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00:00Someone's been a little bit naughty because they've posted these leaked photos of what
00:05we assume and most likely is the new Galaxy S24 Ultra.
00:08They show a pretty familiar looking quad camera setup on the back, also a new titanium frame
00:13around the edge which makes it look very Nokia, Lumia, sort of 925 vibes, and also a completely
00:19flat screen which I'm actually kind of excited about.
00:22So a mid-Jan reveal for a probably late-Jan launch, three phones, S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra,
00:28all pretty par for the course, except for two things.
00:30Firstly, it's an earlier launch than we're used to, normally it's in February, but I
00:34think because Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8Gen 3 chip like six weeks earlier this year,
00:38and actually I was in Hawaii for that launch back in October, it means that the chip's
00:42ready to go so phone brands can launch their phones sooner.
00:44And Samsung won't be the first out of the gate with an 8Gen 3 powered flagship, we've
00:48got the Xiaomi 14 Pro, we've got iQoo phones and a couple other brands coming like now
00:52or even before Christmas, but Samsung and the S24 Ultra will still be one of the first
00:56phones to get it.
00:58So the first thing is it's launching earlier.
00:59The second and more intriguing thing is that we're actually going to see the return of
01:04Exynos, apparently, according to the rumours.
01:06Although this is going to be only in global markets, meaning not the US, and also it's
01:10not going to be in every phone, just the S24 and the Plus, whereas the Ultra will still
01:16have the Snapdragon 8Gen 3.
01:18And we just don't know how this new Exynos 2400 and the 8Gen 3 will compare.
01:23Samsung say we're looking at like a 70% performance boost over the previous gen, but then what's
01:27about battery efficiency and camera features and all that stuff?
01:30And how are they going to market it?
01:31Wouldn't it be really confusing for consumers to have two different chips within the same
01:35line of phones and also in different markets, different SKU options?
01:39Now Qualcomm, who make the Snapdragon chips, promise a 30% year-on-year boost versus the
01:438Gen 2 for Galaxy, along with a 20% power reduction, so quite a nice upgrade there.
01:49And versus the Xiaomi 14 Pro with an 8Gen 3, we're looking at a 19% boost in graphics
01:54and also a much higher stability score.
01:57Now obviously this is a Xiaomi phone, the cooling, the designs will be very different.
02:00And we did see Samsung partner with Qualcomm for that specific custom Snapdragon 8Gen 2
02:05for Galaxy chip, which was essentially a slightly overclocked version, which later became the
02:098Gen 2 Plus, essentially.
02:12So chances are we'll see that kind of partnership again, especially as some of the demos Samsung
02:16is showing off feature the unique AI abilities of that 8Gen 3 chip.
02:20So these are the key specs we can expect from the S24 Ultra, including 12 or 16 gigs of
02:25RAM, up to 2 terabytes of storage, although the base model is 256.
02:29But also the same size, 5,000 mAh battery, again, two years in a row.
02:33And I think that's just because they've run out of space.
02:35Obviously they also bundle the S Pen in here, which takes up a good amount of room inside
02:39the phone.
02:40Although I'm curious, would you prefer if they actually dropped the S Pen altogether
02:43but gave us, say, a 6,000 mAh battery, or do you actually get some use out of it?
02:48Still a lovely S Pen, but what I am excited about is this new flat screen, because it
02:52means no more sliding off the edge.
02:55So this is the S23 Ultra, obviously I haven't got my hands on the new one yet, and you can
02:59see we do have this quite noticeable curve to the screen on both sides there.
03:04So that's going away, it's becoming a flat screen, although we'll still see a little
03:07bit of a 0.3, 0.4 millimetre curve to the bezel on the sides.
03:12The photos also suggest that they're going to trim the bezels, with the top and bottom
03:15bezels being slimmed down to about half the thickness of the current S23, absolutely tiny.
03:21With the overall size being a tiny bit shorter, slimmer, and a whole 1 gram lighter versus
03:27the current S23 Ultra.
03:29So a flat screen, thinner bezels, and also higher brightness.
03:32We're looking at 2500 nits peak brightness on the new model versus 1750 here, which will
03:38be a nice little boost for outdoor use, although the question is how long can it sustain that
03:41high peak brightness?
03:42We'll have to see.
03:43Generally we see phones drop off after like a minute or two as they overheat.
03:46Same resolution, but there is a good chance they'll actually bump the refresh rate from
03:50120 to 144, making it a bit more of a gaming phone, because technically the 8th Gen 3 chip
03:56will support 240 hertz, which we'll probably see on actual gaming phones like the ROG Phone
04:008.
04:01But it would be nice if they bumped it to 144 because it would make the whole UI feel
04:04a bit faster, and in the handful of games that do support 144, and you can max out that
04:09frame rate, then you'll also get a smoother gaming experience.
04:12But let's talk about this design, because Samsung's going to switch out this glossy
04:16aluminium or what they call armour aluminium frame for a new titanium one.
