Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Plus: Bridging the gap – Ultra-Sim

Intro

Now that both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Galaxy S24 Plus are official, it’s finally time to compare the large phone and the mid-sized handset and determine which one delivers the better value. 

While it’s absolutely normal that the Galaxy S24 Ultra is stealing the thunder everywhere it goes, the Galaxy S24 Plus is once again flying in the shadows of its more intriguing big brother. However, this time around, the mid-sized Galaxy has much more going for it and actually fares better than the larger Galaxy S24 Ultra in some areas, like battery life. 

Design and Size

Titanium is in

On the other hand, the Galaxy S24 Plus is now completely flat on all sides, just like an iPhone. Surely, it caves a little into the palm, making it not that ergonomic, but nothing too outrageous and certainly not something you wouldn’t get used to quickly. 

Display Differences

Bright future ahead of us

In terms of screens, the Galaxy S24 Plus is bridging the gap to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. While the latter boasts a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, the Plus is actually getting a 6.7-inch screen, or 0.1 inches larger than the Galaxy S23 Plus. This is major, as it brings the two devices very close to one another. 

Resolution is another area in which the Galaxy S24 Plus has scored an improvement. Unlike the FHD+ display on the Galaxy S23 Plus, the Galaxy S24 Plus scores a QHD+ display, which certainly puts it in Galaxy S24 Ultra’s territory as far as sharpness goes. 

Yet, the biggest improvement on both devices this year is the much, much brighter 2,600-nit display tech that’s shared between all Galaxy S24 screens. Definitely a serious improvement over the 1,750-nit displays that Samsung had used in the past two generations. While one would expect that only the top flagship will get such a bright screen, Samsung surprised by outfitting the Galaxy S Plus with a similar screen.

It’s no surprise that the Galaxy S24 Ultra retains the 1-120Hz refresh rate of its predecessors. However, the surprise here is that the Galaxy S24 Plus also scores a similar LTPO display capable of dynamically switching the refresh rate between 1-120Hz for a super-smooth scrolling experience.

In our independent testing, the Galaxy S24 Plus and the Galaxy S24 Ultra fare mostly similar in terms of maximum achieved brightness and minimum brightness. The main difference in our units is the default color temperature, which is much closer to the 6500K reference point on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, the Galaxy S24 Plus‘ screen is just as capable––and just as lovely to look at!

Performance and Software

Who invited Exynos to the party? 

While the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Plus exclusively feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the US, the Exynos 2400 chip makes an appearance on the Galaxy S24 Plus in most regions around the world. We happen to have the Exynos version on us as well. Although it was gone for a year, the Snapdragon/Exynos split is back.

Some 12GB of RAM are available on both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Galaxy S24 Plus, regardless of the storage capacity. Base storage starts at 256GB on both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Galaxy S24 Plus. 

Camera

The big change with the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the axing of the ultra-long 10X periscope. It got substituted for a 50MP 5X telephoto camera, which allows users to optically zoom up to 10X without losing any quality. Surprisingly, the 100X Space Zoom that the Galaxy S23 Ultra and its predecessors achieved is retained here.

Samsung has kept the 200MP wide-angle sensor, but has introduced lots of improvements, namely larger pixel size for better low-light capabilities. The new ProVisual Engine also helps greatly. The latter enables improved Nightography, which captures more light in dim environmental conditions. Enhanced OIS makes certain that your photos will no longer suffer from motion blur, as well as new Dedicated ISP block for improving noise reduction.

In the other camp, the Galaxy S24 Plus has scored virtually no hardware changes in its camera setup. It still comes with a a 50MP main camera, aided by a 10MP telephoto one delivering 3X optical zoom, and finally, a 12MP ultra-wide camera.

The brunt of improvements in the camera app is actually on the software side, the AI side of it to be precise. There’s a plethora of AI features that aim to make the Galaxy S24 series camera experience substantially better and smarter than before. Magic Eraser, Generative Edits, and improved remaster are coming to the Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra. You can also remove reflections from photos with the power of on-device Galaxy AI.

Main Camera

Zoom Quality

At 3X optical zoom, the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Plus are mostly similar, but at 5X, the Ultra pulls up, achieving much better results. And the further we zoom in, the bigger the Ultra’s dominance. 

Ultra-wide

Selfies

Video Quality

And this is what video quality looks like on both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Galaxy S24/Galaxy S24 Plus. 

Audio Quality and Haptics

Both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Galaxy S24 sound mighty fine. They aren’t the next big thing in portable audio, sure, but they sound mighty fine, loud and clear. 

Haptic feedback is a traditional strength of the Galaxy flagship lineup, and neither the Galaxy S24 Ultra or the Galaxy S24 Plus disappoint in this regard. 

Battery Life and Charging

Galaxy S24 Plus retakes more ground

The Galaxy S24 Plus has scored a very decent battery capacity boost to 4,900mAh, up from the 4,700mAh battery available on the previous model. This is bridging the gap with the Galaxy S24 Ultra extremely close, as the latter is still equipped with just a 5,000mAh battery, which starts to feel tiny in early 2024. 

And surprise, surprise, the 5,000mAh battery inside the Ultra isn’t enough to help it achieve better battery life than the Galaxy S24 Plus. All things considered and taking the smaller 4,900mAh battery of the latter in consideration, the Galaxy S24 Plus turns out to be the more efficient device. In our custom battery tests, which are conducted with the screens set at 200 nits, the Galaxy S24 Plus beats the Galaxy S24 Ultra in the web browsing, 3D gaming, and video playback tests. 

Charging-wise, both phones max out at 45W wired charging and 15 fast wireless charging. Thus, a full charge takes around an hour and nine minutes on both phones, which is acceptable but slightly on the slower side in comparison with most contemporary Android flagships hailing from China. 

Naturally, no phone comes with a charger in the box, so you will have to supply your own.

Specs Comparison

Summary

If you’ve expected that the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Galaxy S24 Plus would introduce tons of changes to the Galaxy flagship formula, then you should probably re-evaluate your expectations and take a look at Samsung’s three or four most recent flagship releases. 

The company has been focusing on gradual improvements and a slow evolution across its phone lineups. Just like most of its rivals, Samsung is aiming to introduce incremental updates that will gradually evolve its flagships rather than try reinventing the wheel with the Galaxy S24 series. 

As far as the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Plus are concerned, the gap between the top-tier and middle-tier devices is getting smaller and smaller with each year. One will have all the features, including the useful S Pen and the extra camera, while the other will surely be more affordable and easier to slip in a pocket, but aside from that, both deliver the exemplar Galaxy experience.