Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review: Super cool AI phone

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is jam-packed with all the right features, particularly Google's Gemini AI model-based Galaxy AI to deliver the best user experience on a premium smartphone.

Samsung earlier in the month launched the much-awaited Galaxy S24 series phones in California, US.

The new premium Galaxy S24 series comes with top-of-the-line hardware and the premium design we expect in a flagship device. It is available in three variants-- Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra-- with prices starting at Rs 79,999 in India.

The USP of the Galaxy S24 series is the Google Gemini-powered Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature Galaxy AI, which is baked into several aspects of the device such as search, live translate, photography enhancement, and more. Here are my thoughts on Samsung's top-end model- Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Design, build quality, and display

The new Galaxy S24 Ultra may look the same as the predecessor, but everything else such as build material, internal hardware, and software has undergone significant upgrades.

It has five premium metal-encased camera islands with an LED flash on the back. And, the rest is in minimalistic design language with a sturdy glass cover and Samsung engraving in the middle at the bottom.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

On the front, it has a beautiful flat display along with a camera at the top. The bezels are super thin and make the media consumption a delightful experience. As the screen is 6.8-inch, the company has incorporated a shortcut at the right of the screen to accommodate most used apps. This ensures the user gets easy access to the apps without having to waste time digging through the app drawer.

Also, it features an S Pen slot at the base along with a loudspeaker (tuned by AKG), a Type-C port, a microphone and the SIM tray. However, I have some advice for prospective Galaxy S24 Ultra buyers.

The microphone hole is right beside the SIM tray slot. Be very careful while putting the sim ejector tool to retrieve the tray. If you put the metal pin in the wrong slot, it will damage the microphone.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Coming to the upgrade part, Samsung for the first time has incorporated the premium titanium for the metal exterior parts of the device. It has a matte finish and does an amazing job of offering a good grip for the fingers to hold onto the device. And to an extent, it repels the fingerprint smudges too.

It comes with an IP68 rating, meaning it can survive even when dropped in a water body up to 1.5 metres (approx. five feet) for close to 30 minutes.

Our review unit is a titanium gray model. It has a natural metal-like texture with a matte finish around the display. The company also offers the device in two other options-- titanium violet, and titanium black.

The latest Galaxy S24 Ultra is the most eco-friendly Galaxy device to date. Several internal and external components are made of repurposed plastics, glass, steel, and aluminum.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

For the first time, Samsung has also used 50 per cent recycled cobalt in the device's battery and 100 per cent recycled rare earth materials in the speakers.

Also, the Galaxy S24 is the first Galaxy S series to be designed with recycled steel and Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU). This Galaxy S24 Ultra has around 40 per cent recycled steel in the speakers. The side and volume keys are made of 10 per cent pre-consumer recycled TPU. And, the retail packaging box is from 100 per cent recycled paper material.

It sports a 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X Display with a 120Hz refresh rate (1-120Hz) and pixel density of 505 ppi (pixels per inch).

Besides the super sturdy Gorilla Glass Armour shield, the Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts Corning's special anti-reflective coating on the display. It does an amazing job. The effectiveness is noticeable when using the phone outdoors.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Add to that, it supports Vision Booster and with this, the phone can automatically increase brightness up to 2,600nits. The colours in the motion picture look vividly bright. Even messages and news articles on the screen look clear and crisp. It is the best display I have seen on a phone to date.

Also, the optical fingerprint sensor works amazingly smoothly with a low rejection rate.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Performance

Like the previous iteration, Qualcomm has developed custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy exclusively for the S24 Ultra (3.39GHz Cortex-X4 x 1 core + 3.1GHz Cortex-A720 x 3 cores + 2.9GHz Cortex-A720 x 2 cores + 2.2GHz Cortex-A52 x 2 cores).

As the chart (below) shows, it is a big upgrade promising faster and more efficient performance in all aspects of functioning the device, especially AI-powered operations such as live translations, generative edit, transcript assist, chat assist, note assist, circle to search, photo editing and more.

During the entire review period, the new Galaxy S24 Ultra was able to do all tasks super smooth without any slightest hint of lag-ness.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with special Qualcomm silicon.