04:21Which is funny because I feel like another company switched out to titanium recently
04:24as well.
04:25But if these pictures are real, which they probably are, I do quite like the look of
04:29it.
04:30They've got, as I say, that kind of Sony Z5 and Nokia Lumia vibe to it with that matte
04:35titanium band.
04:36But what about the cameras?
04:38Because I think for most of us, this is what we look forward to seeing the most.
04:41And the S23 Ultra has held up really well this year, even against the new iPhone 15
04:46Pro Max.
04:47Now, on the outside, it doesn't appear a whole lot has changed, however, the latest
04:50rumours suggest Samsung's actually going to switch out the 10x zoom, which it's kind
04:54of famous for now, with a 5x.
04:57So an ultra wide, the main wide camera, a 3x and a 5x.
05:02That would definitely be a controversial change.
05:04This is the zoom king, and if we drop down from a 10x to a 5x, which matches the iPhone
05:0915 Pro Max, is it going to lose its edge?
05:11Well, the flip side of the argument is that, how many times do you, if you have one with
05:15an S23 Ultra, do you actually use the 10x?
05:17And I can tell you from experience, as cool as it is to zoom in and be like, oh, that's
05:21pretty good.
05:22It's definitely better than everything else.
05:23I rarely share those photos, and if anything but really good light, the quality is a bit
05:28rubbish.
05:29And obviously, the issue with the iPhone is that while the 5x is very nice, we lose the
05:323x, because we only have three lenses.
05:34So if I can get great optical zooms at 3 and 5x, with a new higher 48 megapixel telephoto
05:40for that 5x, which can then be binned for a higher quality zoom beyond that, it could
05:44end up being more useful, especially for portrait shots.
05:47But what do you think?
05:48Would you like a 5x, or would you prefer they stick with a 10x?
05:52But still, at the heart of this camera setup is the 200 megapixel main camera.
05:56And recently, Samsung showed off this new Zoom Anyplace feature, which is designed for
06:00their 200 megapixel image sensors.
06:02It lets you simultaneously record a wide-angle and zoomed-in shot, and also track a subject
06:07across the frame.
06:08Now, other phones, like the Honor 90 with its solo cut mode, have offered similar features,
06:13but they're limited to 1080p.
06:14Samsung say this will record at 4K, even when zoomed in at 4x.
06:19So that all sounds great, but there's one area in particular I really hope Samsung do
06:22improve the camera, and that's the shutter lag.
06:25See how much faster the iPhone takes a photo versus the S23 Ultra.
06:31Now apparently, with the new S24 Ultra, we're going to have this new end-to-end AI re-mosaic
06:36technology, which will help speed up the processing times of the 200 megapixel sensor, which I
06:40hope will also mean the binned 12 megapixel photos that you get by default will also be
06:45quicker.
06:46Because right now, that bit of shutter lag is one of my biggest issues with the Samsung's
06:49camera.
06:50Now, one more thing, because with everything being AI, and the new chips really pushing
06:54their neural engine performance, with demos from Snapdragon like this on-device stable
06:58diffusion and photo expansion, there are reports Samsung will integrate Gen AI into
07:03the new phones with a new feature called Samsung Gauss, which could unlock some cool camera
07:08features, giving us pixel style, best take and magic air during screen calling, and perhaps
07:12Bixby can finally become a proper personal assistant.
07:16It's funny because year after year we talk about these new phones with slight design
07:19changes, the chips are a little bit better, the cameras are a touch crisper, it's all
07:24very iterative, right?
07:25And it's kind of hard to convince people to upgrade, especially when the phones are
07:28so expensive, and I think Gen AI and proper personal assistants, and hopefully some very
07:33cool camera features, could actually finally give us a reason to get excited about new
07:37devices and potentially upgrade.
07:40But there's a lot we don't know about that, so we'll have to wait and see.
07:42Now in terms of a personal wish list, as someone who has been using the S23 Ultra a lot this
07:46year, there are a few things I'd like to see, but I'm not holding my breath for, like a
07:50bigger one inch sensor, that would be great, or a better portrait video mode, because I
07:54love cinematic mode on the iPhone, it's just not as good on the Samsung currently.
07:58Also, I also appreciate the iPhone's new log video feature and being able to turn photos
08:02into portraits, and maybe also some smoother transitions between the lenses, especially
08:07when recording video.
08:09Now price-wise, I don't think much is going to change, similar prices to the S23, so starting
08:14at $1,199, £1,249 for that base 256GB version, and I think pre-orders will probably go live
08:21January 18th, shipping the end of the month, so not too long to wait, but what do you think
08:26so far?
08:27Would you be tempted to upgrade?
08:28And also, what do you think of the switch from a 10x to a 5x zoom?
08:31Would that be a deal-breaker?
08:33Let me know in the comments below, and if you've got any other questions, drop a comment.
08:36Full reviews and unboxings and all that good stuff, of course, coming on the channel, so
08:39make sure you subscribe, and I'll see you next time, right here on The Tech Chat.