As we near the end of this year, we have seen the last major hardware announcement of 2023.

But that doesn't mean we have to wait long. The next big announcement could be just around the corner: Samsung is said to be unveiling the Galaxy S24 family at an event in San Francisco on January 17. Samsung's history suggests that early adopters will be able to pocket the company's latest flagship on February 2.

Since the S20 in 2020, the "S" series has included Regular, Plus, and Ultra. We expect the same from Samsung next year, and below are the differences between the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra for 2024.

The S23 family came in three sizes, ranging from 6.1 inches across on the S23 to 6.8 inches on the S23 Ultra. The overall picture remains the same here, but both the regular and Plus models of the S24 are said to be slightly larger: 6.17 inches for the S24 and 6.65 inches for the S24 Plus.

The S24 is said to keep its 1,080 x 2,340 panel, while the S24 Plus is rumored to have a 1,440 x 3,120 WQHD resolution to match the Ultra. The S24 Ultra, however, is said to be just as good, with an increased refresh rate and output at 144 Hz.

Samsung may also follow Apple by using titanium for the sides of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Not only is titanium tougher than aluminum; the S24 Ultra is expected to weigh 8.21 ounces versus the previous model's 8.25 ounces, which should make it a lighter design.

As for the CPU, the Galaxy S24 will be powered by either Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip or Samsung's own Exynos 2400, although the Galaxy S24 Ultra will likely have a Qualcomm chip wherever it is in the world, This seems to vary by region.

As for RAM, there are strong rumors that both the S24 and S24 Plus will be upgraded from 8GB to 12GB. Therefore, Samsung will likely offer a version of the S24 Ultra with a larger capacity of 16GB.

As for battery capacity, it appears that the S24 and S24 Ultra will remain unchanged, but the S24 Plus may get a 200mAh increase to 4,900mAh; the S24 Ultra may get more even though it will keep the same capacity: Samsung appears to be using a laminated battery technology that could improve energy density without increasing size.

As for local storage, the 128GB model seems to have disappeared. Samsung will offer 256GB of onboard storage on all S23 models, and the most expensive S24 Ultra could have as much as 2TB if purchased.

So far, there has been little talk of the S24 and S24 Plus getting a photographic upgrade. That's unfortunate, but it's worth pointing out that neither is bad by any means; it's just that the S23 Ultra's awesomeness has kept it from making the Best Camera Phones list.

And speaking of Ultra models, that's where Samsung is going to focus its improvements in 2024: the 200MP main sensor and 12MP ultra-wide will remain the same, but the company is introducing a new 50MP telephoto lens.

The catch. It will reportedly only have a 5x optical zoom instead of the 10x of the previous generation. This feels like a downgrade, but a) people may prefer the improved closer zoom, and b) the megapixel bump may see Samsung do some clever pixel binning to make up for it, as Apple did with the iPhone 15.

Samsung has also teased some clever video features for a phone that uses both a 200MP camera and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3... This almost certainly means the S24 Ultra; AI tracking can monitor the subject in the video while simultaneously taking full-angle and cropped shots. It looks really slick.

Again, the S24 Ultra will be the only model that comes with an S Pen. After all, it is an MIA Galaxy Note in everything but name.

However, there are two additional features that may be included in some or all cell phones.

The first is satellite communications. Samsung has confirmed that satellite communication will be included in next year's Galaxy handsets, and although no mention has been made of the S24 series, it is very likely that it will be included when ready (if not, the company's 2024 foldable phones could benefit).

This is rumored to be a feature for emergencies when there is no cell phone reception, and it is rumored that SMS messages or low-resolution images could be sent to ask for help when off the grid.

The second new feature is generative AI, which Samsung is said to be working on in a big way in 2024. The company has unveiled the ability to translate phone calls in real time as one example, but also expects other features such as summarizing sentences, helping with email composition, and AI image editing tricks to make snaps look better.

It is unclear whether Samsung sees AI as an Ultra-only feature or something that all models will benefit from. It is also questionable whether it will be paid for. You can read more about the rumored power of Samsung's AI here.

All three models appear to be among the best Android phones of 2024, but in the case of the basic S24, the rumored changes appear to be relatively minor. For the basic S24, however, the rumored changes seem to be relatively minor. To determine if it is worth upgrading, one needs to see if the AI features are truly game-changing.

As for the S24 Plus and Ultra, things look very positive. The former's higher resolution and larger battery are serious upgrades, and we have high hopes for the latter's improved camera.

It remains to be seen how well these rumored upgrades will be realized when the S24 family is launched in early 2024.