Samsung Galaxy S24 vs S24+ vs S24 Ultra (Don't Waste $500)

Summary

The video analyzes the differences between the three new Galaxy S24 phones: the regular S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra. Key factors compared include display quality, one-handed usability, materials/design, performance, battery life, and cameras. The presenter found the regular S24 provides incredible value with its one-handed form factor, still having a bright and smooth display plus good battery life. But camera and multimedia enthusiasts may want to spend extra on the Ultra’s superior zoom, low light captures, S-Pen support, and immersive squared-off display.

Takeaways

• 😊 The new Galaxy S24 lineup has impressive specs, but Samsung has blurred the lines between the models, making it hard to decide which to buy
• 👀 The S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra have very similar display tech, refresh rates and default resolution
• 🔍 The S24 Ultra has a Gorilla Armor front glass that reduces reflections by 75% for better visibility
• 📏 The S24 is the most one-handed friendly, while the S24 Ultra is definitely a two-handed phone for most people
• 🎨 The S24 and S24 Plus have aluminum frames, while the S24 Ultra uses more durable titanium
• 🧠 All models have the same AI features like real-time translation and Circle Search
• 🔋 The smaller S24 display helps battery life, but all models lost power at similar rates in tests
• 📸 The S24 Ultra has a better peri-scope zoom camera, but image quality differences come from other factors too
• 💻 The S24 Ultra has Wi-Fi 7 and Ultra Wideband, both missing from the regular S24
• 👍 The regular S24 seems to offer the best value and experience for most users

Q & A

What are the main differences between the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra?

The main differences are in display size, camera specs, RAM, storage, materials, and pricing. The S24 has a 6.2 inch screen, the S24 Plus has a 6.7 inch screen, and the S24 Ultra has a 6.8 inch screen. The S24 Ultra also has a superior camera system with a 200MP main lens and 5x optical zoom. The S24 only has 8GB RAM while the Plus and Ultra have 12GB. The Ultra can go up to 1TB storage while the regular S24 maxes out at 256GB. The Ultra uses a titanium frame while the others use aluminum. Finally, pricing ranges from $799 for the regular S24 to $1299 for the Ultra.

What display features are the same across the S24 lineup?

All models have Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays with 2600 nit peak brightness, 1080p resolution by default (but Plus and Ultra can enable Quad HD+), 120Hz refresh rates, and HDR10+ certification. They also all have flat displays rather than curved.

How do the battery capacities and battery life compare?

The S24 has a 4000 mAh battery, the S24 Plus has a 4900 mAh battery, and the S24 Ultra has a 5000 mAh battery. In testing, battery life was quite similar when playing video, exporting files, and in standby. The smaller S24 screen seems to help conserve battery life compared to the Plus and Ultra.

What processors are used in the different models?

In the US, all three models use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. In other regions, the S24 and S24 Plus use Samsung's Exynos chip instead.

How do the cameras compare between models?

The S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra share the same 12MP selfie camera, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP 3x telephoto cameras. The main difference is in the wide angle primary camera - 50MP on the S24/Plus and 200MP on the Ultra. The S24 Ultra also adds a 5x optical zoom telephoto camera.

What are some other differences between models?

The S24 Ultra has Wi-Fi 7 while the others have Wi-Fi 6E. The regular S24 lacks Ultra Wideband support. The S24 Ultra supports S Pen input. The Ultra has a titanium frame while the others use aluminum. Fast charging is limited to 25W on the S24 but goes up to 45W on the Plus/Ultra.

How many years of software updates are promised?

Samsung has committed to providing 7 years of software updates for the entire Galaxy S24 lineup.

What AI features are included?

All models have the same AI features like live translation during calls, Circle Search to identify objects, photo enhancements, chat suggestions, text summarization, etc.

What case and screen protector does the presenter recommend?

The presenter recommends using any case, but is currently using the Pataka case which has MagSafe capabilities. For screen protection, he recommends a inexpensive tempered glass protector since the displays are flat.

Which Galaxy S24 model seems most recommended for general users?

