The popular and highly regarded Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra was replaced by the newest flagship Galaxy Ultra smartphone model, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which was released in January 2024. Along with the regular Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is now available. Even though it has a ton of enhancements, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and this one are very comparable.
These are two large, potent phones with largely identical designs and cameras. In what sense, then, is the Galaxy S24 Ultra an upgrade?
We’ve compared the main characteristics and features of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy S24 Ultra to try to provide a solution. See our reviews of the Samsung Galaxy S24, S24 Ultra, and our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus for additional information on the newest Samsung phones.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S24 ULTRA VS S23 ULTRA: SPECS COMPARISON
In many aspects, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is an improvement over the Galaxy S23 Ultra, including its quicker chipset, better camera, titanium frame, and brighter screen. However, given the S24 Ultra’s increased cost and lack of a 10x zoom, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is still a viable option. At a lesser cost, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra retains the majority of the essential features of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Although it’s unquestionably a worse phone overall, if you go with this, you probably won’t miss many of the improvements over the S24 Ultra.
This year, Samsung upgraded the Galaxy Ultra, giving the 2024 edition a revised design with a stronger frame, a better display, a new telephoto camera, and some new AI-based functions. As expected, the best smartphone got even better. But given the current steep discount on the S23 Ultra, is the Galaxy S24 Ultra a better deal? To try to answer that, we’ll go over the typical classifications.
It will be difficult to top last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra Long, which with its superb quadruple camera configuration and large feature set, took home the titles of best phone and best photography phone. But to set itself apart with its most recent flagship, Samsung seems to be putting more of an emphasis on AI features with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
These AI features felt compelling and natural to me when I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but the main debate is related to the company’s choice to replace the S23 Ultra’s lengthier 10x optical camera with a shorter 5x zoom lens. This, is it a step-down? Or can AI and novel methods of image processing bridge the gap?
CAMERA
Though there aren’t many differences between the S23 Ultra and S24 Ultra on paper, this isn’t shocking because the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra was acclaimed for having an amazing camera setup when it was first released in February 2023. A 12MP front-facing camera, a 200MP primary lens, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP telephoto lens are housed in each of the three cameras on the back.
The 10MP telephoto lens is one area where the two phones differ slightly from one another, though. The 10MP 10x periscope lens on the S23 Ultra is now only 5x on the S24 Ultra. The S24 Ultra, on the other hand, has a larger 50MP adaptive pixel sensor, larger pixels, and a 2x wider OIS, thus image quality can easily outperform the S23 Ultras at the 10x level. As a result, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
The 200MP primary camera of the S23 Ultra has not changed either, which is probably to be expected given Lewis’s assessment of the device stated that it “delivers some of the best results I’ve seen from a smartphone to date.”
The primary characteristic that sets the S24 Ultra apart from the other phones is its new set of AI-powered photo editing features. This tool includes an eraser to eliminate distracting elements from photographs and give precise generative fill, as well as customized edit suggestions based on the shot.
DESIGN AND DISPLAY
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra appear to be very similar at first glance. This translates to sharp edges as opposed to rounded ones, a huge display with a punch-hole camera and thin bezels, a glass rear, a metal frame, and a quad-lens camera on the back with the same lens arrangement. Similar to the S23 Ultra, the S24 Ultra is similarly dust- and water-resistant, with an IP68 rating.
However, there are some differences. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra features a more expensive titanium frame than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which has an aluminum frame. Beyond that, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra weighs 234g and has dimensions of 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra has somewhat thinner bezels. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is also somewhat heavier at 232g.
The colors of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra phones are different as well. The former comes in Phantom Black, Green, Cream, Lavender, Graphite, Sky Blue, Lime, and Red, while the latter comes in Titanium Violet, Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Yellow, Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, and Titanium Orange.
The 6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED display of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a maximum brightness of 2,600 nits. This same display is found on the Galaxy S23 Ultra as well, except the brightness, which is 1,750 nits lower. Beyond that, the display of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is curved, whilst the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a flat screen.
All things considered, the screens of the S24 Ultra and the Galaxy S23 Ultra are rather similar. That’s not a terrible thing, either, because we called the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s screen “a stunning display with even greater color accuracy than previously” in our review. However, we did say that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a “fantastic display in bright light or a very dim room.” So, the additional brightness does provide some benefit.
HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?
Given that the Galaxy S23 Ultra sports a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset comes as no surprise. With the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, you can thus anticipate a significant generational leap in power—the Galaxy S23 Ultra is still no slouch.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with 12GB of RAM as well, but the S23 Ultra has an option between 8GB and 12GB of RAM. However, the storage capacities are precisely the same for both; users can choose between 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage.
Additionally, the software on both phones is essentially the same—Android with Samsung’s One UI on top. Nonetheless, Samsung has promised seven years of upgrades for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, extending its support period.
The S23 Ultra achieved an outstanding 1489 single-core and 4527 multi-core scores in our benchmark tests. However, the S24 Ultra triumphed over the competition with an astounding 2229 single-core score and 6853 multi-core score. Because of this, the latter is the more potent choice.
GET THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S24 ULTRA FOR:
- The less reflective display.
- The harder build
- Latest chipset and extended software support.
- The new 5X telephoto camera
- The Galaxy AI comes with several functions out of the box.
GET THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S23 ULTRA FOR:
- A much cheaper price
- The improved video quality and somewhat better stills at 10x.
