Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra evaluate: The every little thing telephone

We’ll admit it upfront – the Galaxy S24 Ultra is similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which certainly seemed loads just like the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Samsung has not rocked the boat with visible modifications, and other than new headline AI options, there’s not an excessive amount of new underneath the hood with its newest premium Android telephone both.

But that doesn’t change the actual fact the S24 Ultra is likely one of the finest telephones you should buy.

Samsung has refined the Ultra’s massive and boxy design by switching to a titanium body and taking away the curved edges of the display from earlier generations. The S Pen stylus stays, as does the massive battery and quad-cameras on the again.

The firm is shouting loudly about new ‘Galaxy AI’ instruments, and whereas they’re good to have, they aren’t important, and plenty of are usually not unique to the S24. A promised seven years of Android and safety updates is extra helpful to most individuals, as are there nice cameras.

Overall, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the easiest Android telephone you may get within the UK, even when its massive rectangular design may put you off.

• Titanium body scratches simply
• S Pen saved in telephone
• Matt glass again

The S24 Ultra is massive and heavy, which is the worst factor about it. Samsung could have stuffed each final function and an enormous battery into the factor, nevertheless it exhibits – it is a telephone we discovered annoying to hold in a decent denims entrance pocket.

The body is now constituted of titanium however – not like the brand new titanium iPhone 15 Pro – that materials hasn’t made it a lot lighter because of Samsung already utilizing aluminium on older gadgets. Despite claims it’s tremendous robust, we picked up an annoying scratch on the fabric inside days. The again of the telephone is a beautiful matt glass that hides fingerprints within the titanium gray color we examined, and with flat prime and backside it is a true slab of a telephone. The utilitarian look gained’t be to everyone’s tastes so you may cowl with a case (like the lovely plastic-free one I’ve been testing from Wave), however any case will in fact make this massive telephone even greater and heavier.

At least you get an S Pen stylus saved within the physique of the telephone, a really helpful accent that’s virtually unique to Samsung’s Ultra line lately. It’s genuinely helpful to attract, write, or use to poke across the software program. If you don’t want a pen along with your telephone and would favor a smaller handset, Samsung gives the common Galaxy S24 or barely bigger S24 Plus with curvier designs.

The haptics on the telephone (the vibrations once you sort) are wonderful, including to the premium really feel, and the in-screen fingerprint sensor works extremely shortly. There’s additionally face unlock through the selfie digital camera.

• Beautiful 6.8-inch OLED display
• Flat panel
• Thinnest bezel on any Samsung telephone

Samsung has achieved away with the curved shows of earlier Ultras, which is nice because it doesn’t mirror gentle in odd methods on the edges. Less reflection can also be helped by the brand new Corning Gorilla Armor materials that actually does present much less glare in comparison with different telephones whereas serving to to guard it towards scratches and cracks.

The 6.8-inch OLED display is superb certainly with an excellently clean scrolling impact because of the 120Hz refresh charge. It may get extremely vivid in direct daylight that will help you see issues higher because of Samsung’s Vision Booster tech that cranks the brightness as much as a blinding 2,600 nits if wanted. The bezels on the very fringe of the display are additionally razor-thin, giving the newly flat entrance of the gadget a real all-screen look. It’s nice whether or not you’re texting, scrolling Instagram, taking pictures pictures, or watching a couple of episodes of your favorite field set tucked underneath the covers.

• Outstanding 200MP foremost digital camera
• Quad-lens setup is flexible
• Selfie digital camera improved over S23 Ultra

With 4 rear lenses, the S24 Ultra is likely one of the most versatile pocket cameras on the market. Samsung’s pictures are all social media prepared because of boosted colors, notably blues and greens that aren’t all the time true to life, however we have been very happy with among the pictures the telephone managed.

The 200MP foremost digital camera collects a ton of element to output in 12MP, 50MP, or 200MP photographs, with wonderful sharpness and element in most lighting situations. Portrait pictures are very good with background blur and creative aptitude in all the correct locations.

There was a 10x optical zoom on the S23 Ultra however that could be a 5x right here – it appears to be like like a downgrade on paper however because it’s a better decision 50MP shooter, outcomes are simply nearly as good, if not higher than earlier than. We shot many zoom pictures at varied ranges, and it’s a recreation changer. You gained’t know the way you lived with out such a succesful zoom when you’ve tried it.

Shots in any respect ranges as much as 10x have nice element and are very shareable and usable – not one thing you may all the time say about zoom pictures from telephones. 100x zoom remains to be potential, however the pictures seem like this:

Here’s an instance of a significantly better zoom shot, taken from a ship. I used to be not that shut:

The selfie shooter is nice in a pinch together with for group pictures and video calls, however we expect Samsung may do higher right here contemplating how costly this telephone is. Shots in low gentle is usually a little grainy.

• Very highly effective Snapdragon chip
• Great for top-end gaming
• Battery can final two days with gentle use

The S24 Ultra makes use of a souped-up model of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset designed particularly for Samsung, and it completely flies by any job. This is a really fast telephone that may deal with multitasking, flipping between apps, and prime tier gaming with ease. There’s a large vapour chamber contained in the telephone to assist with cooling so it doesn’t overheat once you’re actually taxing it.

