Samsung Galaxy s24 Ultra Review: 3 Months Later

I have had Samsungs newest flagship Galaxy s24 Ultra since the day it was launched. I wasn’t planning on buying this device but as always the pre-order deals and trade-in meant that it would be rude not to. It’s been about 3 months now that I have being using the s24 Ultra alongside my iPhone 15 Pro Max and I have some initial thoughts that I want to share with you all on the following:

– The Screen
– Performance
– AI Features
– Customisation
– S – Pen

So let’s jump into the details.

The Screen:

I have owned a few of the Galaxy Ultra now and one thing that has always been impressive is the Screen the s24 Ultra is no different, it is a beautiful thing. Having said that we have gotten a few new design features that I want to talk about.

Flat Screen:

The previous versions of the Ultra sported a curved screen however this year we have been treated to a flat screen. This is something that a lot of people have been asking for and it does have some very practical advantages over the curved screen. This makes the S-Pen more usable with no curve to contend with. The other thing is that it is a lot easier to apply a screen protector (I am currently rocking a screen protector from Benks) to that expensive screen, even though it comes with Gorilla Glass which is supposed to be stronger and more scratch-resistant it’s still worth getting a screen protector.

Slimmer Bezels:

We also get thinner bezels, which are even around the display which gives it a sort of bezel-free feel. This adds to the already immersive feel that you get when consuming content on this device. I think that the flat screen has helped here as it all looks nice and cemeterial compared to the s23 Ultra with its curved display.

Anti Reflection:

The s24 Ultra boast an impressive anti-reflective display. This is a notable difference when I compare the glare that I get when using my iPhone 15 Pro Max alongside my s24 Ultra. It is almost like there is no glare this may also have something to do with the fact that the display can go up to 2600 nits. So you are not going to have any issues with being able to view your screen on a sunny day.

Performance:

For those of us based in the UK, we were worried that we would be seeing the Exynox chip coming back to the Ultra, but luckily that was not the case. The s24 ultra is packing the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip which makes this phone buttery smooth. I can honestly say that I have not had any lags or hanging with this phone.

Camera Performance:

I didn’t want to write a section of its own for the camera as I think that the cameras on smartphones are all very good. Some of it will come down to your own preference in terms of saturation etc.

One thing that I did want to mention is that there is still shutter lag. If you have moving subjects like kids or pets then it can be blurred. For me, it is surprising that Samsung has not yet fixed this issue as it’s been there in previous models.

AI features

The Samsung S24 brings a host of AI features some of which I have found more useful than others. The two that I have used the most are in Samsung’s notes app and when using the Samsung keyboard. So let’s look at each use case in a bit more detail.

Samsung Notes:

When you have jotted down your notes or ideas you can use the AI feature to do a few things.

1. Spelling and Grammar check
2. Organise your notes
3. Rewrite in a different tone

So the first one is great if you are like me and spelling and grammar is not your strong point. You just tap on the AI button and select from the drop down and it will correct any spelling or grammar mistakes.

My notes are never very well structured or organised, I just write down what’s in my head and leave it there. But in Samsung notes, you can now ask AI to organise your notes, such as putting headings in place and giving it a much more structured feel. This was particularly useful when I was capturing the things that I have been trying out on the S24 Ultra.

The final point on the Notes app is being able to rewrite your text completely, it will take what have you written and produce a new text. You can also ask for your text to be written in a different tone such as a friendly or more formal tone.

Samsung Keyboard:

I have not been a fan of the Samsung keyboard as I have found that I miss type a lot on it. I would say that it has improved and part of that is because of the ability to do what you can in notes in other apps like WhatsApp or X for example.

It’s not quite enough for me to not download g-board which is my go-to on Android devices. I just find that I can type with fewer errors which for me trumps the AI features in this instance.

Circle to Search:

I can say that I have not used this feature as yet. I haven’t needed to, it’s a great idea and I am sure it will come in useful at some point.

Photo Editing:

There are some cool additions for when you want to edit your photos. With the use of AI you can remove objections from photos that you don’t want to be in there, I have found that it can be a bit hit miss but when it hits it is quite impressive. It is made easier with the use of the S-Pen as this gives you precision in selecting the subject or object that you are looking to remove.

Customisation:

I don’t generally spend too much time customising my phones. I have messed about a bit more recently with my iPhone and customising my Home Screen.

Samsung and Android, in general, open up a whole new world of customisation, I don’t think that there is much that you can’t customise. I have mainly just the Good Lock app that you can download from the Galaxy Store. Below are some of the sub-apps within the Good Lock app that I have used.

Theme Park

This time round I decided not to go with a launcher and used the Samsung app Good Luck from the Galaxy Store to change up One UI a bit. This has allowed me to change my icons from size to shape and add an icon pack to get the exact look that I fancy.

Key Cafe:

Another feature that I found fun was being able to change up your keyboard with the Key Cafe app, again this only works when you are using Samsung’s Keyboard. This allows you to have different key sounds and also colourful keys when hitting the keys.

S-Pen:

As with my s23 Ultra, I haven’t used this massively but there have been some instances where I have found this to be very handy. One of the main things that I have used the S-Pen for is photo editing. So when I am in Lightroom I find it a lot easier to use the S-Pen than my finger. It’s just more precise for me.

There are also the added benefits of being able to sign documents with ease and also use the S-Pen as a shutter button for taking photos. So although some people may think this is a bit of a gimmick it does have some very practical uses.

Final Thoughts:

This has been a thoroughly enjoyable phone to use. Although I don’t have my main SIM in it I do use it a lot throughout the day alongside my iPhone 15 Pro Max. So why is it not my main phone and remains the backup? In the main, it’s my love for the Apple Watch Ultra that keeps my SIM currently firmly in my iPhone. The other parts of the Apple Ecosystem I can live without and have found workaround with different apps but the Apple Watch remain the king for me.

However, if you are not addicted to a part of the Apple Ecosystem or just want to escape it then this phone offers so much. It’s versatile and will cover all the bases that you would want from a phone. So why not have a look if you are looking for something a bit new and exciting?