Why I can’t fall in love with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Have you ever used a phone that ticked every box on paper but left you wanting something more? I’ve had several moments like that since I started using smartphones, but Samsung’s output has always escaped this fate — at least, until this year.

For over a decade, I’ve switched from the Galaxy S flagship to the Galaxy Note (or, in recent years, Galaxy Fold) and back again. Aside from a brief foray into using Huawei phones as my daily driver, Samsung has always had a place in my pocket, no matter how incredible the competition. This changed a few months ago with the OnePlus Open, which is the best foldable right now, in my opinion, but I thought the Galaxy S24 Ultra would bring me back to the Samsung ecosystem.

Yet, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has left me needing something extra, that little sprinkle of magic that feels missing. Without it, I’m not sure this phone is destined to find a permanent place in my pocket.

Artificially intelligent

It’s easy to dismiss the new AI features as gimmicks or question their usefulness, but they’re surprisingly good when you need them. Some, such as live translator and interpreter mode, are useful only in specific environments. Others are always useful, such as recording transcriptions capable of rivaling Google and using AI to fill in missing parts of an image after an edit.

The one I’ve been using the most is Circle to Search. Also launching on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro this week, Circle to Search is phenomenal and showcases all of Google’s search prowess. What surprised me the most was how quickly I went from “It’s a gimmick” to “I love this.” All it took was some ceiling fans.

I’m currently moving apartments and decided to sell these ceiling lamps I bought from another tenant. I have no idea what they’re worth or what brand they are, but it took Google mere seconds to find them using Circle to Search. Rather than work out how to search for them, it was simple, and I found out within seconds that they should be worth $500 in total. I had originally priced them at $150 total, so Circle to Search has already made me a significant amount of money. Circle to Search lets you pique your curiosity at anything, knowing the answer is just a circle away.

Ultra in every way but one

At a starting price of $1,299, you expect the Galaxy S24 Ultra to live up to its Ultra moniker, which it does in almost every way imaginable. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy is a behemoth and delivers battery life for days, while the screen is the best on a phone, and the flat edges make for a far more comfortable in-hand experience. The S Pen is miles ahead of the competition, and Samsung’s software is also second to none in polish and features.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra ticks all the hardware, software, and experience boxes on paper to deliver on its Ultra moniker, but it falls slightly short in the execution in both quantitative and qualitative ways.

The camera is the biggest physical change this year. Until now, Samsung has been steadfast in its approach to using two telephoto cameras. Each Ultra before this year deployed a telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a periscope with 10x optical zoom. This meant great zoom at long distances, but it struggled in the 3X-5X range, the most used zoom range on a phone.

For the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung decided to buck its trend and follow the industry by deploying 3X and 5X zoom lenses. This has yielded far more usable zoom in the 5x-10x range — which was fairly pointless on the Galaxy S23 Ultra — but impacted heavily on the longer zoom lengths.

For me, the longer zoom lengths made the Samsung Ultra range special, and while I appreciate the improved shorter zoom lengths, it feels like it needs some polish. That said, the rest of Samsung’s camera is fantastic, the Color Point mode is my favorite way of taking selfies and I feel like the camera needs a software update, but isn’t fundamentally broken.

Where is the love, Samsung?

The biggest reason I don’t love the Galaxy S24 Ultra is that it’s missing the allure of past Ultra phones. Or, to quote the Black Eyed Peas: where is the love, Samsung?

When I was first briefed on it, it didn’t excite me. But when I got it in my hands a few days before launch, I enjoyed it much more. Now, having used it for two weeks since launch, I’ve landed somewhere in the middle. The Ultra is a technically excellent phone, but one that is missing a sprinkle of special seasoning. This could be because this design and experience is tried and tested, so it lacks that new feeling, or that there isn’t a huge new marquee feature to fall in love with. However, I think the biggest reason is not down to Samsung, but rather down to its competition.

The OnePlus 12 launched globally just a few days after Samsung, and it’s one of my favorite phones ever. It doesn’t have all the camera or software prowess of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but it does combine incredible design with excellent features to create an experience that makes the S24 Ultra feel a little dated.

It’s not just OnePlus: the Oppo Find X7 Ultra is possibly the best camera phone ever made. Although exclusive to China, it features a 1-inch main sensor, four 50MP cameras (the first phone to use the same MP across all four cameras), and two periscope lenses offering 3X and 6X zoom. These are better than the S24 Ultra camera, which leads to my biggest takeaway.

Much like with the OnePlus Open and Galaxy Z Fold 5, it feels like Samsung is in a holding pattern. This isn’t a bad thing per se, as Samsung’s phones are solid, but they have lost the allure of innovation and surprise that embodied Samsung many years ago.

Ultimately, though, it doesn’t matter to most people. OnePlus and Oppo spend nothing on marketing compared to Samsung — I’d guess Samsung spends thousands of multiples more than the other two combined — so even with phenomenal phones, they’ll barely make a dent with anyone outside the most hard-core bases.

The last time that Samsung faced real competition was from Huawei, and I hope that OnePlus and Oppo continue to push the boundaries to force Samsung to innovate. Further, I think Samsung needs to rethink its definition of “Ultra” and bring its best next year: we’ve had five years of its current smartphone philosophy, and with more companies exploring the Ultra landscape, it’s time for the sleeping giant to arise again.

Nirave is a creator, evangelist, and founder of House of Tech, which focuses on covering the best health and technology products. Following a heart attack at the age of 33, he’s been focused on how we can use data to improve our health and ultimately live a long and more fruitful life. Follow him on Instagram, Threads, and YouTube for live updates on his Sleep and Health journeys. He can also be found at HoT.tech.