Samsung’s taking a web page from Apple and including titanium to the Galaxy S24 Ultra solely (the smaller S24 and S24+ are nonetheless made out of aluminum). This is a extra sturdy materials, sure, however it’s additionally presupposed to be lighter, which was a profit I observed on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Unfortunately, the load financial savings right here on the S24 Ultra is roughly 1 gram. Yes, a single gram. Cool.
The S24 Ultra has a 6.8-inch flat show, that means the perimeters of the glass don’t curve backward into the rear body. Yay! I’m pleased to see this blight that has been plaguing smartphones over the previous few years disappear. Sure, it appeared futuristic, however it made for a worse expertise, as my grip usually interfered with my interactions on the display screen.
Thanks to slimmer bezels across the shows, the S24 and S24+ now have barely greater screens, measuring in at 6.2 and 6.7 inches, respectively. Both are actually able to ratcheting the display screen’s refresh fee from 1 Hz to 120 Hz, that means all of your interactions are going to really feel extra fluid and you get to save lots of a little bit of battery life. Speaking of, the S24 has a 4,000-mAh battery capability and the S24+ has 4,900 mAh, modest enhancements from their predecessors. The S24 Ultra sticks with the identical 5,000-mAh cell as final yr’s mannequin.
As for the cameras, the S24 and S24+ are equivalent: a 50-megapixel major sensor joined by a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 10-megapixel telephoto providing 3X optical zoom. The Galaxy S24 Ultra sizes issues as much as a 200-megapixel major sensor, a 12-megapixel ultrawide, a 10-megapixel telephoto with 3X optical zoom, and a 50-megapixel telephoto with 5X optical zoom. This latter digital camera is a step again from the 10X optical zoom Samsung beforehand provided—one thing you could not discover in another cellphone bought within the US. Color me disillusioned that it is gone, although I anticipate a 5X zoom is extra helpful in on a regular basis conditions.
Disappointingly, Samsung has not adopted the Qi2 wi-fi charging normal within the S24 vary, citing that it was too new to be added to its handsets. Qi2 is thrilling not simply because it is extra environment friendly and sooner at wirelessly juicing up our units, however it additionally introduces the Magnetic Power Profile, which makes use of magnets baked into units to correctly align them to charging pucks, identical to MagSafe does on iPhones. The addition will imply a higher diploma of cross-compatibility between iPhone and Android equipment, however alas, you may have to attend till 2025 (or later this yr) to make use of it.
The Galaxy S24 prices $800 and the S24+ is $1,000. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the one one to go up in value, by $100 over final yr; it will set you again $1,300. The excellent news is Samsung is promising seven years of software program updates, matching Google’s Pixel units. That means your cash will hopefully go a good distance as you’ll be able to maintain onto your system for longer.
Preorders are open immediately, and as common, Samsung has a promotion that permits you to get a free storage improve; the 512-GB Galaxy S24, for instance, is identical value because the 256-GB variant throughout this era. The telephones formally hit shops on January 31.
