Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with SD 8 Gen 3 and new 5x Tele is here
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is here with a number of updates to the formula of its predecessor. Visually, it looks very similar to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but there are some notable changes. The frame is now made of titanium alloy instead of aluminum. Titanium is more durable and scratch-resistant than aluminum without adding weight. Therefore, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is actually one gram lighter than its predecessor. It’s also slightly thinner (0.3mm) and shorter (1.1mm), largely thanks to the slimmer frame. The front and back are protected by the new Gorilla Glass Armor, which is four times harder and 75% less reflective.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra already had a less curved display, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra now has a completely flat display. As usual, you get a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a QHD+ resolution and a variable refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hz. However, the brightness is significantly higher at 2,600 nits and Samsung has revised the Vision Booster.
In contrast to the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+, the Ultra uses the currently fastest Android chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in every market. It is again a “for Galaxy” variant with probably a higher clocked main core. Samsung has also installed a vapor chamber in the Galaxy S24 Ultra that is almost twice as large to ensure high continuous performance.
Galaxy AI: AI Assistant, Live Translate, Circle to Search
The new chipset enables a whole range of AI functions on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Live translation, interpreter and chat assistant enable real-time, two-way voice and text translation. Live Translate is built into the native phone app. Interpreter is a split-screen app that transcribes live conversations between two people in two different languages. Chat Assist should make translated conversations natural and is part of the Samsung keyboard. These features work in 13 languages at launch.
Android Auto summarizes incoming messages and suggests replies, such as sending someone the estimated time of arrival. In Samsung Notes, Note Assist summarizes notes, creates templates and covers, and optimizes notes with pre-built formats. Transcript Assist transcribes, summarizes and translates speech using AI and speech-to-text.
Circle to Search is a gesture-controlled feature developed in collaboration with Google. Simply long-press the Home button and you can circle, highlight, doodle, or tap anything on the display to get search results. For example, the feature can detect familiar locations in the background of a person’s photo on Instagram.
New 50 megapixel telephoto camera with 5x zoom
AI is also an important part of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s camera system, which brings a new 50 megapixel telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom (115mm), optical stabilization and an f/3.4 lens. The 1/2.52-inch sensor is a significant improvement over the 10-megapixel 1/3.52-inch chip in the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s old 10x telephoto camera. Samsung says the new 5x camera is capable of better 10x shots than the old camera.
The rest of the Galaxy smartphone’s cameras appear to be the same. These include the 200 megapixel main camera with 23 mm and f/1.7 aperture, the 12 megapixel ultra wide with 13 mm, f/2.2 and autofocus and the short telephoto with 10 megapixels, 69 mm focal length and f/2,4 aperture. The 26 mm selfie camera with 12 megapixels and aperture f/2.2 is also the same as before.
New this year is the ProVisual Engine and a dedicated ISP block for noise reduction. The ProVision Engine is a collection of AI-powered tools. You can delete objects and let the AI fill the empty space with Generative Edit. You can also straighten crooked images or generate additional images using Instant Slow-Mo to gently slow down moments in a video.
Night photography now offers better optical image stabilization and improved handshake compensation. The dedicated ISP block for the front and rear cameras combats noise. Finally, Super HDR displays an HDR preview in the camera app viewfinder before taking the photo. In addition, the gallery can finally display preview images of photos and videos in HDR.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 5,000 mAh battery with wired 45 watts charging and 15 watts wirelessly. In addition to 12 GB of RAM you either get 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB of storage. Android 14 runs out of the box with One UI 6.1, and there is also a record-breaking seven years of software support.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra prices
Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra start today in the colors titanium gray, titanium black, titanium violet and titanium yellow. Like last year, Samsung is offering those who pre-order a free memory upgrade to the next higher tier. The Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at $1,300/£1,250 for the 12/256GB model, or €1,450 in Europe. But for some reason, Samsung only sells the smallest model in this country with 8 GB of RAM.