I am particularly impressed with gen AI-powered photo editing capability of the device. Compared to the Tensor chipset-based Pixel 8 series, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is faster and doesn't heat up while reworking the photos.

It should be noted the Samsung phone comes with a larger (1.9x times compared to the S23 series) vapor chamber for efficient heat dissipation.

Also, the circle-to-search feature, and call assist with live transcription works flawlessly on Samsung's premium phone. On the native message app, it can be translated into 13 international languages including Hindi.

Call Assist feature of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

The only time the device got warm was when running the Geekbench 6.0 app, which makes it run at full throttle, but the warming was not that overwhelming to complain about.

Google Gemini Nano AI model-based Galaxy AI takes care of on-device functions such as live translation and interpreter (transcribing an audio recording) that don't need internet connections.

Other tasks that need internet such as Circle to Search, Generative Edit (including creating custom wallpapers and themes with just text prompts), Note Assist (on the Samsung Notes app), Instant Slo-mo, and others, Galaxy AI feature then runs on Google Gemini Pro via server connectivity to execute the work flawlessly. [For select functions, users have to set up a Samsung account ID].

Circle to search feature on Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. 

The S Pen, unique to Galaxy S Ultra models continues to be an amazing handy tool for productive activities such as note-taking, presentation making, and editing. It works flawlessly on the silky smooth screen of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Also, the Galaxy AI can generate summaries, help users build template creation that can make the notes-taking process faster with pre-made formats, and cover creation to make notes easy to spot with a brief preview.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with S Pen [ Please forgive me for the poor penmanship]

As far as security is concerned, it comes with Samsung Knox protection. It offers enhanced data protection through end-to-end encryption when users backup, sync or restore their data with Samsung Cloud. Also, the passwords and other sensitive details will be stored in Knox Vault.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's single-core and multi-core performance score on Geekbench 6.0 app.

It also comes with a Security & Privacy Dashboard, Auto Blocker, Secure Wi-Fi and Private Share, which offer more control in protecting user privacy. Whenever a user strays into the dark side of the internet, the device can block malware downloads from compromised websites. And, if the device needs to be repaired, the user need not have to erase the device or fear of service person stealing personal details. He/she just has to turn on Maintenance Mode and personal data will be fully protected during the device service at authorised Samsung customer care centre.

The new Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts Wi-Fi 7, making it future-ready. It supports wireless data transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps. It also supports Bluetooth 5.3.

Samsung phone runs on Android 14-based One UI 6.1 and is guaranteed to get seven years of Android OS and security software support (up to 2031).

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with Android 14-based OneUI 6.1 OS.

The new Samsung phone supports 5G service offered by both Airtel and Reliance Jio in India.

With a massive 5,000mAh cell capacity, the Samsung device was able to deliver more than a full day's battery life under normal usage (with Wi-Fi connectivity). Also, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is well optimised to last longer in standby mode. The battery barely drops when not in use.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's GPU performance (OpenGL and Vulkan) score on Geekbench 6.0 app.

It supports 45W wired charging speed. It can power up the device from zero to 60 per cent under 30 minutes. It also supports 15W wireless charging and 4.5W wireless reverse charging via the Power Share feature.

However, the retail box comes with just a Type-C-to-Type-C data cable. With a 20W Apple charger brick, it was able to fully charge from zero to 100 per cent capacity in 80-85 minutes.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera sample.

Photography

It boasts feature-rich quad-camera module-- main 24mm 200 MP (f/1.7, 1/1.3-inch sensor, 0.6µm pixel size, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) backed by 111mm 50MP periscope telephoto lens ( f/3.4, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom), 67mm 10 MP telephoto (f/2.4, 1/3.52-inch sensor, 1.12µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom) and 120-degree ultra-wide 12MP( f/2.2, 13mm, 1/2.55-inch sensor, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Super Steady video) with LED flash on the back.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera sample.

The new Galaxy S24 Ultra truly lives up to the hype. It takes brilliant photos in all scenarios and even outranks the Pixel 8 series with its gen AI-based editing tools. It boasts a Photo remaster, Object eraser, instant slo-mo videos, and more.

Even if the subject is a little blur in the photos, users can make it sharper with the Photo Remaster feature.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera sample 'Remastered' to get sharper image quality.

