Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs S23 Ultra: Which One Should You Buy?

Apr 3, 2024, 1:00 AM

nextpit np17 samsung galaxy s24 ultra s23 ultra camera closeup — © nextpit

Rubens Eishima Writer

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The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the flagship among Samsung's latest Galaxy S24 series. What has actually changed compared to last year's Galaxy S23 Ultra? While the differences between the S24 Ultra and the S23 Ultra are extremely limited on the outside, there are a few exciting new features under the hood.

Also read: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review

Similar to what happened in 2023, Samsung kept the same design from the previous generation, which means that not only the Galaxy S24 Ultra looks a lot like the S23 Ultra but also the S22 Ultra from early 2022. Because of that, to understand the differences, we will have to go a little bit deeper into the processor, camera, and a couple of other specifications. But first, a quick and dirty table to spot what changed in the Samsung flagship.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra: Key features compared

S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra: Design and display

No, your eyes (or nextpit's photographer) are not tricking you. The picture on the top of this page really shows the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra next to the S23 Ultra. Samsung apparently liked the Galaxy S22 Ultra's design so much (itself an evolution of the Galaxy Note series) that it was reused on the two following models.

Even the antenna lines on the edges are in the same places on the S24 Ultra (left) and S23 Ultra. / © nextpit

Back are the monolithic flat design with straight corners, the individual raised camera islands on the back, and the flat bottom surface with the SIM card tray, USB-C port, and the S-Pen stylus garage.

The front, however, we can spot a small change that will please most of the nextpit community: A flat display instead of a curved (or edge) one. That will be a welcome change for hardcore S-Pen users, who won't be gliding the stylus off the screen so often.

If you look closely (click to enlarge), you will notice that the S24 Ultra (above) has a flat OLED display. / © nextpit

Form factor aside, we are dealing with a similarly-specced panel, with a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED in QHD+ resolution (3880 x 1440 pixels), and a refresh rate that dynamically adjusts between 1 and 120 Hz.

The use of an established component—"Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display" in Samsung's lingo, protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass, should offer a similar image quality, with excellent contrast levels and saturated colors. And the variable refresh rate helps the phone to show super smooth animations when needed, but not update the display when showing static content (e.g. text) and saving battery.

Related: AMOLED, LCD, LTPO: All relevant display acronyms explained

The S24 Ultra beats the S23 Ultra in one important factor: Brightness. While the 2023 flagship reached a peak of 1,750 nits, the S24 Ultra has a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, which will improve outdoor usage.

S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra: performance and connectivity

As heavily rumored since 2023, the S24 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 flagship processor in all markets, with the Exynos alternative only found in the base models in some countries. In the comprehensive review, the S24 Ultra showed a significant leap in performance, especially in graphics-intensive tasks such as games. This was also represented by the following benchmarks.

Related: The best Samsung phones in 2024

	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Snapdragon 8 Gen 3	Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Apple A17 Pro
3DMark Wild Life Stress Test	Best loop: 17,680 Worst loop: 9,673	Best loop: 12,278 Worst loop: 7,386
Geekbench 6	Single: 2,252 Multi: 7,107	Single: 1,912 Multi: 4,981

For general tasks, the S24 Ultra also made a leap in terms of processing power, with more and faster high-performance ARM cores, paired with faster memory. In the RAM department, the S24 Ultra starts at 12 GB, while the S23 Ultra had versions with "only" 8GB.

Connectivity-wise, both models are very similar, thanks to the same Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 controller in the Snapdragon processor. Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 7 are available, the latter one did not officially support on the S23 Ultra, which only lists Wi-Fi 6E compatibility.

5G is obviously supported by both Galaxy Ultras but Qualcomm advertises that AI features will make cellular connections faster, more stable, and consequently more energy efficient on the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 found in the S24 Ultra.

S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra: Camera

Despite the identical camera module design, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has some differences from its predecessor. Gone is the 10-megapixel 10x zoom telephoto lens, replaced by a higher-resolution 50-megapixel 5x zoom lens. Not only is the resolution higher but the sensor used is bigger and the lens has a higher aperture, both of which should offer better low-light performance.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra photo sample — Ultra-wide angle © nextpit

Since the 200-megapixel main camera and the 12 MP ultra-wide are essentially the same between the S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra, don't expect major differences in terms of image quality. The same can be said about the 3x telephoto lens, which in both phones is used on top of a 1/3.52''-size sensor.

