The successor of the 2023 flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has been made official as the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Event on January 17 launched the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. This informed the public about Samsung’s latest development—the Galaxy AI, the company’s version of artificial intelligence in its flagship smartphone series.
The main highlight of the event, however, was the flagship Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. The smartphone or more of an AI phone, has had major changes and upgrades since last year. It features a slightly changed design, titanium frame, new dimensions, chipset, upgraded glass protection, 5x telephoto instead of 10x telephoto lens, Wi-Fi and colours.
With the recent news of Apple overtaking Samsung as the most-sold smartphone in 2023 ending Samsung’s 12-year dominance has been a headline for many, Samsung’s new S24 series with the new features might be able to do something. The competition has allowed both smartphone brands to do more in the field.
Early leaks about the S24 Ultra had already surfaced, with numerous specifications available online.
Nevertheless, let us have a comprehensive look at what the flagship smartphone brings in terms of specifications.
Specifications of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
| Dimensions | 162.3mm x 79.0mm x 8.6mm |
| Weight | 232 grams |
| Display type | Dynamic AMOLED 2X |
| Dispay size | 6.8-inch |
| Resolution | 3,120 x 1,440 (Quad HD+) |
| Refresh Rate | 120 Hz |
| Brightness | 2,600 nits (peak) |
| Glass Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass Armor |
| IP rating | IP68 water and dust resistance |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy (4nm) |
| CPU | Octa-Core (1×3.39GHz Cortex-X4 & 3×3.1GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×2.9GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×2.2GHz Cortex-A520) |
| GPU | Adreno 750 |
| OS | Android 14, One UI 6.1 |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB | 512GB | 1TB |
| Rear camera | 200MP main camera 50MP periscope telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom 12MP ultra-wide angle camera |
| Selfie camera | 12MP |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, tri-band |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Network | LTE | 5G |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Audio | Stereo speakers AKG tune |
| Sensors | Acceleration sensor, barometric pressure sensor, fingerprint sensor, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, hall sensor, illuminance sensor, proximity sensor |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh |
| Charging | 45W wired charging (65% in 30 minutes) 15W wireless 4.5W reverse wireless |
| Colours | Titanium Gray | Titanium Yellow | Titanium Violet | Titanium Black Online exclusive colours Titanium Blue | Titanium Green | Titanium Orange |
| Price (expected) | Rs 198,000 (12/256GB) Rs 208,000 (12/512GB) Rs 216,000 (12GB/1TB) |
Design and Display
The design of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is similar to the 2023 flagship the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the 2022 flagship Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. There are very minute yet important design changes in this year’s flagship. The back of the smartphone is completely satin finish which keeps the finger smudges away. It has a much more flat look and a clean finish. While holding it does not feel like a slab of brick.
The frame is made up of titanium which replaces the aluminium. The use of titanium will help in better heat dissipation and better rigidity. Even though titanium is heavier than aluminium, the smartphone has 1 gram less than the S23 Ultra. The main factor behind the weight loss is the decreased dimension too. The frame has also been changed from a glossy finish to a matte finish and is also curved from the back to the display.
The other major change on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the display. The display is now completely flat instead of curved. Ever since the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in 2015, Samsung has been using a curved screen in its flagship models. Now it has opted for a complete flat screen which has been appreciated by many. The bezels are also very minimal for a much more clean look.
Display-wise, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has an impressive display featuring a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen with a Quad HD+ resolution of 3,120 x 1,440 pixels. The colour depth of 16 million colours displays vibrant images.
The display also supports a smooth and responsive UI with a 120 Hz maximum refresh rate for fluid transitions and scrolling. The peak brightness has been increased from 1,750 nits to 2,600 nits which provides excellent visibility even in bright conditions.
Additionally, the display is reinforced with Corning Gorilla Glass Armor which is said to be more durable than the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It also has IP68 water and dust resistance.
Performance and Storage
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is a powerhouse of performance with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset built on a 4nm architecture. The flagship chipset is a bit different than the normal one as Samsung has made some tweaks to upgrade the performance.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset has been made efficient for the AI tasks. Its octa-core CPU configuration is a marvel, featuring a high-performance Cortex-X4 core clocked at 3.39GHz, complemented by three Cortex-A720 cores at 3.1GHz, two Cortex-A720 cores at 2.9GHz, and two energy-efficient Cortex-A520 cores at 2.2GHz. This well-balanced setup ensures optimal performance across various tasks, from demanding applications to power-efficient background processes. The Adreno 750 GPU contributes to graphics handling.
It runs on the latest Android 14 and One UI 6.1. The One UI 6.1 has some major changes in the software experience of Samsung smartphones. The UI is much more clean and looks better. The drop-down menu has been changed. The professional-looking Samsung UI has now become a bit more creative.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s memory options are also changed. The smartphone now features 12GB RAM as the standard option removing the 8GB option. The 12GB RAM is paired with a base 256GB of storage, 512GB of storage and 1TB of storage.
