Samsung has finally unveiled the Galaxy S24 series, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the most premium and feature-packed model in the lineup. Here are the top 5 features of the Galaxy S24 Ultra that make it stand out from the crowd.
7 years of Android OS upgrades
Yes, you heard it right. The Galaxy S24 Ultra, along with the other Galaxy S24 models, will get 7 years of Android OS upgrades, up to Android 21. This is the longest support window for any Android phone nowadays, and it matches the Google Pixel 8 series, which are leading the Android ecosystem in terms of updates.
200MP 1x and 50MP 5x with sensor crop
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 200MP main camera. The main camera can also do sensor crop, which allows the phone to zoom up to 2x without losing any quality at 12.5MP resolution. This is the same technology that will also be applied on the 5x periscope zoom camera, which can zoom up to 10x without losing any quality at 12.5MP resolution. The other cameras, such as the 3x telephoto camera, the 12MP ultra-wide camera, and the 12MP selfie camera, remain unchanged from the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The Galaxy S24 Ultra also supports portrait mode with 5x zoom, and 8K video recording at 30fps with both the main and the 5x zoom cameras.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which is about 20% faster in terms of CPU, 41% faster in terms of NPU, and 30% faster in terms of GPU than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that powered the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Here is a benchmark result if you are interested. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset has one Cortex-X4 core running at 3.3GHz, 5 Cortex-A720 cores running at 3.2GHz, and four Cortex-A520 cores running at 2.2GHz. It also has an Adreno 750 GPU with 1000MHz clock speed. Samsung has also implemented a much bigger vapor chamber cooling system in the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is about 1.9 times bigger than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. This is mostly to have a better sustained performance with the chip and the NPU capabilities of this chip.
Titanium build
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the first Galaxy phone to use titanium material for its frame, which makes the phone much more premium and stronger than the aluminum build of any previous Galaxy Ultra models. Titanium is also much heavier than aluminum, but Samsung has somehow kept the weight of the phone same as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which is 233g. The Galaxy S24 Ultra also has Gorilla Glass Armor on both the front, which offers better drop and scratch resistance than the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the Galaxy S23 Ultra according to samsung.
Flat display with 2600 nits peak brightness
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a flat display, unlike the curved display on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. This is what many people wanted, a totally flat display on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, just like the other Galaxy S24 models. The display is a 6.8-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display with QHD+ resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. But there are two more important things about the display. The first one is that it has a peak brightness of 2600 nits, which is much higher than the 1750 nits peak brightness of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. This means that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a much better outdoor visibility and HDR performance than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The second one is that the bezels are insanely thinner compared to last model and they’re also symmetrical so you don’t have any chin at the bottom anymore, pretty cool.
Galaxy AI
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is a phone that is all about AI. It has many AI features that enhance the user experience and enable new possibilities. Some of the AI features include:
- Circle to Search: This feature lets you search for anything on the screen by drawing a circle around it. For example, you can circle a word to look up its meaning, or circle a product to find similar items online.
- Interpreter Mode: This feature lets you translate any text or speech on the screen in real time with a split-screen experience, without the need of any internet connection. For example, you start a conversation with a foreigner.
- Live Translate: This feature lets you have a voice call with someone who speaks a different language, and get instant translation of what they are saying. For example, you can call a customer service in another country, or talk to a friend who speaks a different language and it will automatically transcript and then translate and then read it for you too as if the other party is speaking in your preferred language.
- Chat Assistant: This feature lets you chat with your friends and family in different languages, and get instant translation of what they are saying and you can also change the tone of the message, for example you can make it funny, professional or casual. This only works in samsung Messages app and samsung keyboard app.
- Hands-Free Communication Assistant: This feature lets you control your phone with your voice while on the road because it works seamlessly with android auto, without touching the screen. it can summaries your messages and read them out loud, or even reply them using AI.
- Transcription Assist: This feature lets you record and transcribe your voice memos, its not new but it can recognize and label different speakers in the recording. plus it can summarise all of that for you. really a good feature if you use this in class or meetings
- Note Assistance: This feature lets you create and organize your notes with your voice, without typing with proper context. If you often make notes for different purposes, Galaxy AI can save you time by offering you ready-made templates based on your patterns. The templates also have custom covers with summaries and icons to make them more personal. it can use AI to improve your handwriting recognition and alignment with the S Pen. Just write whatever comes to your mind and Galaxy AI will rearrange and reword your notes to make them clearer and neater
AI Editing
AI Photo Editing:
- Edit Suggestion: AI automatically scans your shot and recommends enhancements. manually fix blurring, reflections, removing shadows or enhance the crispness if you prefer
- Generative editing: You can crop without losing content, erase or move objects, and fill in the gaps.
AI Zoom:
- AI Zoom: The Galaxy S24 series uses AI to enhance digital zoom quality and range. it can create better 12MP photos across the zoom range from 1x to 10x too unlike the last model where it will only activate after 20x
- Instant Slow-Mo: AI creates new frames between existing ones to smooth out slow motion videos from any mode.
Price and availability
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is not a cheap phone. In the US, it starts at $1,299.99 for the base 12GB + 256GB model. There are also 12GB + 512GB and 12GB + 1TB options, priced at $1,419.99 and $1,659.99, respectively. The phone will be available in Titanium Gray, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Black colors. There are also some exclusive colors that you can only get online, such as Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, and Titanium Orange. The Galaxy S24 Ultra will go on sale on Jan 29, but you can pre-order it starting today.