The presenter recommends the regular S24 for most users. He believes the display, performance, battery life, and camera will satisfy most people at $799 starting price. The S24 Plus doesn't offer many big advantages for its higher $999 price.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Overview of Galaxy S24 lineup differences

The new Galaxy S24 lineup has three models: regular, plus, and ultra. Initially they have similar specs like display resolution and refresh rate, but the ultra has less reflective Gorilla Glass screen. The sizes range from 6.2 to 6.8 inches, affecting one-handed use. All models have flat screens, same processor in the US, and 7 years of updates. The ultra omits some features like Ultra wideband.

05:01

😉 Details on displays, sizes, materials

The S24 lineup has dynamic AMOLED 2X displays with 2600 nit peak brightness and 120Hz refresh rates. Pixels per inch is highest on the Plus. The Ultra's Gorilla Glass Armor reduces reflections. The regular S24 is easiest for one-handed use at 6.2 inches. The Plus is 6.7 inches and Ultra is 6.8. The Ultra uses titanium frames for a different look. There are 4 colors available.

10:03

📷 Camera comparisons and battery life test results

The S24 Ultra has a 200MP camera versus 50MP on the Plus/regular but megapixels don't determine quality. The Ultra's 5x periscope lens takes much better zoomed photos. Stabilization is great on all models. Battery tests show smaller display on regular S24 conserves battery best when playing video at max brightness. Exporting videos used the same power on all. Overnight standby drain was the same.

15:03

💡 Final recommendations and conclusions

The S24 regular has compelling price at $799 with upgraded specs over prior generation. $999 for S24 Plus adds more resolution, RAM, and fast charging. S24 Ultra at $1299 has extras like S-Pen and best cameras aimed at power users. But for most, S24 provides the best value with one-handed use, same features, and lower cost.

Keywords

💡Galaxy S24 lineup

The Galaxy S24 lineup refers to Samsung's latest flagship smartphone models for 2024. It includes the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra. The video discusses the differences between these models and which one is the best option to buy. The S24 lineup represents Samsung's newest premium smartphone offerings with updated specs and features.

💡display

The display is one of the main differences between the S24 models. They all have bright, vibrant AMOLED displays with high refresh rates. However, the Ultra has a larger 6.8-inch screen with squared corners and anti-reflective Gorilla Glass for better visibility. The Plus is 6.7-inches while the base S24 is 6.2-inches, which is easier for one-handed use.

💡camera

The rear camera systems vary between the models, with the Ultra having the highest resolution 200MP main lens. But the 5x telephoto lens on the Ultra is considered the biggest advantage for zoomed photos. The Plus has a 50MP main camera while the base S24 also has a capable 50MP lens. All models share the same 12MP front camera.

💡performance

In terms of performance, all models in the US have the same cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. But the Ultra and Plus have more RAM at 12GB vs 8GB in the base S24. The Ultra also uniquely has Wi-Fi 7 for faster speeds.

💡battery

Battery size and charging differ between the models. The Ultra has a large 5,000mAh capacity with 45W fast charging. The Plus also has 45W charging but a slightly smaller 4,900mAh battery. The regular S24 has 25W charging and 4,000mAh battery, but its smaller display makes the battery life competitive.

💡S Pen

The S Pen stylus is only included with the Galaxy S24 Ultra model. The video host frequently uses the S Pen for note-taking and content creation tasks, making it a key differentiator of the Ultra. The flat display also complements the S Pen experience.

💡one-handed use

One advantage highlighted of the regular S24 is its one-handed usability. Its 6.2-inch size allows easy reaching across the whole display. The larger Plus and Ultra models are better suited for two-handed operation.

💡price

Pricing is a major difference, with the S24 starting at $799, S24 Plus at $999, and S24 Ultra at $1299. The video recommends the S24 for most users based on its lower cost with still-impressive features and one-handed design.

