It’s time for a good ol’ Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra showdown.
Although Samsung unveiled the new flagship phone at Unpacked, it’s difficult to discern the gen-over-gen enhancements — and whether an upgrade is worth it. Yes, Galaxy AI has made a splash with the new S24 line, but are there any other notable differences between the S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra?
Based on the specs we have so far, let’s find out.
Unveiled on Feb. 1 in 2023, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra had a starting price of $1,199 and came with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
However, as of this writing, you can snag the Galaxy S23 Ultra for just $874 via Samsung’s official website.
The entry-level Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, on the other hand, has an MSRP of $1,299 — a $100 increase. It has more memory with 12GB of RAM, but you’re still getting 256GB of storage to start.
Don’t expect the gen-over-gen design changes to be “in your face” this year. The S24 Ultra, as tested during my hands-on experience, still has that tall rectangular aesthetic with rounded edges that fit ergonomically in your palm.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is slightly lighter and thinner this year with a weight of 8.22 ounces and a slimness of 0.34 inches. (The Galaxy S23 Ultra weighs 8.25 ounces and is 0.35 inches thin.)
The colorways are different this year, too, and in my opinion, more attractive. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. However, sold exclusively via Samsung.com are Lime, Graphite, Sky Blue and Red models.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra, on the other hand, comes in Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow. Titanium Green, Titanium Blue, and Titanium Orange are only available via Samsung.com.
As you can tell by the names of the hues, similar to the iPhone 15 Pro models, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has some titanium in its material — something the Galaxy S23 Ultra does not have.
Based on the specs we have so far, the S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra have the same edge-to-edge display:
Samsung calls this panel “Dynamic AMOLED 2X,” which, according to GSMArena, is just marketing speak for an OLED display that supports HDR10+ and a refresh-rate maximum of 120Hz.
Both still feature that beloved hole-punch design on the display, offering tons of screen real estate for an expansive visual experience.
Samsung upgraded the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s processor to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a step up from the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Seeing as AI, particularly Google’s Gemini AI model, is the hot new thing with Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, it’s no surprise that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 boasts heightened AI processing for zippier performance with large language models (LLM), Stable Diffusion, generative AI apps, and more.
Plus, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is designed to deliver better gaming graphics without impacting battery life. Overall, this chip is meant to enhance AI, photography, gaming, audio, and more, but we’ll have to test it ourselves to see if there are significant performance gains.
One aspect about the Galaxy S24 Ultra that the S23 Ultra cannot beat Galaxy AI, which delivers useful AI-powered features to users, including the following:
And there’s far more where that came from. Check out the next section to see how Galaxy AI affects the cameras.
As I hinted in the last section, one thing you’ll be missing out on with the S23 Ultra is Galaxy AI. The Galaxy S24 Ultra will be teeming with new AI features that will elevate the camera experience to new heights.
Some AI-assisted camera features you’ll get on the Galaxy S24 Ultra include:
However, if you were to eliminate Galaxy AI from the mix, the Samsung S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra share the same specs for the following cameras:
However, the biggest change concerns the second telephoto. On the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the second telephoto is 10MP and has an optical zoom range of 10x. However, according to the spec sheet, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a resolution that’s five times better at 50MP, but the optical zoom range narrows to 5x.
There’s a chance that the 50MP resolution will make up for the narrowed optical zoom range, but I’ll have to take close-up shots and portraits with the Galaxy S24 Ultra to know for sure.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the same battery capacity as its predecessor: 5,000 mAh.
Like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung claims that the Galaxy S24 can power up to 65% in 30 minutes with a 45W charger like this one.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra will continue to have the Wireless PowerShare feature. For the unintiated, Wireless PowerShare lets you charge other Qi-supported devices on the back chassis.
It’s too early to say how the new S24 Ultra fares in battery life compared to the S23 Ultra, but we’ll update this face-off once we have the runtimes.
So should you upgrade to the Galaxy S24 Ultra? Truth be told, the differences between the two aren’t that significant.
On paper, with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, you should get better zoom capabilities, a lighter, thinner phone, a faster device, and a gaggle of AI features. But the question is, is all of that worth an upgrade? We’ll let you decide.
