Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: Complete Excellence

Overview

Samsung marks the beginning of a new era with its Galaxy S24 Ultra, whose premium specifications are enhanced by artificial intelligence at the heart of the product. The smartphone doesn't disappoint, delivering exceptional performance across all categories.

The announcement of the Galaxy S24 Ultra also signalled a new direction for Samsung. With this smartphone and its S24 and S24+ siblings, the manufacturer invests heavily in artificial intelligence, a genuine selling point for these devices. Beyond Galaxy AI features, the S24 Ultra remains a premium smartphone worthy of detailed examination regarding display performance, processing power, and image capture capabilities.

Design and Build Quality

Those expecting an entirely new design will be disappointed. Nevertheless, Samsung has made welcome refinements to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, improving upon the S23 Ultra's blueprint. This large-format smartphone is decidedly not for compact device enthusiasts. Measuring 162.3 x 79 x 8.6 mm and weighing 232g, it closely matches its predecessor, which was merely 2g heavier.

Premium Materials

The titanium employed for the smartphone's frame doesn't reduce weight but enhances impact resistance and elegance. The matte, unbrushed finish appears more refined than the S23 Ultra's glossy edges. These edges are flatter than the Galaxy S23 Ultra's and harmonise with a flat screen occupying 88.87% of the front face.

A small novelty: the very thin black borders surrounding the display are equal width at top, bottom, and sides. The assembly is perhaps slightly more angular, a design choice that may attract or repel, depending on personal taste. The glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2) attracts few fingerprints. Camera modules integrate directly into the back, as with the previous generation.

Connectivity and Features

The smartphone makes no compromises. It naturally includes a dual nano-SIM port, with the second slot accepting an e-SIM alternative. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 compatibility come standard, alongside a USB-C 3.2 port. Like predecessors, it houses an under-display fingerprint reader, offers facial recognition, and omits the 3.5mm headphone jack.

As an Ultra model, it benefits from the range's emblematic accessory: the S Pen stylus. This hides within the lower edge, its flatter tip integrating more discreetly than the S23 Ultra's. The S24 Ultra maintains its predecessor's IP68 certification.

Display Excellence

Premium smartphones share very large displays, much to the chagrin of compact device enthusiasts. The Galaxy S24 Ultra retains the S23 Ultra's 6.8-inch diagonal. Its flat AMOLED panel displays 1440 x 3120 pixels, offering extremely comfortable 505 ppi resolution—though Full HD+ remains the default setting. LTPO technology enables refresh rate variation between 1 and 120 Hz, with promised peak brightness of 2,600 cd/m².

Laboratory Testing Results

Under measurement, the smartphone's display reveals undeniable qualities. Primary amongst these is maximum brightness which, under real conditions (excluding HDR content), reaches 1,499 cd/m² (compared to 1,377 cd/m² for the S23 Ultra). This score places the smartphone at the front of our comparison and guarantees excellent legibility, even in sunlight.

Revolutionary Anti-Reflective Technology

Legibility benefits further from another element: the panel's low reflectance limits visible reflections, especially in high ambient brightness. Reflectance remains below 20%, well beneath competing displays. Thanks to Corning's Gorilla Armour glass, the Galaxy S24 Ultra's screen significantly reduces reflections compared to standard smartphone displays.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra's display shines brightly but dims effectively: it can drop to 1 cd/m² for comfortable consultation in darkness. This matches the Galaxy S23 Ultra's performance.

Colour Accuracy

Samsung improves upon calibration. By default, the manufacturer-selected "Vivid" mode produces slightly cool colour temperature (7,188 K average), nearly identical to the S23 Ultra, with delta E contained at 2.1. Deviations are far less pronounced than its predecessor.

Performance improves further when selecting Natural display mode. Delta E reaches 1.4 with temperature of 6,679 K, improved from 2023. Add nearly infinite contrast thanks to OLED technology, zero persistence thanks to this same technology, and 69ms touch latency: the accounts balance for this display to lead our comparison.

Performance Analysis

The Galaxy S24 Ultra alone in its family includes Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip in Europe, whilst Galaxy S24 and S24+ receive Samsung's Exynos 2400 chip. The chip counts eight cores, including one Cortex-X4 at 3.39 GHz, three Cortex-A720 at 3.1 GHz, two at 2.9 GHz, and two Cortex-A520 cores, whilst Adreno 750 handles GPU duties. Everything uses 4nm fabrication. Samsung specifies this as a "for Galaxy" version, optimised for their smartphone. Performance proves this claim accurate.

CPU and GPU Performance

Regarding CPU, the smartphone doesn't falter, even under numerous simultaneous processes, and undoubtedly ranks amongst the most powerful we've tested. Graphics performance similarly impresses. It maintains 125 fps in testing without excessive heat or framerate drops, running any application without difficulty. AI data processing, also handled by the chip, proceeds without slowdown.

Camera System

Externally, the Galaxy S24 Ultra's rear camera block resembles the S23 Ultra's. It still counts four modules, including two telephoto lenses, with the second (equivalent to 115mm focal length) distinguishing itself with its 50-megapixel sensor.

Main Module: 200MP, f/1.7, equiv. 24mm

The Galaxy S24 Ultra aims to be the photophone of the moment, particularly through its main module. Like the Galaxy S23 Ultra before it, it relies on a 200MP sensor paired with wide-angle optics (still f/1.7) featuring extensive pixel binning combining 16 pixels into one. Photos are slightly cropped, delivered at 12MP.

Samsung has revised photo processing—not colourimetry, which remains vivid—addressing last year's tendency to overexpose image centres. Exposure appears far more homogeneous with the Galaxy S24, delivering exceptionally sharp rendering. One must be quite demanding to critique it, so high is the sharpness. At this price point, we dare note slight imprecisions concerning the smallest elements' contours. Our colour patches, for example, appear less round than on competing devices. Image periphery also shows slightly less sharpness.