💡premium

The term "premium" is used to characterize the high-end Ultra model with

Highlights

The S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra have very similar display specs and 120Hz refresh rate

The S24 Ultra has Gorilla Glass Armor on the front to reduce reflections by 75%

The S24 is the most one-handed friendly, while the S24 Ultra will likely require two hands for most people

The S24 Ultra uses a titanium frame compared to aluminum on the S24 and S24 Plus

The S24 charges slower at 25W, while the S24 Plus and Ultra charge at 45W

The S24 has less RAM at 8GB and limited storage options compared to 12GB RAM and up to 1TB storage on Ultra

The S24 Ultra has better zoom capabilities with a 5x optical zoom lens

The S24 had the best battery life in video playback test

The S24 lacks ultra-wideband support compared to Plus and Ultra

The S24 Ultra supports WiFi 7 compared to WiFi 6E on S24 and S24 Plus

All models get 7 years of software updates

The S24 starts at $799, S24 Plus at $999, and S24 Ultra at $1299

The S24 provides great value with latest specs at same price as last year

For most users, S24 delivers nearly identical experience as Plus for much lower price

Power users will likely prefer S24 Ultra for S Pen, cameras, RAM and WiFi 7

Transcripts

so the new Galaxy s24 lineup is really

impressive but now more than any

previous generation Samsung blurred the

lines between the premium one the ultra

and the plus and the regular making it a

lot more difficult to decide which one's

actually the best one to get should you

save several hundred on the cheaper one

that has a lot of the same specs or you

want to go one step above to the Plus or

one step above that to the ultra and in

this video after having tested these

pretty extensively for the past couple

days I want talk about the differences

between them and help you decide which

is actually the best one to buy because

honestly it is pretty surprising when

you look at how similar these are and

what the subtle differences are that

weren't actually mentioned in the

keynote or even on the spec sheets for

most part so let's start off with the

obvious difference these obviously have

very different displays but out of the

box they actually have the same

resolution they all have fhd plus full

HD which is basically 1080p display on

these phones but if you go into settings

the s24 plus and the s24 ultra can have

Quad HD now I think that's interesting

that Samsung decided to do that my

speculation is that it is a battery

trade-off they want to kind of by

default give you the lower resolution

because most people won't actually

notice the resolution difference but

most people will notice the battery

difference so for the battery test in

this video I'm turning them up to Quad

HD the full resolution because I think

that is what they really should be

running now another thing that you'll

really notice is that they do all have a

lot of the same specs on the display

it's a super Amed 2 display uh they have

the same Peak brightness of 2600 nits

which is really incredible uh really

easy to see out in broad daylight and

they also all have 120 HZ fast refresh

rate on the display so the display

technology is actually really similar

and if you look at the pixel density

technically the s24 plus has the best

pixel density it has more pixels per

inch than the than the ultra but the

ultra does have a trick up its sleeve

you see these all have different glass

on the front and I can see it just

looking in the studio right now where we

have Gorilla Glass vicus 2 on the s24 on

the s24 plus and on the back of the s24

ultra but on the front of the s24 ultra

there's a new glass on there this glass

is called gorilla armor and this is

supposed to reduce Reflections by up to

75% and so just setting these you can

see I'll set them on I'll show you guys

what I'm seeing right here it definitely

does reduce the glare and the

reflections really quite significantly

so the combination of the really nice

bright display and less Reflections

should make the ultra substantially more

visible in bright situations and just

more pleasant to look at in general so

that's kind of a hidden positive there

looking at the design of all of these

they share a lot of similar design notes

they're definitely boxier than previous

generations however you'll notice the

display itself we have 6.2 in on the s24

regular but it's rounded on the corner

so it's measuring it's technically a

little bit less than that that we have

6.7 in on the plus so a/ in larger and

then 6.8 in on the ultra but the ultra

of course has much more squared off

Corners which would make media viewing

in my opinion a much more pleasant

experience because you don't have little

rounded corners on the inside there now

they all have flat displays and they

have similar bezels on all of them so

proportionately uh the bezel will look

larger on the smallest model the s24

just because it's the same size but the

overall screen is a little bit smaller

so your ratio is going to be less f

