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Samsung has played their hand early this year, and it’s apparently all in on AI—the new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is packed chock full of AI features while retaining the same design and only iterative upgrades to the hardware and processors.
That doesn’t mean the Galaxy S24 Ultra is not worth your time, though. On the contrary, we think it’s one of Samsung’s best releases in recent years.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Specifications
- Display: 6.8" QHD+, Dynamic AMOLED
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
- Operating System: Android 13, OneUI 6
- Rear Camera: 200MP OIS Wide + 50MP Telephoto + 12MP Ultrawide
- Front Camera: 12MP
- Memory: 12GB + 256GB / 512GB / 1TB
- Battery: 5,000mAh
- Dimensions: 79.0 x 162.3 x 8.6mm
- Weight: 233g
Design
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra sports a flat, boxy exterior that looks pretty similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Unlike the Galaxy S23 Ultra, though, it no longer has a curved screen—everything is sharp and clean edges, which, while sleek and aesthetically pleasing, feels just a little too boxy in hand, especially as the phone is already larger than most smartphones.
The titanium frame of the smartphone is also quite the highlight. Boasting a superior strength-to-weight ratio, the material ensures that the device is both lightweight and robust. It’s all in the name: the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in interesting colours the likes of Titanium Yellow, Titanium Orange, Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, etcetera.
Other than that, everything else remains the same; the in-built S Pen is still housed at the bottom of the phone, alongside the USB Type-C charging port. The module-less floating cameras are still present, which is great—no need to fix something that still works.
Display
The Galaxy S24 Ultra features a flatter QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display measuring 6.8”. The display incorporates Corning® Gorilla® Armor for enhanced durability and reduced reflection, providing an optimal visual experience.
Perhaps the most significant upgrade in the display of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the matte, anti-reflective coating on the screen which significantly reduces glare from bright lights and sunlight. The matte finish also reduces fingerprint smudges, keeping the screen cleaner and clearer.
Besides that, the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s display also goes up to a whopping 2,600 nits at peak brightness, which is really more than enough for a smartphone. Where the Galaxy S23 Ultra struggled a little under direct sunlight due to reflections, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has no such trouble at all.
Performance & Battery
Powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 For Galaxy processor, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a flagship powerhouse. It’s also equipped with 12GB of RAM, which is larger than some laptops on the market, so it can definitely handle multitasking and then more.
However, Samsung has yet to rectify the phone’s overheating issues. Even though it boasts a 1.9 times larger vapour chamber, that still doesn’t stop the phone from getting a little warm when used over an extensive period of time for intensive gaming, or during charging.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra also ships with One UI 6.1 based on Android 14. Going one step further than last year, Samsung promises seven years of OS upgrades and security updates for the phone, which at least ensures the lifespan of the phone.
On the battery front, there’s really nothing to complain about, but there’s also nothing particular to rave about either. The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with a 5,000 mAh battery capacity, and thanks to the improved and more efficient chipset, its performance is slightly better than some of its competitors, though the overheating makes me wonder about the battery’s longevity.
45W wired and 15W wireless Qi charging are available on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, so there’s a multitude of ways to juice up your phone. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, like all its siblings in the same series, does not come with a charger in box, in line with Samsung’s sustainability vows. We really should be used to this by now.
Camera
As always, Samsung’s newest flagships have some of the best cameras out there. This year, there wasn’t a very significant upgrade in the hardware beyond a larger pixel size and a larger telephoto camera.
It also sports a new 5x optical zoom lens, which, when working in tandem with the 50MP camera, delivers optical-quality photos at up to 10x zoom.
The most important upgrade here, once again, is in the software: namely, the ProVisual Engine that powers all the AI tools. One particular AI feature that we really had fun with was the Generative Edit—more on that below.
Galaxy AI
What makes the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra truly this year’s ultimate flagship (we’re still in February!), though, is Galaxy AI—the feature that was in all the teasers and all the promotional materials for this year’s Galaxy Unpacked. And it’s really no wonder: Galaxy AI truly made this phone smart.
Instead of working with the phone, Samsung has made it possible for the Galaxy S24 Ultra to work for us, through Galaxy AI. The phone comes with a multitude of AI features, including Circle to Search, Note Assist, Call Assist, Chat Assist, Photo Assist, and more.
For the most part, Galaxy AI aims to make communication easier between different cultures and languages, mainly through intelligent translation. What Samsung named Call Assist is basically live translation through calls, so you can actually converse with someone without having to use another app. Note Assist and Chat Assist also have the same function, among other things.
Another innovative AI feature is the "Circle to Search" ability, which allows users to circle an object or text on the screen to initiate an immediate search via Google. Whether it's looking up a word, finding products online, or getting more information about an image, we certainly found this feature the most helpful, especially during research. No more random screenshots clogging up your storage!
Another really useful AI feature that would help both the general user and the tech enthusiast is Photo Assist. Photo Assist leverages generative AI for advanced photo editing, allowing users to remove or resize elements within images while the AI intelligently fills in the background. Basically, it does all the hard parts of photo editing for you!
And it doesn’t just settle with some shoddy results. Galaxy AI has the ability to generate pixels that really mimic the surrounding area, so its edits look quite natural and seamless. Of course, depending on the situation, it might not look entirely perfect, but it’s really good enough.
One thing about having life-like AI-generated photos (or rather, AI-enhanced photos) is the ethical concerns around it. Samsung addresses this by adding a watermark to all photos that were edited using Galaxy AI.
