IN PICS | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Showcase: Seven things worth noting about Samsung’s Super Flagship

Big phone — The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is a BIG phone. It is taller and wider than the iPhone 15 Pro Max and will stretch palms and pockets alike. At 232 grams, it is a heavy phone too, but is no dainty beauty - the front is Gorilla Glass Armour, the back is Gorilla Glass and the frame comes from the Mr T in tech these days, Titanium. The back has cameras in the water drop formation that Samsung loves, although it does make the phone wobble a little. It is a big, beautiful device that screams premium. Watch those sharp corners, though. (Image Credit: Akriti Rana & Nimish Dubey)

Honey, I flattened the display — In the best Samsung tradition, the Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts a magnificent display - a 6.82-inch quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x LTPO display with 120 Hz refresh that can go from 1 Hz to 120 Hz depending on the content being shown on it. With 2600 nits brightness, it is amazingly bright and colourful. It is also flat, unlike its curved predecessors. Samsung says this has been done to make it easier to use the S-Pen on it. Some might miss the curved display, but we prefer this one. (Image Credit: Akriti Rana & Nimish Dubey)

Upping megapixels, shrinking zoom? — The cameras are an important part of the Galaxy S series, and the S24 Ultra comes with four insanely powerful ones on its back. Leading them is a 200-megapixel main sensor with OIS, supported by two telephoto sensors with OIS - a 10-megapixel one with 3x zoom, and a 50-megapixel one with 5x zoom, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. Interestingly, optical zoom has been cut from 10x on the S23 Ultra to 5x, but Samsung says the increased megapixels on the telephoto will result in better images, even with digital zoom! A 12-megapixel camera handles selfies. (Image Credit: Akriti Rana & Nimish Dubey)

Hefty hardware, as usual — The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with top-notch hardware. The phone is the only one of the S24 series in India to run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor (the S24 and S24 Plus run on Exynos chips in India) and comes with 12 GB RAM and storage options of 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB. You also get very good stereo speakers. A 5000 mAh battery keeps it ticking, and although there’s no charger in the box, you get support for 45W wired and 15W wireless charging - not crazy fast, but more than adequate for most! (Image Credit: Akriti Rana & Nimish Dubey)

Galaxy AI runs the show — The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra runs Android 14 out of the box, with Samsung’s OneUI interface on top of it. Samsung has also assured users of 7 years of software and security updates, bringing the device in line with the Pixel range in this regard. The real star of the show however, is Samsung’s Galaxy AI which brings amazing features like live call translate, call and meeting transcriptions, note organisation, image and video edits and the much-hyped circle to search. So strong is the AI Force that Samsung has said that the Galaxy S24 series is powered by AI! (Image Credit: Akriti Rana & Nimish Dubey)

S Pen: still there, still awesome — The S Pen stylus, once an integral part of the Note series, is alive and well in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. And Samsung is right - the S24 Ultra’s flat display is a much better canvas for the S Pen to sketch and scribble on, than curved displays. We love how the stylus fits into the phone, and it comes with a number of smart features, including a button that triggers functions. We do wish it was a little more substantial in size, but it still remains the best stylus in phoneland. We can see many getting the S24 Ultra just for it. (Image Credit: Akriti Rana & Nimish Dubey)

Big phone, big price too! — The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at Rs 1,39,999, which is well ahead of other Android flagships (the Pixel 8 Pro is Rs 1,06,999), and is actually close to the Rs 1,34,900 of the iPhone 15 Pro, although it is lower than the Rs 1,59,900 of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the other “big phone” in the premium segment. The combination of big display, terrific cameras and stylus still make the S24 Ultra a one-of-a-kind phone. Samsung has also added a heavy dollop of AI to the mix this time. Let’s see if it pays dividends. (Image Credit: Akriti Rana & Nimish Dubey)