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Galaxy S24 Ultra: What’s Changed From the S23 Ultra (and Should You Upgrade)

Here’s what’s new in the Samsung S24 Ultra and whether it’s worth swapping out last year’s premium S23.

Samsung unveiled its newest Galaxy S24 phones at its Unpacked event. The most premium of the lot is the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which has several new features over last year’s model. What’s changed from the S23 Ultra, and should you upgrade? Probably not, but let me explain. 

First, here’s what’s changed. The S24 Ultra has a nominal amount of upgrades on its predecessor (mainly under the hood), but is pricier, starting at $1,300, while the S23 Ultra had a $1,200 price tag at launch (and can probably be found for cheaper now).

Read more: Best Android Phone of 2024

The S24 Ultra visually looks identical to its predecessor, with broadly the same design and rear camera layout. There are subtle differences. For instance, Samsung’s new high-end phone has a titanium frame, which should be tougher than the aluminum frame on the S23 Ultra.

For the S24 Ultra, Samsung dispensed with the curved edges of the display found on the S23 Ultra, leaving a flat front (Samsung claims it has 47% less bezel on the sides). That new screen is also brighter with a maximum of 2,600 nits (the S23 Ultra maxed out at 1,750 nits) and thus easier to see in bright daylight. The S24 Ultra’s screen is also made of Corning’s newest and toughest material, Gorilla Glass Armor, while the S23 has Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2. 

In short: it looks the same but should be tougher and have a potentially brighter screen. The S24 Ultra also has an improved cooling system with a vapor chamber that’s twice as large and two added layers of thermal insulation, so we’d expect it to maintain better framerates and temperatures when running performance-intensive operations, like gaming.

As for cameras, the S24 Ultra inherits most of its predecessor’s lenses and sensors but does use a 50-megapixel 5x optical telephoto camera in place of the 10-megapixel 10x optical camera in the S23 Ultra. While the new camera has a shorter optical length, its higher megapixel count should mean photos taken with it are sharper than those shot with the S23’s 10x optical camera. (We’ll know for sure when we can compare both phones’ photo capabilities side by side.) To get to 10x optical length, the S24 Ultra shoots with its 5x optical camera and crop zooms in.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S24 Phones Have a New Zoom Trick to Get That Close-Up Photo

The S24 Ultra is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which is faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in the S23 Ultra. Configurations have also been simplified in the new premium phone: you can only get 12GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage (no 8GB RAM option, as there was in the S23 Ultra). The rest of the hardware remains relatively unchanged, although the S24 Ultra should get a minor battery efficiency boost thanks to its newer chipset.

The new Circle to Search feature being shown on the Galaxy S24 Ultra

The big difference between the new phones, at least at the launch of the S24 Ultra, is the new phone’s generative AI capabilities, called Galaxy AI. The most noteworthy is Circle to Search, which lets you trace an area on your screen with your stylus or finger to have your phone look up what you’ve circled without ever having to leave the app you’re in. It’s conceivably great for looking things up, like identifying landmarks in the travel photos your friend sends over or trying to track down fashion items in someone’s outfit.

The S24 Ultra (and the rest of the S24 lineup, to be clear) has other generative AI capabilities, like summarizing notes and live translations during phone calls. It can also suggest different tones for text messages depending on who you’re talking to, recommending more formal tones for bosses or casual tones for friends. Generative AI photo tricks let users do things like move or delete some elements, expand photos beyond their original boundaries or correct the tilt of an image, then use AI to fill in the backgrounds and empty areas.

Some of these generative AI features can be processed locally, like live translation, while others require sending requests to the cloud. The S24 Ultra does have a toggle in its settings to require generative AI requests to be performed on the device, which helps keep what you’re asking (and what your phone is addressing) private.

The kicker? Galaxy AI is coming to some older Samsung phones, including the S23 series, at some point in the future. While Samsung hasn’t said when to expect them, these features should come to the S23 Ultra in time.

There are other non-generative AI upgrades the S24 Ultra has over its predecessor, like making photos more stable during movement and improving low-light photography. The S Pen accessory is more or less unchanged from last year. 

There is one more upgrade that’s worth mentioning: Samsung expanded how long it’s pledging to support its newest phones. The S24 Ultra comes with Android 14 and will get seven years of Android software and security patches, up from four years in the S23 Ultra (which comes with Android 13). That’s big. For sustainability, the S24 Ultra has more recycled parts, including cobalt in its battery and rare earth elements in its speakers.

Samsung Galaxy S23

Should S23 Ultra owners upgrade to the new S24 Ultra?

You can count the hardware improvements on one hand and they don’t meaningfully change how owners use their new S24 Ultra compared to last year’s S23 Ultra. Ultimately, if you own Samsung’s premium phone from 2023, the only reason you to consider upgrading to the new one is to access generative AI today — or if you wanted a phone that could conceivably last you seven years.

