Of course,Appleis wading slowly into the AI smartphone waters, but for now Samsung andGoogledominate.
I want the best battery life.
It’s still the most versatile camera phone I’ve ever used.
Using Google’s new Circle to Search(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
What else do I need?
I play games, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra is one of the best gaming phones ever.
It outperforms the best Android gaming phones, and it can even beat the blazing-fastiPhone 15 Pro Max.
Samsung DeX software turns the phone into a veritable laptop, complete with windows and an tool dock.
Samsung is relentless, and yet, more than ever, its clear what’s still missing: simplicity.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the best phone you might buy in many ways.
Its also the culmination of Samsungs worst habits.
The software is a mess.
Its a morass of prefs, hidden features, and useless options.
Its a jumble of junk that was old five years ago, and needs to be updated or abandoned.
Nevertheless, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is still one of thebest AI phones.
The bottom line for the Galaxy S24 Ultra is still very high in the sky.
I think Samsung needs a reckoning before that happens.
The hardware is great, and somehow it keeps getting better.
The software problems have gotten bad enough that I may have to start looking elsewhere in the future.
It just got a little bit better in a lot of ways.
Apple has literally delivered on this long-term promise a dozen times already across a wide range of iPhones.
Google and Samsung not once.
There’s already reason to be skeptical.
Frankly, we have no idea what that means and it’s too early to speculate.
Apple doesn’t do that.
Only time will tell if Samsung holds up.
If you are trading up from last year’s model, expect to pay hundreds over your trade value.
I’d still say it’s worth making the leap, just this once.
Older phones are going to be left out of the newest AI features more and more with every update.
Is this phone worth such a high price?
If you’re asking that question, you are reading the wrong review.
You want theGalaxy S24 Plus, which is probably worth it.
This is the Ultra.
This is the extreme phone; the one that does what no other phone can do.
you’re free to’t put a normal price tag on Ultra.
It doesn’t fit.
It beat the best-performing iPhone: the iPhone 15 Pro.
In almost every single benchmark test we ran, the Galaxy S24 Ultra scored higher.
A deeper inspection is rewarding.
The violet finish is my favorite, with a great contrast against the polished metal.
Using Google’s new Circle to Search(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Samsung pays great attention to detail when it comes to color, materials and finish.
Each color has a subtly hued frame that complements the new Gorilla Glass Armor back.
The titanium black is all black, while other color options edge into warmer frame tones.
Google correctly identifies the lighthouse I was shooting(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Apple fans like to point out the symmetry of their phone as a pinnacle of its design.
Frankly, Samsung is more smart than symmetrical.
I prefer having Power and Volume buttons on the same side.
It means I don’t fill my photo gallery with accidental screenshots every time I grab my phone.
The Pro Max managed to shed considerable weight this year versus last year, about half an ounce.
Its a single gram lighter, at most.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has generative AI wallpaper, just like the Google Pixel 8 Pro
If youve never played with an Ultra, you really need to pick one up and pop the pen.
Did you know the S Pen clicks?
There’s no reason for it.
Using the Galaxy S24 Ultra (left) with DeX on my home monitor
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is more sharp, and though it isn’t uncomfortable, it feels conspicuously big.
Its huge, bright and colorful, especially using the Vivid color tone option.
Even more interesting might be the Extra Dim option.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra can maintain good color fidelity even down at one nit of brightness.
Could the Galaxy S24 Ultra display be any better?
It seems like a silly omission for Samsung not to support Dolby’sHDRvideo standard, when it supports Dolby Audio.
The software on the Galaxy S24 Ultra is terrible, and One UI is becoming unusable.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is loaded with features, but where do you find them?
Where do you turn on AI to edit photos, or AI to summarize a web page?
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
All in the same place, sadly.
There are 22 different options in the parameters menu.
Option 16 of 22 is Advanced Features.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Ive talked to Samsung about this, and they recognize that its a problem.
Thats not how you educate people.
As for the new AI features, they are a mixed bag of amazing magic and useless doggerel.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
If you get a chance to use the AI translation on a phone call, its like science fiction.
It feels like youve stuck a Babel fish into your ear and youre living in a fantasy future.
Samsung could write Dont Panic on the phone and ship it with a towel.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Other AI features are useful, but only to a point.
In practice, the differences were not very useful, and I mostly just stuck with what Id written.
Samsung also over-promised on this feature.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
These writing style and translation features are built into the Samsung Keyboard, so they work across multiple apps.
Unfortunately, Samsung has utterly broken its software keyboard.
The keyboard would often capitalize words in the middle of a sentence for no reason.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
It was making up content out of context, and it was completely wrong.
When I went back to change the error, the keyboard was quite unfriendly.
I dont have time for this.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Im not sure how Samsung broke its keyboard so badly, but its terrible and needs an immediate update.
