Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: AI-Powered Flagship Favorite

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra represents the pinnacle of Samsung’s innovation and design. Carrying the ‘Ultra’ moniker, it succeeds last year’s Samsung S23 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra price in Nepal is Rs. 1,84,999 (12/256GB) and Rs. 1,99,999 (12/512GB). The phone also comes with one-time breakage insurance for one year and you can also get the phone at 0% EMI starting at Rs. 10,000 per month with Samsung Insta Finance.

Samsung S24 Ultra looks like the S23 Ultra at a glance. But it comes with an upgraded chipset, a new telephoto lens, a titanium frame, and cool AI features. So, is it still the best Android in the market? Let’s find out!

I’m Anmol Shrestha, and this is my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review.

ALSO READ: Samsung Mobiles Price in Nepal (December 2024 Updated)

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review

Titanium Frame

• 162.3 x 79 x 8.6 mm
• 232 g
• Corning Gorilla Glass Armor
• IP68 dust/water resistant

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra retains the design principles of its predecessor, the S23 Ultra, but with significant improvements that set it apart in 2024. Boasting important upgrades, it stands out as one of the most durable and visually appealing phones of the year.

One standout change is the titanium frame, following Apple’s lead in using this premium material. The titanium frame, complemented by an aluminum interior, features a luxurious satin matte finish that enhances both aesthetics and durability.

Another noteworthy change is the shift to a flat display from the previously curved design. This transition makes the phone easier to handle and more compatible with screen protectors. Along with this, Samsung also introduced Gorilla Armor, a new display protection that not only enhances drop and scratch resistance but also reduces screen reflectivity—a notable improvement discussed further in the display segment.

The S24 Ultra is a chunky piece of luxury that you would want to show off.

The left side of the frame is empty, while the right side accommodates the volume and power buttons.

At the bottom of the phone, you’ll find an S Pen slot, a speaker grille, a USB Type-C port, a microphone, and a SIM tray slot. Additionally, there are microphones located on the top of the device.

The back of the phone features a frosted finish and is protected by Gorilla Glass Armor. The dust and water resistance remains unchanged with the same IP68 rating.

Impressive Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm)
• Octa-core (1×3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 3×3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×3.0 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×2.3 GHz Cortex-A520)
• Adreno 750
• 512GB 12GB RAM

A flagship phone should have flagship performance and that’s what you get with the Ultra. Like last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy that powered the Galaxy S23 series, the S24 Ultra includes the optimized version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Unfortunately, neither Qualcomm nor Samsung provides specific details of the optimizations. The only noticeable difference is that the Cortex X4 prime core is clocked higher at 3.4GHz up from 3.3GHz. It now comes with higher 12GB of RAM across all of the storage variants: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB UFS 4.0.

The extra boost in CPU clock seems to be working well as S24 Ultra leads most other phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in CPU benchmarks. It comfortably leads both, Xiaomi 14 and OnePlus 12 in CPU benchmark tests. Likewise, the S24 Ultra also outperforms the Xiaomi 14 and OnePlus 12 in GPU benchmarks.

The S24 Ultra throttles to 64% of its max performance over time, a 36% performance loss in 3DMark WildLife Extreme. It is a decent showing but still far from ideal. However, this will have little to zero effect on real-life performance as phones rarely use their peak performance for sustained periods in real-life usage.

Gaming

The gaming performance of the Samsung S24 Ultra is excellent, as expected.

Genshin Impact is my choice of game as it puts a lot of stress on the smartphone. With the graphics set to the Highest and a frame limit of 60fps, the S24 Ultra delivered an average FPS of 58.13. I played Genshin Impact for more than an hour without any frame drops, it was flawless.

After an hour of gaming, the S24 Ultra tends to get warm around the camera module but I did not experience significant performance drop. However, the OnePlus 12 posted a slightly better average score in our gaming test in comparison to the S24 Ultra.

Samsung S24 Ultra delivers performance on par with other top tier flagships.

Flagship Grade Camera

• Rear Camera: 200 MP, f/1.7, 24mm (wide)
  • 50 MP PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom
  • 10 MP Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
  • 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide)

• Front Camera: 12 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide)

Samsung S24 Ultra’s camera layout is slightly different from the S23 Ultra. The 10MP periscope lens with 10X optical zoom has been swapped out for a 50MP periscope lens with 5X optical zoom. It still has a 200MP main sensor, a 10MP telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide lens. The front camera remains unchanged as well, it is still the same 12MP sensor.

Outstanding Main Camera

The main camera of the S24 Ultra delivers outstanding photos, meeting expectations with excellent detail and vivid yet natural colors. Compared to its predecessor, the S23 Ultra, the photos appear more natural, albeit with some additional processing. Notably, foliage appears exceptionally sharp with fine details.

Furthermore, the camera has a wide dynamic range, capturing scenes with pleasing colors that are no longer overly saturated as seen in previous Samsung phones.

