Highs and lows of the Galaxy S24 Ultra: verdict after 2 months

Like some of you, I pre-ordered the Galaxy S24 Ultra right at market launch. That was two months ago, and it has been my daily driver ever since. Here is my verdict with all the highs and all the lows. The lows are a big deal this time.

With pre-orders of Samsung devices, I used to have to send back several devices in a row. Refreshingly, that wasn’t the case this time, and I was able to enjoy the features from the start.

My highs

• Display: The 6.8-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED display is now completely flat and reaches up to 2,600 nits. The new Corning Gorilla Armor glass noticeably prevents light reflections, which is very pleasant in everyday use.
• Processor and battery: The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 makes everything run buttery smooth and delivers more than two days of battery life with 3 to 4 hours of screen time a day.
• AI features: They are impressive, but to be honest, in everyday life I only really use Circle to Search often.
• Camera: The hardware is unchanged compared to the S23 Ultra, but the new Snapdragon has a clear effect on image quality in post-processing. I often shoot videos for my channel with the S24 Ultra and see no difference from the Sony compact camera I normally use. Photos have noticeably more color depth after the update in early March. The zoom is still next level, and I’m repeatedly surprised how well the AI reworks shots at 5x or 10x zoom.
• Social media: Thanks to the partnership between Samsung and Instagram and others, from the S24 series on the device’s own camera is used in Instagram or TikTok, as previously with the iPhone. Before, screenshots of the shots were used, which led to lower quality of the posts. That’s a welcome development.
• Build quality: It is premium only. With few exceptions, I use the S24 Ultra without a case and without a screen protector. After two months I don’t even have micro-scratches on the display, even though I throw the phone into my handbag together with keys and other things. Only on the frame is there a spot with micro-abrasions. It is getting neither deeper nor bigger, and you only see it if you hold the camera on it in 4K and well lit.

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My lows

I noticed two very general topics whose development at Samsung I don’t like.

1. AI without a choice

In less good light, a selfie with the front camera is brutally reworked by the AI automatically and without my doing anything. I turned off all the preset beauty filters in the camera. That makes the photo more flattering, but also less real and less authentic. I wouldn’t post a photo edited like that. The problem: I can’t turn it off and I can’t undo it, the original is overwritten. You can watch while taking the photo how a normal person with bags and wrinkles under the eyes turns into a beauty-optimized AI version.

For all the advantages of AI, I don’t like that I don’t have a choice whether I want to use the assistance. That’s not how AI should be applied. It fuels the worry that the AI could slip out of control. I hope a future update fixes that.

2. Too big and too heavy

As much as I celebrate the flat display: the device is big and above all heavy. 232 g is noticeable after a few minutes in the hand and in the jacket pocket. The 5,000 mAh battery and extras like the S Pen make it heavy.

I recently tested the Honor Magic V2, a foldable with 7.9 inches unfolded, a 6.4-inch cover display and also 5,000 mAh. At 231 g it weighs exactly as much as the S24 Ultra with only one display. So obviously much better is possible. Why are other manufacturers still building such bricks? Honor uses different materials, among other things, but the device is no less high-end. Glass, stainless steel and titanium are robust, but I would rather have other, equally high-quality materials and 30 or 40 g less in my hand and pocket.

In the last two years, we were told that smartphone hardware couldn’t change any further. Honor shows that much better, lighter and thinner is possible. Why doesn’t any expensive iPhone or Samsung Ultra model come with a smartphone that is half as thin?

Verdict

The S24 Ultra is fun, it’s an Ultra device through and through. For Samsung, I’d like to see a step toward thinner and lighter with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 this year. With the S24 Ultra, Samsung has proven it can do high-end with proven concepts. Now I want high-end with innovation, so that Samsung doesn’t fall into the Apple trap and rest on its success for the next six years.