In practice, Samsungs app is not as advanced or useful as the Pixel version.
Its slower, less accurate, and does not provide a live transcription of the conversation as it happens.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
You get a new home screen with windows and a dock, and everything runs smoothly.
Why is this useful?
Instead, I use my phone, which is already set up with work and personal accounts.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
I can respond to important emails using a real keyboard, or edit documents inMicrosoftWord and Google Docs.
I can do just about everything I need, short of running Chrome web web app extensions.
I never need to add my protected work account to my own personal computer.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
I can just use DeX and have the best of both worlds on my Galaxy S24 Ultra.
How can a seven-year-old phone possibly survive in the year 2031?
One clue may lie in Samsungs terms of service.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Samsung reserves the right to rate limit you to prevent quality decay or interruptions to the advanced intelligence features.
It may offer future Android updates in regular and Premium flavors.
I want and expect Samsung to behave like Apple.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Any features that arent entirely hardware dependent should come to every eligible phone.
We expect the same when the Galaxy S24 Ultra is updated to Android 21 in 2031.
Still, its odd for Samsung to take a step backwards, especially where specs are concerned.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Lets start with the Galaxy S24 Ultras 5x zoom lens.
Samsung has not taken a step backwards, more a step sideways.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra still has the best zoom camera you might find on a smartphone.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Most of the time, like when you are really using the zoom to its full extent.
What you wont see is plenty of detail.
Samsung has sacrificed the fine details in images for better overall quality.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Its a good trade.
Those 10x and 100x zoom images from the S23 UItra look terrible.
Once you start applying digital zoom, the Galaxy does a better job.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
At 5x zoom, I got a nice landscape shot of a lighthouse from both cameras.
When I zoomed into 25x, the Galaxy kept more detail and even better color than the iPhone.
That doesnt mean the camera isnt without problems.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Low light is still an issue, and other phones handle various night situations better.
Overall, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the best camera phone Ive used in the past year.
Where Samsung really excels is in the interesting shots.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
The phone had no trouble framing my adorable dog and cropping her fuzzy ears nicely in a portrait shot.
Its a nice trick, but Im not sure it counts as photography as much as mixed-media collage.
The Samsung Gallery app will suggest photo edits, like removing reflections (above).
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
you’re able to also run more advanced photo editing software, likeAdobeLightroom and SnapSeed.
Well see if the new phone can keep up with the dazzlingastrophotography of last years Galaxy S23 Ultra.
That ends with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
You may never notice the performance gains, but I have to give credit where credit is due.
Qualcomm and Samsung have managed to top Apples silicon for the first time in years.
What does that mean in the real world?
Everything that you could do on your smartphone you could now do faster.
Is the Galaxy S24 Ultra a gaming phone, then?
Youd better believe it.
If gaming isnt your thing, you’ve got the option to still feel the performance benefits.
Those features arent worth the wait.
Instead, every time I see the AI stars logo appear, I see a Stop sign.
That beats the impressive 14 hours and 2 minutes the iPhone 15 Pro Max managed in our testing.
you’re free to also adjust options like screen resolution and processor performance to save more power.
There are even more extreme options.
Oh, wait, there is such a mode and its called Adaptive power saving.
But youll never find it.
Adaptive power saving is buried under the parameters menu, then under machine care.
Then tap Power saving, which also looks like plain text and not a button.
Again, its a button.
Hooray, youre almost there!
Why does it have to be this way?
Why cant my Galaxy S24 Ultra come with adaptive power saving turned on by default?
If this feature is so useful, why is it hidden beneath FIVE LAYERS of menus?
Beneath buttons that dont look like buttons, and submenus that are just cryptic dots?
Fix the software, or this is my last Galaxy Ultra.
Thats even faster than Samsung promises.
There are phones that charge faster, like the OnePlus 12 that comes with an 80W charger.
SuperVOOC technology) wireless charger that is capable of 50W charging.
The S24 Ultra can handle up to 15W wireless charging, including the latest Qi2 charging standard.
If you want uncompromising technology with every option available, get the Ultra.
It has everything you need and everything you dont, and you cant ask for less.
It only comes with everything.
If you need something more manageable, try a different unit.
Its a whole new class of machine.
Plus, AI directly from Google with no Samsung in between.
I also tested DeX for work, Bixby for interface control, and all of the other Samsung features.
I play games at the maximum prefs, with Bluetooth headphones and a Bluetooth joystick attached where appropriate.
I took hundreds of photographs under the same lighting conditions for each, with similar configs enabled.
Then, I compared the photographs when viewed on a professional Dell monitor at full resolution.
We also scrutinize the laptop’s peripherals.
Finally, we weigh all these factors against the laptop’s price.
We assess if its performance and features justify the cost and whether it offers the best value to customers.
First reviewed January, 2024
