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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. S23 Ultra, S22 Ultra, S21 Ultra: A Specs Showdown

Here’s a comparison of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with most of its Ultra predecessors based on specs sheets.

Samsung took the wraps off its latest premium phone, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, at its Unpacked event on Wednesday. The $1,300 handset represents the pinnacle of what the South Korean company has to offer in a smartphone in 2024 from its top-of-the-line processor, ultra-bright display, and sharp cameras.

While new AI features understandably generated a lot of buzz, the new software upgrade policy is probably one of the most compelling changes. Samsung promises seven years of Android updates and security patches across the Galaxy S24 lineup. This enables Galaxy S24 phone owners to hang on to their devices going into 2032 and is a significant step up from the four years of software updates pledged for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and Galaxy S21 Ultra. However, Samsung has bumped up the price of the Galaxy S24 Ultra by $100 after the last few years of steady pricing.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra's screen

Read More: Galaxy S24 Ultra Hands On: AI Takes Center Stage

Another notable improvement to the S24 Ultra is (you guessed it) AI, or Galaxy AI — as Samsung likes to call it. The Galaxy S24 Ultra will ship with helpful, AI-based features (a lot of which are being powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 8 chip). Those include a real-time live translate feature in 13 languages; Search to Circle, which lets you literally circle any image to launch a Google search for that item; and generative AI features that let you make reality-bending edits to your photos akin to Google Pixel 8’s Magic Editor.

These AI tools are slated to make their way to last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra via an software update, but don’t expect it to arrive to Ultra models released before then.  

Read More: Google’s Pixel 8 Blurs The Line Between Reality and Fantasy

The camera system is another major selling point of the Galaxy Ultra lineup. The S24 boasts four rear cameras, taking the form of a 200-megapixel wide-angle camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom lens, and a 50-megapixel camera with a 5x optical zoom lens. On paper at least, it appears that there has been a downgrade to a 5x telephoto lens from a 10x telephoto camera on its predecessors. But the newer sensor and its higher resolution might have some nifty zoom tricks up its sleeve that don’t reveal themselves in specs. We’ll update this article once we have conducted a camera comparison between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

For the rest of the differences between Samsung’s Galaxy Ultra lineup over the years, take a look at our specs chart for a side-by-side comparison. If you want more insights into what it’s like to use the Galaxy S24 Ultra, read our hand-on coverage of the fanciest phone in Samsung’s new lineup.

Galaxy S24 vs. S23 Ultra vs. S22 Ultra vs. S21 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate, brightness 6.8-inch AMOLED; QHD+ resolution; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate 6.8-inch AMOLED; 3,088×1,440 pixels; 120Hz adaptive refresh rate 6.8″ AMOLED (1440×3088 pixels) 6.8-inch Edge WQHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 3,200×1,440 pixels
Pixel density TBC 500 ppi 501 ppi 515 ppi
Dimensions (inches) 6.40 x 3.11 x 0.34 in 6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 in 3.07 x 6.42 x 0.35 in 2.97×6.5×0.35 in
Dimensions (millimeters) 163 x 79 x 8.6 mm 163.3 x 78 x 8.9 mm 77.9 x 163.3 x 8.9 mm 75.6 x 165.1 x 8.9 mm
Weight (grams, ounces) 233 g (8.22 oz) 234 g (8.25 oz) 229 g (8.07 oz) 229g (8.07 oz)
Mobile software Android 14 Android 13 Android 12 Android 11
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) 108-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide) 10-megapixel (telephoto) 10-megapixel (telephoto) 108-megapixel (wide),12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 10-megapixel (10x telephoto)
Front-facing camera 12-megapixel 12-megapixel 40-megapixel 10-megapixel
Video capture TBD 8K 4K 8K
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
RAM/storage 12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 8GB RAM + 256GB; 12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 8GB + 128GB ; 12GB + 256GB; 12GB+512GB; 12GB+ 1TB 12GB & 16GB, 128GB/256GB, 512GB
Expandable storage None None None None
Battery/charging speeds 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh  5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor Under display Under display Under display Under display
Connector USB-C USB-C USB-C USB-C
Headphone jack None None None None
Special features Titanium frame, 2,600-nit screen; 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, 5x optical zoom 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 4 years of OS updates, 5G (mmw/Sub6), bundled S Pen, 100x Space Zoom (digital), 10x optical zoom, 47 W charging support 4 years of OS updates, IP68 rating, 5G-enabled,100x Space Zoom, 10W wireless charging, 10x optical zoom
US starting price off-contract $1,300 (256GB) $1,200 (256GB) $1,200 (256GB) $1,200 (128GB), 
UK price £1,249 (256GB) £1,249 (256GB) £1,249 (256GB) £1,329
Australia price AU$2,199 (256GB) AU$1,949 (256GB) AU $1,849 (256GB) AU$1,849

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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