Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Come what may - PhoneArena

As 2023 draws to a close, it's time to turn our gaze away from Samsung's superb Galaxy S23 Ultra and towards what the glorious future has in store. And for Samsung, that's definitely the upcoming Galaxy S24 Ultra flagship, which is coming very early in 2024, likely in mid-January.

There will be some very noteworthy changes with the Galaxy S24 Ultra , which will be aiming to perfect the carefully crafted formula that Samsung has been utilizing ever since the Galaxy S22 Ultra. This would make the Galaxy S24 Ultra the third S Pen-wielding super-flagship in Samsung's inventory one that's better than its predecessors in more ways than one.

But should you consider upgrading from the Galaxy S23 Ultra ? If cooler heads prevail, you'd probably be wise to hold off on upgrading, as the differences in-between such close device generations might not be that big. And yet, who's to say the Galaxy S24 Ultra wouldn't be the hottest commodity on the market come 2024?

Based on rumors, the Galaxy S24 Ultra Samsung will be keeping the same general design as the Galaxy S23 Ultra , so squash your expectations accordingly and anticipate a device that looks largely similar to its predecessor. This reportedly leads to the same general dimensions of 162.3 × 79 × 8.6mm on the Galaxy S24 Ultra , as well as a 233gr weight, a very slight improvement in comparison with Galaxy S23 Ultra .

How could've Samsung achieved such a small weight reduction? As per all the chatter on the interwebs, the culprit for the slightly reduced weight could be the new titanium frame of the phone, which is lighter and usually more robust than the so-called Armor Aluminum on the Galaxy S23 Ultra . This move to a more premium material closely reminisces what Apple pulled with the iPhone 15 Pro Max , though the latter raised the question if titanium is even a suitable material for phones.

The back of the Galaxy S24 Ultra will still be made of glass, but the difference could be the even flatter side frame, which could be the furthest Samsung has ventured past those curved side frames it popularized to the mass market years ago. Still, an ever-so-slight curved towards the rear would most likely be present, helping with the grip and ergonomics of the phone.

There will still be an S Pen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra , but we don't really expect anything new in terms of features or spec in comparison with the Galaxy S23 Ultra . Speaking of features that will persist, you can bet all of your net worth that the IP68 water- and dust-resistance will make a return.

We don't know what colors the Galaxy S24 Ultra might come in, but judging from the titanium iPhone 15 Pro Max , we wouldn't bet on wildly vivid or diverse colors to make the cut. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is available in Lavender, Cream, Phantom Black, and Green; there are a few more Galaxy S23 Ultra colors exclusively available on Samsung.com.

Display Differences

The Galaxy S24 Ultra won't change the essential display specs and will come with a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED display with dynamically switching 1-120Hz refresh rate, which is smooth, vibrant, and gorgeous. Those are mostly the same display specs that were associated with the Galaxy S23 Ultra , and things would have been quiet

Things would have been quiet on the Galaxy S24 Ultra display front if it wasn't for the rumored super-high peak brightness of >2,500 nits. After two years of mostly staying one step behind most of the competition when it comes to maximum display brightness, Samsung is finally ready to join the eye-scorching club. By the way, Google recently joined as well with the 2,400-nit peak brightness on the Pixel 8 Pro , while Apple has resided in >2,000-nit territory for a while now.

We don't expect any changes in the biometrics department: a ultrasonic fingerprint scanner built into the display will likely be the main biometrics unlocking mechanism of choice on the Galaxy S24 Ultra . Face unlock should also be on deck, so generally, no changes are expected in comparison with the Galaxy S23 Ultra .

Despite all the buzz that Samsung's Exynos chip might be back on the menu with the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus in all regions that are not the US, the Galaxy S24 Ultra might evade this fate and come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset globally.

