Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: Still The King Of Android

Design

If you’ve seen the Galaxy S23 Ultra, you are already familiar with the basic design of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, albeit with some small but important differences. Possibly the most noticeable change is the switch from a curved display to a flat one, which means your S Pen will no longer slip off the edge of the screen. It also means you get a slightly bigger viewing area since the view at the display edge is no longer warped from the curvature.

The other main difference is that the Galaxy S24 Ultra now sports a titanium build, which, thanks in part to the now flat display, gives the phone a rectangular design. While the sides of the Ultra still exhibit some roundness to feel comfortable in the hand, the top and bottom edges are as flat as you like, and the phone can stand un-assisted on a flat surface.

The rear panel is pretty much the same as the S24 Ultra’s predecessor, with separate protruding camera lenses on show. The S Pen also looks the same as last year, but it’s not seen most of the time, and when it is, it’s being used as the tool it is.

At 232g, it’s a chunky phone; you’ll know when it’s in your front trouser pocket. Thanks to the sheer size of the S24 Ultra, smaller hands will experience some strain during usage.

While you can’t fault Samsung for not wanting to reinvent the wheel with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, its design is beginning to appear a little stale compared to the likes of its rivals, such as the OnePlus 12 and the upcoming Magic 6 Pro from Honor. For the Galaxy S25 series, we want to see Samsung change things up a little.

Read: The Best Cases For The Galaxy S24 Ultra

Hardware

Read: The Best Wireless Earbuds For The Galaxy S24 Series

Performance

Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor, the Galaxy S24 Ultra positively flies. And while we would have liked Samsung to throw in a few extra gigabytes of memory, multitasking is, as you would expect from such an expensive handset, a slick experience. Whether it’s gaming, browsing, or long sessions of doom-scrolling, the S24 Ultra does it all without complaint and without getting excessively hot.

Samsung finally gave in and got rid of the curved-edged display on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it’s a change for the better. Those who actually use the S Pen will be able to access every square millimeter of the screen instead of the nib slipping off the side trying to tap items in an app that thought a 6.8-inch display actually meant 6.8 inches of usable real estate. As someone who owned the original Galaxy Note, I think it’s a welcome return of this simple but influential feature.

The AMOLED display on the S24 Ultra benefits from Corning’s Gorilla Glass Armor coating, which protects the panel against scratches and, perhaps just as importantly, features an anti-glare layer that significantly reduces reflections. Combined with the 2,600 nits of peak brightness, reading the display in bright sunshine no longer results in a squint-fest.

Read More: Ranked: The Best Galaxy S24 Screen Protectors You Can Buy

Battery

Up until recently, a 5,000mAh battery was about as big as you got in a flagship phone, but the year is 2024, and phones such as the OnePlus 12 are launching with 5,500mAh units. As much as we’d like Samsung to progress in the battery and, let’s admit it, charging speeds, it’s unlikely that it will happen any time soon.

Still, the 5,000mAh battery is enough to get you through the day, and the 45W charging get the battery back to 70% in 30 minutes. It’s not ultra-fast by any means, but it is less slow compared to the Pixels.

Thankfully, my average usage meant that when bedtime came around, the unit had around 30% left in the tank after around 5 hours of screen time. Charging overnight alleviates most of the frustration with charging speeds, whether it’s wired or wireless. Wireless charging is limited to 15W; surprisingly, the Qi2 standard isn’t supported.

Lowering the refresh rate and resolution and switching to dark mode can all extend battery life, and there’s always the Power Saving and Ultra-Power Saving functions if you need to nurse the phone to the end of the day.

Read: Ranked: The Best 5 Wireless Chargers For The Galaxy S24

Software

Remember the good old days of TouchWiz? Samsung has gone so far beyond its old custom software that it’s basically unrecognizable. Flatter, smoother, and far less garish, One UI has really come into its own over the past few years. Something else that isn’t recognizable from the TouchWiz era is Samsung’s commitment to software updates. The Galaxy S24 series will receive seven OS upgrades from Samsung and seven years of security updates. It’s mind-bogglingly good. It means that the Galaxy S24 Ultra could still be your main phone in 2031 with up-to-date software and security features.

Samsung’s latest version of its software is called One UI 6.1, and it’s very similar to version 6.0, other than the appearance of a fair amount of AI. Samsung is one of the last holdouts for redundant apps that often duplicate the functions of Google’s own apps. This means you’ll find Internet, Messages, and Samsung Free apps pre-installed alongside Google’s, with both options offering unique features.

One UI 6.1 features the ability to draw down the notification panel by swiping down on the top left of the display, with the Quick Settings panel appearing if you swipe down from the right-hand corner. There’s also support for a true Always-on-Display feature that shows widgets, notifications, and the wallpaper you’ve set on the home screen. Unlike Honor and OnePlus, you can use third-party app widgets on the Always-on-Display, which means you have more choices when it comes to accessing information at a glance.

Now we arrive at my long-standing complaint about Samsung’s software. It’s time that Samsung gave us the option of scrolling through our apps vertically instead of the time-consuming method of swiping horizontally. Switching from virtually every other Android phone on the market to a Samsung handset brings this pain of swiping horizontally to get to the app I want to access eventually. Come on, Samsung, it’s a simple request – give us the choice of how to navigate the app drawer.