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Good Ultrawide Camera

The Ultra continues to be the only phone featuring an auto-focus ultrawide camera, allowing for sharp focus on nearby subjects. However, the ultrawide camera on the Ultra doesn’t stand out; it’s similar to that of the standard S24.

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3X Telephoto Camera

The 3.2x telephoto lens of the S24 Ultra is a capable shooter and the results speak for themselves. The photos have good details and a wide dynamic range. Similar to the main camera, the color saturation seems to be toned down compared to the S23 Ultra.

I did notice some fine grain around foliage in a few photos, but overall, the details remain sharp most of the time. Whether indoors or outdoors, the exposure balance is consistently on point.

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5x Telephoto Camera

The new 5X telephoto camera is equally impressive. The 50MP sensor captures crisp details at 5X with excellent dynamic range. The color reproduction is similar to that of the main camera and noise is minimal. I particularly admire the natural background blur achieved with the 5X lens, resulting in appealing photos.

Similarly, the 10X zoom photos from the 5X lens are equally impressive. Samsung has effectively maintained excellent detail and minimized noise. Although slightly soft, the 10X zoom photos are nearly as good as those from the 10X lens on the S23 Ultra.

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Portraits

The portrait mode on the Samsung S24 Ultra is by far the best I have seen on any smartphone. The background blur is realistic and the subject separation is flawless.

Both 3X and 5X lenses do a good job of keeping the subject in focus, the exposure is also consistent in both lenses.

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Low Light

Samsung S24 Ultra captures very good photos in low light. The main camera retains the detail and color with excellent dynamic range. The noise is also on the lower side.

The main camera along with the 3X and 5X lens perform similarly in low light. In auto mode, the S24 Ultra tends to keep it simple with relaxed post-processing. In Night mode, the photos tend to be brighter and over-processed. Most notably, the sky tends to get bluish in Night mode. On the other hand, the ultrawide is the poorest in low-light conditions. It does okay in dark scenes with balanced exposure, wide dynamic range, and good colors. On closer inspection, I did notice some noise or softness in the shadows, but it’s fine.

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The Night mode helps the ultrawide lens a bit more than other lenses with reduced noise and a slight boost in midtones.

All the rear cameras perform strong in low light conditions with ultrawide being at the back end.

I prefer not to use Night mode on the Samsung S24 Ultra primarily because I like the natural look in dark scenes with the Auto mode. It is beneficial in extremely low-light situations, but the Auto mode is the best choice in low-light conditions.

Impressive Front Camera

Moving on to selfies, the S24 Ultra has the same sensor as the S23 Ultra. And that’s good because the S23 Ultra took some of the best selfies.

There’s good detail in the photos with minimal noise. The life-like skin tone is appreciable along with pleasing color reproduction and wide dynamic range.

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Sharpness will fall off in low light conditions and photos will have some grain in indoor setup. Except that, there’s not much to complain about the selfie camera.

Videos

• 4k@60fps
• 8K@24fps

The Samsung S24 Ultra can capture videos up to 8K resolution at 30fps using both the main camera and the 5X telephoto camera. Additionally, it supports 4K resolution at 60fps across all cameras, including the front camera.

The video quality of the S24 Ultra is impressive, which is to be expected. In daylight conditions, it captures plenty of sharpness with well-handled highlights. The exposure balance is among the best, with minimal exposure shifting.

The colors are saturated, as commonly seen in Samsung phones, but they have been slightly toned down. Similarly, the contrast is excellent, and the dynamic range is impressive. However, the ultrawide sensor feels somewhat underwhelming with softer details and less-than-perfect highlights.

Even in low-light conditions, videos taken with the main camera are decent, with good stabilization even in challenging lighting environments.

The level of detail from the main, 3x, and 5x camera modules at their native zoom levels is impressive. During my recent trip to Langtang, I was grateful to have the S24 Ultra for capturing videos. The zoom lenses allowed me to capture stunning mountain views from a distance. Even at 3x and 5x zoom, the difference in detail compared to the main lens is minimal. Although the 10x zoom videos aren’t as good as those from the S23 Ultra, they are still decent. However, the video quality at 5x zoom level is excellent.

Moving to the front camera, the sharpness is good but not exceptional. Moreover, the color reproduction, contrast, and exposure balance are top-notch.

Stabilization is available in all modes on all cameras and can be disabled via settings. The video stabilization of the S24 Ultra is outstanding. Walking shake is nearly non-existent with the main rear and ultrawide cameras, and panning is buttery smooth across all lenses. I captured a 360-degree pan shot from the top of a hill, and it looked as if I was using a gimbal to pan the phone. It’s that impressive!

In low lighting conditions, the main camera captures high-quality footage with balanced exposure, a wide dynamic range, and vibrant colors without noticeable desaturation. The level of detail is also impressive. However, the footage from the ultrawide camera appears softer and more noisy, although still acceptable. The telephoto cameras struggle in low light and produce less appealing videos.

Best Display

• 6.36 inches LTPO AMOLED
• 1200 x 2670 pixels
• 120Hz refresh rate
• 1000 nits (typ)

The S24 Ultra boasts an excellent AMOLED panel that doesn’t look fancy on paper compared to its rivals.

