Full disclosure; I haven’t owned a Samsung phone in over six years because I found their software and features obnoxiously bloated and far from my daily needs. So, when the new Galaxy S24 Ultra was released three months ago, I wasn’t expecting much and preferred to wait for the hype to die down and all teething problems to be patched before reviewing it. However, I got a review unit a month ago to put it through its paces.
There have been a ton of excellent reviews in that time with many deep dives out at this point, so I’m not going to rehash old news. Instead, I’m going to share my experience coming from an iPhone 15 Pro Max that has been my primary phone since September 2023.
After three weeks of using the S24 Ultra as my primary device, I come away very impressed. My joy stems from an experience that gets the fundamentals done exceptionally well and not all the flashy AI features. I must say that the S24 Ultra is the best, holistic smartphone experience I’ve had in a long time. So much so that the unthinkable happened- I no longer wanted to use my iPhone 15 Pro Max anymore.
That’s saying something from someone who has been team Apple for the last four years.
Stunning to behold, wonderful to hold
The S24 Ultra looks very similar to its predecessor, the S23 Ultra, which is not necessarily a bad thing since the latter was already one of the most beautiful Android phones. However, this year the phone features a titanium frame, similar to what the iPhone 15 Pro has, which has increased its starting price to $1,999, $100 more than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Unlike the iPhone, the S24 Ultra has sharp corners and slightly rounded sides instead of perfectly flat sides and rounded corners. Despite its size, the phone is surprisingly comfortable to hold. The corners don’t dig into the palm, and the rounded sides make for a better grip. The phone’s titanium grey finish adds a touch of luxury to its sturdiness. In fact, it’s more comfortable to hold than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, despite being a bigger phone with a 6.8-inch display and weighing 10gms more.
Thanks to the titanium frame and the new Corning Gorilla Armor for the display, the S24 Ultra is the first flagship phone that can be comfortably handled without a case or screen protector. The phone is not slippery, and during the three weeks of use, it didn’t develop any micro-scratches or stains, unlike the Google Pixel 8 Pro. Although it’s not recommended to toss a $2000 phone around, careful users can get away without using a case.
The new Gorilla Armor is not only tougher and more scratch-resistant, but it also has a matte coating that greatly reduces reflections and improves visibility in bright environments. This feature is not something Samsung hyped much, but it’s certainly one that users will appreciate, especially in sunny environments.
Snappy dragons and long life
This year, Samsung chose to use the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 3 processor, which is the same chip used in the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition. However, Samsung’s phone uses a more modest 12GB of memory, which is more than enough for everyday multitasking. From setting up the phone to loading multiple apps, the S24 Ultra never slowed down or showed any signs of struggle. When it comes to performance, the S24 Ultra comes a close second to Asus’s powerful gaming phone.
This phone is one of the smoothest and fastest smartphones available, with a 120Hz LTPO AMOLED display that makes it feel sublime to use. Samsung’s One UI 6.0 overlay runs on top of Android 14, but it is so refined that it is hard to identify the differences between it and stock Android. The phone has a wealth of features, quality of life improvements, AI assistance, and S-Pen tools.
However, there are far too many features baked in, most of which the average user will not use. Samsung includes its own Tips app to show you most of the major ones, but any search on YouTube will show how much more there is. Only the most dedicated user will find and make the most of this phone. It’s a shame really because most of us are leaving roughly 50% of the functionality unused.
The gorgeous 6.8-inch display is perfect for multitasking, media consumption, and gaming. Switching between apps or even running two apps simultaneously is easy, and the handy slide-out app drawer can even save different app combinations for quick split-screen access. Everything looks ultra sharp, vibrant, and colorful, whether you are working on text documents, scrolling through TikTok, or playing COD Warzone Mobile. Samsung has also improved the screen responsiveness, so writing with the S-Pen feels more natural. However, it is still a whole lot easier to type or dictate.
Gaming and media consumption is the greater pleasure of using the S24 Ultra. The AMOLED display has beautiful colors and contrast that gives vibrancy to any content. The phone has a max brightness of 2600 nits, which can be almost blinding in a dark room. However, when playing games like Genshin Impact or using apps like Netflix, the visuals are stunning and the performance is smooth.
Making phone and video calls was a pleasure with clear voice and AI-assisted noise cancellation. Other AI enhancements like real-time translation of phone calls is impressive and a nice party trick when traveling abroad. The same goes for messaging and the built-in AI tools to the keyboard that enhance your writing by changing the language, tone of voice, and other aspects. However, this is something I did not use beyond initial testing.
All these refinements to the operating system result in one of the best battery life on any smartphone. The S24 Ultra easily got me through the day, ending with 40-50% on most days, making it a two-day phone. If you make use of the various battery-saving features, you might even make it to part of a third day.
Unlike the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the Samsung supports rapid charging and can go from empty to 50% in about 20 minutes with the right charger. However, the phone does not come with a charger in the box. If you have a USB laptop charger, the phone will happily use that. It also supports wireless charging, but whenever I used the one in my car, the phone would get uncomfortably hot. This is weird and definitely not something I was comfortable leaving on my bedside wireless charger.
Pro-grade cameras
Although the S24 Ultra’s cameras are considered by some to be a downgrade compared to last year’s phone, which had a 10x optical zoom compared to the 5x on this one, the 5x zoom is sufficient for most people. The other lenses include a 200MP main wide, 50MP 5x optical, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom, and a 12MP selfie camera.
