Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: latest news, rumors and everything we know so far
There’s every chance the rumored Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will be the best Android phone of 2024, and you probably won’t have to wait until late in the year to get it, as we expect it to arrive early in the year to appear. .
As such, we now probably only have to wait a few more months, and the leaks and rumors predictably start to increase. We therefore have a good idea of many of the likely specs and features of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and have even seen some unofficial renders of the phone.
You’ll find all of this below, along with information on possible pricing, and we’ll update this article as soon as we hear anything else about this exciting top phone candidate.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The likely next top-end Samsung phone
- When is it out? Probably January
- How much is it? Possibly more than $1,199.99 / £1,249 / AU$1,949
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Rumored release date and price
- Probably launched in January
- Probably at least $1,199.99 / £1,249 / AU$1,949
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will likely launch in January, as that’s what the only Galaxy S24 Ultra release date rumor claims so far. That said, February is almost as likely as February 2023 that we’ll get the Samsung Galaxy S23 line.
Either way, the phone will almost certainly land in the early months of 2024, making it one of the first major smartphone launches of the year.
As for the price, it could be extremely expensive, with one source claiming that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will cost more than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
They haven’t said exactly how much it will cost, but for reference, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra starts at $1,199.99 / £1,249 / AU$1,949. So if it costs more, then it’s one of the most expensive phones that don’t fold.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: design and display
- Expect a similar design but titanium sides
- There are rumors of a very bright 6.8-inch screen
- Possibly a 144Hz refresh rate
Leaks show that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will look a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. We’ve seen unofficial renders of the Galaxy S24 Ultra that show an almost identical design, as you can see below, but with some minor changes.
For starters, the bezels are apparently a bit slimmer, and they’re said to be “one of the narrowest bezels you’ll see on any smartphone.”
The same leak also states that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra measures 162.3 x 79 x 8.7mm and weighs 233 grams, making it a little bit shorter, slimmer and lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. They also state that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have titanium sides, instead of aluminum like its predecessor. This is a premium material and would bring it more in line with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which also have titanium sides.
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We’ve heard mentions multiple times that titanium will be used by the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, although one source clarifies that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will apparently use a titanium alloy. We’ve also heard that the above weight and dimensions have been leaked more than once, with the slight exception of leaker @UniverseIce claiming that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will be 8.6mm thick.
As for the display, @UniverseIce and the source of the renders above have both claimed that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a 6.8-inch display, just like the current model. But the former adds that the S24 Ultra’s screen will be able to reach 2,500 nits of brightness.
That could make it the brightest smartphone screen in the world, marginally ahead of the Pixel 8 Pro’s 2,400 nits, and well ahead of the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 2,000 nits and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 1,750 nits.
That’s not the only screen upgrade we’ve heard about either, as one leak claims the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a 144Hz refresh rate. That’s up from 120Hz on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the latter of which is also the refresh rate most other high-end phones have (except the best gaming phones).
A higher refresh rate can make animations and page scrolling seem smoother, so this is beneficial. But the source who made this claim doesn’t have much experience, so we’ll take this with a grain of salt.
Finally, we’ve heard that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra may be the first Samsung phone to use an advanced and energy-efficient ‘M13’ display. That would put it a generation ahead of the screens used on today’s top Samsung phones, and it’s also the display technology the iPhone 16 line will reportedly use.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: cameras
- Maybe 5x zoom instead of 10x
- The other cameras could be similar to those of the S23 Ultra
We’ve heard a lot of leaks about the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s cameras, but strangely enough, there’s also quite a bit of controversy about them.
Most recently we heard that Samsung wouldn’t be putting a 10x optical zoom camera on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, while the phone would apparently have a 5x optical zoom instead according to @UniverseelIjsas well as a second lens with 3x zoom.
5x zoom would be in line with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Google Pixel 8 Pro, but Samsung has been leading the way in optical zoom for years, so it would seem strange if it gave up that lead.
