FIRST TEST SAMSUNG GALAXY S24 ULTRA
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is as good as Samsung gets… but can titanium and some AI tricks make it stand out in the wider Android universe?
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The Galaxy S23 Ultra almost managed an entire year at the summit of Stuff’s top ten phones list. Its successor has similar ambitions… and is arguably even more deserving of that status.
Atitanium frame puts the Galaxy S24 Ultra on a par with Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max for swish materials. Its substantial 6.8in screen has been given the steamroller treatment, with some of the skinniest bezels you’ll find on any phone; this makes for better edge-to-edge S Pen use than the old model’s curved-edge panel. Corning’s Gorilla Armor glass is also as scratch-resistant as it gets at the moment, and the way it reduces reflections in bright light borders on witchcraft.
The S24 Ultra is just a sliver thinner than the old handset and a little wider, but slightly shorter. I found the S23 Ultra bordered on needing two hands, but I could comfortably cup this phone in one.
Bigger changes are going on underneath. Power comes from the latest Qualcomm silicon; the quad rear camera setup has been upgraded with a superior zoom lens; and some seriously clever on-device AI takes the faff out of editing photos and taking notes.
This big phone is impressive, then –but it’s also expensive. Are there enough improvements to justify its top billing?
1 Armor believer
Samsung knows a thing or two about AMOLED displays, so it’s no shock that the S24 Ultra’s 6.8in screen is a thing of beauty. That Gorilla Armor glass really kills reflections, and the 2600-nit peak brightness is a jump up from the S23 Ultra’s 1750 nits.
2 Break it to me Gen 3
The Ultra is the only S24 to get a Snapdragon 8Gen 3, at least in Europe. It’s a ‘For Galaxy’ variant with a little extra oomph than the chips found in rival phones. Naturally it’s a beast, handling rapid multitasking and demanding games with ease.
3 Borne to die
Battery life didn’t blow me away, given the more efficient CPU and 5000mAh capacity. The S24 Ultra will last a working day of fairly heavy use, but it’ll want topping up before bedtime… and 45W wired charging isn’t exactly speedy any more.
4 For zoom the bell tolls
Three of the four rear snappers are carried over wholesale from last year. Only the second telephoto sees new hardware, replacing the old 10MP 10x zoomer with a 50MP unit good for 5x zoom. Sensor cropping and algorithms then fill in the gaps.
5 Fix up, look sharpened
Low-light zoom shots have taken a real step up, with less noise and greater definition. Samsung hasn’t r
