The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the largest and most expensive device in the S24 series recently launched by the South Korean company Samsung. Loaded with artificial intelligence-based features - is the first truly AI-based smartphone worth the price?
guitar pick
Size:
6.8 inches
Screen:
Dynamic AMOLED 2x, QHD+ (3120 x 1440), 505 PPI, 1-120Hz, 2600 Nits.
Weight:
232 grams
Chipset:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy.
Internal memory:
12GB RAM, 256512GB.
Water and dust resistance:
IP68
Built-in S Pen.
Battery:
5000mAh, wired charging 45W wireless charging 15W.
Operating system:
Android, Samsung One UI 6.1.
Galaxy S24 Ultra - a smartphone that is all square, and artificial intelligence // Photo: Daniela Ginzburg
Design and screen
Externally, it differs from the S24 and S24 Plus in its square shape (and when we say square, we really mean it), the built-in pen that comes with it and of course, how can it not these days - its new titanium casing.
The S24 Ultra is a large device, measuring 6.40x3.11x0.34 inches and weighing 232 grams – 11 grams more than the main competitor, the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Despite its size and weight, the new design makes the smartphone feel relatively light and comfortable in the hand.
The titanium design of the S24 Ultra is beautiful and we admit that we really connect with this new trend in premium devices.
At the same time, it is not certain that the choice of a completely square shape, with sharp and prominent edges, is particularly successful.
The device looks good, but just too square for our liking, although it definitely sets it apart from the competition.
Galaxy S24 Ultra - square, but how beautiful the titanium is, photo: Daniela Ginzburg
At the back, the Ultra maintains Samsung's regular design for the camera setup, where the lenses blend in with the back of the device and are not separated by an "island" like, for example, the iPhone or Xiaomi devices.
The back panel is made with a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and has a matte finish that is resistant to fingerprints.
The Ultra comes in grey, black, purple or yellow, with the purple device coming with a gray frame.
We received the gray model for review and we really liked its elegant and luxurious titanium appearance, there is a kind of business feeling to the appearance of the device.
Samsung continues to deliver the goods when it comes to durability standards, and the device comes with an IP68 rating for protection against dust and water, and can survive in water for 30 minutes at a depth of up to 1.5 meters - an accepted standard in flagship devices that exists in both the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Google's Pixel 8 Pro.
S24 Ultra - the pen remains in its built-in place., Photo: Daniela Ginzburg
The screen of the S24 Ultra comes with Corning Gorilla Armor glass, which has high degrees of durability and hardness.
It also prevents reflections and therefore improves the visibility conditions of the screen outside the home.
Indeed, when you compare it to devices without such capabilities, the difference in favor of the S24 is clear.
As far as the shape of the screen is concerned, this year Samsung finally decided to listen to their users and gave up the curved edges that characterized the previous models of the device.
As staunch S Pen fans, in our opinion, this is a welcome change that, among other things, makes it significantly easier to use the pen across the entire width of the screen (which worked less well with the rounded screen).
The S24 Ultra has one of the best screens available on a smartphone today.
The AMOLED display comes with a variable refresh rate of 120 Hz, which helps balance power and performance.
In simple words - the screen dynamically changes the refresh rate depending on what is running on the device.
S24 Ultra - we finally got to the flat screen.
Thanks to Samsung, photo: Daniela Ginzburg
The screen has a resolution of 3120x1440 pixels, and the display can be set (can be relevant for games, for example) to FHD and FHD+ resolutions, which will look a little less sharp of course, but will receive appropriate upscaling.
Images on the screen look incredibly sharp and the user experience is extremely smooth.
Even when it comes to the brightness of the screen, Samsung made a leap forward, and the S24 Ultra reaches a maximum brightness of up to 2,600 nits, while easily surpassing the 2,000 nits of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Hardware and software
Compared to the other two devices in the series, the S24 Ultra is the only one that gets Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 flagship system (S24 and S24 Plus get Samsung's Exynos 2400).
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor is present in all of Samsung's new flagship devices. Photo: Qualcomm
The Ultra runs the Android 14 operating system with Samsung's classic "theme" - One UI 6.1 on top.
Compared to previous devices, which received five years of software and security updates, this time Samsung commits to seven years of updates, which means that those who plan on the device for the long term can rest easy.
Unsurprisingly, probably, since this is the most advanced chipset today, in terms of performance the S24 Ultra works smoothly and responds very, very quickly.
The applications open at peak speed, and everything works as we would expect from a flagship device.
We did not feel that after intensive use the device heats up or that there is any effect on performance outside of games.
The Samsung theme remains similar and works fine as expected, photo: screenshot
And now, to the purpose for which we gathered - artificial intelligence.
In the case of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it is much more than just a trendy word, Samsung has successfully and truly implemented the artificial intelligence in the device.
Probably rightly called "the first AI smartphone".
