From Samsung Galaxy S24Ultra is finally here, and on my list of the best phones you can buy it, it’s the best phone overall. On paper it doesn’t seem like a huge upgrade over the Galaxy S23Ultra, and in some ways even seems like a step backwards. Should you just buy last year’s Ultra instead, if the price is right? No! Even if the S23 Ultra lands on your lap for free, I recommend you buy this year’s model or wait until you can afford a phone made from this point forward.
Wait, is the Galaxy S23 Ultra still on sale? Yes, and unfortunately the prices make little sense since the new hotness is already here. When the Galaxy S23 Ultra launched in February 2023, it cost $1,199 in the US. Today you can buy a brand new Galaxy S23 Ultra on Samsung.com for the low price of…$1,199. Yes, Samsung hasn’t lowered the price at all.
Samsung even offers more value on a trade-in if you buy a Galaxy S24 Ultra instead of an S23 Ultra. I checked the value for one iPhone 14 traded for a new Galaxy Ultra and Samsung offered $400 if I buy this year’s Ultra, but only $325 if I choose the S23 Ultra instead.
Seven years of Android versus four
Even if you find a deal on a used or refurbished Ultra from last year, I’d still stick with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. First of all, Samsung promises only four years of Android updates on phones from 2023. That’s not bad, and probably longer than you’ll own the phone, but the latest Galaxy S24 family, including the Ultra, comes with a seven-year promise of Android and security updates.
That’s a big, groundbreaking promise. That could mean a higher resale value if you sell this phone in two years, as your buyer can enjoy Android updates for another five years. Samsung’s confidence in this phone could also mean more repair options available if you keep this phone for four years and need to replace the battery.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra camera is better and I won’t answer any questions
Secondly, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a complete upgrade over the Galaxy S23 Ultra, regardless of what the spec sheet says. The biggest point of contention is the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10x zoom camera, which has been reduced to just 5x zoom. I tested both cameras side by side and I would choose the Galaxy S24 Ultra every time.
Let’s face it: neither phone is really a great camera for astrophotography, but they get the job done when other smartphone cameras don’t come close. Photos of the moon taken with the Galaxy S23 Ultra look as if they were taken through a telescope. They are not professional quality; you don’t print them out and hang them on the wall. They just look better than you’d expect, because most smartphones can only create a blurry blob.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra takes an even better photo. You lose some detail, but there is much less noise and the new phone shows better color and dynamic range between the light and dark areas. It’s a good trade, and in almost every scenario I like the newer camera better.
In fact, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is better in every way
Apart from the cameras, the Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn’t even come close to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Although both phones have a battery cell that measures the same 5,000mAh, we got hours more screen time from the S24 Ultra during our Future Labs battery tests.
In terms of raw power and performance? The Galaxy S23 Ultra was certainly very fast, but not as fast as the iPhone 14 Pro. The Galaxy S24 Ultra beats the fastest iPhone 15 Pro. Enough said.
I haven’t mentioned the Galaxy AI features yet because I don’t think they’re key to my recommendation, but they could be important in the future. When that happens, you’ll want a phone that’s future-proof. The Galaxy S24 Ultra uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a chipset with a much more powerful neural processing unit (NPU), a specialized processor component that powers so-called AI and machine learning functions.
We’ve already heard rumors from Samsung that older phones would lose AI features as the latest software features roll back to previous generations. The Galaxy S23 Ultra should get foreign language translations and some of the same photo editing features as the new phones, but it won’t get all the AI features you’ll find on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The list of features that the S23 Ultra lacks will grow faster than the list of features that Samsung adds.
With the price of these phones being so close, it’s hard to imagine the Galaxy S24 Ultra being a tough choice over the Galaxy S23 Ultra. If you find a big discount or inherit a rich uncle’s Galaxy, I’d take that S23 Ultra and then trade it in for this year’s phone.