Have you ever wanted the largest phone possible? Samsung’s S-series Ultra has been that gadget for a number of years, and the company is making an equally significant investment in the Ultra for 2024. With a new titanium finish, an abundance of AI features, and an increased starting price of $1,299 (up from the already exorbitant $1,199), the Galaxy S24 Ultra is now available.
The Ultra’s construction is among its most obvious new features. Similar to Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro, this year’s model sports a titanium frame, which Samsung claims enhances durability. Although titanium is heavier than aluminium, you can use less of it because of its greater durability. Samsung, in contrast to Apple, hasn’t used this material in an effort to make the phone lighter. Samsung has just focused on the durability issue in this instance. With an approximate weight of 8.22 oz (232 grams), the S24 Ultra is marginally heavier than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This weight is similar to that of the S23 Ultra.
The display is the other significant update up front. Similar to the S23 Ultra, the S24 Ultra has a 6.8-inch 1440p display, but it finally does away with the Note series’ curved edges in favour of a flat panel. Unlike the S24 and S24 Plus, which had a straight edge, this device still has a small curvature to its edge, but the possibility of inadvertently running your S Pen over the side of the display is been decreased.
Another change to the phone’s hardware is that Samsung replaced the 10-megapixel 10x zoom on the back of the S23 Ultra with a 50-megapixel 5x zoom. The image quality at 10x should actually be better than that of the S23 Ultra, according to multiple Samsung representatives, even though it is no longer a native focal length. It achieves this by using a lossless crop zoom. It still seems to be primarily a party trick in very early testing, although you can zoom all the way out to 100x.
You will still be using a 200-megapixel f/1.7 main camera, a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto, a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and a 12-megapixel selfie camera on the front. The hardware on the other four cameras is the same as it was last year.
Oh, and the AI. Almost every AI function found on other flagship phones to date is present in Samsung’s new phone series. Google’s Gemini basic models are operating on the S24 Ultra, S24 Plus, and S24 devices, along with a plethora of local and cloud-based artificial intelligence technologies. That’s fantastic news, since Google requires you to purchase the larger Pixel 8 Pro in order to access all of its AI features.
The S24 series features a few new generative AI-powered picture and video editing tools, which are represented by a star icon across the user interface that much resembles Google Bard. Photo subjects can be selected and resized, moved, or completely removed from the frame by circling them. In addition, you have the option to crop your picture or use AI to fill in the image’s boundaries by adjusting the horizon level. I’m saving that one for my fellow corrupt photographers.
After spending a few minutes experimenting with these tools, they seem to be about average: occasionally stunning, but occasionally prone to adding absurd things to your picture. But the most amazing capability I witnessed being shown was for movies rather than still images. Any video, regardless of its mode, frame rate, or even the camera used to record it, can be converted into a 120 frames per second slow-motion video after the fact. We recorded a 60p video in the demo area, and it was quite convincing. It employs artificial intelligence (AI) to interpolate the missing frames.
A new Circle to Search tool from Google is one of the system’s other features; it’s quite self-explanatory. The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, as well as the S24 series, are the first phones to support it. Simply circle the object you want to search for on the screen by long-pressing the navigation handle or the home button in any app, and Google will take care of the rest. I had hoped to trick it into “identifying” a fake plant, but that didn’t work out. I found out via Google that I could get this decor item for $9 at Walmart.
Translation is at the heart of some AI functions. During phone calls, there’s a feature that serves as an interpreter, translating what you say into the other person’s language in real time and vice versa. Thirteen different languages are supported. Additionally, text exchanges can be translated into another language. This feature is included into the Samsung keyboard app and is compatible with all chat services. In order to make your message sound more formal or more casual, the keyboard can also make text suggestions based on what you’re writing.
Additionally, live transcriptions with speaker labels and multilingual transcription capabilities are coming to Samsung’s voice recorder, akin to those found in Pixel devices. Along with other useful new features, the Notes app can now automatically format and summarise pages for you. You can stop there if any of the aforementioned appeals to you enough to make you want to trade in your S23. Samsung intends to deliver on its promises and has plans to integrate AI capabilities into its S23-series phones as well as the Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5.
The S24 and S24 Plus only come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor in the US, however the Galaxy S24 Ultra will include the chipset in every location where it is sold. Exynos chipsets will be used in other regions of the world, but Samsung assures us that this will not affect the AI capabilities. It is also receiving an upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 in terms of connectivity.
Is there one odd component that’s absent from every Galaxy S24 phone? Wireless charging with Qi2. The MagSafe-style magnetic attachments and accessories are starting to trickle in, but the S24 series is still on good ol’ Qi. Poor me. However, there’s some excellent news to make up for that letdown: For the S24 series, Samsung is providing seven years of OS upgrades, including seven years of security patches, in partnership with Google. This year’s Ultra might cost a little more, but if you plan to keep it for a long time, you’ll get a lot more value for your money.
Starting on January 31st, the S24 Ultra with 256GB capacity will arrive for $1,299 in the US. Preorders can be placed as early as today.
