Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, S24+ and S24 hands-on review

Design and build

Just like their bigger sibling, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the vanilla S24 and S24 aren't a huge departure from the usual design. Both handsets look a lot like their predecessors, with just small tweaks in the design.

For starters, the side frame is now made of a second-generation aluminum armor, as Samsung likes to call it, and is completely flat with a matte finish, as opposed to the glossy coating in the previous Galaxy S iterations.

Samsung Galaxy S24+

The transition between the back glass and the side frame is now smoother and more seamless. The camera design, however, remains the same - vertically stacked camera units with individual rings sticking out of the back panel.

Going around the front, we immediately noticed the smaller bezels. Even if Samsung didn't highlight this change, it's quite obvious. The bezels around the screen are razor-thin.

Weight and dimensions-wise, there's absolutely no change. The two devices feel exactly the same in hand as the Galaxy S23 series, except for the slightly more comfortable grip the matte frame offers.

Both the Galaxy S24 and S24+ are offered in Cobalt Violet, Amber Yellow, Onyx Black, and Marble Gray. Fewer colors compared to last year's model, but new additions may arise in the coming months.

Hardware and software features

The hardware changes aren't many, but we could say they are meaningful at least. The first thing to note here is the display tech. This year's vanilla and Plus models are finally getting some of the LTPO treatment. The Galaxy S24 and S24+ now support granular refresh rate control at up to 120Hz and the Plus variant bumps up the resolution to 1440 x 3120px, putting it on par with the S24 Ultra in terms of resolution and features. The vanilla S24 retains the 1080 x 2340px resolution.

Moreover, the new duo of displays can go up to 2,600 nits, just like the S24 Ultra, and grow by 0.1" compared to the non-Ultra S23 lineup. The vanilla S24's display diagonal is now 6.2" while the S24+ is 6.7".

Unfortunately for some, the duo's chipsets are once again region-dependant. While the US and Canada are getting the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered versions, the European and other markets are getting the Exynos treatment. The two handsets are powered by the brand new Exynos 2400, which promises a significant leap in performance and efficiency compared to its Exynos 2200 predecessor.

Similarly to the S24 Ultra, the S24 Plus' base memory gets an upgrade - now starts from 12GB instead of 8GB. The extra RAM might come in handy given Samsung's long-term commitment to keeping its flagship devices up to date for more than five years. The standard S24 gets neglected, though, and settles for 8GB/128GB base memory, and that's just mid-range specs by 2024 standards.

Last but not least, the proper Galaxy S24 and its Plus counterpart get a slight bump in the battery capacity - 4,000 mAh for the Galaxy S24, up from 3,900 mAh and 4,900 mAh for the S24+, up from 4,700 mAh.

There are no other meaningful changes in the hardware. As for the software goodies, we are happy to report that all AI-related features, meaning the whole Galaxy AI package, will be available to the non-Ultra models as well. So make sure to check out the S24 Ultra's section for more information.