Galaxy S24 Plus Hands-On: Samsung's Ultra Might Not Be the One to Buy

 Part regular Galaxy S24, part Ultra and part wonderful, so far.

When Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 Ultra at its Unpacked event earlier this month, you'd be forgiven if you forgot that there were two other phones introduced: the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus. The hype for the Ultra (and the Galaxy Ring) mostly overshadowed the other two. And that's a shame because after using the S24 and S24 Plus for the past two days, I'm starting to think that the best Samsung phone to get in 2024 might not be the Ultra.

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET's collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung's most popular products.

Most of my time has been spent testing the Galaxy S24 Plus which has been an absolute delight. If the S24 Plus were an illustration, it would basically be the Venn diagram overlap between the regular S24 and the S24 Ultra. But this year, the S24 Plus skews a bit more towards the Ultra, and the Ultra skews a bit more expensive, thanks to a $100 price increase. All of this has become a bit of a conundrum for me as I got to know the S24 Plus better. Is the $1,000 (£999, AU$1,699) Galaxy S24 Plus a poor man's Ultra?

Read more: Best Android Phone of 2024

While its aluminum design, squared off sides and iPhone-like rounded corners are just a bigger version of the regular S24, the Galaxy S24 Plus has a new screen that has the same resolution as the S24 Ultra. In fact, since the S24 Plus has a smaller 6.7-inch display, compared to the 6.8-inch one on the Ultra, the Plus actually has a higher pixel density. It's only an 8-pixel difference and I know most people can't see it. I can't see it myself, but in my heart I know it's more and that's something.

The Plus and Ultra have the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, screen brightness and resolution, RAM, Galaxy AI features and storage options (except 1TB is reserved only for the Ultra). The Ultra is made of titanium instead of aluminum, has an ever-so-slightly bigger battery, houses an S Pen and, of course, has better cameras (on paper).

But now that the Ultra is $1,300, it costs $300 more than the S24 Plus. While I need to test the S24 Plus more to see if that $300 gap is worth it or not, the Plus has already made an impression on me after just a couple of days.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Come in Yellow, Violet, Gray and Black

Enter the New Era of Mobile AI With Samsung Galaxy S24 Series

 Samsung Electronics today unveiled the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24, unleashing new mobile experiences with Galaxy AI.¹ Galaxy S series leads the way into a new era that will forever change how mobile devices empower users. AI amplifies nearly every experience on Galaxy S24 series, from enabling barrier-free communication with intelligent text and call translations, to maximizing creative freedom with Galaxy’s ProVisual Engine, to setting a new standard for search that will change how Galaxy users discover the world around them.

 

“The Galaxy S24 series transforms our connection with the world and ignites the next decade of mobile innovation,” said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “Galaxy AI is built on our innovation heritage and deep understanding of how people use their phones. We’re excited to see how our users around the world empower their everyday lives with Galaxy AI to open up new possibilities.”

Samsung Galaxy S24 series: Availability and price

Let's start with what everyone wants to know: when can you buy one of these things? Samsung's Galaxy S24 lineup went up for preorder right after their announcement on stage in San Jose on January 17th, 2024, and for the most part, the prices are unchanged for 2024. The Galaxy S24 starts at $800, while the Galaxy S24+ starts at $1,000. As usual, preordering from Samsung's web store gets you a free storage upgrade from now until January 31st, when the phones actually find their way onto shelves at your local carrier.

However, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a different story. Although it's available for preorder now — and will launch on the same January 31st date — you'll be paying more for this year's S Pen-equipped smartphone than you would've one year ago. The Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at $1,300 in the US, and that's a mighty big asking price for a non-foldable smartphone. Prices only go up as you add in more storage — and remember, there's no microSD card slot for expansion, so you'll need to buy the right allotment at checkout.

Make Everyday Experiences Epic

Galaxy AI introduces meaningful intelligence aimed at enhancing every part of life, especially the phone’s most fundamental role: communication. When you need to defy language barriers, Galaxy S24 makes it easier than ever. Chat with another student or colleague from abroad. Book a reservation while on vacation in another country. It’s all possible with Live Translate,² two-way, real-time voice and text translations of phone calls within the native app. No third-party apps are required, and on-device AI keeps conversations completely private.

 

With Interpreter, live conversations can be instantly translated on a split-screen view so people standing opposite each other can read a text transcription of what the other person has said. It even works without cellular data or Wi-Fi.