Also, there is an 'Erase Reflections' feature. It comes in handy for those images taken through glass windows of an airport or a plane. The Galaxy S24 Ultra does an amazing job.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Photo Samples Selected 5 with reflections.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Photo Samples Selected 5 without reflections.

Erase reflection feature on Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera app

Even indoors with controlled light conditions, the Samsung premium phone aces the test with accurate colours and dark shadows.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera sample shot indoors.

In the night mode, the Galaxy S24 Ultra takes in every photon of light discharged from street lamps and the Moon's reflected light to deliver amazingly balanced photos. Unlike others, which make them look like they were taken in the evening, The images taken with the Samsung phone retain the night's dark sky perfectly.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera sample with night mode on. 

There is Astrophoto mode, which delivers great even in a city's light-littered skyscape. There is an Augmented Reality layer option that offer very insightful information when you point the phone's camera to the sky. It can instantly identify the star constellations. [For Astromode, the user has to install the Samsung ExpertRAW app separately from the Galaxy Store]

As you can see the sample shot below, you can even get the 100X Zoom to get a closer look at the Moon and it looks lovely. Thanks to the clear sky in Bengaluru city, I was able to snap a good one. It should be noted that the app does artificially create a sharp image of the meteor crash-induced scarred moon surface with craters visible.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Photo Samples Selected 100X Zoom Moon

For normal scenarios, users can play with 2x, 3x, 5x to 10x magnification, which is made possible by the Adaptive Pixel Sensor of the device.

With instant slo-mo video, the phone is capable of artificially filling in more details and adding frames in the motion picture.

It supports 8K video recording at 24/30fps (frames per second), 4K at 30/60/120fps, full HD 1080p at 30/60/240fps, slo-mo full HD 1080p at 960fps, HDR10+ with stereo sound recording capability. Thanks to gyro-EIS (Electronic Image Stabiliser), the device does an excellent job with high-quality stable videos.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera sample.

On the front, it houses a 26m wide 12MP (f/2.2, Dual Pixel PDAF), it also supports dual video call, Auto-HDR, HDR10+, 4K video at 30/60fps and full HD 1080p at 30fps.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera sample in portrait mode.

With portrait mode, both the front and main rear cameras do a fantastic job of getting photos with a bokeh blur effect. Also, with the Background blur tool, the user can adjust the bokeh effect.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera sample with portrait mode.

And, there are superficial tools and filters to enhance the face of humans to smoothen the skin tone, remove acne scars, and even able to adjust chin and eye size.

Final thoughts: Amazing smartphone

Unlike in other phones, all the AI features are fully baked into the device and function flawlessly to deliver the ultimate user experience.

It even outranks Google Pixel phones in the camera department. The AI-powered photo remaster feature turns images with blur issues into amazingly colourful and sharp. And, the most noticeable is that the phone is really fast to make these changes smoothly and this ensures you enjoy playing with editing tools, unlike the Pixel phones, which most of the time are slow, stutter and get heated up.

Also, the Galaxy S24 series is guaranteed to get seven years of Android OS and security software updates.

Performance-wise, it does all things smoothly without breaking a sweat. Be it while playing graphics-rich games or operating AI functions such as photo editing, it waltzs through all tasks without any issues of overheating or lag-ness.

The only aspect of the Galaxy S24 Ultra that may not match other competitors is the slow 25W charging speed. But, this is not a deal breaker as the device is well optimized with hardware to deliver a full day of battery life under normal usage.

Besides the Galaxy AI, the S Pen makes Samsung's latest offering, the most versatile phone in the industry. It is a complete package and excels in all aspects.

It has the best display, premium build quality, top-class camera hardware, and the Galaxy AI features are awesome. I have no hesitation in calling it the best premium phone of 2024.

Yes, the year 2024 has just begun, but the standards set by Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra will be very very hard to beat, unless if any software update in the coming months ruins the user experience or any hardware issue (which I haven't faced yet) crop up to bring disrepute to the brand.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra will be available in three configurations-- 12GB RAM + 256GB, 12GB RAM + 512GB, and 12GB RAM + 1TB storage -- for Rs 1,29,999, Rs 1,39,999, and Rs 1,59,999, respectively. The company will be offering the device three colours--titanium gray, titanium violet, and titanium black.

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