As previously mentioned, all the Galaxy AI features are expected to come to the S23 Ultra at some point in the future. It’s unclear when that will happen, and though Samsung said all of the S24 Ultra’s generative AI features will come to its predecessor, we’re concerned whether last year’s premium phone can pull that off.

Last October, Qualcomm unveiled its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 as the first phone-powering chipset to include generative AI on its silicon. That’s the chip powering the S24 Ultra, and presumably, the new phone needs that silicon to process some of its generative AI features. Either the S23 Ultra will require more of those Galaxy AI features to run through the cloud, or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powering the S23 Ultra is actually capable of running on-device generative AI, but those features weren’t ready when that chipset launched in late 2022.

Whatever the case, whether you want generative AI weighs more heavily than any other factor on whether it’s worth upgrading from the S23 Ultra to the new S24 Ultra. It’s worth noting that we haven’t gotten to thoroughly experience Galaxy AI ourselves, and can’t make a summary judgment of its usefulness until we do. Once our full review comes out, we’ll be better informed to say whether the S24 Ultra provides a superior experience to its predecessor. For now, we recommend waiting — unless you want to be on the absolute cutting edge of mobile technology. 

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design

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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra specs vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate 6.8-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate 6.8-inch AMOLED; 3,088×1,440 pixels; 120Hz adaptive refresh rate
Pixel density 501 ppi 500 ppi
Dimensions (inches) 6.40 x 3.11 x 0.34 in 6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 in
Dimensions (millimeters) 163 x 79 x 8.6 mm 163.3 x 78 x 8.9 mm
Weight (grams, ounces) 233 g (8.22 oz) 234 g (8.25 oz)
Mobile software Android 14 Android 13
Camera 200-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 50-megapixel (5x telephoto) 200-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide) 10-megapixel (3x telephoto) 10-megapixel (10x telephoto)
Front-facing camera 12-megapixel 12-megapixel
Video capture 8K 8K
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
RAM/storage 12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 8GB RAM + 256GB; 12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Expandable storage None None
Battery 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor Under display Under display
Connector USB-C USB-C
Headphone jack None None
Special features Titanium frame, 2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; integrated S Pen; UWB for finding other devices; 45W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Armor cover glass 4 years of OS updates, 5G (Sub6, mmWave); IP68 water resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; integrated S Pen; 100x Space Zoom; 10x optical zoom; UWB for finding other devices; 45W wired charging
US price starts at $1,300 (256GB) $1,200 (256GB)
UK price starts at £1,249 (256GB) £1,249 (256GB)
Australia price starts at AU$2,199 (256GB) AU$1,949 (256GB)

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.

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Tariffs Explained: Latest on Trump’s Shifting Import Tax Plan, and What It Means

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Apple, I’m (Sky) Blue About Your iPhone 17 Air Color

Commentary: The rumored new hue of the iPhone 17 Air is more sky blah than sky blue.

I can’t help but feel blue about the latest rumor that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 17 Air will take flight in a subtle, light-hued color called sky blue.

Sky blue isn’t a new color for Apple. It’s the featured shade of the current M4 MacBook Air, a shimmer of cerulean so subtle as to almost be missed. It’s silver left too close to an aquarium; silver that secretly likes to think it’s blue but doesn’t want everyone else to notice.

Do Apple employees get to go outside and see a real blue sky? It’s actually vivid, you can check for yourself. Perhaps the muted sky blue color reflects a Bay Area late winter/early spring frequent layer of clouds like we typically see here in Seattle.

«Who cares?» you might find yourself saying. «Everyone gets a case anyway.» I hear you and everyone else who’s told me that. But design-focused Apple is as obsessive about colors as they are about making their devices thinner. And I wonder if their heads are in the clouds about which hues adorn their pro products.

Making the case for a caseless color iPhone

I’m more invested in this conversation than most — I’m one of those freaks who doesn’t wrap my phone in a case. I find cases bulky and superfluous, and I like to be able to see Apple’s design work. Also, true story, I’ve broken my iPhone screen only twice: First when it was in a «bumper» that Apple sent free in response to the iPhone 4 you’re-holding-it-wrong Antennagate fiasco, and second when trying to take long exposure starry night photos using what I didn’t realize was a broken tripod mount. My one-week-old iPhone 13 Pro slipped sideways and landed screen-first on a pointy rock. A case wouldn’t have saved it.

My current model is an iPhone 16 Pro in black titanium — which I know seems like avoiding color entirely — but previously I’ve gone for colors like blue titanium and deep purple. I wanted to like deep purple the most but it came across as, in the words of Patrick Holland in his iPhone 14 Pro review, «a drab shade of gray or like Grimace purple,» depending on the light.

Pros can be bold, too

Maybe the issue is too many soft blues. Since the iPhone Pro age began with the iPhone 11 Pro, we’ve seen variations like blue titanium (iPhone 15 Pro), sierra blue (iPhone 13 Pro) and pacific blue (iPhone 12 Pro).