 

For messages and other apps, Chat Assist can help perfect conversational tones to ensure communication sounds as it was intended: like a polite message to a coworker or a short and catchy phrase for a social media caption.³ AI built into Samsung Keyboard can also translate messages in real time in 13 languages.⁴ In the car, Android Auto⁵ will automatically summarize incoming messages and suggest relevant replies and actions, like sending someone your ETA, so you can stay connected while staying focused on the road.

 

Organization also gets a big boost with Note Assist⁶in Samsung Notes, featuring AI-generated summaries, template creation that streamlines notes with pre-made formats and cover creation to make notes easy to spot with a brief preview. For voice recordings, when there are multiple speakers, Transcript Assist⁷ uses AI and Speech-to-Text technology to transcribe, summarize and even translate recordings.

 

Communication isn’t the only way Galaxy S24 series takes the fundamental benefits of the phone into the future. Online search has transformed nearly every aspect of life. Galaxy S24 marks a milestone in the history of search as the first phone to debut intuitive, gesture-driven Circle to Search⁸ with Google. To give Galaxy users an incredible new tool, Galaxy turned to the worldwide leader of search, Google, and opened up new forms of discovery with a simple gesture. With a long press on the home button, users can circle, highlight, scribble on or tap anything on Galaxy S24’s screen to see helpful, high-quality search results. Seeing a beautiful landmark in the background of a friend’s social media post or a surprising fun fact on YouTube Shorts can quickly become an accurate search to learn more – without having to leave that app. And depending on a user‘s location, for certain searches, generative AI-powered overviews can provide helpful information and context pulled together from across the web, and users can ask more complex and nuanced questions. It’s that easy. And that epic.

Unleash Creativity to Discover the World in New Ways

Galaxy S24 series’ ProVisual Engine⁹ is a comprehensive suite of AI-powered tools that transforms image capturing abilities and maximizes creative freedom every step of the way, from setting up a shot all the way to sharing it on social. Gone are shaky, pixelated images taken from far away. Galaxy S24 Ultra’s Quad Tele System, with new 5x optical zoom lens, works with the 50MP sensor to enable optical-quality performance at zoom levels from 2x, 3x, 5x to 10x¹⁰ magnification thanks to Adaptive Pixel Sensor. Images also show crystal clear results at 100x with enhanced digital zoom.

 

With upgraded Nightography capabilities, photos and videos shot on Galaxy S24 Space Zoom are brilliant in any condition, even when zoomed in. Capture more light in dim conditions with Galaxy S24 Ultra’s larger pixel size, now 1.4 μm, which is 60% bigger¹¹ compared to the previous model. Blur is reduced on Galaxy S24 Ultra with wider optical image stabilizer (OIS) angles and enhanced hand-shake compensation. When recording videos, both front and rear cameras are equipped with Dedicated ISP Block for noise reduction, and Galaxy S24 analyzes gyro information to distinguish between the filmer’s movement and the subject’s. This allows for more effective noise removal and clear videos in the dark, even from far away.

Galaxy’s Most Intelligent Experience Ever, Powered by Premium Performance

As AI becomes a more prominent part of everyday life, performance power must excel to meet the demands. Gaming. Heavy-duty video recording and editing. Jumping between five apps to plan a trip. Whatever the task, Galaxy S24 provides an incredible experience thanks to enhancements in its chipset,¹⁵ display and more. Every Galaxy S24 Ultra is equipped with Snapdragon® 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform for Galaxy.¹⁶ Optimized especially for Galaxy users, this chipset delivers remarkable NPU improvement for incredibly efficient AI processing. In all three Galaxy S24 models, 1-120 Hz adaptive refresh rates also improve performance efficiency.

 

Galaxy gaming is more powerful thanks to hardware and software improvements. Galaxy S24 Ultra boast an optimal thermal control system with a 1.9 times larger vapor chamber>,¹⁷ improving device surface temperature while also maximizing sustained performance power. Ray tracing enables lifelike visuals with superior shadow and reflection effect. And through collaboration with industry-leading gaming partners, Galaxy S24 let users enjoy more optimized popular global mobile games.

 

Visuals are more vibrant and captivating on the brightest Galaxy display ever.¹⁸ Galaxy S24 reaches 2,600nit peak brightness and delivers improved outdoor visibility with Vision Booster.