As for the other cameras, according to leaker Yogesh Brar, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a 200MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 50MP telephoto camera (which will likely offer 3x optical zoom), a 10MP periscope (the leak of which is above suggests it only offers 5x optical zoom) and a 12 MP front camera.
That would mean more megapixels in the telephoto camera than the 10 MP unit on the S23 Ultra, but the other figures are the same as on the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
We also heard from another source that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a 50MP telephoto camera. And I’ve also heard elsewhere that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a 12MP selfie camera, just as the leak above claims, and it won’t be an under-display camera.
Since these are the latest leaks and come from reputable sources, we’re inclined to believe them, but previous leaks paint a different picture. For example, @UniverseIce previously suggested there wouldn’t be a 50MP lens, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra would apparently have a pair of 12MP snappers for telephoto shots instead.
We also previously heard another leaker claim that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have 3x and 10x zoom cameras, just like the S23 Ultra, but with “minor improvements” to the 10x zoom lens. Even earlier, the same source claimed that Samsung would only offer one telephoto snapper on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but it would be able to switch between multiple zoom levels. However, they later claimed that this plan had been cancelled.
Finally, another early leak suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra would have a 1-inch sensor, which would be much larger than we’ve previously seen from Samsung, and could improve dynamic range and low-light performance. However, this isn’t something we’ve heard mentioned recently, so we think it’s unlikely.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: battery
- A 5,000mAh battery and 45W charging seem likely
- Apparently no changes compared to last year
We don’t expect any major battery upgrades with this phone, as leaks suggest the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a 5,000mAh battery and charge at 45W, just like the S23 Ultra.
Not only have leakers said this, but one certification for the Galaxy S24 Ultra points to a 5,000mAh battery, while another suggests the S24 Ultra will offer 45W charging.
There were early reports suggesting that Samsung was working on stacked battery technology for phones, which would allow for around a 10% improvement in battery capacity without taking up more battery space. But if the company is working on this, it doesn’t seem like we’ll see this in the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Specifications and Features
- Likely to be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset
- Possibility of 2 TB of storage space and 16 GB of RAM
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will likely have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. After all, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, so it would make sense if the S24 Ultra gets the next generation of that chipset.
However, we’ve heard that Samsung may be using a mix of Snapdragon chipsets and its own Exynos 2400 chipset in the Galaxy S24 line, so there’s some uncertainty about which models will get what, and whether this will depend on your region.
Prior to the S23 line, Samsung also used two different chipsets in Galaxy S phones, with some regions getting a Snapdragon and others getting an Exynos. And there’s a chance this will happen again here, with leaker Yogesh Brar claiming there will be both Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Exynos 2400 versions of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
That would be a shame, because it’s inevitable that one of those chipsets will be worse than the other (and based on past form, it’ll probably be the Exynos that’s weaker).
But elsewhere we’ve heard that Samsung plans to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in all versions of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, with the standard Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S24 Plus getting the Exynos 2400.
Some versions of the S24 Ultra will almost certainly use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 anyway, whether they all do or not, as we’ve seen an early benchmark for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra that includes this chipset.
The scores achieved are also a significant boost compared to those of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. So this could be a powerful phone, although its scores will fall well short of what an early leak claimed the S24 Ultra would be capable of, or to beat the A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro, as another leak claimed it would would be able to. by.
An AnTuTu benchmark also recorded impressive numbers for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with it offering around a 15% increase in CPU performance and a 39% increase in GPU performance over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
It’s also worth noting that Samsung will likely have access to an overclocked version of this chipset, much like it did with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, although it’s not clear which version these early benchmarks are using.
As for RAM and storage, there’s some disagreement, with one of the benchmarks above only mentioning 8GB of RAM (although other configurations would certainly be offered as well). Another source claimed that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra would have 16GB of RAM in all configurations – although they notably said a few weeks earlier that a 12GB model of the S24 Ultra was likely and an 8GB model was possible.
They also claimed that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a massive 2TB storage capacity, with a starting capacity of 128GB or 256GB.