Review of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

The top-tier flagship phone from Samsung for 2024 has come, and despite its familiar appearance, there is a lot more to this phone than meets the eye. With the Samsung S24 Ultra, there's something for everyone, whether your priorities are AI-powered productivity, exceptional gaming performance, or photographic brilliance. It's quite likely to rank among the top Android smartphones of the year.

What has been updated for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, then? It is powered by an overclocked Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, to start. To spice things up in the photography sector, there have also been upgrades made to the chassis, the display, and an entirely new telephoto camera. And that's before we even discuss the AI elements that are now strewn across the OS.

Does the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which was already among the priciest Samsung phones, provide enough features to warrant its asking price, however, given the $100 price increase? I was eager to learn, and after a week of adjusting to the phone, this is what I believe.

The cost and accessibility

Starting at $1299.99, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra costs $100 more than the S23 Ultra, which was its predecessor. Additionally, it costs more than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, its primary competitor, which retails for $1199. Though it seems reasonable that the Ultra costs a lot since its main goal is to provide you with the finest Samsung has to offer, the price rise is still rather painful.

Worldwide sales of the S24 Ultra may be made via the Samsung website or other merchants like Amazon. There are four color options available if you purchase from a retailer: titanium gray, titanium black, titanium violet, and titanium yellow. You will also be able to purchase the limited-edition Titanium Green, Titanium Orange, and Titanium Blue variants if you buy straight from Samsung. The price breakdown for the three possible storage choices is shown below:

• 12GB RAM and 256GB storage – $1299.99
• 12GB RAM and 512GB storage – $1419.99
• 12GB RAM and 1TB storage – $1659.99

Details

Features

Samsung has emphasized the inclusion of Galaxy AI, a new set of functions that covers everything from productivity to picture modification, in several of its marketing campaigns for the S24 Ultra. I couldn't help but go back to the Google Pixel 8 series introduction, when the strength of its new AI features was emphasized almost exclusively, rather than hardware upgrades. It definitely shouldn't come as a surprise given the strong working connection between the two firms, and it's easy to believe that the AI shares some DNA, but that's just conjecture.

Samsung has integrated Chat Assist into the keyboard and almost all other applications as the first new tool. This tool allows you to alter the style of your writing, fix typos and grammar, and translate both outgoing and receiving messages. Currently, 13 languages are offered, and more will be added shortly. My dad speaks Spanish well, thus it seems to function well in that language at least in my testing.

An analogous service for voice recordings and phone conversations is Transcript Assist. As the name implies, it is capable of real-time transcription of conversations, including speaker-by-speaker breakdown and translation. After the talk is done, it may provide an easily readable summary. Long team meetings may benefit greatly from this type of stuff.

Circle to search with Google is another new function that started with the S24 series phones and is now rolling out to other Android devices, such as the Pixel phones. Similar to Google Lens, this function lets you circle anything on your screen, and Google will search for it without of needing a snapshot or picture. It's one of the things I've used the most and is very handy.

Lastly, new AI-powered tools for editing photos and videos are available. These capabilities vary from easy ones like blurring a scene in portrait mode to more advanced ideas like the ability to choose an object and transfer it to a different area of the frame. The majority of the time, these concepts function effectively, however when doing more intricate changes, strange artifacts like haloing are often seen. Even now, it's very great, and I have no doubt that it will only get stronger with time.

The ability to smooth out a picture without having to crop it in is my favorite editing tool. Samsung fills in the gaps using generative AI. The outcomes in certain instances may be almost perfect. Of course, there are restrictions, and it's likely to seem strange if you have a complicated item in the corner of your shot.

You can also apply slow motion to any video clip with the S24 Ultra by just long-pressing it while it's playing in the Gallery app. If you like the way it appears, you may save a new slow-motion version of the fake 120 frames per second slow-motion film that the phone makes using artificial intelligence. This gave me inconsistent results. It seems really smooth and functions well at times, but if anything too complex is happening, like water splashing, you may notice a variety of odd effects. It's still rather nice, however, and it may work well for your Instagram feed.

Although the product description on Samsung's website merely states that the new AI functions would be free of cost until the end of 2025, the company has informed us that it does not presently have plans to charge for them. Although it's probably not a deal-breaker right now, it's important to be aware of it so that you won't be caught off guard in a few years.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra have many similarities, as I indicated in the opening, but upon closer examination, there are a number of differences. First of all, it is somewhat lighter and slightly smaller overall. Even if it's just a few grams and millimeters, every little counts with a phone this big.

