Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S24: all the differences explained

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S24: all the differences explained،

Introduction

If you're wondering whether you should get the big and powerful Galaxy S24 Ultra, or the compact and cute Galaxy S24This is the right place for you as we describe the differences between the two.

The official launch of both devices is fast approaching, scheduled for January 17 at 1 p.m. ET, but even now we know most of the details thanks to all the leaks.

Below we explain the difference in size and weight, but also the difference in battery life, and explore whether the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a performance advantage due to its larger body.

So let's not waste time and here are the Galaxy S24 Ultra The differences compared to the S24 in a nutshell:

Galaxy S24 Ultra	Galaxy S24
Large and quite heavy phone with titanium frame	Much smaller phone with an aluminum design
Large 6.8-inch screen	Smaller 6.2-inch AMOLED display
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in most countries	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in select countries Exynos 2400 in select markets
Runs on Android 14 with Samsung One UI 6.1	Same Android 14 with One UI 6.1
All versions will come with 12 GB of RAM	8 GB of RAM
Four rear cameras, including 3X zoom and a new 5X zoom periscope	Three rear cameras, single 3X zoom camera
Comes with S Pen	No S Pen support
Battery size 5000 mAh	Smaller 4,000 mAh battery
Faster charging speeds up to 45W	25W slower charging speed
Price around $1,200, or even a little more	price of $800

Design, display and size

David versus Goliath

They are as different as phones are these days in terms of size: the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a large 6.8-inch phone, while the Galaxy S24 is downright compact with its 6.2-inch form factor.

The style of the two is slightly different. While the smallest Galaxy S24 has the typical look of a smartphone with rounded corners, the Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a passport-style design with sharp corners.

Both have almost flat sides, which should help with grip, and that's a change from last year's versions which had slightly curved sides.

THE Galaxy S24 Ultra is using a flat screen for the first time, and the Galaxy S24 also has a flat screen. Another area where the two could be the same is in refresh rate, as both support up to 120Hz.

However, the resolution should be higher on the S24 Ultra at 1440p, while the Galaxy S24 has a 1080p screen.

Rumors say that Galaxy S24 Ultra maybe it's the first Samsung phone to use a titanium frame, which guarantees a lighter and more durable construction, while the standard S24 version will use aluminum like previous models.

Both phones are also expected to be waterproof with an IP68 certification. Of course, you always have the S Pen on board. Galaxy S24 Ultra. It's been a staple of Samsung phones for years and it's still here, and it would be a reason to get the Ultra over the vanilla S24 version, which doesn't have it.

Performance and software

Oh hey, Exynos, but… were you even invited to this party?

Rumors also say that Galaxy S24 Ultra will exclusively present the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 generation 3 chip worldwide, while vanilla Galaxy S24 The version will get the same Snapdragon chip in the US, but some markets will get the same thing, just with a supposedly slower Exynos chip. More details on this will be expected at launch and we will keep you updated then.

As in previous years, rumors say that this will be a “Made for Samsung” variety of the Snapdragon 8 generation 3 chip, perhaps clocked slightly higher. Don't expect too much from Samsung's tuning, but the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip itself looks very impressive, so we're in for a treat.

Interestingly, while the S24 Ultra is said to have 12GB of RAM on board, the vanilla Galaxy S24 version should only have 8 GB of RAM on all versions. We think this makes sense given the lower price, but we can't say we're happy with it.

Rumors also say that Galaxy S24 Ultra will have 256 GB of storage in its base model, while the Galaxy S24 the basic version will have 128 GB on board.

As for software, expect Android 14 spiced with Samsung's One UI 6.1 at launch. Samsung has committed to four years of major Android upgrades and five years of security updates to its phones, and that's what we hope will be the case here as well.

Camera

On the camera front, Samsung is removing that iconic 10X zoom camera on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and replacing it with a brand new 5X zoom sensor. This might be for the best, as rumors say Samsung will use a 50 MP sensor, so you'll get great quality with 5X zoom, but also lossless zoom with 10X zoom, and some even say the quality at 10X will outperform the previous one. dedicated camera.

The rest of the camera changes focus more on so-called “Galaxy AI” and processing. We've heard rumors that Samsung is finally going to change the colors and, instead of the familiar exaggerated colors, we will have more realistic color reproduction of the S24 series.

For everything else, the main camera of the S24 Ultra remains the familiar 200 MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor, while the Galaxy S24 will reuse the 50MP GN3 sensor for another year. At pure size, the Ultra's main camera sensor is almost 20% larger than the vanilla version, so image quality should still be slightly better with the Ultra.

Both Galaxy S24 Ultra and S24 stick with the 12MP Sony IMX564 sensor for the ultra-wide camera, the same sensor with the same 1.4µm pixel pitch that the company used last year.

As for the 3X zoom cameras, again no major hardware changes are expected.

We'll show you real camera samples in this section very soon, so you can see the difference in quality yourself.

Audio and haptic quality

With the Galaxy S23 Ultra And Galaxy S23 Pluswe got slight improvements in audio.

We do not anticipate any major changes in audio quality with the Galaxy S24 generation, but again, stay tuned for an update on this very soon.

The same goes for haptic feedback, which is already very good on flagship Galaxy phones.

Battery life and charging

Slightly longer battery life on the S24

The last speech on the vine is that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will get an unchanged battery size of 5,000 mAh, while the small Galaxy S24 will arrive with a 4000 mAh battery (an increase of 100 mAh over the S23).

So the battery life gap between the S24 Ultra and the S24 might narrow a bit.

By our estimates, on the S23 series, the Ultra averages about 1.5 days of use, while the smaller S23 models average about 1.25 days of use, and we'll have similar estimates for the Galaxy S24 series once we test them.

In terms of charging, we do not expect any improvement. The S24 Ultra is rumored to support 45W wired charging, while the S24 will only get 25W support. Both models are expected to support wireless charging at speeds of around 15W, and reverse wireless charging is also built-in.

Specification Comparison

	Galaxy S24 Ultra	Galaxy S24
Size weight	162.3 x 79 x 8.6mm 232 grams	147 x 70.6 x 7.6mm 167 grams
Screen	6.8-inch WQHD+ OLED display 1440p 120Hz	6.7-inch OLED screen 1080p 120Hz
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy 4nm	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy (US) Exynos 2400 (limited markets) 4nm
RAM, storage	12/256 GB 12/512 GB 12/1 TB	8/128 GB 8/256 GB
Cameras	200MP main 12MP ultra 10MP 3X Telephoto Lens 50MP 5X Telephoto Lens 12MP front	50MP main 12MP ultra 10MP 3X Zoom – 12MP front
Battery	5000mAh	4000mAh
Loading	USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless Wireless Reverse	USB-C 25W wired 15 wireless Wireless Reverse

Summary

Choosing between the S24 Ultra and the S24 comes down to this: do you want a bigger or smaller phone?

The other big factor remains the improved battery life that comes with a larger phone and the S Pen support on the Ultra.

Samsung has narrowed the battery life gap between these two slightly, and the software features are identical, including all those cool Galaxy AI features.

The only disappointment with the smaller S24 this year is that some markets will get one with an Exynos chip instead of the Snapdragon 8 generation 3.

For everything else, though, the S24 remains the way to go for small phone enthusiasts, and it's better than before, while those who want everything in a larger size should opt for the S24 Ultra.