Camera
The camera system of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is slightly changed. The quad rear camera includes the same massive 200.0 MP main camera with an aperture of F1.7. Accompanying the main camera is the 50MP periscope telephoto camera with an aperture of F3.4.
The major change is in the periscope telephoto camera itself. It now has an optical zoom of 5x instead of 10x in the S23 Ultra. The jump from 3x to 10x optical zoom in the S23 Ultra was bad. When the lens switched from 3x to 10x, the zoom levels in between were digital zoom which made the photos grainy.
Now with the 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, the S24 Ultra swiftly zooms into the 5x optical zoom. The 10x photos are a cropped photo of the same 5x zoom. The other camera is the 12MP ultra-wide angle lens with an aperture of F2.2 and a wide viewing angle of 120 degrees helps in shooting a wide POV.
The inclusion of auto-focus and optical image stabilization (OIS) ensures sharp, clear, and stable shots in various conditions. Additionally, the presence of a rear camera flash and a laser auto-focus sensor further enhance the camera’s capabilities, ensuring excellent low-light performance and swift focusing.
As for video recording, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra can shoot 8k videos at 24 and 30 fps, 4k videos at 30, 60 and 120 fps and 1080p videos at 30, 60 and 240 fps. It can also record slow-motion videos at 240 fps at FHD and 120 fps at UHD.
The front camera of the S24 Ultra features a 12MP sensor with an aperture of F2.2. The front camera also has autofocus and can record 4k videos at 30 and 60 fps and 1080p videos at 30 fps.
Galaxy AI
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series all get the Galaxy AI feature. The Galaxy AI is Samsung’s official entry into the AI market for smartphones. This might just seem like a gimmick but if implemented and managed properly, the AI features are quite handy.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has AI features like Instant Visual Search. Using this feature one can instantly get the photos for the selected item or photo. To use it users have to long-press the home button and outline the part of the photo they want to view. The S24 Ultra has an extra help with the S-Pen. Google automatically shows different options related to the product.
The Voice recorder app uses AI to show live transcriptions. The transcriptions then can be summarized into bullet points. The summarizing feature is available across the smartphone and can also be used to summarize a website in bullet points. The AI can also convert handwritten text in photos to softcopy and summarize them in bullet points.
The Phone app also gets AI with features like live transcription and translation. When speaking in a different language you can download the language preset and translate the other speakers or yours live. This feature if improved will become very useful. It is still a bit off according to many reviews.
The camera and photo app gets the Galaxy AI. It has features like Auto-HDR, adding background blur, erasing or remastering a photo and auto-editing. The photo erase or remaster feature is similar to the Google Pixel smartphones.
The Instant Slo-Mo Video is also interesting. When you hold on to any of the videos in the gallery, the Galaxy AI automatically smoothly halves the playback speed by adding real-time AI-generated frames. It also features a Generative wallpaper feature for customized wallpaper. For proper use of these AI photos and videos, Samsung has used the same small three stars as a watermark.
The Galaxy AI also helps in organizing a document with header, subheaders and bullet points. This can come in handy during E-mails, reports and other professional documentation. The Smart Keyboard feature has different baked-in AI assists such as chat assist, translation, writing style and spelling and grammar correction.
The Galaxy AI is identified using small three stars. Wherever these three little stars appear, users can use the Galaxy AI. The Galaxy AI is set to be available offline also. Since the AI is baked inside the smartphone the information is also set to be inside of the smartphone. The Galaxy AI is truly a step towards AI in the smartphone industry.
Battery and Others
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a robust 5000 mAh battery, ensuring long-lasting usage on a single charge. For charging, it supports 45W wired charging, which can charge the phone up to 65 per cent in just 30 minutes. For added flexibility, the Galaxy S24 Ultra supports 15W wireless charging and also 4.5W reverse wireless charging feature to charge other compatible devices. Connectivity is fast with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, offering tri-band support for seamless and high-speed internet and Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connections with compatible devices.
The S24 Ultra supports both LTE and 5G networks for best mobile data speeds. With dual SIM functionality, users can easily manage multiple phone numbers. The S24 Ultra also features stereo speakers tuned by AKG, delivering immersive audio experiences for multimedia consumption. It also includes a variety of sensors, such as the acceleration sensor, barometric pressure sensor, fingerprint sensor, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, hall sensor, illuminance sensor and proximity sensor.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is available in 7 colour options. Out of the 7, Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Yellow and Titanium Violet are standard colour options whereas Titanium Blue, Titanium Green and Titanium Orange are Samsung exclusive online colours.
The Samsung Galaxy can be expected soon in Nepal at a price tag of Rs 198,000 for the 12/256GB option, Rs 208,000 for the 12/512GB option and Rs 216,000 for the 12GB/1TB option.
