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New Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra leaks reveal 3 big upgrades and 1 major drawback

Is Samsung aiming for its next flagship phone to be an AI hub?
Written by Artie Beaty, Contributing Writer
Holding the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
June Wan/ZDNET

The launch of Samsung's new flagship Galaxy phone, the S24, is still weeks away, but a few leaks over the weekend are giving us a sneak peek at some of its highlights.

Also: The best Samsung Galaxy phones you can buy

First up is a camera upgrade. While the S23 was regarded as having one of the best cameras available, pictures sometimes looked oversaturated with unrealistic colors. Courtesy of usually reliable leaker Sondesix citing "a source," we now know the S24 Ultra will have improved image saturation and sharpening, resulting in a much more realistic finish.

Sondesix also offered some insight on colors and materials, saying the Titanium Gray version of the device looked "far better" than the iPhone equivalent – natural titanium. Of course, that's subjective, but it's certainly encouraging for potential customers that the device is going to look premium. Sondesix's source added that the phone -- because it is flatter than its predecessor -- feels much better to hold.

However, the biggest addition -- according to the leak -- comes in the form of AI-related features. Speculation has been that the Galaxy S24 will take full advantage of artificial intelligence, and it appears that may prove true. Reportedly, Samsung's new phone will use onboard AI to do things like generate images, write content such as emails and messages, translate text, and recognize voices. 

A leak from Ahmed Qwaider gave a little more insight into the phone's display, revealing that the device will not only reach 2,600 nits, but will utilize a new glass, Gorilla Glass Victue 2, the strongest glass Corning makes. If that brightness is true, it would move Samsung significantly ahead of Google's Pixel Pro and Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max's 1,500 nits.

MysteryLupin tempered the excitement a little, however, with a leak showing that the base version of the S23 would only carry 8GB of RAM. The Plus and Ultra versions do upgrade to 12GB, but the base model RAM is surprisingly low. That is in line with the RAM on the Google Pixel 8 and above what's on the iPhone 15, but those phones aren't making the on-board AI promises of the S24. One has to wonder if the base model will have enough RAM to run it all.

The MysteryLupin leak also showed off some of the available color options, including standard gray and black, but also purple and yellow -- which will all have much fancier names upon release. 

The S24 is expected to be released sometime in mid-January 2024. 

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