Similar to the iPhone 15 Pro series, Samsung replaced the Armor Aluminium frame this year with a titanium one. Although it is advertised to be 56% more robust than the aluminum frame, I don't believe it matters since I don't think I've ever really damaged a frame. The way things appear and feel is important. The new titanium frame is the winner in that regard. It has a matte texture that is quite gripping yet feels smooth to the touch. In comparison to the glossy surface of its predecessor, it is also much less prone to smudges and scratches.

The phone's back is covered with Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which also has a matte texture. I love to see this since I can't take fingerprint smudges. For testing, I have Titanium Gray available. It seems and feels opulent due to the contrast between the light bronze frame and the high-gloss camera bezels.

Compared to the S24 Ultra, this model is a little bit more boxy. Both the display and the back panel are perfectly flat on this device. The corners of the phone are rather sharp, which may make it less pleasant to handle than its curvier siblings, even if the edges of the frame still have a good curve to them. Advantageously, the display has crisp edges as well, making it an excellent choice for gaming and full-screen Netflix video viewing.

Although it didn't get much attention this year, enthusiasts of the stylus will be pleased to hear that the S Pen is still in its customary location. Mostly since I don't write a lot, I sort of forgot about it. Still, it's exclusive to the Ultra and as useful as ever. This is the model for you if you like taking notes by hand or doodling while on the road.

Display

The display's peak brightness output has risen to 2600 nits from 1750 nits, although it still has the same resolution and refresh rate as the S23 Ultra. In addition, it is now totally flat, as opposed to the S23 Ultra, which had slightly curved edges on the left and right sides. This change is one that I like. Although the curved edges may have a pleasing feel, they may cause glaring reflections and often make it difficult to touch objects that are right on the edge of the display.The screen makes use of Gorilla Armor, a brand-new glass type from Corning that is only available on the S24 Ultra for now. Although there is no screen protector supplied by default, Samsung claims that the phone is four times more scratch-resistant, which is comforting. However, I haven't owned the phone long enough to verify this claim. However, the most intriguing thing about this glass is how resilient it is against reflections. The difference between handling this phone and any other is evident right away. When the display is off, other displays seem like mirrors, but the S24 Ultra mutes reflections.When combined, these enhancements result in a really striking display that is perhaps my favorite of all the smartphones on the market at the moment. It has a sleek and contemporary appearance thanks to its smaller camera cutout and narrower bezels, which also enable it to cope with harsh sunlight in terms of brightness. It looks fantastic in all lighting settings.Because it is an LTPO display, battery life should be preserved because it may change from 120Hz to as low as 1Hz, depending on what you're looking at. This display always looks amazing, whether I'm gaming, browsing social media, or watching videos on YouTube and Netflix.There are some choices in the settings menu if you want to adjust the color settings, but they're much less than what I've seen on other Android smartphones. That being said, I doubt many complaints will be made when things seem this nice by default.The fingerprint sensor on the S23 Ultra is the same ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner. However, because it's among the finest fingerprint scanners available, it's worth noting. It's always a benefit that it's quick, precise, and won't blind you in a dark environment.Cameras