Pacific blue is the boldest of the bunch, if by bold you mean dark enough to discern from silver, but it’s also close enough to that year’s graphite color that seeing blue depends on the surrounding lighting. By comparison, the blue (just «blue») color of the iPhone 12 was unmistakably bright blue.

In fact, the non-Pro lines have embraced vibrant colors. It’s as if Apple is equating «pro» with «sophisticated,» as in «A real pro would never brandish something this garish.» I see this in the camera world all the time: If it’s not all-black, it’s not a «serious» camera.

And yet I know lots of pros who are not sophisticated — proudly so. People choose colors to express themselves, so forcing that idea of professionalism through color feels needlessly restrictive. A bright pink iPhone 16 might make you smile every time you pick it up but then frown because it doesn’t have a telephoto camera.

Color is also important because it can sway a purchase decision. «I would buy a sky blue iPhone yesterday,» my colleague Gael Cooper texted after the first rumor popped online. When each new generation of iPhones arrive, less technically different than the one before, a color you fall in love with can push you into trading in your perfectly-capable model for a new one.

And lest you think Apple should just stick with black and white for its professional phones: Do you mean black, jet black, space black, midnight black, black titanium, graphite or space gray? At least the lighter end of the spectrum has stuck to just white, white titanium and silver over the years.

Apple never got ahead by being beige

I’m sure Apple has reams of studies and customer feedback that support which colors make it to production each year. Like I said, Apple’s designers are obsessive (in a good way). And I must remind myself that a sky blue iPhone 17 Air is a rumored color on a rumored product so all the usual caveats apply.

But we’re talking about Apple here. The scrappy startup that spent more than any other company on business cards at the time because each one included the old six-color Apple logo. The company that not only shaped the first iMac like a tipped-over gumdrop, that not only made the case partially see-through but then made that cover brilliant Bondi blue.

Embrace the iPhone colors, Apple.

If that makes you nervous, don’t worry: Most people will put a case on it anyway.

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Astronomers Say There’s an Increased Possibility of Life on This Distant Planet

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are working to confirm potential evidence of life on a distant exoplanet dubbed K2-18b.

Astronomers are nearing a statistically significant finding that could confirm the potential signs of life detected on the distant exoplanet K2-18b are no accident.

The team of astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, used data from the James Webb Space Telescope (which has only been in use since the end of 2021) to detect chemical traces of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which they say can only be produced by life such as phytoplankton in the sea. 

According to the university, «the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.»

The findings were published this week in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and point to the possibility of an ocean on this planet’s surface, which scientists have been hoping to discover for years. In the abstract for the paper, the team says, «The possibility of hycean worlds, with planet-wide oceans and H2-rich atmospheres, significantly expands and accelerates the search for habitable environments elsewhere.»

Not everyone agrees, however, that what the team found proves there’s life on the exoplanet.

Science writer and OpenMind Magazine founder Corey S. Powell posted about the findings on Bluesky, writing, «The potential discovery of alien life is so enticing that it drags even reputable outlets into running naive or outright misleading stories.» He added, «Here we go again with planet K2-18b.Um….there’s strong evidence of non-biological sources of the molecule DMS.»

K2-18b is 124 light-years away and much larger than Earth (more than eight times our mass), but smaller than Neptune. The search for signs of even basic life on a planet like this increases the chances that there are more planets like Earth that may be inhabitable, with temperatures and atmospheres that could sustain human-like lifeforms. The team behind the paper hopes that more study with the James Webb Space Telescope will help confirm their initial findings.

More research to do on finding life on K2-18b

The exoplanet K2-18b is not the only place where scientists are exploring the possibility of life, and this research is still an early step in the process, said Christopher Glein, a geochemist, planetary researcher and lead scientist at San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute. Excitement over the significance of the research, he said, should be tempered.

«We need to be careful here,» Glein said. «It appears that there is something in the data that can’t be explained, and DMS/DMDS can provide an explanation. But this detection is stretching the limits of JWST’s capabilities.»

Glein added, «Further work is needed to test whether these molecules are actually present. We also need complementary research assessing the abiotic background on K2-18b and similar planets. That is, the chemistry that can occur in the absence of life in this potentially exotic environment. We might be seeing evidence of some cool chemistry rather than life.»

The TRAPPIST-1 planets, he said, are being researched as potentially habitable, as is LHS 1140b, which he said «is another astrobiologically significant exoplanet, which might be a massive ocean world.»

As for K2-18b, Glein said many more tests need to be performed before there’s consensus on life existing on it.

«Finding evidence of life is like prosecuting a case in the courtroom,» Glein said. «Multiple independent lines of evidence are needed to convince the jury, in this case the worldwide scientific community.» He added, «If this finding holds up, then that’s Step 1.»

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