The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra packs a ton of AI features, including Circle to Search, Live Translate, Chat Assist and lots of Generative AI photo editing tools. A stronger titanium design, a flat display and the latest Snapdragon 8 3 Chip. But at $1,299, the Samsung S24 Ultra is super pricey and $100 more than the S23 Ultra.
Tom's Guide reviews the new handset.
Tom's Guide reviews the new handset.
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TechTranscript
00:00Samsung's first AI phone is here.
00:02This is the Galaxy S24 Ultra,
00:03with the new flat design, new colors, and more.
00:07We're gonna walk you through all of the new AI features,
00:09including Circle to Search, generative AI images,
00:12and Live Translate,
00:13as well as tons of productivity shortcuts.
00:16Let's go take our first look.
00:18Let's start with design.
00:19The Galaxy S24 Ultra looks similar
00:21to its predecessor at first glance,
00:23but there are some notable changes here,
00:24and that includes an all-new titanium design,
00:27which Samsung says is more durable
00:28and is more resistant to dents and scratches.
00:31On the front, you're gonna notice
00:32that the display is more immersive than before,
00:35and that's because you're getting slimmer bevels
00:37around the sides and the top and bottom here,
00:40and the camera cutout is smaller.
00:42And the other thing that you're gonna notice
00:44is that the display doesn't have a curve anymore,
00:46and this is great,
00:47especially for those who like to use the S Pen,
00:50so it's almost like you're getting more surface area
00:52when it comes to taking notes.
00:53And the display itself is brighter than before.
00:55You're now getting up to 2,600 nits of brightness.
00:59That's about 40% brighter in terms of outdoor viewability,
01:01so you're definitely getting to notice the difference
01:03when you're outside in the sun.
01:07The Galaxy S24 Ultra has four different color options.
01:10We have titanium violet here, which I like,
01:12because it pops,
01:13but you also have a more subdued titanium black,
01:16titanium yellow, which I think is really nice
01:18for people who want to stand out in the crowd,
01:20and titanium gray, which looks like a certain iPhone.
01:25Let's walk you through the camera system
01:26on the Galaxy S24 Ultra,
01:28and there's a little bit of a controversial change here,
01:29because you still have a 200 megapixel main lens,
01:33which lets in more light,
01:34but instead of having a dedicated 10x optical zoom,
01:38it's now 5x, but with a 50 megapixel sensor.
01:42So the idea is that you get 10x-like results
01:45with a higher resolution by cropping in,
01:47and we're gonna have to see how well
01:48that turns out in our testing.
01:49You also have a 12 megapixel ultrawide,
01:52and on the front,
01:53you have a 12 megapixel front-facing camera.
01:56In terms of specs and performance,
01:58the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes
01:59with a Snapdragon HN3 processor,
02:01which is not only faster than the previous version,
02:04it has a built-in NPU that allows you
02:06to do a lot of the AI features
02:08that we're about to show you.
02:09With the Galaxy S24 Ultra,
02:11the AI part is not just a buzzword.
02:13Galaxy AI is designed to help you do various things faster,
02:16and we're gonna start with circle to search.
02:19So let's say I'm in the gallery.
02:20I long-press the home button,
02:23I circle the item,
02:24and this will work in any app where you have an image,
02:27and then you can see that there's information down below,
02:30and what's great about circle to search
02:31is that when you're done,
02:32you can just go right back into the app,
02:34so that's pretty easy.
02:35The next feature is chat assist,
02:37and as a writer, I take a little bit of offense
02:39to the fact that AI is telling me how to write,
02:41but for those who want a little bit of help
02:43when it comes to the tone of their messages
02:44that they're sending,
02:45then it's nice to have this assistant on board.
02:48So for example, if I'm talking to a colleague,
02:51and I wanted to say,
02:53how the heck did you miss this deadline?
03:01And then I go in here, and I say writing style,
03:05so that's my original,
03:07and then the professional version would be,
03:08could you please explain why this deadline was not met?
03:12So that could actually help me
03:13from getting in some trouble with my boss.
03:16For those that use the Samsung Notes app,
03:18there's a lot of features built in that have AI on board,
03:20and that includes the ability to auto-summarize your notes,
03:23especially if they're longer.
03:25When you're done, you can either add that
03:26to the end of your note,
03:27or you can start a whole new note
03:29with that formatting built in.
03:31The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a number of AI features
03:35that you can use when it comes to editing your shots.
03:37So once you're in the image,
03:38all you need to do is just hit this button
03:40on the left-hand side,
03:41then you'll want to select your subject, just like this,
03:44and then from there, you just long press,
03:48and you can move them in the frame.
03:49Let's say you want them a little bit higher,
03:51catching more air,
03:52you can make them a little bit bigger, like this,
03:55while still making it realistic,
03:56and then you hit generate,
03:58and this is the final shot,
03:59and you just hit done,
04:01and you have something new in your gallery
04:03that looks more impressive than what you had before.
04:05The other thing that Photo Assist can do
04:06on the Galaxy S24 Ultra
04:08is take things out of the frame that you don't want there,
04:11and an example here is this reflection.
04:13All you have to do is just hit the info button here,
04:16and it'll suggest different tweaks
04:18that you can make to your image.
04:20So, for example, you can erase the reflections.
04:24Boom, the reflection is gone,
04:25and it actually looks like it was never there.
04:28From there, you just hit save,
04:29and you have a new copy of that image.
04:31One of the cooler camera tricks of the Galaxy S24 Ultra
04:34is the ability to create slow-motion videos
04:37without having to record it in slow-mo at first,
04:40and it uses AI to analyze motion in the frame.
04:43So, for example, in this video,
04:44all you have to do is just press and hold
04:46when you want things to slow down,
04:49and when you want it to end, you just let go,
04:52and then from there, you can go into the editor
04:55and then decide if you wanna keep the clip as is
04:58with that slow-motion segment,
04:59or edit it down and save it as a new clip
05:02just as a slow-motion video.
05:05The Galaxy S24 Ultra
05:06has a live translate feature built in,
05:08so if you're on a phone call with someone else
05:10and they speak a different language,
05:11it can be translated in real time
05:13and transcribed on your display.
05:15As an example, we're gonna call a restaurant
05:16and see what happens when we try to go
05:18from Spanish to English.
05:20Hi, I'm trying to make a reservation
05:21for two at 9 p.m. tonight.
05:26Okay, can I take your name?
05:28Sure, my name is Mark.
05:33So, overall, I'm impressed with the Galaxy S24 Ultra,
05:36but let's talk about the price.
05:37It's $1,299, which is $100 more than the last version,
05:40so I'd like to hear from you
05:41whether or not you feel like it'll be worth the money.
05:44Make sure you follow us, at Tom's Guide,
05:45on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and more,
05:48and stay tuned for our full review of the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
05:51This is Mark Spoonhauer.