The new Samsung Galaxy S24 series has three phones and it feels like it has three tiers too – Ultra, Plus and basic. With pre-orders starting up and shipping a couple of weeks away, it’s time to start thinking about whether one of these three is the right phone for you and which one. We have a hands-on review to help you decide.
Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S24+ • Galaxy S24 Ultra
Back to the tiers. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is an all-out flagship. It will exclusively use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset globally. It has a new titanium frame and new Gorilla Glass Armor. It has a new 50MP sensor with a 5x periscope, replacing the 10MP 10x camera on the S23 Ultra. It has a new, flatter display too.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra gets a new tele camera
The Samsung Galaxy S24+ may be sticking with an aluminum frame and Victus 2 glass, but it has some major upgrades too. Starting with the 6.7” display, it is now an LTPO panel (1-120Hz) and it has QHD+ resolution. Also, all S24+ configurations now match the Ultra with 12GB of RAM. In most regions it will use the Exynos 2400 chipset, however.
The Galaxy S24+ now has a QHD+ display
And then there’s the Samsung Galaxy S24. It too gets an LTPO display, though it keeps the resolution at FHD+. In terms of power, the phone offers the same 8GB of RAM and 25W charging as last year’s model. The S24 and S24+ don’t even get Wi-Fi 7 support (the Ultra does), which we can’t help but think is connected to the use of Exynos chips in some regions. There are no upgrades to the cameras of either phones – 10MP 3x tele and 12MP ultra wide feels insufficient on a flagship.
The Galaxy S24 and S24+ have LTPO display panels
When it comes to price, the Galaxy S24 series is in the same ballpark as the S23 series, though there are some changes – the S24+ is a bit cheaper, the S24 Ultra is a bit pricier and the S24 is about the same. Keep in mind that if you pre-order you will get a free storage upgrade. Also, here are the Galaxy S23 launch prices for reference.
| US | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy S24 | Galaxy S24+ | Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
| 8/128GB | $800.00 | – | – |
| 8/256GB | $860.00 | – | – |
| 12/256GB | – | $1,000.00 | $1,300.00 |
| 12/512GB | – | $1,120.00 | $1,420.00 |
| 12GB/1TB | – | – | $1,660.00 |
| Europe | |||
| Galaxy S24 | Galaxy S24+ | Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
| 8/128GB | €900 | – | – |
| 8/256GB | €960 | – | €1,450 |
| 12/256GB | – | €1,150 | – |
| 12/512GB | – | €1,270 | €1,570 |
| 12GB/1TB | – | – | €1,810 |
| UK | |||
| Galaxy S24 | Galaxy S24+ | Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
| 8/128GB | £800 | – | – |
| 8/256GB | £860 | – | – |
| 12/256GB | – | £1,000 | £1,250 |
| 12/512GB | – | £1,100 | £1,350 |
| 12GB/1TB | – | – | £1,550 |
| Canada | |||
| Galaxy S24 | Galaxy S24+ | Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
| 8/128GB | C$1,100 | – | – |
| 8/256GB | TBA | – | – |
| 12/256GB | – | C$1,400 | C$1,800 |
| 12/512GB | – | TBA | C$1,960 |
| 12GB/1TB | – | – | C$2,280 |
| Australia | |||
| Galaxy S24 | Galaxy S24+ | Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
| 8/128GB | – | – | – |
| 8/256GB | A$1,400 | – | – |
| 8/512GB | A$1,600 | – | – |
| 12/256GB | – | A$1,700 | A$2,200 |
| 12/512GB | – | A$1,900 | A$2,400 |
| 12GB/1TB | – | – | A$2,800 |
| India | |||
| Galaxy S24 | Galaxy S24+ | Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
| 8/256GB | ₹80,000 | – | – |
| 8/512GB | ₹90,000 | – | – |
| 12/256GB | – | ₹100,000 | ₹130,000 |
| 12/512GB | – | ₹110,000 | ₹140,000 |
| 12GB/1TB | – | – | ₹160,000 |
We should mention that all three S24 models will receive 7 generations of OS updates and 7 years of security patches (they start with Android 14 and One UI 6.1). This matches the Google Pixel 8 pair and the iPhone (e.g. the iPhone X/8 generation from 2017 got kicked off the iOS update train last year).
It feels like Samsung poured all its love and effort into the Galaxy S24 Ultra and judging by the performance of its predecessor, this will be a hot seller. Will you be one of the S24 Ultra buyers?
The Samsung Galaxy S24+ may be a sleeper hit – in the past the plus models have not been as popular as their siblings, but the display and RAM upgrade on this one get it quite close to the Ultra. Really, it’s only in the camera department that the plus is noticeably behind. As for the Snapdragon vs. Exynos debate, that will have to wait for benchmarks.
Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S24 is the smallest Android with an LTPO display (and the only other options are iPhone 14 and 15 Pro), which is a cool upgrade. But the rest of the phone… what did Samsung do all year?