I did not take any 200MP photos as I did not intend on printing giant billboards. However, overall, the camera system on the S24 Ultra is impressive and can handle most of what I wanted to do. The photos are sharp with excellent saturation and contrast. Shots of my children looked richer and closer to their skin tones when taken with the S24 Ultra, compared to my iPhone. The 5x optical zoom is great and enough for most scenarios, but a 10x zoom would have been appreciated at the odd school concert.
The camera has AI Photo Assist tools to help users take the perfect shot, including Magic Eraser, Instant Slow-mo for videos, and generative AI tricks to enhance and even alter photos completely. I hardly used these features in practice, but it is nice to know that I can fix photos on the fly with ease.
Video recording on the S24 Ultra was a big surprise. While iPhones have long led the way in videography, Androids excel at photography. I experienced this firsthand with the Pixel 8 Pro, which I used for photos but then switched to my iPhone for any video work. With the S24 Ultra, I don’t have to switch between phones as the phone handles both photography and videography well.
The phone can record in various formats, including super slow motion 240fps in 1080p and 120fps in 4K, which is fantastic. Additionally, the phone can record 8K video at 30fps, which is mostly unnecessary for most people, but it is still a nice feature to have. Thanks to excellent video stabilization and low-light performance, even the portrait video mode produces excellent videos. However, switching between lenses while recording is still a little janky compared to the iPhone.
I dislike it when brands claim that their cameras are “professional-grade.” Any smartphone can be professional-grade when put in a cage and rigged with gimbals, boom mics, studio lighting, and professional editing. However, the S24 Ultra is an excellent shooter for the majority of us who are just making TikToks or posting photos on Instagram. This year, the native APIs allow users to create better video and photo in native social apps, which is a welcome change.
Overall, the camera system on the S24 Ultra is very impressive, and I would be happy to replace my iPhone 15 Pro Max with it.
A galaxy of AI
Samsung’s marketing campaigns for the S24 Ultra have heavily emphasized the phone’s Galaxy AI. This phone comes with a plethora of AI assistive features that would take multiple articles to cover. The features include real-time language translation, Circle to search anything on the screen, and photo manipulation tools.
Although many of these features are genuinely useful, they are unfortunately very niche and not something that most people would use on a day-to-day basis. For example, the language translation tools are great for travelers, but outside of that scenario, they are not very useful. Furthermore, when I tested it with a French friend, he found the translation to be odd, even a bit crude but laughed at it.
The photo AI tools are pretty interesting, especially the ability to remove unwanted people or objects from your photos. It’s also great to be able to recompose a badly framed shot using generative fill. However, these features are just fun toys that I wouldn’t use regularly.
What about the AI writing tools? They’re supposed to help you with your grammar and tone of voice, but honestly, I don’t find them that useful. Now, the AI transcription feature is a different story. It can turn your audio recordings into well-typed transcripts, complete with formatting and speaker labels. This feature is pretty handy, especially if you’re a student recording a lecture or a journalist recording an interview. I’m also a fan of the AI summarization feature, but I didn’t really use it that much.
Overall, while these features are cool, most people won’t use them often. It’s good to know they’re there, but they’re not the reason to buy this phone. You can get similar features at a much lower cost with the Google Pixel 8.
S-Pen is still forgettable
I’ve been a fan of the S-Pen since I bought the Galaxy Note 2 almost nine years ago. It was great to have a stylus on hand to write, draw, sign documents, and manipulate graphics on the go. The S-Pen has improved a lot in ergonomics, writing feel, and functionality since then.
However, I’ve found, as I did back then, that after the first few days, the S-Pen fades out of memory. I have never found myself in a position where I needed the S-Pen to write anything that I couldn’t just type or dictate using the on-screen keyboard.
I’ve also never needed to use the S-Pen to sign any leases or contracts on the phone. The most use I’ve gotten out of the S-Pen is using it as a remote shutter button for my camera when recording myself using the back camera. And letting my daughter color in many of the coloring apps that come with the phone.
The S-Pen is a niche feature that most people don’t need, and I think, the biggest wasted feature on this impressive phone. I wish Samsung had a version of this phone without the S-Pen; that would make room for a bigger battery and maybe shaved $200 from the price. I think that would sell like crazy.
Verdict
I spent three weeks with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and I was genuinely sad to return it. That should say everything. The phone has excellent hardware, design, build, and smart features that made up for the shortcomings I experienced with the Google Pixel 8 Pro. It even made me think twice about my beloved iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The S24 Ultra has numerous features that can be hard to remember and the S-Pen is more of a flex than useful tool but I appreciate having them if the need ever arises. The phone provides peace of mind in terms of performance, battery life, and camera capabilities, which is all that matters to most people. Samsung’s Assistive AI is good, but not unique since similar features exist on Google’s less expensive phones. However, you do not need to use these features to enjoy and benefit from the phone.
In my opinion, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is currently the most complete, well-rounded, and capable smartphone on the market. Samsung has done an excellent job, and to quote the great MKBHD, “Why would you buy any other phone?”
Samsung Australia kindly loaned the Galaxy S24 Ultra to PowerUp for the purpose of this review.
