Samsung launched the AI-focused Galaxy S24 Ultra in January, highlighting how tools like language translation and Circle to Search can make our lives easier. For the past three months, I've been using the Galaxy S24 Ultra as my main phone. We found useful features like anti-reflective display and useless features like Galaxy AI. In that time, we've discovered that this phone has even more hidden features and tools than we expected, beyond AI.
If you want to know more about this phone, read my CNET colleague Lisa Eadicicco's full review of the S24 Ultra. She has thoroughly tested her performance benchmarks, battery life, and all her AI tools.
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My last Samsung Galaxy phone was an S22 Ultra, and it's held up well over the past two years. So when Samsung released his S24 Ultra, which promised a suite of new AI tools and updates to his seven-year software, I hoped it would captivate me as much as his S22 Ultra did. I was there.
The S24 Ultra's display is revolutionary
You can give it AI features and a 200 million pixel camera, but one feature I use every day is the screen. I feel like Samsung downplayed how important the S24 Ultra's anti-glare display is. Especially since Samsung just released a video detailing the construction of Corning's Gorilla armor, three months after its launch.
This display significantly reduces reflections and glare outdoors compared to other flagship phones. On a bright day in San Francisco, I compared it to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Pixel 8 Pro, and even his S23 Ultra from last year, and there was no contest. The S24 Ultra easily outperformed them all. You can take photos and watch YouTube videos without blocking the screen. You can see how each screen worked in the video embedded on this page.
The company says the Gorilla Armor coating is more scratch resistant than previous Gorilla Glass displays. It's been three months since he borrowed the phone from some of his other CNET editors, and it's still in good condition with no scratches to report. Compare this to my boyfriend's S22 Ultra, which developed deep scratches on the display after just a few weeks of use.
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I find it puzzling that Samsung only revealed the details of the screen's construction months later. Perhaps this is partly due to display issues that some people experienced a few weeks after launch. Samsung addressed these issues with a software update.
Upgrading from the curved S22 Ultra to this display also gave me the unexpected benefit of an even flatter display. I found it great for taking quick notes with the S Pen when the display is off, as you can write all the way to the edges if you want.
S24 Ultra AI features aren't that special
No contest: For me, the best AI feature on the S24 Ultra is Circle to Search. I use this all the time when searching for something on a webpage or cruising something from the camera app. Other AI features I use frequently from Samsung tools include shadow and reflection erasers, as well as a rotating canvas option to fill in the edges of the image.
However, the One UI 6.1 update brings all these AI features to the S23 Ultra, Z Fold 5, and Flip 5. Google Pixel smartphones also have Circle to Search. So those are no longer enough selling points for her S24 Ultra, and as my colleague Lisa Eadicicco said, it feels like a missed opportunity for Samsung.
I also use Gemini AI instead of Google Assistant and it's been a good experience most of the time. I ended up using it more than I expected. However, when using voice-to-text dictation, I still have trouble understanding Australian accents, so until that improves, I'll mainly be typing requests into Gemini.
S24 Ultra camera doesn't wow like previous phones
It's probably the first time in a while that the camera hasn't been a big part of my Galaxy experience. The phone still has great zoom capabilities, and the flexibility to go from ultrawide to 100x is fun, but I never use the 100x zoom because it makes my photos look like watercolors. Usually up to 30x.
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However, this camera isn't as exciting as earlier Galaxy smartphones or other Android smartphones like the Xiaomi Ultra 14, which pushed the boundaries with a 1-inch type sensor size. Part of the reason is that Samsung has discontinued his 10x optical camera in favor of a new 5x camera, and instead pixel-binning a 50-megapixel image to give him a 10x hybrid zoom. Because we choose to make it happen. For 10x video, especially when shooting at a concert, you lose flexibility and have to use 10x digital zoom more than necessary. I always use optical team over hybrid zoom or digital zoom.
Quick Share is a revolution in file sharing
Sharing files between devices is something I do every day. Especially if you want to share the photos you take with friends or your work computer. I've always wanted universal AirDrop, and with Android's adoption of Quick Share (formerly known as Nearby Share), we're almost there. But the S24 Ultra is better than that. When you try to share an image, you'll be given the option to scan a QR code or copy the URL, so you can share the full-resolution file with another device or with a friend. I use this all the time to transfer between his S24 Ultra and iOS or to my work computer (Mac).
In conclusion, the Galaxy S24 Ultra won me over more than I expected. Features like Galaxy AI weren't as helpful as advertised, but quality of life improvements like the anti-glare display did have an impact. I'd like to pick up this phone again in a few months, especially once we know more about other updates that Android 15 may bring.
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