Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra rumours have revealed almost everything about the premium model. The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s remaining details will be revealed at the next Galaxy Unpacked event later this month. Samsung must improve on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which had top performance, battery life, and the best cameras of the year.
However, Galaxy S24 Ultra rumours indicate much to be excited about. In addition to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, the Galaxy S24 Ultra may have a more powerful telephoto lens. Samsung may also consider increasing the phone’s 6.8-inch display refresh rate and using stacked batteries to extend battery life. Here’s what we know about the Galaxy S24 Ultra from early leaks and Ultra model rumours.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra highlights:
- The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s camera may be enhanced by Samsung’s “Zoom with Galaxy AI” feature.
- A new rumour suggests that pre-ordering the Galaxy S24 Ultra will include free double storage.
- Galaxy S24 Ultra pricing may rise while other S24 models fall.
- Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S24 Ultra at Galaxy Unpacked on January 17th.
- The Galaxy S24 Ultra may record 4K video at 120fps.
Release Date
Samsung is active again this year after a busy 2023. January 17 marks its next product launch. The Galaxy S24 lineup may debut here, but it’s not confirmed. Samsung’s invitation mentions Galaxy AI, which may be a big part of S24. More on that later. Though anticipated since last year, the Galaxy S lineup’s January 17 launch date is early. Galaxy Unpacked begins at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT/6 p.m. GMT on January 17, with a San Jose event. No worries—you can live stream it, and we’ll be there to report.
Price Estimates
Our biggest wish is that Samsung locks down pricing or lowers the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s $1,199 starting price. With all the premium features Samsung packs into that model and rising smartphone part costs, a price cut is unlikely. Samsung may use a mix of Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Exynos 2400 chips in its phones to cut costs and maintain Galaxy S23 prices, according to an early rumour. Two European sources say the Galaxy S24 Ultra will cost €1,449, €50 more than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Similar rumours suggest €50 price cuts for the standard S24 and S24 Plus, though pricing varies by country.
Samsung is offering a discount on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, regardless of its price on January 17. Reserve a pre-order space on Samsung’s website or Shop Samsung App between now and January 16 to receive a $50 credit. No purchase is required—just your name and email address. There are also rumours that this year’s pre-order bonuses will include free double storage and discount vouchers for an unnamed Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds FE.
Design and Display Leaks
Since Samsung introduced the Ultra’s design across the Galaxy S23 lineup last year and made its cheaper Galaxy A phones look like the Ultra, we don’t expect a major redesign for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, main display bezels could change that. Samsung likes the look of vertically descending camera lenses on its phones and is likely to keep it. Samsung may change the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s materials. Multiple leaks suggest the Ultra will have titanium sides instead of Samsung’s Armour Aluminium. One report from leaker Ice Universe claims that will help the Galaxy S24 Ultra weigh a gramme less than the S23 Ultra.
Black, grey, violet, and yellow are rumoured basic colours, along with Samsung store-exclusive orange, light blue, and light green. Technizo Concept’s CAD-based concept designs show the Galaxy S24 Ultra as “a lot like the Galaxy S23 Ultra.” One difference may be more squared-off edges. Alleged Galaxy S24 phone dummies suggest two design changes to the S24 Ultra compared to the S23 Ultra. Its edges can be squarer to reduce the display and back panel curve, and its cameras can be resized to accommodate sensor changes. Windows Report released images of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the best look yet. They confirm the flatter display, titanium build, and four colours mentioned elsewhere. The last few Ultra models have 6.8-inch screens, one of the largest on non-folding phones. Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra should keep its 6.8-inch display. The leaker Ice Universe claims the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will reach 2,500 nits. That’s 750 nits brighter than the 1,750-nit S23 Ultra. A subsequent rumour claims all three S24 models will reach 2,600 nits. The refresh rate may change the display most. Since the Galaxy S20 Ultra, that massive display can refresh at 120Hz. Newer models can scale down to 1Hz when on-screen activity is static.
By raising its maximum refresh rate to 144Hz, the Galaxy S24 Ultra could change that. A SamLover rumour post claims that and other S24 Ultra details. Other devices have 144Hz displays, but generally gaming phones. Samsung promotes its Ultra model’s gaming capabilities—fast processor, big display, internal cooling system to reduce performance lags—so it’s not a stretch to imagine the S24 Ultra adopting this feature. New Gorilla Glass Armour may toughen the screen. Good news for those who drop their devices.
Camera Leaks
Another leak from @Tech_Reve says the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a 3-10x variable folded telephoto lens. The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 3x and 10x lenses would be replaced. The new lens would be periscope-shaped and change focal length while connecting to one sensor. Later, Tech_Reve said we’ll get a 200MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and two telephoto cameras. A 50MP lens with 5x optical zoom and a 10MP lens with 3x. They promise a 12MP front camera.
Famous leaker Ice Universe predicted telephoto lens improvements, fueling camera speculation. “I have full confidence that the Galaxy S24 Ultra has improved the performance of the 3x camera, which means that the image quality of 3x~10x will bring a significant improvement,” the leaker. The leaker says Samsung may use a 50MP telephoto lens with 3x zoom for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. A 50MP telephoto lens is also being considered, according to leaker Yogesh Brar. Ice Universe recently reported that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have 10MP 3x and 50MP 5x zoom lenses. No more 10x optical zoom sounds bad, but the 5x sensor should make up for it, like Apple did with the iPhone 15.