aable there but doing kind of a oneand

test with with each of these I don't

have particularly small hands but I

think that out of all of these easily

the most one-handed one is going to be

the s24 this one I can easily reach the

top I can reach the far corner I can

reach the entire phone with one hand

Without Really straining to do so the

s24 plus I can still reach the top very

easily but the top left corner I really

kind of have to like do a little pinky

gymnastics down there to kind of reach

up and get that corner so it's going to

be more of a two handed phone I think

for most people and then the ultra even

though it is only .1 in larger I think

it's kind of deceptive because it really

is substantially harder to use this

phone with just one hand it's almost

definitely going to be a two-hand phone

for most people out there unless you're

using some quick little oneand gestures

uh to make it more accessible now all of

these are available in four colors

slightly different colors and a key

difference in that is the material that

they are made with so the 24 and the 24

plus both have aluminum frames they kind

of a what they call a unibody design so

it looks honestly it looks really nice

it looks very familiar as well I might

say kind of like the iPhones for example

which I think is a big positive there

but the s24 ultra is actually using a

titanium frame on here although the

weight of the phones doesn't really

change from last year but you'll notice

that that's why they look very different

on the outside uh the rails on them are

just much more matte on the ultra and

still matte on on the plus and the

regular but they don't have that same

textured look that we're seeing on the

ultra for me I actually kind of prefer

the alum aluminum look but titanium does

have its advantages with with hardness

and stuff like that but the colors like

I said we've got four different colors

for all of them the plus and the regular

share the same four colors the ultra has

a slightly different Hue of all the four

colors so really slightly different and

there's some three online exclusive

colors I'll have these linked down below

I have an exclusive affiliate link that

if you go through that you can actually

save uh you can save a lot of money of

an enhanced trade-in credit and you get

double the storage for free so if you

are going to pre-order or order these

please check out their link you guys can

save a lot of money doing that all right

now before we get into the camera test

which is probably going to be the most

impressive part of this video I want to

talk about what's under the hood with

these in in the US right now all three

of these have the Snapdragon 8 gen 3 for

Galaxy it's the same processor in all of

them it's very fast really not you're

not going to see any difference there

but in other regions other parts of the

world many other parts of the world

actually uh the s24 and the 24 plus

instead we'll have the exos 2400 chip

now I haven't personally used that chip

so I can't can't really speak much to it

but I know a lot of people out there are

very upset that they're not getting the

Snapdragon chip so if in that sense the

ultra could be very compelling they do

all have the same AI features I made a

quick little intro video for each of

these last week and a lot of people were

asking like yes I demonstrated the AI

features on the ultra do they exist on

the regular and the plus the answer is

yes uh they do all exist so we're

getting the same things from the call

translation so you're getting real time

translation in a phone call which is

really impressive of course we do have

Circle to search on all of them even

though I showed that in my demonstration

with the S Pen let's just say we're

using the s24 plus here so on any screen

if I tap and hold the home button or if

you are using like I am the gestures on

the bottom you just tap on the little

bar like the little grayish bar on the

bottom you tap and hold there and

that'll bring up Circle to search you

can highlight anything you can Circle

anything uh so if you just highlight

some text like if I highlight uh this

word right here it's going to search for

that it's really honestly quite

impressive you you can use this in any

app you have open and even though this

is a lot like Google Lens the advantage

here is that you no longer have to take

a screenshot and then open up Google

Lens to do that it's all Native it's

built into the UI and I think it's a

huge benefit like I said but I'm kind of

getting off topic here I'll talk more

about the AI features in other videos uh

some more in-depth videos on those

features in particular but focusing on

the differences between these of course

the weight is going to be a pretty

substantial difference you're looking at

8.22 o and I'll show that in metric for

my International Friends uh that's a lot

heavier than 6.24 o on the plus and 5.93

on the regular so as far as pocket

ability if you're running around with

some gym shorts on this smaller phone is

going to be much more comfortable uh to

