Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Best Review After 1 Month

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

It’s Samsung season, and Samsung is back at it with their Ultra device, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is one of the crème de la crème of Android by far. We’re going to get into the good, the bad, the ugly—all of it. Like you know, I don’t discriminate. I keep it 100,000 a buck, but there’s a lot of great things to like about the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and there’s some things that I’m going to point out that other people won’t because they’re afraid of not being in the good graces with said company.

But you guys are who I do this for. I don’t do this for anyone else but you guys, to keep the brand legit. So that’s where my focus is when it comes to these reviews. This is my channel. I should be able to speak freely, and a brand should be able to work with you in that sense. I’m just sharing my experience, my user experience. That’s the wholehearted truth, the only honest way that I do these reviews, and that’s just the way that it is going to be.

So let’s talk about the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Should I get into some of the cons, some of the juicy stuff around this thing? Should we start off with the good, the light and fluffy? Should I follow the, you know, start here design and go to display and stuff like that? All right, let’s get into it.

So let’s start off with the design of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which in my opinion is a great choice by Samsung to go with this titanium build, titanium looks, the matte frosted glass back. It’s just a beautifully designed device, I got to keep it a buck. And now they have the flat OLED panel. Before I talk about the display in full, because there’s an update coming to the display for those people who were feeling a little iffy about the Vivid.

The update that Samsung made is actually really good because you’re going to get a vivid slider, meaning that you can choose the amount of vividness that you want in your OLED panel. It used to be just natural or vivid. I always put my OLED panel on natural because to me, that’s the most color accurate, and it’s the most natural color representation. The vivid setting adds pop and extra saturation, which is ideal for the typical consumer’s viewing experience. So that’s a smart update from Samsung.

See, listen, this is the Samsung that I know and love. It’s the one that listens to the consumers and makes decisions and updates based on that. That’s the Samsung that I fell in like and in love with back when I was on my Galaxy Note binge, and you know, that’s the Samsung I want to continue. So when I’m hard on them, it’s because I need them to be that Samsung, period.

The design is really nice. You’ve got these nice aluminum sides, and the weight reduction in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is welcome. Now let me pull out the trusted S23 Ultra. Right, you can definitely feel the weight difference. Can’t really tell the design difference, had to throw that in there—it’s a joke.

Now let’s talk about the OLED panel, because this is a shining feature. I don’t know about you guys, but for me, the fingerprint sensor has not been so good. I know everyone else is having a good experience. It’s hit or miss for me. Listen, I’ve added my fingerprint sensor—at first, I thought it was because I burnt my fingertips on a drill bit.

Here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to add my fingerprint in here right now, real quick. I know I’m supposed to be talking about the OLED panel, but let me just do this really fast. So as you guys can see, I have my fingerprints in there one time. I’mma add them again. I’ll fast forward through this, I won’t let you guys sit through the entire process, but as you can see, I’m adding them. Okay, so boom, done.Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Let me add another one. And mind you, this is the second time I’m adding it. In the past, you know, with fingerprint sensors, I’ve been like, “Oh, you add it twice, and then you shouldn’t have an issue,” because it’s supposed to be a new fingerprint sensor on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, right? Okay, boom, let me get it. Okay, there we go. So if you’re having trouble with the fingerprint sensor, add it twice, and that should help fix that situation.

Okay, so let’s clarify a lot of the confusion and some of the hate or dislike for this new panel. It’s not that it’s flat. What people don’t like is the anti-reflective property. They like the fact that it’s anti-reflective and how it performs, but they don’t like the aftereffect of that—it’s not as saturated. It does have a dim look to it.

Like, I have to bring this thing to full max brightness, and it still kind of has this dim look to it. Now, when you’re looking at it directly, it comes to life a little bit more. But when you get kind of off-angle, that anti-reflective property dims the color property. Let’s just be real, this is a beautiful panel.

It’s going to look great when watching content and media and so forth, but I can understand why some consumers are a little off-put by this anti-reflective property. It’s just because it kind of changes the interaction with the colors and the representation.

I don’t know—I can’t really put it into words, but even when filming this, I can tell my panel just always looks dim while recording. So there’s just something to keep in mind about it. It’s not a con, because the anti-reflectiveness is a plus; it’s an added feature to the user experience, but it does come at a cost. So these panels aren’t as vibrant and saturated.

We’ll see what the update drops if that improves anything. Maybe I’ll do a tech corner hot news take and just update you guys and let you guys know, but that’s something to keep in mind. Yet still, Samsung has some of the best, if not the best, OLED AMOLED panels in the market, period. So we have to give props to that. That’s just something to keep in mind with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra moving forward.

Platform is interesting for me this year because I love One UI 6. We got One UI 6.1 on here; it’s going in a great direction. But as you guys can see, I don’t use One UI; I use Nova Launcher. Ultimately, for me, with customization and being able to back up my customized template and move it from phone to phone, Nova Launcher is supreme at doing that.