It has a 6.8-inch AMOLED panel with a screen resolution of 1440×3120 pixels and a 120hz refresh rate. The bezels have been reduced but more importantly, bezels look uniform from all sides.

Brightness

Claiming high maximum brightness for phone displays has become a trend among manufacturers. While some companies like OnePlus boast an impressive 4500 nits for their flagship OnePlus 12, Samsung has opted for a more modest 2600 nits of maximum brightness on the S24 Ultra.

Samsung S24 Ultra’s AMOLED panel is simply the best display on a smarpthone.

I tested OnePlus 12’s claimed brightness against the S24 Ultra, and the S24 Ultra outperformed it. One notable change Samsung made to this year’s flagship display is the new Gorilla Glass Armor, which is less reflective and a true game-changer. Under harsh sunlight, the S24 Ultra’s display offers the best visibility among smartphones.

The color rendition is excellent, as expected from Samsung. However, the Vivid mode feels slightly toned down to last year’s S23 Ultra. Additionally, the S24 Ultra supports HDR10 and HDR10+, but it does not support Dolby Vision.

Refresh Rate

The S24 Ultra’s display features a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz and can dynamically adjust its refresh rate anywhere between 1Hz to 120Hz. It offers two refresh rate modes: Adaptive and Standard.

In Adaptive mode, the refresh rate can drop as low as 10Hz when idle and vary according to frame rate when displaying video content. This mode also enables smooth high refresh rate gaming. Conversely, the Standard mode maintains a fixed refresh rate of 60Hz.

Battery, Speaker, and Haptics

• 5000mAh
• 45W wired charging

The S24 Ultra retains the 5000mAh battery capacity of the S23 Ultra but offers improved battery life.

In daily use, I was able to achieve almost 8 hours of screen-on time. However, this may be lower when playing games due to higher power consumption.

S24 ultra doesn’t come with a charger in the box but it supports 45W fast wired charging.

With the 45W charger, the phone charged from 0% to 69% in just 30 minutes and reached 100% in 65 minutes. It took an additional 20 minutes to reach fully charged status.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra features a stereo speaker setup that sounds impressive. It delivers louder audio than the regular S24 with enhanced low-end. However, it still falls short of the iPhone’s audio quality in my opinion.

Regarding haptic feedback, the Samsung S24 Ultra offers good feedback but it’s not as refined as the OnePlus 12.

One UI 6.1 with Galaxy AI

• Android 14
• One UI 6.1

In terms of software, Samsung S24 Ultra runs on One UI 6.1 on top of Android 14. Samsung has been one of the best Android manufacturers in case of timely updates and longer OS support. It is even better with the S24 generation as Samsung offers 7 years of OS upgrades and security patches for the S24 series.

Samsung’s One UI is clealry the best OS in the market right now.

One UI 6.1 brings some juicy upgrades along with impressive AI magic. If you are coming from an older One UI, the most notable change is the new Quick Panel layout. It is now easy to access the most frequently used toggles. The Eye comfort shield and Dark mode are now integrated with the brightness slider in a separate compartment.

There’s a new optional toggle named Adaptive color tone, which adjusts white balance and color profile based on ambient lighting conditions.

Samsung has had its sharing feature called Quick Share for a long time. But, it will become the new default Android replacement for Nearby Share. It’s much better than the native Nearby Share.

Galaxy AI

Samsung wants you to know about the new Galaxy AI features in the S24 series. It offers a collection of AI features, some of which can be performed on the device while others require cloud processing.

One of my favorite AI features is Circle to Search, originally a Google feature also available on Pixel devices. As the name suggests, you long-press the home button and then select anything on the screen by drawing a circle around it. Google then identifies and searches anything you’ve selected, providing various Google results.

In my experience, this is useful when you need to search for anything you see while watching videos on YouTube or browsing Instagram. Circle to Search can identify both text and images, and it works great.

Another feature I use frequently is the new Generative Photo Editing. The image editor now includes a Generative Edit button that lets you select and reposition or remove subjects. While Samsung has had this feature, it has vastly improved the generative fill aspect.

Other AI features include live translation where the Samsung phone app can translate live voice calls. To make it work, you select your language and the other person’s language. After that, the incoming voice is translated into text on your screen and can be read aloud as well. This happens entirely on the smartphone. My experience with this feature is mixed, to be fair.

Similarly, the S24 Ultra can summarize any long texts via Samsung Notes. The Galaxy AI can also translate text, format it, and correct grammar and spelling. However, you need to use the Samsung Internet browser to summarize online articles. Additionally, the Voice Recorder app can transcribe recordings into text that can be summarized. This works quite well, to be honest.

Among a long list of AI features, the most entertaining has to be instant slow motion. The Gallery app can instantly turn any regular video into slow-mo by long-pressing the screen while the video is playing. Samsung uses the power of generative AI to duplicate frames and fill in the gaps between existing frames.

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So, this is my Samsung S24 Ultra review. What do you think about the phone? If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments!