Photo: Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the latest flagship from the Korean giant, offering a range of upgrades while keeping the core features of its predecessor. The design of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is similar to the S23 Ultra but with some subtle improvements.
The frame is now made of titanium, which is more durable and scratch-resistant than aluminum. It is also lighter—the Galaxy S24 Ultra weighs one gram less than the S23 Ultra. The phone is also slightly thinner (0.3mm) and shorter (1.1mm) thanks to the slimmer bezels. The front and rear glass panels are protected by the new Gorilla Glass Armor, which is four times harder to crack and 75% less reflective than the previous generation.
The display of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is another highlight. The phone features a flat 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen with a variable refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz, depending on the content. The screen is also much brighter, reaching 2,600 nits with the Vision Booster feature. This makes the display more vivid and easier to see in any lighting condition.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset for Galaxy variant. This customized processor for Samsung features a higher-clocked Prime core for better performance. The phone also has a larger vapour chamber for improved thermal management. It helps the phone run smoothly and efficiently.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset also enables a host of AI features on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which enhance various aspects of the user experience.
Image: Samsung
For instance, the phone supports new features like Live Translate, Interpreter, and Chat Assist, which allow two-way, real-time voice and text translation in 13 languages. Live Translate is integrated into the native phone app. Interpreter is a split-screen app that transcribes live conversations between two people in different languages. Chat Assist is a feature in the Samsung Keyboard that helps make translated conversations more natural.
The phone brings AI to Android Auto as well. It can summarize incoming messages and suggest replies, such as sending your ETA to someone.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra also has some AI features for productivity and creativity. In Samsung Notes, Note Assist can summarize notes, create templates and covers, and streamline notes with pre-made formats. Transcript Assist can transcribe, summarize, and translate recordings using AI and Speech-to-Text. Circle to Search is a gesture-driven feature made in collaboration with Google, which lets you circle, highlight, scribble on, or tap anything on the screen to get search results, such as the name of a landmark in the background of a photo on Instagram.
The camera system of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is also enhanced by AI. There are also some hardware upgrades. The phone has a new 50-megapixel 5x (115mm) telephoto camera with optical stabilization and an f/3.4 lens, using a larger 1/2.52-inch sensor. This camera can produce better 10x shots than the 10x camera of the S23 Ultra, which has a smaller 10-megapixel 1/3.52-inch sensor.
The other cameras are the same as the S23 Ultra—a 200-megapixel 23mm f/1.7 wide-angle camera, a 12-megapixel 13mm f/2.2 ultrawide camera with AF, and a 10-megapixel 69mm f/2.4 short telephoto camera. The selfie camera is also a 12-megapixel 26mm f/2.2 unit.
Photo: Samsung
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a new ProVisual Engine and a dedicated ISP Block for noise reduction. These are also part of the AI-powered camera features. The ProVisual Engine includes Generative Edit, which can erase objects and fill the space with AI or fill in the space created by straightening a crooked shot. It also includes Instant Slow-mo, which can generate additional frames to smoothly slow down moments in a video.
"Nightography" is another feature that has been upgraded, thanks to the better optical image stabilization and hand-shake compensation. The dedicated ISP Block reduces noise for both the front and rear cameras.
Lastly, Super HDR shows an HDR preview in the viewfinder before taking a photo and displays photos and videos in HDR in the Gallery.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery that supports 45W wired and 15W wireless charging. The phone ships with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. When it comes to software, the S24 Ultra runs Android 14 with One UI 6.1 and will get an impressive seven years of software support.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow. There are also Samsung web-exclusive Titanium Green, Titanium Blue, and Titanium Orange options. Pre-orders kicked off today, and pricing starts at $1,799.99. You can also check out the Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24+ here.