Battle of the almost identical rectangles

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  Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

  Latest and greatest

  The Galaxy S24 Ultra is another small spec bump to a familiar formula. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powers a host of AI features, the display has been flattened, and the aluminum body has been replaced with titanium. The S24 Ultra might not surprise us, but it’s still an excellent phone.

  Pros

  • Flatter, brigher display
  • 12GB of RAM in base model
  • Seven years of software updates

  Cons

  • $100 price increase
  • Few major upgrades

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  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

  Reigning champ

  $1088 $1200 Save $112

  The Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the best Samsung phones ever made, especially outside the US, where it finally ditched the Exynos chipset in favor of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Combining that chip with the rest of the stellar hardware made the S23 Ultra a dependable workhorse that could handily complete anything you asked of it. 

  Pros

  • Lower price
  • Frequently discounted

  Cons

  • Shorter software support
  • Curved screen

Summary

• The Galaxy S24 Ultra is a solid flagship from Samsung, but lacks surprise features and looks similar to its predecessor S23 Ultra.
• The S24 Ultra is available for pre-order and will be released on January 31st in the US, with prices starting at $1,300.
• The S24 Ultra offers improvements in design, display, software, performance, battery life, and camera compared to the S23 Ultra, making it worth the upgrade, especially with the seven years of updates.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is here, and it’s promising to be another solid flagship from Samsung, even if it doesn’t knock our socks off with any surprise features. Phones have become dull in general, but Samsung seems to be in a creative rut more than most, and the S24 Ultra looks and feels a lot like its predecessor.

The S23 Ultra was a fantastic phone, and easily one of the best Android options, so the S24 Ultra will have a lot of work to make an upgrade worth it.

Price, availability, and specs

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is available for preorder and is set to release on January 31st in the US. Unlike its predecessor, all models come with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. The S24 Ultra starts at $1,300 and is available from all major carriers and retailers.

The S23 Ultra started at $1,200 but can frequently be found for less now that it’s a year old. The 256GB model only has 8GB of RAM, while the 512GB and 1TB options have 12GB. It’s available for purchase from all major retailers and carriers.

• 	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
  SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy
  RAM	12GB	8GB or 12GB
  Storage	256GB, 512GB, or 1TB	256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
  Battery	5,000mAh	5,000mAh
  Ports	USB-C	USB-C, S Pen silo
  Operating System	Android 14 with OneUI 6.1	One UI 5.1 w/ Android 13
  Front camera	12MP, f/2.2	12MP f/2,2
  Rear camera	200MP, f/1.7 main; 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide; 10MP telephoto (3x); 50MP, f/3.4 telephoto (5x)	200MP f/1.7 OIS main, 12MP f/2.2 wide (120°), 10MP f/2.4 OIS zoom (3x), 10MP f/4.9 OISzoom (10x)
  Connectivity	UWB, NFC	4G, 5G, UWB, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC
  Dimensions	162.6 × 79.0 × 8.6mm	163.3 × 78 × 8.9mm
  Colors	Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow	Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender + Samsung.com Exclusive Lime, Graphite, Sky Blue, Red
  Display type	LTPO AMOLED, 1-120Hz	AMOLED, 1~120Hz refresh
  Weight	233g	234g
  Charge speed	45W wired, 15W wireless	45W wired, 15W wireless
  IP Rating	IP68	IP68
  Stylus	S Pen included	S Pen included
  Display dimensions	6.8″, 19.3:9	6.8 inches
  Display resolution	3088 × 1440	3088 x 1440 pixels
  Wi-Fi connectivity	Wi-Fi 7
  Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.3

Design

The design hasn’t changed much this year, but there’s a more significant difference between the S24 and S23 Ultra than between the S23 Ultra and its predecessor. The front and rear glass have been flattened, making more of the titanium frame visible when you look at the device square on. On the bottom, the speaker is now one thin slot instead of multiple smaller ones, and the bottom of the S Pen has been flattened. Aside from that, the only major visual differences will be the new colors.

Moving to what you can’t see, the S24 Ultra ditches the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 from the S23 Ultra and replaces it with Gorilla Glass Armor, and the Armored Aluminum frame is now made of titanium. Both phones have an IP68 rating.

Many of us, especially those who use the S Pen, will be glad to see the flat screen, while others will miss the feel of the curve beneath their fingertips.

Display

Both phones have gorgeous displays, which should be no surprise. Samsung phones have boasted fantastic screens for years now. The displays are 6.8-inch 1440p AMOLED panels and can dynamically adjust their refresh rate between 1-120Hz. The differences concern brightness and general legibility. The new Gorilla Glass Armor is meant to reduce reflections by 75%, and the peak brightness is now an eye-watering 2,600 nits on the new phone, up from the still impressive 1,750 nits on the S23 Ultra.

