I put the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs S23 Ultra through a 7-round face-off — is it worth the upgrade?

Feb 1, 2024
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If deciding to buy fresh, go for S24 Ultra.

If deciding to upgrade or not - keep the S23 Ultra.
It still packs enough power and punch to last another year at the least.,..S24Ultra refines, but is not worth the cost if you're already owning S23 Ultra...better to wait for the next edition...as @junapos rightly mentioned.

Thanks...
 
Feb 2, 2024
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Absolutely nothing against the review. But I just like to ask sometimes - am I the only one who notices that phone reviews are - and have been for a long, long time - primarily camera reviews?

For about 100 years, up to 2010-2011, probably 99% of the public cared nothing about cameras and photography, and consistent with this they spent very little money and were happy (content) with the results they got. I am not a photographer, but I do take photos of a lot of different things. I've spent money on a beginner SLR (1992) and a digital SLR (2008) and a big pro lens (2013, eBay, for 40% of retail.) I have 3 decades of fantastic photos. I've taken great photos with my S21 Ultra and my Note 6 before this. I showed my wife best practices on her S20 FE and her family makes her the photographer (because she posts everything to social media.) Our photos end up in friends and familes homes, framed. The photos they took with their Samsung Ultra's and iPhones and even iPads, almost all crap.

And largely speaking, they're fine with it. But unlike 30 years ago when they spent dirt on their cameras, they're now obsessing over reviews and comparisons and who wins phone wars which are really for the most part, camera wars. How did people go from being "fine" with the results a $25 to maybe..$100 camera provided...but will now drop thousands and thousands as they continually obsess over the latest models, running and trading in their "old" phones to get what amounts to a slightly improved camera. Improvements they will never notice.

I took the time to type this all out because I know the manufacturers are out to turn profits so they created this gimmick playing off people's poor self esteem and need for attention over their huge shiny new phones with an "awe-some-cam-a-rah!". But articles, reviews, comparisons don't need to pay into it.

In fact, what articles SHOULD focus on is the Ultra versus the Plus versus the Base. Really put it out there, and focus on the $$ differences for the tangible differences. I'm not a phone geek, but do spend time on a particularly popular comparison site, and it's freaking nuts how little difference there actually is between models. That's no mistake. The Ultra is huge profit. The Plus is great profit, but probably the best middle price/value choice that is more than enough for anyone. My son just got his through a deal with our provider (T-Mobile) and a crapload of discounts we put together when putting the purchase through.
 
Feb 29, 2024
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I have the 24u, upgraded from the s21u. The back cameras are amazing compared to the 21's, but tom isn't mentioning one thing about the display on the 24: It's lack of vibrant colors and detail. I've read that Samsung changed the focus of the display from vibrant, saturated colors to a more "natural" appearance for images. This results in a washed-out, lackluster appearance for images that lack detail. While transferring the files from my s21 to the 24, I noticed the same picture on both phone screens. The contrast, vibrancy, color depth, detail were higher on the s21, much to my disappointment. There is a mobile game I play where there is a character that wears an orange suit. On the s24 it's so dull that the suit almost looks brown.
 
May 10, 2024
1
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Absolutely nothing against the review. But I just like to ask sometimes - am I the only one who notices that phone reviews are - and have been for a long, long time - primarily camera reviews?

For about 100 years, up to 2010-2011, probably 99% of the public cared nothing about cameras and photography, and consistent with this they spent very little money and were happy (content) with the results they got. I am not a photographer, but I do take photos of a lot of different things. I've spent money on a beginner SLR (1992) and a digital SLR (2008) and a big pro lens (2013, eBay, for 40% of retail.) I have 3 decades of fantastic photos. I've taken great photos with my S21 Ultra and my Note 6 before this. I showed my wife best practices on her S20 FE and her family makes her the photographer (because she posts everything to social media.) Our photos end up in friends and familes homes, framed. The photos they took with their Samsung Ultra's and iPhones and even iPads, almost all crap.

And largely speaking, they're fine with it. But unlike 30 years ago when they spent dirt on their cameras, they're now obsessing over reviews and comparisons and who wins phone wars which are really for the most part, camera wars. How did people go from being "fine" with the results a $25 to maybe..$100 camera provided...but will now drop thousands and thousands as they continually obsess over the latest models, running and trading in their "old" phones to get what amounts to a slightly improved camera. Improvements they will never notice.

I took the time to type this all out because I know the manufacturers are out to turn profits so they created this gimmick playing off people's poor self esteem and need for attention over their huge shiny new phones with an "awe-some-cam-a-rah!". But articles, reviews, comparisons don't need to pay into it.

In fact, what articles SHOULD focus on is the Ultra versus the Plus versus the Base. Really put it out there, and focus on the $$ differences for the tangible differences. I'm not a phone geek, but do spend time on a particularly popular comparison site, and it's freaking nuts how little difference there actually is between models. That's no mistake. The Ultra is huge profit. The Plus is great profit, but probably the best middle price/value choice that is more than enough for anyone. My son just got his through a deal with our provider (T-Mobile) and a crapload of discounts we put together when putting the purchase through.
I completely agree to this.

I remember the time when phone reviews were actually about the phones. Things like cell reception, voice quality during a call, haptic feedback, vibration, color accuracy, sound quality, etc
Now it all boils down to camera, brightness and benchmarks...that's it.
 
Jun 29, 2024
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When this article came out, the upgrade was probably not worth the cost. But now you can trade in your S23 Ultra for $750 with about $250 in additional discounts (if you include the price reduction). I upgraded for $430 (plus tax). I have been waiting forever for these to revert back to flat screens! I like having glass screen protectors. I have gone without for the S21, then the S23, and both eventually got a few scratches. Now I can add 9H glass and make this one last longer (unless Samsung offers an upgrade deal, I can't refuse).
 

gordonliu

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2011
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I though that this was already well known:

"5000 mAh" is an intentionally imprecise number that Samsung uses because they are (purportedly) manufacturing their battery pouches at a high level of performance and thus cannot guarantee an exact number.

Samsung, perhaps more than any other handset manufacturer, is sensitive to battery related controversy and has been playing it safe as often as possible

Thus, its routinely possible to receive a device that achieves a ~5.200mAh total capacity when brand new (or perhaps higher!)..... and perhaps similarly to have one that comes in under at around ~4,900 mAh (Which they explain in detail, still "qualifies" as ~5,000 mAh)

My point here is to remind people that the design capacity is an almost meaningless figure of merit.

what might actually matter would be the manufacturing process revision that Samsung Chemical used for that particular battery pouch

Its entirely possible that they are, in fact, products of the same process...... and its also possible that the S24 pouch is a process refinement.