All fashions of the telephone have 12GB RAM, and you’ll select between 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage choices. 256GB ought to be sufficient for many, however you may wish to degree up when you intend to maintain the telephone for a number of years or if you wish to retailer plenty of music or movies on the gadget – there’s no microSD card slot for expandable storage. You do get twin nano-SIM slots, although, plus eSIM functionality.

Samsung stuffed an enormous 5,000mAh battery into the S24 Ultra, and the software program is unquestionably additionally doing a little wizardry as a result of the telephone lasts completely ages. Unless you’re hammering it in any respect hours, we discovered the telephone may carry us effectively into two days of use. It’s a disgrace Samsung doesn’t provide actually quick charging, capped at 45W speeds that may absolutely cost it in underneath two hours. That’s miles off the £849 OnePlus 12 that may absolutely cost from useless in 27 minutes with the included charger. Samsung solely places a USB-C cable within the field with the £1,249 S24 Ultra, so that you’ll have to purchase a charger individually.

• Android 14
• Seven years of software program assist
• New AI options are usually not important

The S24 Ultra runs Android 14 at launch with Samsung’s customisable however busy One UI pores and skin. We prefer it, nevertheless it takes some tweaking to get it how we prefer it, a far cry from the simplicity of the Google Pixel telephones.

The telephone is filled with new ‘Galaxy AI’ options, however we discovered them straightforward sufficient to disregard. That’s as a result of they’re not instantly life altering – telephone corporations are determined to distinguish (not simply Samsung) and so at present these synthetic intelligence instruments really feel extra like a proof of idea than one thing you’ll purchase the telephone simply to get.

We reckon the most effective of the bunch is ‘Circle to search’ (which we wrote about right here), the place you maintain the house button or swipe bar to freeze no matter is in your display. You can then circle an object to Google search it. It’s fast and useful if you wish to establish a landmark, object, or product – nevertheless it requires an internet connection. It’s additionally coming to different Android telephones.

Some of the AI is finished on-device, that means you don’t have to be linked to the web and your knowledge for the options are saved personal and out of the cloud – although Samsung says you’ll get higher if these options run by their cloud servers. Tools embody reside translation in an Interpreter mode that allows you to have a two-way dialog in two languages whereas the interpretation seems in your display. There’s even a reside translation function constructed into the Phone app – you may name somebody and it’ll translate what you’re saying to them with an AI voice, and vice versa. It’s a bit of clunky and complicated for the individual you will have known as, however in our testing it does work.

You may get the Samsung Keyboard to alter the tone of a textual content you’re about to ship to make it sound extra skilled or informal, in addition to grammar solutions, plus the Voice Recorder app can now transcribe recordings and summarise a complete recording down into easy bullet factors.

And taking a leaf out of the Google Pixel’s e-book – Google’s Gemini AI powers plenty of these instruments – you may also edit pictures to erase objects or folks, or transfer issues round. We discovered it, just like the Pixel, a bit of tough across the edges. Plus, we don’t actually wish to faux our pictures within the first place. Samsung additionally quietly stated AI options are solely free till the tip of 2025, with no indication of how a lot you’ll must pay after that.

While you may also summarise notes you make with the S Pen stylus, we a lot most well-liked simply scribbling down notes on the digital notepad, marking up PDFs for work, signing paperwork, and sticking reminder notes to the lock display. This is a do-everything telephone, and above all it feels intuitive and enjoyable.

Samsung is giving the S24 Ultra seven years of Android updates and safety updates, so the telephone is supported till 2031. That’s an {industry} finest, although the battery in all probability gained’t final that lengthy.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra prices £1,249 for the mannequin with 256GB storage and 12GB RAM. That’s £50 greater than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

You can buy the S24 Ultra direct from Samsung, Argos, Currys or Amazon, in addition to all the main UK networks.

You may take a look at our separate S24 Ultra deals round up article.

The 512GB/12GB model prices £1,349 whereas going as much as 1TGB/12GB is a hefty £1,549 – two costs that undercut the equal iPhone 15 Pro Max by £50. The 128GB Google Pixel 8 Pro prices £999.

There’s little question the S24 Ultra is extremely costly, particularly when the OnePlus 12 has very related specs for £849 – itself a steep determine. You might be rewarded with the best Android expertise going, nevertheless it’s a excessive worth from Samsung towards its rivals. Even Samsung’s personal folding Galaxy Z Flip 5 is arguably extra technoligically spectacular than the Ultra, and that telephone is cheaper at £1,049.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is likely one of the finest telephones you should buy, a do-it-all Android gadget with a lofty price ticket to match. It’s a bit of massive and heavy, nevertheless it packs in completely every little thing you may need from a premium smartphone in 2024, with nice cameras, an outstanding display, lengthy battery life, new AI instruments, and an industry-best seven years of software program assist.

If you don’t thoughts the dimensions, that is the easiest Android has to supply.