With the exception of a 50MP 5x telephoto camera that replaces the 10MP 10x telephoto camera lens, the most of the cameras on the S24 Ultra are the same as those on the S23 Ultra. Thankfully, this choice didn't make the 10x (and higher) images seem any worse, which gave me some peace of mind. Actually, the high-resolution 5x telephoto lens performs better than the previous 10x lens in most lighting situations. It should go without saying that 5x photos are also far better.Compared to the previous telephoto, the new 5x camera has a 1.6x bigger sensor and improved optical image stabilization. Due to this modification, it seems much better in low light, yet at 10x zoom and above, noise levels start to increase.Other than that, the photos you may take with the S24 Ultra resemble those taken with the S23 Ultra quite a bit. The only discernible change is that Samsung seems to have slightly reduced the color processing in favor of a less dramatic and more natural appearance. Although there hasn't been a significant change, the two phones still look good.Nevertheless, both the S23 Ultra and the S24 Ultra are excellent photographers already. Pictures always look amazing, and I was especially pleased with how accurate the cutouts in portrait mode are—far better than what you'll get with a Google Pixel camera.The S24 Ultra has a 5x telephoto lens and can record in up to 8K for video, whereas the other cameras can only record in 4K60. The S24 Ultra is among your finest choices if you like shooting in slow motion since it can capture 4K images at 120 frames per second with excellent picture quality on the main camera.Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm's most potent CPU, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so we already know it will perform well in games. Samsung goes one step further, however, and uses a unique "for Galaxy" version of the SoC, which essentially includes an overclock on the CPU and GPU. All storage configurations are equipped with a generous 12GB of RAM to facilitate multitasking.Samsung has almost quadrupled the size of its vapor chamber to keep things cool, but even with this improvement, the S24 Ultra still gets quite hot when using a lot of power. You will clearly feel the area surrounding the cameras heating up during a lengthy gaming session, even if it isn't hot enough to be alarming.Because of its cooling issues, the S24 Ultra performs somewhat worse in benchmarks than gaming phones such as the ROG Phone 8 Pro and RedMagic 9 Pro. Nevertheless, it performed well in 3DMark Wildlife Extreme, scoring 4854, surpassing the Xiaomi 14 Pro and almost matching the OnePlus 12.You're going to have a blast in the real world. In visually intensive games like Genshin Impact, you may play at a smooth 60 frames per second by maximising the settings. Gaming seems better than ever because to the stunning display's minimal camera cutout and crisp edges.Although it's rather simple, the Galaxy One UI has its own gaming overlay. It does, however, have some useful features, such as the capacity to rapidly access Discord, prioritize game performance, and silence incoming calls and alerts.Apart from the higher-than-normal temps, my only genuine complaint with the S24 Ultra is the location of the speaker on the phone's base. My hand almost always muffles this speaker when held in landscape direction, which is quite annoying since the speakers sound amazing when they're not blocked.

Lightning

The Galaxy S24 Ultra has an exceptionally long battery life. This phone will gladly last you two days on a single charge if used wisely. It's a true credit to the effectiveness of Qualcomm's most recent processor that it has the same capacity as last year.Naturally, your battery life will be significantly reduced if you play games for hours on end or take a ton of pictures and videos. But even on the days when I spent several hours on Genshin or snapped hundreds of pictures, the phone never failed to get me through the day. By evening, there was generally still 20% or more left in the tank.When it comes time to recharge the S24 Ultra, a wired USB-C charger can provide up to 45W of power or 15W of wireless power. As is customary with Samsung, the package includes a USB-C cable but no charger. Although these charging rates may need a little improvement, 45W is still rather quick and doesn't seem unwieldy. From empty to full charge, it takes a little more than an hour.

Is the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra a good purchase?

Even though the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn't significantly differ from its predecessor, it nevertheless has enough features to be novel. Although I doubt current owners of Galaxy S23 Ultras would hurry to get one, the S24 Ultra is a good option if you're switching from an earlier phone.With all of the improvements combined, this is likely the most feature-rich and well-rounded Android phone on the market right now. The software is sleek, the design is ultra-premium, the performance is excellent—only surpassed by actively cooled gaming phones—and the display is among the greatest on any phone. In addition, it has excellent picture and video capabilities that a gaming-focused phone does not have.Then there is the abundance of AI awesomeness included in this edition. Playing with the picture editing features is a lot of fun, and some of these tools are really helpful for productivity. In this regard, Samsung outperforms Apple, which has been rather sluggish to release any AI-powered features.

Replacements

In case our evaluation of the Samsung Galaxy S24 wasn't convincing enough, have a look at some of our recommended options below.

The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

There are many similarities between the S24 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is its primary rival. Both have amazing cameras, lightning-fast performance, and a titanium frame. Obviously, you'll need to be a part of Apple's ecosystem, but if you are, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a fantastic option for everything else as well as gaming. You forfeit the AI features and the S Pen when you choose this option, but you do save $100 and get access to select exclusive games instead. See our iPhone 15 Pro Max review for additional information on this one.ROG Phone 8 Pro

With its sophisticated AeroActive cooler, the ROG Phone 8 Pro outperforms the S24 Ultra if all you're looking for is the greatest performance. It's currently among the top gaming phones on the market. You will, however, have to give up certain things. The software and camera performance are not as excellent as they may be. Even so, it's a solid choice for ardent players. Please check out our ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition review if this gaming phone catches your attention.