Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, S24+ and S24 hands-on review

Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy S24 series is now official, and as the rumors suggested, there are a couple of key hardware upgrades, but the novelty lies within the new AI capabilities. Following the footsteps of Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 lineups, the Galaxy S24 family is now smarter than ever with Galaxy AI, which aims to improve pretty much every aspect of the handsets.

Galaxy AI is an umbrella term for all AI-related features coming with the Galaxy S24 series and One UI 6.1. It’s quite obvious that Samsung is heavily leaning on AI for 2024 in an attempt to make its smartphones even smarter. And judging by the list of features, some of which unique, the Galaxy S24 phones are the smartest Samsung phones ever.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra specs at a glance:

• Body: 79.0×162.3×8.6mm, 233g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Armor), glass back (Gorilla Glass Armor), titanium frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min), Stylus (Bluetooth integration, accelerometer, gyro).
• Display: 6.80″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2600 nits (peak), 1440x3088px resolution, 19.3:9 aspect ratio, 501ppi; Always-on display.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8650-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 5×3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×2.3 GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 750 (1 GHz).
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 14, One UI 6.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 200 MP, f/1.7, 23mm, 1/1.3″, 0.6µm, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/3.4, 115mm, 1/2.6″, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 69mm, 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Super Steady video.
• Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), Dual Pixel PDAF.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 1080p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 45W wired, PD3.0, 65% in 30 min (advertised), 15W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.3; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

Aside from these smarts, the Galaxy S24 Ultra gets some notable upgrades such as a brighter display, more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip for all markets and replaces the older 10MP 10x telephoto camera with a 50MP 5x zoom unit promising lossless-like magnification even at 10x, but the rest of the cameras remain unchanged.

Other noteworthy design-related changes include a new titanium frame for the S24 Ultra and the departure from the curved screen. The display is now flat and has slimmer bezels.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ specs at a glance:

• Body: 75.9×158.5×7.7mm, 197g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 3), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 3), aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min), Armor aluminum 2 frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance (advertised).
• Display: 6.70″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2600 nits (peak), 1440x3088px resolution, 19.3:9 aspect ratio, 509ppi; Always-on display.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm) – US/Canada, Exynos 2400 – International: Octa-core (1×3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 5×3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×2.3 GHz Cortex-A520) – US/Canada; Adreno 750 – US/Canada; Xclipse 940 – International.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 14, One UI 6.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Super Steady video.
• Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), Dual Pixel PDAF.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 1080p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 4900mAh; 45W wired, PD3.0, 65% in 30 min (advertised), 15W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7 (SD 8 Gen 3); Wi-Fi 6E (Exynos 2400); BT 5.3; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support).

Moving onto the Galaxy S24 and S24+, we see rather modest changes. Sure, the vanilla and the Plus now get brighter displays (the same as the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but smaller), an upgraded Armor Aluminum 2 frame and a new chipset. However, the Exynos 2400 will make the rounds this year in most markets, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 remains exclusive to the US, South Korea and China.

Samsung Galaxy S24 specs at a glance:

• Body: 70.6x147x7.6mm, 168g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 3), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 3), aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min), Armor Aluminum 2 frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance (advertised).
• Display: 6.20″ Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2600 nits (peak), 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 416ppi; Always-on display.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm) – US/Canada, Exynos 2400 – International: Octa-core (1×3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 5×3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×2.3 GHz Cortex-A520) – US/Canada; Adreno 750 – US/Canada.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM; UFS 3.1 – 128GB only, UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 14, One UI 6.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Super Steady video.
• Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), Dual Pixel PDAF.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 1080p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 4000mAh; 25W wired, PD3.0, 50% in 30 min (advertised), 15W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7 (SD 8 Gen 3); Wi-Fi 6E (Exynos 2400); BT 5.3; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support).

Some slight bumps in the display sizes and battery capacities are also in order, and in the case of the Galaxy S24+, they are more than welcome. We feel like the S24+ is now closer to the Galaxy S24 Ultra than ever, giving users a fair choice between the two.

With the meat and potatoes out of the way, lets get into the nitty and gritty.