Galaxy S24: Samsung's smallest upgrade in years makes iPhone 15 look more special than it is

We are now weeks away from the official launch of the Galaxy S24 series, expected to take place on January 18, and (like every year) we already seem to know pretty much everything about Samsung’s new flagships thanks to leaks and rumors.

Whether leaks about upcoming phones make them less exciting has been a topic of discussion for years now. However, as things stand, no phone-maker is immune to leaks, which means the excitement around a phone launch hangs on how new the phones look/feel…

And by the looks of it, the vanilla Galaxy S24 flagship might struggle to make a big first impression when viewed side-by-side with the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S22. However, what about flagships phones outside of Samsung’s lineup?

Galaxy S24 set to bring significantly fewer upgrades (over Galaxy S23) compared to iPhone 15 (over iPhone 14): How did we get here?

To be clear, how new and different the iPhone 15 or Galaxy S24 will look to you entirely depends on your current phone / the phone you’re upgrading from. And with that in mind, it’s undeniable that Apple’s latest iPhone is the more exciting upgrade compared to what we’ve seen about the Galaxy S24 so far.

In a nutshell, the biggest upgrades expected on the Galaxy S24 over its predecessors (the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S22) are the SoC, and a slightly larger and brighter display - a 6.2-inch panel versus a 6.1-inch one (IMO, a very welcome but negligible difference).

On the other hand, the iPhone 15 is a similar but, at the same time, very different feeling phone than the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13, and I’d go as far as to say it’s the biggest ever upgrade to the vanilla iPhone.

We’re talking a new, curved design, which makes the iPhone 15 series much easier to hold; the long-awaited USB-C port; a far brighter display with the new Dynamic Island (which makes the phone feel newer than you’d expect); and of course, the new 48MP primary camera with 2x zoom, which is noticeably superior to that of the iPhone 14 and the Galaxy S23.

Hence, it’s hard to ignore that in a time when Apple released what's arguably the biggest upgrade to the (vanilla) iPhone ever, Samsung continues its strategy of keeping the same design and camera system on its more affordable flagships for a third year in a row in what could turn out to be one of the smallest upgrades to the vanilla Galaxy flagship in years.

The Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15 dilemma: Do Samsung's vanilla flagships still offer better value than the vanilla iPhone, or has the gap narrowed enough for Apple’s flagships to shine?

Now, it’s one thing how new the iPhone and Galaxy look/feel compared to their predecessors. But what about comparing the Galaxy S24 to the iPhone 15 directly? Will Samsung’s most affordable flagship still offer better value than the base iPhone model?

The short answer is… yes. The Galaxy S24 is still expected to retain three notable advantages over the iPhone 15. This is how I’d rank them in terms of how important they would be to me (if I was to choose the Galaxy S24 over the iPhone 15):

• 3x optical zoom camera (vs 2x sensor-crop zoom on iPhone 15)
• 120Hz display (vs 60Hz on iPhone 15)
• Reverse Wireless Charging for charging accessories (vs Reverse Wired Charging on iPhone 15)

How important these features are is totally up to you. Do you take many zoom photos? Can you tell the difference between a 120Hz and a 60Hz display? Do you charge your earbuds on the back of your phone?

In my opinion (and you absolutely don’t need to agree with it), the difference isn’t enough to make me give up the iPhone’s super reliable camera with auto Portrait Mode and class-leading video and the Apple ecosystem integration.

I also find the iPhone 15’s design to be more attractive than that of the Galaxy S24, which is starting to look a bit bland now. This includes the color options, which I find much more appealing on the iPhone 15. The matte black iPhone 15 is one of the best looking phones I’ve seen in a while, and I quite like the green model too.

Galaxy S24 could prove Galaxy flagships peaked a bit too early, making the standard iPhone 15 look more special than it really is: Did Apple outsmart Samsung?

So… How did we get here? How come the new iPhone looks much more exciting than its predecessors, while the new Galaxy flagship looks more or less the same as the last two Samsung flagships? Well, it’s really no rocket science.

It seems Samsung was a bit too late to realize “slow innovation” and gradual year-over-year upgrades are the more strategically effective way to go. Of course, there are pros and cons to delivering upgrades quicker than the competition.

On the one hand, you’re first, and that’s always nice. On the other hand, you risk hitting a peak point much earlier, which doesn’t leave you with much headroom for upgrades. Of course, unless you are willing to reinvent your phones every year - reminiscent of Huawei at its peak, or Xiaomi today.

Respectively, Apple’s strategy of slow but steady upgrades seems to be paying off today, as the iPhone’s upgrade trajectory seems to be making more sense than the Galaxy’s, which peaked a bit too early.

For the first time ever, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 might be a viable, more exciting alternative to the Galaxy S24, with little to no compromises