On the display, Corning® Gorilla® Armor¹⁹ on the Galaxy S24 Ultra is optically enhanced and demonstrates superior durability against damage caused by everyday scratches. It delivers dramatically reduced reflection by up to 75% in a wide range of lighting conditions, ensuring a smooth, comfortable viewing experience.

 

Across the Galaxy S24 series, design enhancements with slimmer and even bezels make it easier to immerse in any viewing experience and enable larger screen sizes on Galaxy S24+’s 6.7-inch and Galaxy S24’s 6.2-inch displays within nearly the same size specifications.²⁰ Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 6.8-inch flatter display, optimized not just for viewing but also for productivity. Plus, Galaxy S24+ now supports the same level of QHD+ found on Galaxy S24 Ultra.

 

Advanced Security and Privacy Empowers User Choice and Trust

Secured by Samsung Knox, Galaxy’s defense-grade, multi-layer security platform, Galaxy S24 safeguards critical information and protects against vulnerabilities with end-to-end secure hardware, real-time threat detection and collaborative protection.

 

Samsung’s long-standing commitment to provide users choice and control over their device continues in the era of AI. Galaxy S24 users have full controllability over how much they allow their data to enhance AI experiences, through Advanced Intelligence settings which can disable online processing of data for AI features.²¹

 

The Knox Matrix²² vision of a secure, connected and password-less future is also advanced with passkeys. Passkeys enable convenient and secure access to a users’ registered websites and apps across all their trusted devices through digital credentials, helping protect against phishing attacks. Enhanced Data Protection offers end-to-end encryption when users backup, sync or restore their data with Samsung Cloud, allowing Galaxy S24 users to connect to other devices while staying synchronized and secure. This ensures the data can only be encrypted or decrypted on a user’s devices, meaning nobody can see it but the user, even if a server is compromised or account details are stolen. And if access to a trusted device is lost, a recovery code can help prevent loss of data. Galaxy S24 is also protected with Samsung’s expansive list of innovative security and privacy features including Knox Vault, Security & Privacy Dashboard, Auto Blocker, Secure Wi-Fi, Private Share, Maintenance Mode and more.

 

 

The Next Phase of Samsung’s Environmental Journey

Establishing a new category of mobile experiences also means reimagining how Galaxy technology is designed and packaged to do more with less for people and the planet. Galaxy S24 continues to scale the variety of recycled materials in Galaxy devices by applying recycled plastics, glass and aluminum to internal and external components.²³ It also takes these efforts one step further. For the first time, Galaxy S24 features components made with recycled cobalt and rare earth elements.²⁴ In Galaxy S24 Ultra, a minimum of 50% recycled cobalt was used in the battery,²⁵ and 100% recycled rare earth elements were incorporated into the speakers.²⁶

 

Galaxy S24 is also the first Galaxy S series to be designed with recycled steel and Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU). Galaxy S24 Ultra features a minimum of 40% recycled steel in the speakers,²⁷ and it includes a minimum of 10% pre-consumer recycled TPU in the side and volume keys. Additionally, every Galaxy S24 comes in a packaging box made from 100% recycled paper material.

 

The latest flagship continues Samsung’s commitment to extending the product lifecycle, offering seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates to help users reliably experience the optimized performance of their Galaxy devices for even longer.²⁸ Lastly, Galaxy S24 is UL ECOLOGO^® certified,²⁹ and its carbon footprint has been measured and verified by The Carbon Trust.³⁰

 

Galaxy S24 is a demonstration of progress against Samsung MX’s environmental roadmap. Samsung remains steadfast in delivering on its set of goals to be achieved by the end of 2025. ³¹ At the end of 2022, Samsung achieved the first of these goals by incorporating recycled materials in all mobile products, from Galaxy smartphones and tablets to PCs and wearables. Today, the company is setting a new recycled material goal. By 2030, Samsung will incorporate at least one recycled material in every module³² of every mobile product.

Precision Technology and Elegance in Every Detail

Galaxy S24 Ultra is the first-ever Galaxy phone to feature a titanium frame,³³ enhancing device durability and longevity. Galaxy S24 Ultra’s significantly thinner body enables better on-the-go experience with more comfortable grip. On Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24, a streamlined One-mass design satisfies a more aesthetic standard with seamless connection between the device’s rear cover and side frame. The Galaxy S24 series comes in Earth mineral-inspired color tones. On Galaxy S24 Ultra, colors³⁴ include: Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet and Titanium Yellow. On Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 colors include: Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet and Amber Yellow. All three models will come with additional colors available online only.