promoting its Live Translate function for some time, its standout AI feature is actually in partnership with another major brand.

Pairing up tech titan Google, Samsung has taken the concept of Google Lens to the next level with a new feature called Circle to Search.

Simply give the home button on your S24 a long press and you’ll be able to circle almost anything on any platform and have a search automatically pop up.

Want to know where that amazing beach is in the background of someone’s Instagram post? Circle it. Want to find that cute outfit you saw on Pinterest? You guessed it – circle it.

With Circle to Search, users will be able to quickly search for almost anything simply by drawing a circle around it. Picture: Lauren Chaplin/news.com.au

While it is similar to Google Lens, it’s “quite powerful because it’s really removing a friction from the way that you conduct a search”, Samsung Australia’s head of mobile experience, Mr. Eric Chou, told news.com.au.

“It’s not thinking about having to open a camera app, take a photo and then do the search, you’re basically able to instantaneously conduct the search while you’re already in the app itself,” he said.

And if you were worried about privacy, Mr Chou says the AI won’t go so far as to look up ordinary people.

“If there’s a lot of images of someone in a public domain, that image will be surfaced as it will recognise that it’s someone with a public profile, but it wouldn’t go into personal profiles of ordinary people to try and match who that person is,” he said.

Galaxy S24 users will be able to straighten photos, move people and objects, and more with new editing capabilities. Picture: Lauren Chaplin/news.com.au

Pimp my photo

Taking a leaf out of Google’s playbook, all three S24 phones will also use AI processing techniques to help novice photographers turn into semi-pros with the touch of a button.

Take a photo at a weird angle and you’ll not only be able to straighten it – the AI will also help you fill in the blanks around the edges.

You’ll also be able to move, resize or reposition people or objects, slow down certain frames in your videos, or allow the AI to do the work for you and suggest the best way to edit.

Of course, AI has been known to take some rather ‘creative’ measures when it comes to photo editing.

And with consumers taking to social media to show off how they’ve messed with AI on other platforms, these features will be interesting to see once they get into people’s hands.

Transcript Assist will transcribe your meeting notes, while recognising different speakers. Picture: Lauren Chaplin/news.com.au

Can I get some help?

If all of that wasn’t enough, Samsung has also dropped a bunch of ‘Assist’ features made to speed up day to day tasks.

Chat Assist takes your unsent text and offers a bunch of different ways to say the same thing, so you can jazz up your Instagram caption or send a more professional-sounding message to your boss.

Open up your voice recorder and Transcript Assist is able to detect multiple voices, and then provide you with a transcription or summary of your conversation.

Jump into Samsung Notes and Note Assist can streamline notes with AI-generated summaries, while Translate Assist transcribes, summarises and even translates audio recordings.

What if I only just upgraded?

If you’ve only just invested in a new Samsung phone in 2023, you’ll also be able to make use of all of these AI features in the near future.

“We are planning, by the end of the first calendar half, to have the Galaxy AI features on the Galaxy S23 family, as well as on the current Flip and Fold and the Tab S9”, Mr Chou said.

Samsung has "entered a new era" as it introduces AI features to its Galaxy S24 line. Picture: Lauren Chaplin/news.com.au

What about the specs?

Iterative spec updates are becoming pretty commonplace with smartphones, and the S24 line is no different.

You’ll get a boost in power with an upgrade to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, upgraded Nightography capabilities for better lowlight images, slimmer bezels, and slightly better battery life on the S24 base model (4,000 mAh, up from 3,900 on the S23) and S24 Plus (4,900mAh, up from 4,700 on the S23 Plus).

The screen sizes on the S24 and S24 Plus have also been bumped up to 6.2-inches and 6.7-inches respectively, and the displays across all three phones are brighter.

Most notably, the Galaxy S24 Ultra gets a titanium frame, instead of the standard aluminium.

You can also choose from some new colour options with Titanium Grey, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet and Titanium Yellow (along with online exclusives Titanium Blue, Titanium Green and Titanium Orange) for the S24 Ultra, and Onyx Black, Marble Grey, Cobalt Violet and Amber Yellow (along with online exclusives Sapphire Blue, Jade Green and Sandstone Orange) for the S24 and S24 Plus.

Pre-orders for Samsung’s Galaxy S24 line have now opened, with devices available at Samsung and its retail partners.

Prices will start at $1399 for the 256GB base S24 model, $1699 for the S24 Plus model and $2199 for the S24 Ultra.

news.com.au attended Unpacked as a guest of Samsung

Originally published as Samsung unveils game changing new phone at Unpacked