As we already mentioned, the S24 Ultra has ditched the curve, so there won’t be any color distortion at the edges of the screen, the S Pen will be more usable, and screen protectors will be easier to fit.

Software

The 0.x updates that debut with the new S series phone each year are always the most significant One UI update of the year. The S24 series comes with One UI 6.1, while the S23 Ultra runs One UI 6.0, both based on Android 14.

We’re still working our way through One UI 6.1 to find what’s new, but from the looks of things, it’s a significant upgrade. Samsung has gone all in on AI this year, with photo editing, live translation during phone calls, transcriptions, and more. Outside of AI, we see widgets on the lock screen, camera app improvements, and AOD tweaks. The S23 Ultra and other Samsung phones will get One UI 6.1 shortly, including the Galaxy AI features, but it’s not clear if any specific elements will perform differently away from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 hardware,

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is promised four Android upgrades with a fifth year of security patches. When that updated policy was implemented in 2022, it made Samsung the leader of the pack for Android updates. However, that changed when the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro were promised seven years of Android, feature drop, and security updates. In response, Samsung is making the same commitment to the S24 Ultra.

Android 14 was the first Android upgrade for the S23 Ultra, so its support will end with Android 17, but it will get another year of security patches. The S24 Ultra launches with Android 14, so it will be supported until Android 21 in 2031 – a huge improvement.

Performance

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 found in the S23 Ultra was a masterpiece. It allowed the phone to power through any app or game you threw at it, all while remaining cool and offering good battery life. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is said to be 30% faster while providing 20% better efficiency. The 8 Gen 3 even beats Apple’s best iPhone chip, something not often seen. We haven’t had the phone long enough to test that yet, but it should mean the S24 Ultra will be more than powerful enough to still be usable in 2031 when its support ends.

The improvement some users might notice between the base models is extra RAM. The S23 Ultra only had 8GB of RAM, unless you bought the higher storage, whereas the S24 Ultra gets 12GB across the entire range. In day-to-day use, this wasn’t too noticeable, other than some apps reloading more often during multitasking. If you’re a heavy gamer or switch between multiple apps at once, that difference may be more apparent.

The new AI features are likely the reason for the added RAM. The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro are virtually identical aside from the reduced RAM in the smaller model, and that was enough to make a lot of the AI features Google showed off 8 Pro exclusive. Whether you notice a difference because of the added RAM or not, it’s good to have it going forward as we demand more of our phones, and Android gets updated with more resource-intensive features.

Battery life

The S23 Ultra offered above-average battery life from its 5,000mAh cell thanks in large part to the display efficiency and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The S24 Ultra has a brighter screen, faster processor, and the same sized 5,000mAh battery, but battery life should be similar, if not better. The display and 8 Gen 3 are meant to be even more efficient than before, which should lead to solid battery life.

Both phones can charge up to 45W via USB-C, as long as the brick supports PPS. Wireless charging is supported at 15W, and both phones can reverse wireless charge accessories.

We’ll update this section with our battery life findings once we’ve spent enough time with the S24 Ultra.

Camera

The cameras have been a focus of the Ultra line since the very beginning. Both phones feature a 200MP primary camera, although the S24 Ultra is said to have an improved sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide with autofocus and macro support, and a 10MP 3X telephoto. The periscope zoom hardware is what differentiates the two devices. The S23 Ultra has a 10MP 10x lens, while the S24 Ultra drops the optical zoom down to 5x but bumps the resolution up to 50MP.

Samsung says that the increased resolution and larger pixels make the 50MP 5x camera better at 10x than the S23 Ultra’s optical 10x zoom, but how true that is remains to be seen, as we haven’t had much time with the phone yet. Theoretically, this could be a big improvement, especially when zooming higher than 3x but lower than 10x. On the old phone, doing that would crop the 200MP main camera or the 3x lens, resulting in subpar photos.

The S24 Ultra gets some neat AI camera enhancements. It has similar generative AI photo editing to the Pixel, but the standout feature is in video. The phone can halve the speed of any video and use AI to generate new frames. How well that works is unknown for now, but if Samsung sticks the landing with execution, this could be a fun feature to use.

Which should you buy?

As you’d expect, the S24 Ultra is the one to pick. The upgrades might not be drastic, but if you’re upgrading from something older and these two phones are what you’ve narrowed your choices to, the S24 Ultra is worth it. The improvements, while small, are still improvements, and the seven years of updates are hard to ignore.

If you’re considering upgrading from the S23 Ultra, I’d say stick with that for longer, but for everyone else, the new phone is the one to pick, especially while there are plenty of preorder deals to make the most of.

The S23 Ultra will see many discounts and offers in the coming months now that it’s been replaced, so if the right deal comes along, this is still an excellent phone that you’ll love using.