Because you got Good Lock and One UI, and they’re not one, it’s just convoluted. But someone made a good point that Good Lock doesn’t work with the Exynos version of smartphones; it’s only with Snapdragon, which is probably why it’s separate. This is the fragmentation with Android that becomes complicated because you don’t give the exact same user experience across the board.

You’ve got Exynos users who have a different chip, a different user experience, and their feedback is totally different from us Snapdragon users. Fragmentation in Android—that’s the problem. You’ve got to get it locked in to where every single person that purchases this device has the exact same experience.

That’s one thing that you do get with the Apple fruit company that everyone just loves to hate. I’m going to pull out a comparison point that I got to make between this and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra really quick.

But all in all, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is phenomenal as far as bringing some efficiency optimization to the Android Samsung platform. Finally, great battery life, great efficiency—I love it. Keep it going in this direction; it can only get better from here, right? The One UI 6.1, and then you got Good Lock if you want that extra customized user experience.

But I choose Nova Launcher, just period. And if you guys want to know the Nova Launcher setup that I have, you guys can see the hidden folders and things like that. I’ll do an updated video but also link the most recent video that I made showing you that.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Now, here’s a con that I have with the S24 Ultra: this has Wi-Fi 7. Now, I got the brand new Netgear Orbi 7 WiFi beast, right? Wi-Fi 7 beast. But for a device that has Wi-Fi 7, my speeds are inconsistent, and it’s to the point where it’s not acceptable. Like, I gotta be honest. So what I’m going to do is pull up the speed test app. You guys are going to see, and I’m going to run a speed test right here live.

Now, let’s see. Come on. The fact that it’s even taking this long to connect is wild. Now, I’ve done everything, like put it in airplane mode, only Wi-Fi, and all that stuff. I’ve done so many things to help it improve. Look at these speeds, you guys. I have 5 Gbit up, 5 Gbit down internet, and these are the speeds that I’m getting on Wi-Fi 7. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra 5G

And you can see the Wi-Fi 7 emblem right there, just to know I’m not capping. This thing has a SIM card, the eSIM in it; this thing is activated. Everything is legit about this thing. And look at that: 135 down, 155 up. That is sad. And here’s another thing: consistency. This is why people tend to like to use, you know, the fruit company, right? And I’m not saying this to make it seem as if the fruit company is better. I’m just showing you consistency.

How is it that a Wi-Fi 7 product cannot beat a Wi-Fi 6E product? And I’ve done this test multiple times, and I’ve gotten consistent results. Wi-Fi 6E on the iPhone 15 Pro Max is giving me crazy numbers. Crazy numbers, you guys. Look at this: 1450 down versus 135 down, 1750 up versus 155 up.

Disappointing. There’s only been one time, and I’ll show a screen grab on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, that I got it to actually replicate Wi-Fi 7 speeds. That’s disappointing. Now, I don’t know what the fix is for that and how we remedy that, but that needs to be fixed ASAP.

Okay, let’s continue on down the line, and let’s talk. I kind of alluded to the battery already. The battery is great; I don’t have to have a large conversation. If you’re looking for a battery beast, you can go S24 Ultra, or you can save some money and go S23 Ultra. The S23 Ultra is not off the table with this new iteration. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

So if you can get this and save money versus this, or if you can get this and save money versus this, go for this. Obviously, if you can get the better deal with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, it’s a no-brainer. But if the S23 Ultra is giving you a better price point, eventually we’ll get the AI features that this has, and so forth. It’s definitely the better bargain.

Because we all know, let’s be real, Samsung devices do not hold their value well at all, especially in comparison to an iPhone. It’s just the frank truth. Honest. You’re oblivious if you don’t acknowledge that. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Now, let’s talk about cameras. Cameras, cameras, cameras. Now, I’m going to show you guys all real-world camera usage in different situations: low light, driving in the car, and then outside. But I also want to just give my truth, as I always do when it comes to cameras. Color science is not correct with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

It has never been on Samsung’s camera app. It always boosts whites, which makes your skin pale. It does not give you the skin tones that you actually have, especially for someone who has more pigmentation and more skin tone going on. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Now, I’m going to show you guys right here, right now, live in the flesh. This is a camera that actually captures my skin tone properly. So if I shoot in the exact same situation and you guys compare, there’s no excuses for that. You guys can see. So you can look at this right here, right now, and look on this camera. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