have in your pocket interestingly

Samsung did omit some things from the

regular even though there are a lot of

similarities one thing that they omitted

was the faster charging you're only

getting 25 watts charging on there

granted it is a smaller battery but

you're getting 45 Watts on the plus and

on the ultra similarly you're getting

less RAM on the regular only 8 GB of RAM

on there and you can't upgrade is only 8

gigs and then the plus and the ultra

both have 12 12 gigs of RAM uh and as

far as storage goes once again you're

kind of limited on the regular so 128 or

256 GB of storage which is okay but it's

not the most out there versus the plus

which doesn't even go that low it starts

at 256 and goes to 512 and the ult ra

does the same thing but also goes up to

a terabyte so the storage is going to be

kind of a trade-off I think that's kind

of how Samsung is starting to justify

the cost difference but I still think

the regular model is still very

compelling especially when we start

getting into the cameras so I want to do

a camera test for you guys but kind of

highlighting the similarities between

them all three of them have the same 12

megapixel front-facing camera the same

12 megapixel ultrawide lens the same 10

megapixel 3x lens but the difference

you're going to see is in the primary

rear lens that wide-angle lens is 200

megapixels on the ultra and 50

megapixels on the plus and the regular

but don't be fooled by how many

megapixels there are that doesn't really

matter that much the image quality

itself is still going to be different

but for other reasons you'll have

different dynamic range you'll have

different uh low light capabilities but

I don't ever use 200 megapixel photos I

always have it been down to 12

megapixels for example and in addition

the ultra one of the biggest benefits to

this in my opinion is not the primary

lens it's actually the 50 megapixels 5x

lens this is your Periscope lens able to

zoom in really well of course your Mac

zoom on here is 100x compared to just

30X on the other two I'm never going to

zoom in that much but at 5x or at 10x

your photos are going to be

substantially better on the ultra as you

can see right here and videos are going

to be slightly different as well all

right so for a quick video test between

the s24 ultra and the plus overall it's

going to be pretty consistent with the

colors uh a lot is is going to be the

same we should have slightly better

dynamic range on the ultra with that

larger sensor and one thing that I

noticed is that when you get closer to

objects it's a lot easier to focus in on

the plus than it is on the ultra uh the

ultra just kind of struggles to focus on

objects that are really close but when

it does it should have more of a natural

bokeh more of a blurring on the

background compared to the plus again

with that larger sensor but for some

reason it definitely struggles so if I

go back up close it's a lot easier to

gain focus on the plus than it is on the

Ultra if we do a quick stabilization

test I'll jump

around and they both they both stabilize

really similarly and really well and now

I mentioned that the battery life on

these is going to be different so let's

get into a quick little battery test

we've got 5,000 mamp hours on the s24

ultra very similar to what we've been

seeing the past couple of generations we

have 4,900 milliamp hours on the plus

which is a big boost over the previous

years and we have 4,000 on the regular

so different screen sizes different

battery sizes let's see how they perform

in that test so the battery test was

honestly a real mixed bag I started off

by playing a video at Max brightness a

local video file on repeat and after 3

hours and 32 minutes the s24 ultra went

from 100% down to 69% the s24 plus went

from 100% down to 70% and the s24 the

regular s24 interestingly only went down

to 80% so the plus and the ultra were

both losing battery at about the same

pace with the smaller phone it seems the

smaller display really helped in the

battery life as far as playing video at

Max brightness now the next test was

exporting videos so I had some very

complex videos really pressing this uh

and exporting them and after 20 minutes

of non-stop exporting all three phones

lost exactly the same amount of power

they all lost 6% and then I left all

three of these phones just sitting there

screens off overnight and so about 8

hours later uh they all lost 4% battery

so again no significant difference there

either I think the only way you're

really going to see a difference with

these phones is going to be if you using

the screen a lot so this was by no means

a perfect battery test but I think it

highlights that the smaller display is

more conservative with battery power and

now a couple other differences between

these phones that interestingly weren't

really mentioned anywhere uh one of them

is that you're getting Wi-Fi 7 on the

s24 ultra whereas you're getting the

previous generation Wi-Fi 6E on the 24

and the 24 plus I think a lot of people