Low-Light Performance

In low light, findings remain consistent. Despite lower ISO elevation than competitors, the Galaxy S24 Ultra tends to display more digital noise, slightly blurring centre textures and more frankly at periphery. Images nonetheless deliver very good quality and provide solid competition. With less exaggerated exposure than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, details appear less crushed on S24 Ultra images.

50MP and 200MP Modes

Like its predecessor, the Galaxy S24 Ultra offers quick access to 50MP mode, this time combining four pixels into one, plus 200MP mode exploiting the sensor's full photosite count. The first mode grants frankly convincing precision without excessively burdening smartphone storage.

The 200MP mode remains particularly relevant for significant cropping; it perhaps proves more effective than telephoto lenses, at least in daylight. Note that colourimetry saturates slightly more when moving from 12MP to 50MP mode, and further from 50MP to 200MP mode.

Ultra-Wide Module: 12MP, f/2.2, equiv. 13mm

Samsung retains the Galaxy S23 Ultra's ultra-wide module, counting a 12MP sensor paired with f/2.2 optics. This produces pleasing shots with characteristically vivid colourimetry and less pronounced contrasts than competitors. Some smoothing is visible. Distortion remains controlled, with Samsung performing slight cropping during image processing. Periphery remains relatively sharp.

In low light, digital noise again takes over, quite effectively actually, to render maximum elements to images. This proves slightly less harmonious than smoothing performed by competing smartphones, but somewhat more legible.

Telephoto Module: 10MP, f/2.4, equiv. 69mm

Continuity extends to the telephoto module, at least the 10MP version proposing 3x zoom equivalent with optical stabilisation, carried over nearly unchanged from the Galaxy S23 Ultra, though that offered equivalent 70mm.

Better exposed than images captured with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S24 Ultra shots crush details less and appear more precise with slightly more pronounced contrasts, at least in daylight. In low light, they remain studded with digital noise, despite slight precision gain.

Periscope Telephoto Module: 50MP, f/3.4, equiv. 115mm

The Galaxy S24 Ultra's novelty lies in the periscope optics equivalent to 115mm (5x zoom) paired with a 50MP sensor, replacing a 10MP sensor flanked by 230mm equivalent, meaning 10x zoom at f/4.9 aperture. According to Samsung, this 5x magnification sees more demand than 10x.

In full daylight, the smartphone clearly makes the right choice. It delivers sharpness perhaps less than at wide-angle, but convincing and without peripheral blur. Edge enhancement compensates for missing information in images.

In low light, it luxuriates in outperforming competitors, whose processing produces significant smoothing blurring our scene's details. The noise replacing this on Galaxy S24 Ultra images certainly isn't very appealing, but removes less information.

The 50MP mode offered within Samsung's photo interface lacks interest. Smoothing manifests clearly and doesn't really permit further image cropping.

Front Module, Portrait Mode, and Video

The Galaxy S23 Ultra's front module returns in its successor. It includes a 12MP sensor paired with f/2.2 optics producing good-quality selfies, with portrait mode remaining equally performant. Front-facing, filming reaches 4K at 60 fps.

Samsung revises little of its smartphone's video capabilities, still capable of filming up to 8K at 30 fps with satisfactory performance as previously. Novelties relate essentially to Galaxy AI functions, including automatic slow-motion amongst others.

Battery Life and Charging

The Galaxy S23 Ultra distinguished itself with excellent endurance that the S24 Ultra faced the heavy task of matching with equal battery capacity (5,000 mAh) and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, theoretically even more energy-efficient. Our tests simulating real usage demonstrate equally convincing autonomy, though not superior. We recorded 20 hours 18 minutes of usage before extinction, easily lasting a day away from chargers.

Charging Speed

Samsung makes no effort regarding fast charging. The smartphone still caps at 45W, which isn't scandalous but far from the 100 or 120W many competing models achieve. It thus requires 66 minutes for complete charging. Note that Samsung ships its smartphone in compact packaging accompanied only by a dual USB-C cable. The device finally supports 15W wireless charging, like the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Software and AI Features

The Galaxy S24 Ultra runs Android 14 with a promise of seven years of upgrades, carrying it to Android 21. It currently relies on One UI 6.1 interface, already familiar.

Artificial Intelligence Integration

If the smartphone distinguishes itself from competing models, it's through emphasis on artificial intelligence. This translates to Google-developed Circle to Search function, offering a particularly practical alternative to previously available Lens function. Video improvement options (automatic slow-motion post-capture) and photos exist, with extensive editing options allowing near-unlimited image modification. Automatic transcription and instant translation via notification bar shortcut feature amongst options Samsung proposes.

Durability and Longevity

Between IP68 certification, repairability index raised to 8.5/10, and seven-year update guarantee (operating system and security patches), the Galaxy S24 Ultra ranks amongst the best-equipped currently available.

Final Verdict

The Galaxy S24 Ultra brilliantly succeeds the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which had itself reached a technical plateau that its successor undeniably refines. The smartphone accumulates strengths earning it uncontestedly the premium qualifier. In refined yet discreet housing, the device possesses a very beautiful display whose low reflection sensitivity deserves emphasis. It delivers power, solid photography capabilities, good autonomy—admittedly with charging deserving more velocity—all sprinkled with artificial intelligence that must still gain maturity. Add remarkably long-duration software update promises and you obtain one of the finest large-format smartphones.

At £1,299 for the base 256GB model, the Galaxy S24 Ultra competes directly with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and other flagship devices. For those seeking absolute peak Android performance with comprehensive camera capabilities, extensive software support, and Samsung's ecosystem integration, the S24 Ultra justifies its premium positioning.