Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Biggest upgrades
With the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra at Unpacked, it’s time to put an end to the speculations, rumors, and leaks and finally compare the new phone to its predecessor, the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It has been something of a contentious rumor that Samsung has avoided any major hardware changes in favor of software, and there is some accuracy in that.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra continues to be a great phone with a powerful battery and an improved camera set. In our Galaxy S23 Ultra review, it performed favorably against the prior S22 Ultra.
Samsung needs to really pull out the stops to convince customers to spend the money to upgrade their phones, and there are certainly some changes with the next Galaxy S24 Ultta. However, the lack of any new cameras and the generally similar screen will make it a hard sell.
But what else is on offer, and what else can we compare between the two phones? Let’s break down all the differences in our Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra comparison.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Price
The Galaxy S24 Ultra price starts at $1,299, which makes it a hundred more dollars more than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which launched last year at $1,199. While it is indeed a price increase, it is a relatively minimal increase at this point and follows after other recent flagships that also saw price increases — like the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 8 Pro.
This is the base cost for the 256GB model, with the 512GB and 1TB model both being more expensive. It is possible to preorder the Galaxy S24 Ultra from today, and preorders can upgrade their memory to 1TB for no extra price. The Galaxy S24 Ultra will be available from January 31.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Design and display
The Galaxy S24 Ultra looks very similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, although the edges are more angular. The bezels have also been constructed with titanium, which allows for a more resilient design. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a flatter screen and improved Gorilla Glass Armor that helps it defend against scratches and reduces screen glare. As a result, the S24 Ultra weighs in at 8.22 ounces, which is slightly lighter than the prior Galaxy S23 Ultra at 8.25 ounces.
The color options for the Galaxy S24 Ultra are Titanium Black, Titanium Yellow, Titanium Gray and Titanium Violet. Meanwhile, the main color options for the S23 Ultra are Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. Arguably the S24 Ultra has more muted options than the prior phone, but Samsung could be saving exclusive colors for later.
The rumors that the screen would keep its 6.8-inch display turned out to be true, as was the information about a significantly brighter screen. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has an AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate as well as the vision booster software and 40% larger pixels. These specs are pretty similar to the S23, which has a 6.8-inch screen with 120Hz refresh rate. However, the S23 Ultra only achieved an overall brightness of 1,225 nits, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra is rated to reach upwards of 2,600 nits according to Samsung.
The S24 Ultra screen also comes with Corning's Gorilla Armor, which is 4x more scratch resistant and it's super anti-reflective properties make it adaptable to any lighting conditions.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Cameras
It's hard to top the addition of a 200MP camera, which is what the Galaxy S23 Ultra brought to the table. And with that device still claiming the top spot in our best camera phone rankings, Samsung has its work cut out for it if the phone maker wants the Galaxy S24 Ultra to make an equally big impression.
In today's market, a phone’s camera can be make or break, and the various Galaxy S24 Ultra camera leaks over the last few months made us wonder how it would be different. In reality, the cameras are confirmed to be very similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with a 200MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide camera, 50MP telephoto camera with a 5X optical zoom, and a 10MP Telephoto lens with a 3X optical zoom and a 12MP Front Camera. In total, it’s a quadruple camera system on the back.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is supplied with a 200MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 10MP telephoto lens with a 3x optical zoom, and a 10MP telephoto lens with a 10X optical zoom and a 12MP front-facing camera.
As it was originally speculated there is not much difference between the two phones' cameras, although the noticeable difference is how Samsung opts to go with a 5x telephoto lens this time around with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, one of the big differences is Samsung’s current tactic to use AI to improve both the camera’s quality and the zoom capabilities. For instance, with the help of pixel binning, the S24 Ultra can deliver 10x optical quality results.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Performance
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was arguably the Galaxy S23 Ultra's best feature, not only delivering better performance — particularly with graphics rendering — but also helping manage power more efficiently. Unlike the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus, the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes supplied with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile chipset across the board. This new chip has a more powerful CPU, GPU, and NPU as well as an enhanced current flow which allows it to last longer on a charge.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes supplied with 12GB of RAM and three different memory options. The phone can be purchased with 256GB, 512GB and 1TB of storage. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, along with either 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options. Once again it seems that there is not much of a change, other than the removal of the 8GB RAM option.
The S24 Ultra has an enhanced cooling system, with a 92% increased area compared to the S23 Ultra. Not only that but the Galaxy S24 Ultra offers improvements to ray tracing, as well as better lighting with enhanced shadows and reflections. Combine this with the power of the new chip and the Galaxy S24 Ultra can run games better than Galaxy S23 Ultra with ease.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Battery
The Galaxy S23 Ultra still claims a place on our list of the best phone battery life for devices that lasted more than 12 hours on our battery test. That's going to be a high bar for the Galaxy S24 Ultra to clear, even with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon promising even more power management gains.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, which can reach up to 65% charge over only 30 minutes with a 45-watt adapter. This is pretty similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which was reported to reach 65% after 30 minutes of charge. However, we should mention that we only managed to get the phone to 57% in our tests.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Software
The Galaxy S24 Ultra ships with Android 14, which has several security features as well as a couple of personalization options. The first is that Android 14 will allow users to customize their lock screens with ease. Users will be able to change their clock locations and create new shortcuts that they can access when the phone is locked.
Samsung’s OneUI 6.1 is one of the larger upgrades with the inclusion of several new AI features. The update will allow the Galaxy S24 to offer in-call translations, as well as organizing and compiling notes, and the introduction of new AI wallpaper generation. This software allows the user to create images using the onboard AI and several key phrases.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra offers several other AI features not available on the prior Galaxy S23 Ultra. These features include new editing capabilities for photos and videos, Circle to search which aims to make searching elements in an image simpler, and tonal suggestions in messages which are built into the Samsung Keyboard.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Outlook
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is, at least on the hardware front, not much of an upgrade. While the S24 Ultra does have some minor changes, it is all in areas that won’t affect the average user to a huge degree.
It is clear that the focus has been on AI and its implementation, and in that area, there are certainly some achievements. The additions that the AI offers are certainly very impressive and can make the Galaxy S24 Ultra feel like a completely different phone. However, the issue is that the increased starting price, when compared to the lack of hardware upgrades, may turn off any first-time buyers who would rather focus on the prior model. When it comes to the AI you can find out more about how it works in our hands-on review of the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