Read: 5 Cool Features Of The New Galaxy S24 Series

Galaxy AI

Because Samsung’s Galaxy AI plays such a big part in many of the new features in the Galaxy S24 series, we are giving it a section of its own.

Circle to Search

First up is the Circle to Search function, which started out as a feature exclusive to the Galaxy S24 series but is now available on Google’s Pixel 8 Pro. Still, it’s a rather neat capability to have. All you do is long-press on the Home button and use your finger (or S Pen) to circle around the object on the browser or app to request more information. Circle to Search works on any app, website, game, or camera app.

It’s great for traveling and discovering more about landmarks you can see in the distance using the S24 Ultra’s zoom capabilities.

AI-powered Galaxy Keyboard

Another rather awesome party piece is the addition of AI to Samsung’s Keyboard, which is enabled by default. If you’ve written a message in a hurry and it’s got spelling mistakes, poor grammar, and maybe hasn’t even been spaced out, press the Galaxy AI icon, and you’ll get the option of having it formatted and correct all the errors, turning that jumbled mess into a perfectly worded message. You can choose to have it rewritten in a more friendly or formal tone and even have it translated into one of 13 languages in a split-second.

Live Translate

Another neat trick is the live translation function, which lets you talk to someone in your native tongue with the phone and then repeat what you said to the recipient in their own language. Imagine how useful it would be when ordering a meal or talking to a taxi driver in a foreign country when you don’t speak the local language. And when you are done speaking, it will also save a transcript of the conversation in real-time.

Live Transcribe

We all know how painful meetings are, especially when you have been nominated to take notes. With the AI-powered Notes app, taking notes in a meeting is a breeze thanks to it being able to determine different speakers and summarise the points in bullet points, with the ability to refer back to the audio of the meeting to confirm any mistakes.

These are prime examples of AI’s usefulness when using a smartphone. There is one possible fly in the ointment with Samsung apparently looking to monetize some AI features after 2025. For the moment, it’s unclear whether these will be new or existing AI functions.

Read: These Are The Phones Getting Galaxy AI Features

Camera

In the camera department, Samsung has stuck with the same main camera, ultra-wide and secondary telephoto sensors, and added in a new 50MP 5x periscope telephoto lens. There’s a suite of new AI-powered editing tools present as well.

The main 200MP camera produces reliably excellent images with little to no effort on the user’s part in good or low-light conditions. Both telephoto lenses benefit from OIS, and images from them are close to the main camera in terms of quality. On the other hand, the ultra-wide isn’t as reliable and seems susceptible to distortion at night from street lights. It’s fine for taking group selfies and the like, but the main camera is the way to go for anything more serious.

The show’s star, however, is the suite of AI-editing tools included with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Removing reflections and shadows from images is a tool that comes in handy, and you can even fix a hastily taken shot with Generative Edit, which will fill in the bits you missed. Once AI has remastered the image, you’ll be presented with a comparison tool to see the differences and to accept or dismiss the result.

Basically, all those features you’ve seen present on Google’s Pixels have arrived on the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. And it’s a really good thing when used in moderation.

So what about the ability to erase objects from your photo? Well, what can you tell me about the image below? That’s right; the metal railing surrounded the Tardis, and the Darlek guarded it. Some objects can be removed with better results than others.

Object erase works well on defined objects such as below, tapping on the offending object that needs to be removed.

Conclusion

At $1,300, though, the scrutiny has to be ever closer, but other than the less-than-great ultra-wide lens, there’s very little to nitpick about. While the Galaxy S24 Ultra price isn’t cheap, it’s jam-packed with features and exclusive functions such as the S Pen and the otherwise excellent camera setup. Everything is top-notch, with the relatively average 45W charging speed still managing to provide a full charge in just over an hour.

Is the Galaxy S24 Ultra worth the extra $400 over the OnePlus 12, which boasts Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 power, an excellent camera setup, and speedier charging? One thing that the OnePlus 12 has going against it is software support, both from longevity and frequency of updates standpoint. Where the Galaxy S24 Ultra (and its siblings) will benefit from seven years of software updates with monthly security updates, the same cannot be said for the OnePlus 12.

As for its other main rival, the also cheaper Pixel 8 Pro, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, shows its supremacy in more areas such as performance, display, charging speeds, battery life, and build quality. Regarding software support, Samsung and Google are on par with each other, although the Korean company doesn’t tend to break things with updates like the search giant often does. Camera setups should be just about equal between the two, but the Pixel 8 Pro should be more comfortable to hold, so there is that to consider.

“The Galaxy S24 Ultra Is Still The King Of Android”

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is yet another smash hit for Samsung. Loads of power, great cameras, good battery life, and an excellent AI experience if you use the new features. As you would expect from Samsung, the build quality is second to none, and the brand has leveraged its expertise in display technology and Corning’s new Gorilla Glass Armor to give users a superb viewing experience, whether indoors or out.

The phone even looks smart, with the new titanium finish providing a rather handsome aesthetic in any of the available colors, although the violet color of the review unit is my personal favorite.

If you are buying a phone to last for the next seven years, both physically and from a software support perspective, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the phone to buy.