Galaxy S23 Ultra camera test — Caption: Galaxy S23 Ultra - Main lens © nextpit

As I mentioned, the Galaxy S24 Ultra's image quality is clearly better at 5x zoom, as it doesn't rely on a digital zoom like the S23 Ultra. As far as the 10x zoom is concerned, the S23 Ultra is slightly ahead. If the camera is the differentiating factor for you, then consider whether you take more photos at 10x and additional zoom or would rather not. If you regularly shoot at 10x, 20x, or even 30x, then the S23 Ultra is actually the better choice.

Also read: Check how the S23 Ultra compared against other 2023 flagships in a blind test

S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra: Battery and charging

This section is disappointingly unchanged between the phones, with the S24 Ultra repeating the specs of the S23 Ultra (and the S22 Ultra, for that matter). Back is the 5,000 mAh battery, capable of being recharged at up to 45 W using an optional charger. On the wireless front, the S24 Ultra is once again Qi-compatible for wireless charging, while also offering reverse wireless charging (Wireless PowerShare).

With a more power-hungry SoC, we expect to see a slightly lower battery life on the Galaxy S24 Ultra compared to its predecessor, but once again we ask you to wait for our full review for a proper comparison.

S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra: Software

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra brings the One UI 6.1 interface, which is a minor update to the One UI 6 system running on top of Android 14 available for most Galaxy phones released in the past two years. Samsung is already rolling out One UI 6.1 for the S23 Ultra, which means the new AI functions under the umbrella term "Galaxy AI" will also debut on last year's flagship.

One of the most important improvements announced with the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a longer software support policy—in the past, Samsung retroactively expanded longer support for previous models, but it doesn't seem to be happening again. Instead of the four Android upgrades promised for the S23 Ultra, the S24 Ultra should receive seven OS updates, until Android 21, with seven years of security updates, compared to five on the S23 line.

S24 Ultra or S23 Ultra: Which device should I buy?

Pricing being equal, we recommend opting for the S24 Ultra. It should offer better performance and receive security updates for much longer (until a "Galaxy S31" release in 2031) than the S23 Ultra (which should stop updating in 2028), making it a better investment overall in the long run.

The fact that Samsung has played it safe in many aspects without any meaningful upgrades in the screen, battery, and charging departments should also make the new model less susceptible to unexpected vulnerabilities. This cannot necessarily be said of the S24 base models and their adoption of an unproven processor.

That being said, we expect to see retailers aggressively discounting the S23 Ultra from its $1200 MSRP, making the answer much more difficult and subjective. This is still true: the S23 Ultra remains one of the best phones launched in 2023 as well as in 2024! The flagship recently received a few new features with Galaxy AI and offers more than enough performance for most users.

What do you think of the camera? Are you happy about the stronger focus on lower focal lengths or are you "Team 100x"? I look forward to your opinion in the comments!

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	2024 flagship	2023 flagship
Product	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Picture
Review	Galaxy S24 Ultra hands-on	Galaxy S23 Ultra review
Price (MSRP)	$ 1300 / € 1449	$1200 / €1190
Display	6.8-inch LTPO OLED 3120 x 1440 pixels 1 ~ 120 Hz refresh rate	6.8-inch LTPO OLED 3088 x 1440 pixels 1 ~ 120 Hz refresh rate
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Memory	12 GB LPDDR5X RAM 256 / 512 / 1024 GB UFS 4.0 storage No storage expansion	8 / 12 GB LPDDR5X RAM 256 / 512 / 1024 GB UFS 4.0 storage No storage expansion
OS	One UI 6.1 over Android 14 Seven Android upgrades Seven years of security updates	One UI 5.1 over Android 13 Four Android upgrades Five years of security updates
Camera	Main: 200 MP, f/1.7, OIS Ultra-wide: 12 MP, f/2.2 Telephoto 5x: 50 MP, f/3.4, OIS Telephoto 3x: 10 MP, f/2.4, OIS	Main: 200 MP, f/1.7, OIS Ultra-wide: 12 MP, f/2.2 Telephoto 3x: 10 MP, f/2.4, OIS Telephoto 10x: 10 MP, f/4.9, OIS
Selfie Camera	12 MP, f/2.2	12 MP, f/2.2
Battery	5000 mAh 45 W wired charging 15 W wireless charging 4.5 W reverse wireless charging	5000 mAh 45 W wired charging 15 W wireless charging 4.5 W reverse wireless charging
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Dimensions and weight	6.39 x 3.11 x 0.33 in, 8.18 oz 162,3 x 79,0 x 8,6 mm, 232 g	3.07 x 6.43 x 0.35 in, 8.25 oz 163,4 x 78,1 x 8,9 mm, 233 g
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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra: Key features compared

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