The Galaxy S24 Ultra, launched by Samsung at its Unpacked 2024 event on January 17, may look very similar to last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra, but here’s the thing — it’s not. Everything about this new ultra-phone is different even if from the outside, it may not look like it. The upgrades are substantial and evenly distributed across the length and breadth of the device.
Take the design for instance. Samsung has let go of any false pretence that might sway you to believe that this is a regular slab phone. It is not. These “note” devices were supposed to be big and unwieldy from the start. You should take note of that. And if you’re thinking the new Titanium frame would have helped shave some pounds off — it doesn’t. The S24 Ultra weighs very nearly the same as the S23 Ultra. And it is almost as thick. Whereas the same material made the iPhone 15 Pro Max 20g lighter. Clearly, Samsung went the other way.
Durability is a big sale pitch. In addition to all the Titanium goodness, the S24 Ultra also gets the “toughest, most scratch resistant, and most optically advanced Gorilla Glass yet”, Corning Gorilla Armor, for cover material. The S24 Ultra is built to last in software, too, with Samsung committing to supporting it for up to seven years. The S23 Ultra’s was five years (four years of OS updates).
The screen type and size (and resolution and refresh rate) are same, but the panel can now get even brighter up to 2,600 nits (up from 1,750 nits in the S23 Ultra). Multimedia consumption on these devices has always been a chef’s kiss. If anything, Samsung only made it more desirable.
Elsewhere, the S24 Ultra has a new 50-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto replacing the 10-megapixel 10x zoom camera from the S23 Ultra. While the customary chip upgrade brings Qualcomm’s fastest chip— Snapdragon 8 Gen 3— to the Samsung’s top-tier phone. The software is new— OneUI 6.1 based on Android 14— and there are tons of Galaxy AI features from Live Translate during phone calls to Generative Edit in photos and Google’s Circle to Search and more (Samsung says these are coming to the S23 series as well in a future update).
Here’s a quick rundown on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and how it compares to the S23 Ultra:
- Design: The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a body made of Corning Gorilla Armor while the frame is made out of Titanium Alloy. The S23 Ultra was a mix of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and aluminum.
- Display: The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 6.8-inch LTPO AMOLED display with 2K (1440p) resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. The panel can peak 2,600 nits. The S23 Ultra offered the same screen with lower peak brightness (1,750 nits).
- Processor: The Galaxy S24 Ultra has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 while the S23 Ultra came with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
- Cameras: The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a quad camera setup including a 200-megapixel primary, 50-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto, and another 12-megapixel ultrawide. The Galaxy S23 Ultra had a 10MP periscope telephoto instead, while rest of the sensors and lenses were same. The 12-megapixel front camera from the S23 Ultra stays put on the S24 Ultra as well.
- Battery, charging: Battery capacity and charging speeds, too, are a do-over. The S24 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery and supports 45W wired, 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse, same as the S23 Ultra. Qi2’s MagSafe-like wireless charging is a curious omission on the S24 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra India price
The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in a choice of 12GB/256GB, 12GB/512GB, and 12GB/1TB for Rs 1,29,999, Rs 1,39,999, and Rs 1,59,999, respectively (Rs 5,000 higher than the S23 Ultra launch price). The phone is launching in three colours in India. These are: Titanium Gray, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Black (so no yellow yet). As is usually the case, there are some online-exclusive colours as well. These are: Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, and Titanium Orange.
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