Even with this switch, the phone should still be able to zoom 100x like its predecessors. Samsung has also been promoting its “Zoom with Galaxy AI” feature before Unpacked, which will improve zoomed photos and possibly let users enlarge objects in frame. Twitter tipster @AhmedQwaider888 revealed other new camera features, including 5x portrait zoom, 8K video zoom, and an AI objects-aware engine. AI photo enhancements could improve Galaxy S24 Ultra photos, according to leaker “Alvin,” with other sources citing a 200MP AI optimisation mode, better low-light performance, and more. Some Galaxy S24 Ultra case images posted by Ice Universe include cutouts for the same number of cameras as the S23 Ultra, supporting the rumour that Samsung will keep two telephoto lenses, even if one gets a megapixel boost.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra introduced a new front camera, so if Samsung makes any changes, we’d expect some tweaks. That leaves the phone’s 12MP ultrawide rear lens for improvement. Samsung also introduced Zoom Anywhere, which uses a 200MP sensor and AI to zoom. An AI-powered feature keeps your subject in frame, while another lets you record zoomed and full-frame shots in 4K. Samsung is also capturing images in parallel instead of sequentially. Reduced latency and data loss should improve image quality and capture speeds by 2 times. The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 200MP lens and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 AI engine suggest these changes. Software-wise, Galaxy S24 models may load Instagram faster. The current Instagram code suggests a shortcut on the S24 lock screen to quickly access Instagram’s camera for photo and video capture.
Specs Leaks
It doesn’t claim that Qualcomm’s top chip next year will be in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. After years of including Exynos chips in some models, the Galaxy S23 lineup was entirely Qualcomm. Samsung was rumoured to be using all-Qualcomm chips in next year’s S24 phones, but some now say it will use Exynos chips. According to Yogesh Brar’s leaked specs, Qualcomm’s October Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will power U.S. and South Korean phones and Exynos 2400 will power S24 Ultra models elsewhere.
In the past, Exynos chips haven’t performed as well as Snapdragon chips, but Samsung may be improving its silicon. Leaked Exynos 2400 benchmarks show better multicore Geekbench results than Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and A16 Bionic devices, but they can’t beat the A17 Pro or rumoured Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips. Samsung claims the chip’s GPU will outperform Apple and Qualcomm in North America. We can’t verify those claims until a device with an Exynos 2400 chipset is released. The Galaxy S24 Ultra may use a Snapdragon chip worldwide, while the S24 and S24 Plus’ chips vary by location.
Another report claims the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Plus will get an optimised Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The S23 lineup uses an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to maximise performance. Instead of just increasing the prime core’s clock speed, the 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy may lower the efficiency cores’ speed to save battery life when not using computing-intensive apps. Leaked benchmarks show the Galaxy S24 Ultra nearly matching the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s Apple A17 Pro chip. Matching the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s GeekBench scores is still possible. It appears that U.S. Galaxy S24 Ultra and other S24 models have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, according to FCC filings. Another Galaxy S24 Ultra rumour suggests RAM expansion. According to Twitter leaker Tauran Vats, the Galaxy S24 Ultra could have 16GB of RAM, up from 8GB/12GB on the S23 Ultra. The leaker @Tech_Reve has also confirmed this, while Ice Universe denies it. Other sources say all Galaxy S24 models may have 256GB storage. This won’t upgrade the S24 Ultra, as the S23 Ultra already has 256GB, but it’s good to know we won’t revert next year.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra may outperform the iPhone 15 Pro in graphics. Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s Adreno GPU can outperform the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which had good graphics. Rumoured Galaxy S24 specs for all models, including the Ultra, are below. Samsung may add a stacked battery and improved cooling to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, according to rumours. A stacked battery is denser and provides more power per unit space. One report suggests a 10% improvement in this case. This new battery design will possibly increase the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s charging speed to 65W, almost 50% faster than the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 45W. Samsung won’t upgrade Galaxy S24 charging, according to recent reports.
Samsung’s latest mobile software is rolling out to current phones, but it will be interesting to see how the Galaxy S24 Ultra reimagines One UI. Little is known, but Samsung appears to be investing heavily in AI to boost the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The Galaxy S24 series will feature Samsung Gauss, the company’s generative AI. It’s supposed to help users write emails, translate content, summarise documents, and more. It’s expected to create Samsung’s AI-generated image creator, giving you a pocket photo editor.
Instead of ChatGPT’s cloud AI-based generative model, Samsung Gauss will be on device. This would let the S24 Ultra run these models faster without connectivity. However, Samsung may be putting some of these AI-assisted features behind a paywall. One UI 6.1 leaks may reveal Galaxy S24 powers. Samsung-exclusive in-call translation and Android 14-based AI-generated wallpaper are included. The S24 has since been teased with features like tracking up to 10 speakers when recording voices and using a telephoto camera with Samsung’s Single Take photo/video mode.
Our Expectations
Given how thin Galaxy s24 Ultra rumours are, we have a lot of room to fill in features we want. Even though the Galaxy S23 Ultra is capable, Samsung could improve in some areas.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra added S Pen support, and by the S22 Ultra, Samsung had figured out how to build stylus storage into the phone. Samsung focused on other areas, so the Galaxy S23 Ultra had no S Pen improvements. We hope the Galaxy S24 Ultra emphasises the S Pen and adds new features. These could be new S Pen Air Actions or remote control of Galaxy S23 Ultra features.
Faster charging: The Galaxy S23 Ultra stuck at 45W charging while other Android phones, like the OnePlus 11, charged faster. A phone named Ultra deserves faster charging speeds.
No price change: We hope Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra changes don’t affect the price. As Samsung adjusted for currency fluctuations, our international friends paid more for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Ultra models have many premium features, but $1,199 is a steep price for a smartphone. Samsung should remember that even the best phones can’t be too expensive for most shoppers.