There is quite a number of features that incorporate AI and are very interesting in the device as far as artificial intelligence is concerned, but we will focus on the three main ones in our opinion.
The first, Circle to Search, allows you to perform a search on any object in the image, without leaving it (as you can see in the video), this is in contrast to taking a screenshot and searching in Google Lens, which was accepted until now.
We found the feature very intuitive and useful on a daily basis.
Galaxy S24 Ultra - any object you want - you can circle and search // Photo: Daniela Ginzburg
Another feature that excited us is called Generative Edit and it allows advanced AI editing for images, without the need to use external Photoshop systems.
Apparently, it sounds like something that has been around for a long time, but in the case of the Galaxy, artificial intelligence can delete objects from an image and complete missing details, align the image, enhance colors professionally, and more.
All this, let's remember again, without opening external software.
Galaxy S24 Ultra - normal photo, photo: Daniela Ginzburg
Galaxy S24 Ultra - after erasing the vehicle using Generative Edit, photo: Daniela Ginzburg
Beyond these great editing and search tools, one of the more fascinating features in our eyes is the c, which is available in the device's call application.
After defining the languages we want to test (there is also an option to mute the voice and hear only the translation) we made a phone call in which one party spoke English and the other spoke Spanish.
At the beginning of the call, the voice assistant informs the party we called that the call uses simultaneous translation.
The course of the conversation itself was a little strange at first, because there is a slight delay in the audio processing and it takes a minute or two to get used to it, but once you get used to it, the translation works smoothly and in both directions.
For us, this is a very important feature that can help a lot, especially for those who travel abroad on a regular basis if they get stuck with a person who does not speak English.
Galaxy S24 Ultra - the AI-based simultaneous translation is one of the device's successful features, photo: Samsung
Photo
On the back of the S24 Ultra are four cameras - a 200-megapixel primary with f/1.7 aperture and OIS optical image stabilization, a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture, a 10-megapixel telephoto camera with x3 zoom, a f/2.4 aperture and OIS stabilizer, and last but not least – a 50 megapixel telephoto camera with x5 zoom, f/3.4 aperture key and OIS image stabilizer.
Ostensibly, the S24's camera set-up remains very similar to that of the previous generation, but there is one significant difference and it is related to the 50 megapixel camera, or rather its x5 zoom.
On the face of it, it seems that this is a decrease, after all, the Galaxy S23 Ultra came with an optical zoom of x10, and it seems that now the zoom has become smaller.
Galaxy S24 Ultra - the zoom does a great job and manages to maintain sharpness, photo: Daniela Ginzburg
But, and this is an important but, in return for reducing the optical zoom, we got a lens with five times more pixels (from 10 in the S23 Ultra to 50 in the current model) and a digital zoom, which Samsung claims makes the S24's photo quality sharper than that of the previous generation.
Either way, the photo quality of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is ultimately amazing, and so is in difficult lighting conditions.
The details are clear and sharp, the colors are rich and saturated (and in our opinion with more realistic colors than its predecessors) and the zoom does the job above and beyond.
And if that's still not enough for you - then you can always jump to the artificial intelligence and ask it to do this and that.
Galaxy S24 Ultra - colors closer to reality and beautiful., Photo: Daniela Ginzburg
battery
The battery is 5000mAh, so the battery is particularly large (although 5500mAh can be found in competitors).
The charging speeds have not changed from the previous model: 45W with a cable and a suitable charger (65 percent in half an hour according to Samsung) and 15W wireless (Qi/PMA).
Thanks to a large battery volume, a display with an adjustable refresh rate, and the advanced chipset (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) that offers impressive economical capabilities, the battery life of the S24 Ultra is excellent and can last a full day of heavy use and even more so of normal use.
The device also beats the iPhone 15 Pro Max in terms of battery life.
Galaxy S24 Ultra - charging speeds have not changed. Photo: Samsung
conclusions
Without a doubt, this is one of the best devices on the market today, certainly when it comes to Android devices.
It feels, looks and behaves as we would expect from a Samsung flagship device.
In other words - Samsung took the successful formula of the S23 and refined it according to the technological progress that has been made since then, plus some minor changes in the design and the photography setup and the addition of artificial intelligence.
But this is exactly where the problem we have with the device also lies - is a successful formula that repeats itself, even if in an updated version and wrapped in shiny AI features, worth enough for S23 Ultra or even S22 Ultra users to want to upgrade their devices?
Not sure.
Probably in view of Samsung's promise to bring AI features to older devices as well (although it is not yet known exactly which ones).
At the same time, those looking to upgrade their smartphone to "the world's first AI device" will probably be very pleased.
The S24 Ultra is a smartphone with extremely impressive performance and is suitable for heavy users, gamers and those who want to take the use of artificial intelligence to the extreme.
Price: from NIS 4,999 available from the official importers and distributors.
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