Just like the S23 Ultra's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip which was a slightly spiced-up version of the Snapdragon chip that most other Android flagships got, the Galaxy S24 Ultra might get a slightly better Snapdragon from the get-go as well.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy is shaping up to be an octa-core affair consisting of a prime Cortex-X4 core running at 3.3GHz, triple high-performance Cortex-A720 3.15GHz cores, dual Cortex-A720 clocked at 2.96GHz, and dual efficiency Cortex-A520 cores that hum at 2.27GHz. The chipset will boast the Adreno 750 GPU, which is reportedly around 50% faster than the one on the previous Snapdragon generation, so mighty better.

In terms of storage and RAM, we expect things to go largely unchanged: 8GB and 12GB of RAM on the Galaxy S24 Ultra , with 256GB of base storage, as well as 512GB and 1TB versions also available.

Software-wise, the Galaxy S24 Ultra will likely come with One UI 6 based on Android 14 , and will be supported for at least four years. This now seems lowly considering Google just dropped a seven-year support bomb on the industry, with repercussions yet unknown. As far as the Galaxy S23 Ultra is considered, it has three remaining years of software support, and four years of security patches sent its way.

The camera situation with the Galaxy S24 Ultra is most peculiar, with conflicting rumors muddying the waters as far as the telephoto/periscope situation goes.

One part of the blogosphere is seemingly convinced that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will be dropping the ultra-long 10MP 10X periscope camera in favor of a new and improved 50MP 5X optical zoom telephoto, which will match the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Pixel 8 Pro in terms of optical-grade long throw. As a reminder, both of those rivals have 5X telephoto cameras at the rear.

Another round of rumors and insiders believe that it's not the 10X periscope that's getting dropped, it's actually the 10MP 3X telephoto camera that's getting substituted for a 5X one. The situation is a bit unclear, but both version of the story make sense, so it's quite intriguing to ponder which version might Samsung go with.

The main camera on the Galaxy S24 Ultra will reportedly stick to 200MP, but might boast a slightly larger and/or improved sensor that will boost its imaging capabilities. Currently, no other major changes are expected for the ultra-wide and front-facing cameras.

As a refresher, the Galaxy S23 Ultra came with a 200MP F1.7 main camera, a 10MP 3X F2.4 telephoto, a 10MP 10X F4.9 periscope, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera, along with a 12MP front-facing camera.

Like the Galaxy S23 Ultra , Samsung's next flagship phone will most certainly employ a dual speaker configuration. If it's anything like its predecessor, we'd be happy campers, as the Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the better-sounding flagships of 2023.

The same applies to the haptic feedback as well: Samsung has nailed the accurate vibrations, which enrich the

If you've been hoping that Samsung could have pulled out a magic wand and magically enlarged the Galaxy S24 Ultra 's battery to larger proportions, then you're out of luck. If rumors are to be believed, then expect a 5,000mAh battery to be making the rounds on the next Galaxy flagship, which just as much as the battery on the Galaxy S23 Ultra . Thus, don't expect the Galaxy S24 Ultra to last considerably longer than the Galaxy S23 Ultra , which isn't a bad thing at all: the latter isn't too shabby when it comes to battery endurance.

Charging-wise, Samsung is most certainly sticking to 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, as well as reverse wireless charging that can top up your Galaxy Watch or earbuds.

While a bit early, we have already summarized the Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Ultra specs in the table right below.

When it comes to breaking the status quo, the Galaxy S24 Ultra might not be it. The upcoming Samsung phone will touch upon the more important pillars of a great smartphone experience, delivering better performance, a brighter display, and likely better-zooming cameras, but the core essence of the large S Pen-wielding Samsung flagship will remain largely unchanged.

And that's fine: the Galaxy S23 Ultra is easily one of the best phones you can consider getting in 2023, so if the Galaxy S24 Ultra improves on that in a sensible way, everybody wins.

At the same time, if you're rocking a Galaxy S23 Ultra , there will probably be few reasons to consider upgrading to the upcoming device.