Our Complete Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review

The 17th of January 2024: a date that marked Samsung's venture into the world of artificial intelligence. Live translations, note summaries, and fast photo editing are just a few of the Galaxy AI features that got tech enthusiasts excited during the 2024 Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California.

AI features weren't the only new launch from Samsung: this event also saw the announcement of the flagship S24 series, including the premium S24 Ultra model. This device was designed to rival the impressive iPhone 15 Pro Max and Google Pixel phones, including the Pro 8 and 9 series.

However, starting at $1,299, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is more expensive than these other mobile phones, adding $100 to the asking price compared to its S23 predecessor. In this review, our experts explore the Galaxy S24 Ultra's new and exclusive features, including design and performance improvements, to help you decide whether an upgrade is truly worth the money.

Key Tech Specs

Camera System

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is undoubtedly one of the best phones for photography on the market today. Its pin-sharp 200 MP Main, 12MP Ultrawide, and 10 MP Telephoto cameras produce bright, eye-catching portrait shots that easily rival the iPhone 15 and Google Pixel 9 series.

One area that's seen a significant change is the new 50 MP Telephoto camera. Samsung has swapped the 10x optical zoom of the S23 Ultra for 5x optical zoom, an incredibly controversial decision with long-time Android phone fans. However, thanks to effective pixel binning, photos from the S24 Ultra are even clearer and more detailed than its predecessor.

It may be less powerful, but the 50 MP lens produces much sharper photos than the S23's 10 MP sensor. Video recording quality also matches that of the S23 Ultra, even with the shorter range zoom.

The lack of hardware upgrades on the Galaxy S24 Ultra are made up for by new Galaxy AI features. This includes 100x Space Zoom that captures brighter, clearer quality photos with a boosted low-light performance.

Design and Display

The S24 Ultra features a new titanium frame, replacing Samsung's signature armor aluminum. As well as boosting durability, this makes the device slightly lighter and easier to take on the go than the previous flagship model.

The Titanium frame also makes its way into the S24 Ultra's color range, which is inspired by the metal's timeless allure. Choose from Titanium Black, Gray, Violet, or Yellow, plus web exclusive Titanium Blue, Green, and Orange. Compared with other devices, this Galaxy phone certainly offers a wider color range.

Another key change from the S23 series is the screen shape. The S24 Ultra swaps its predecessor's curves for a flatter screen and slimmer bezels that increase the size of the display. While this makes it easier to use the S Pen, it does remove some of the device's sleek aesthetic in favor of a softer display.

The S24 Ultra also sports a weaker peak brightness than its rivals, particularly with the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL's peak brightness of 2,469 nits. However, the QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED flat display packs in rich detail and vibrant color that's excellent for watching YouTube videos or movies.

Speaking of the S Pen, there have been no new additions to accompany the latest Galaxy AI features, which we think is slightly disappointing for such a technologically advanced phone.

Battery Life

Like every other flagship Samsung phone, the Galaxy S24 Ultra keeps the same 5,000 mAh battery, which delivers up to 30 hours of video playback time.

We're also somewhat surprised to see this battery size with the new S25 Ultra. The key difference between each generation in this category, however, is the upgraded processor.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip offers a 20% increase in power efficiency, plus an overall 30% performance improvement for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The chipset is Qualcomm's first mobile platform designed with artificial intelligence in mind, therefore supporting Samsung's new AI features and those on other Android flagship phones.

As for charging, the S24 Ultra keeps the same 45W wired and 15W Qi2 wireless charging speeds. This equals the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 15W MagSafe wireless charging, but we'd like to see this increased to match the Google Pixel 9 Pro on future models.

Galaxy AI Features

AI features were launched exclusively on the S24 Samsung phone series as part of the One UI 6.1 update. They were then later rolled out to select devices released in 2023, including the S23 series, the Z Flip 6, and the Z Fold handsets.

While some of these features are quite novel, like Portrait Studio, others bring real functionality to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, including:

• Live Translate: Translates 13 different languages during live phone calls and in third-party apps, such as WhatsApp. The AI takes a while to translate what's being said but provides an effective alternative to manual translation.

• Circle to Search: Draw a circle around any image and AI will launch a Google search to provide more information. This offers a fast and convenient way to find where to get that delicious dish on your Instagram feed, without having to leave the app!

• Chat Assist: Creates message replies in different tones, translates message threads, and checks for spelling and grammar errors.

• Note Assist: Automatically summarises, condenses, organizes, and translates notes made on your Samsung keyboard.

Galaxy AI represents Samsung's early artificial intelligence work, meaning there's plenty of room for upgrades with the launch of the S25. Not many of the current features are exclusive to the Samsung line-up either, with broader tools like Note Assist working similarly on Apple Intelligence or Google Gemini.

A Night Video mode for the camera app and Insights into weather, sleep scores, and other key metrics are potential new features that the S25 Ultra could see.

Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?

Even with the recent release of the S25 Ultra, the Galaxy S24 Ultra remains one of the best smartphones on the market for its impressive battery life, great processing power, and sharp camera system.

The digital zoom downgrade and display change are two slight areas of disappointment for us. However, with the inclusion of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, the improvements in performance and power efficiency make the S24 Ultra a worthwhile investment – particularly if you're upgrading from a much older phone or are simply in the market for a new smart device.