don't have Wi-Fi 7 routers just yet but

if you're trying to be future proof the

ultra is going to be uh definitely

faster there definitely a big Advantage

but not everyone like I said is going to

care about that or use that in addition

the s24 regular one of the few

differences here with the regular is

that it actually lacks Ultra wideband

which I thought was really interesting

Samsung just came out with her smart tag

to and so like the plus and the ultra

are going to be substantially better at

finding that that Ultra wideband is

going to be what you use when the tag is

on the other side of the room and and

you don't know where it is maybe it's

under a couch cushion and you're using

your phone to kind of point in the right

direction and navigate over to your lost

tag so I'm not sure why Samsung omitted

that on the 24 and then didn't really

tell anyone about that it seems like

that's a pretty big differentiator at

least for me as somebody who uses smart

tags a lot they do all have seven years

of updates though so once again

longevity on these phones should be

quite impressive especially because the

build quality feels so solid they do all

of flat displays which means you now can

put on like a really solid screen

protector like a nice tempered glass

screen protector that's also very cheap

like they're not going to cost a lot of

money and so protecting your phone will

be great um I've actually been using

this Paka I think is how you pronounce

it sorry if I said that wrong been using

this case uh not sponsored they sent it

to me uh and it's just like any I don't

actually care I just use any case that I

can this one has mag safe on the back

though so personally I like this one to

kind of protect my phone but keep it

slim at the same time uh but like I said

7 years of updates is quite impressive

on par with what we see with the latest

pixel phones they like I said they all

have the same AI features uh like call

translation Circle to search photo

editing chat enhancement summarizing all

that stuff uh but the prices are going

to be obviously quite different so I

said I have links down below it'll give

you some like enhanced trade in and some

other credits and and some extra storage

and stuff like that but the MSRP on

these you're looking at

$799 for the s24 which I think is

actually quite compelling considering

it's substantially upgraded over

previous generations but the price is

the same as it was which is I don't know

I'm happy to see that then we have $9.99

for the s24 plus once again the same

price as the previous generations but a

much better experience this time in fact

Samsung changed this one the most making

it much more similar to the ultra and

then $1299 for the ultra definitely not

a cheap phone but you're getting a lot

that you don't see on basically any

other phone out there I think power

users without a doubt are going to want

that S Pen I didn't even really mention

that as a difference but obviously the

ultra has that pen I use it all the time

and the flat display is really nice with

the S Pen I think it's Superior with the

cameras and like for me personally

that's the phone that I am going to be

using uh because I mean I have all three

available so that's the one that makes

the most sense for me but between the

plus and the regular if I were going to

recommend somebody to buy one honestly I

think most users are not going to notice

the increase in resolution especially

because out of the box it's not even

there I think most users will not notice

the extra Ram I think fast charging is

great but I typically charge overnight

on a wireless stand anyway and they both

have the same wireless charging

capabilities and overnight like speed

doesn't really matter anyway personally

I would recommend the s24 like I think

that being able to use it one hand and

have all the same features most of the

same features at least for a

substantially lower price is really a

compelling phone I think the s24 is

still a meaningful jump over the s23 Fe

making it like a really solid

recommendation I think a lot of people

are going to like this but unless you

want the larger display for Media or

multitasking or or maybe actually think

you'll you'll use the extra RAM and fast

charging then sure go with the plus but

that's my analysis on these three phones

here I think the 24 regular like I just

really like how this phone looks I like

how it feels it just seems like a nice

step up uh in this lineup so let me know

which of these you like the best and why

all right so this is not the last

comparison I'm making with these phones

leave a comment below and let me know

which phones you would like me to

compare these two whether they are other

phones in the Samsung lineup or maybe

the OnePlus phones or the pixel phones

definitely leave a comment I'm making

that video very very soon actually

several videos soon uh so let me know

which one you want to see and if you

enjoy the video consider subscribing I'm

Michael Brian thanks for watching I'll

see you guys in the next one