Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: Why Buy Anything Else?

Key Features of the Samsung S24 Ultra Phone

The Samsung S24 Ultra combines the best features from other ultra high-end phones into one device.
It features a class-leading 6.8-inch quad HD AMOLED display that is both flat and brighter, with thin bezels and an anti-reflective coating.
The phone offers a max brightness of 2,600 nits, making it great for outdoor use, and it can also dim significantly for nighttime use.
The S24 Ultra has a fast ultrasonic fingerprint reader and a large touch target on the screen.
It boasts a 5,000mAh battery, providing long battery life and supporting 45-watt wired charging and 25-watt wireless charging.
Users can expect six hours or more of screen-on time and the potential for two full days of usage.

The Samsung S24 Ultra offers high-end performance with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and 12GB of RAM.
It is the only high-end smartphone with a stylus, the S Pen, which is great for note-taking, drawing, and highlighting.
The phone has impressive gaming performance and everyday performance, with added features like ray tracing and a larger vapor chamber for improved cooling.
While there are other phones with better camera systems available, the S24 Ultra offers utility and versatility with its four cameras on the back.
The primary camera has a 200-megapixel sensor with great dynamic range and quick autofocus.
The ultra-wide camera is wider than the primary camera and fun to shoot with, but its automatic macro mode is not recommended.
The new 5X telephoto camera offers sharper photos in the zoom range between 5X and 10X compared to last year's model.

The camera system is able to shoot ultra stable pictures of far away objects like the moon at 100X.
The camera system checks every box in terms of utility and has everything needed.
The photos have Samsung's signature slightly extra processed look, with extra contrast, higher exposure, and brighter colors.
The S24 Ultra shoots everything in Google's new ultra HDR format, enhancing photos with specular highlights and dynamic range differences.
Samsung has partnered with Instagram and Snapchat for native quality photo and video uploading pipelines, ensuring that photos and videos look as good as if they were captured in the main camera.
The phone has a ton of helpful AI features built-in, many of which are made in partnership with Google.
The AI features make a meaningful difference to everyday use and compete against the iPhone.
Samsung's Gallery app offers a range of useful AI-driven features based on scene detection, including a remaster button to enhance photos with contrast and brightness adjustments.

Erase Reflections button allows users to remove unwanted reflections in photos.
Background blur feature automatically adds depth to photos and creates a portrait mode effect.
Magic Editor provides advanced editing capabilities without any restrictions.
Generative fill feature allows users to remove objects or fill in backgrounds.
Horizon tilt feature allows users to adjust the angle of a photo without cropping.
AI features work with both photos taken on the phone and downloaded photos.
Watermark is added to photos edited using the Magic Editor, but can be easily removed.
Advanced Intelligence section in settings offers additional AI features like live phone call translation and webpage summaries.
Circle to Search feature allows users to quickly Google search any content on their screen without leaving the app.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a feature called Object Search that allows users to search for objects, landmarks, and text directly through the camera viewfinder.
The Object Search feature works quickly and accurately, making it faster than using Google Lens.
Selecting text can sometimes be a bit difficult, but using the S Pen can help with more precise selection.
Samsung promises seven years of security updates and seven generations of major software updates for the S24 lineup, making it up-to-date until 2031.
This feature was previously available on Pixels called Now on Tap, but Samsung's version is faster and more selective.
The S24 Ultra has taken design cues from the iPhone, including a titanium color option, flattened screen and sides, boxier corners, and a max 5X telephoto lens.

The AI features of the phone are tucked away and not necessary to use, but can be helpful if needed.
The only things missing compared to the Pixel are Call Screening and Now Playing.
The main drawback of the phone is its high price of $1,300.
Samsung's own lineup offers similar features for a lower price, such as the S24 Plus and the regular S24.
However, if you are willing to spend the money and want a phone with all the features, reliability, speed, and great sound, the S24 Ultra is the one to get.