You guys can tell me, are my skin tones right? Now, I’m going to switch it to the rear-facing camera. Now, this is the rear camera, which should be the better camera, which should give you close enough to these skin tones in this shot. Is it performing? And be real, like Samsung fans, for real, put your fanboyism and your bias aside and comment down below the truth. Because this is what this is all about. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Because that’s the only way Samsung is going to change. A big reason why Samsung doesn’t change is because you Samsung Knights support the foolery. The same thing that you accuse the Apple fanboys of doing, which there are Apple fanboys that do what you accuse them of, you guys do the same thing for Samsung. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Samsung again the camera is never going to be the best camera of any smartphone if they don’t have skin tones right that’s my hot take and that’s my truth now let’s go use the camera all right so let’s kick this off with the front-facing camera on the Samsung s24 Ultra I’m out in broad daylight I’m in the Shaded area because sun doesn’t hit directly at this positioning.

so you know it is what it is but it’s still the best situation to put the front faceing camera using the stock app I’m not in Pro camera mode just yet or should we switch the only unfortunate thing about using pro video mode on the front- facing camera is I can’t put an indd filter to control that now there will be no indd filters in this video because I’m going to wait until I do the camera settings video. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Where I teach you guys how to get the best out of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera. As that video was popular with you guys with the S23 Ultra, we’re bringing it back with the S24 Ultra. So subscribe, turn on the bell for that video, and let’s get to the rear-facing camera. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

All right, this is the rear-facing camera in the stock app, just giving you the sauce. This is the best camera that you can use on the S24 Ultra. Broad daylight, shaded conditions though. The sun is over there, and there’s a lot of ice and snow in the grass. I’m not sure about the angle right now, so we’ll wait on that. And again, on the rear-facing camera, I’m unable to get my shutter speed to the proper rate because I don’t have the ND filter. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

But here’s my thing: this is one of the things I want to talk about, and this is one of those 50/50 spots when it comes to naming the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra as the best smartphone overall. Because the camera—like, obviously, I guess I’m one of the few or one of not many who cares that their skin tones are not correct when I use this camera on this smartphone, and that’s something I just can’t let slide. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Now obviously, maybe for the majority it works and it’s fine, but for me, it’s just not okay, and I think that they need to correct that. I’ve said this year after year for so many years, and Samsung has kept this same algorithm, and they literally crank the whites. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Whites have a bump. If you do a raw photo and you look at the information that’s brought in when you look in a camera raw app or Lightroom or something, you’re going to see that Samsung is cranking the whites. So this is intentional, and this is something that they just won’t get rid of. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

So it’s something that I got to speak on until they correct it, because it needs to be more all-inclusive, like Pixel did an initiative to include all skin tones. Apple, although they didn’t do a full-on initiative, they always use different skin tones in their promo videos, and they always are what I believe to be inclusive in their camera. Is it perfect?

No, but it’s better than this one, and that’s my gripe. Until they fix skin tones, I can’t give this camera the best camera over any other camera. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Although I know how to tweak this camera and make it look extremely good, and in the camera settings video that’s coming up, I’ll show you guys how to do it too. And then there’s the beloved ultrawide video mode, which is the vlog mode or whatever, you know what I’m saying, on the standard camera app. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

And yeah, but I mean, this is the most ideal recording setup right here, so if it can’t perform in this situation, I don’t know when it ever will or if it will. But one thing that is interesting is how great the camera is when you’re shooting products, not necessarily faces. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

It’s like it recognizes that there’s a face there, and it does that intentional whitening. But outside of that, when you’re shooting other things like objects and so forth, the color science is so much better.

Samsung again. The camera is never going to be the best camera of any smartphone if they don’t have skin tones right. That’s my hot take and that’s my truth. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Now, let’s go use the camera. All right, so let’s kick this off with the front-facing camera on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. I’m out in broad daylight. I’m in the shaded area because the sun doesn’t hit directly at this positioning, so you know it is what it is. But it’s still the best situation to put the front-facing camera using the stock app. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

I’m not in Pro camera mode just yet, or should we switch? The only unfortunate thing about using Pro video mode on the front-facing camera is I can’t put an ND filter to control that. Now, there will be no ND filters in this video because I’m going to wait until I do the camera settings video where I teach you guys how to get the best out of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera,

as that video was popular with you guys with the S23 Ultra. We’re bringing it back with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. So subscribe and turn on the bell for that video. And let’s get to the rear-facing camera. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

I’m unable to get my shutter speed to the proper rate because I don’t have the ND filter. But here’s my thing: this is one of the things I want to talk about, and this is one of those 50-50 spots when it comes to naming the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra as the best smartphone overall. Because the camera—like, obviously, I guess I’m one of the few or one of the not many who cares that their skin tones are not correct when I use this camera on this smartphone, and that’s something I just can’t let slide.

Now obviously, maybe for the majority it works and it’s fine, but for me, it’s just not okay. And I think that they need to correct that. I’ve said this year after year for so many years, and Samsung has kept this same algorithm, and they literally crank the whites. Whites have a bump. If you do a raw photo and you look at the information that’s brought in when you look in a camera raw app or Lightroom or something, you’re going to see that Samsung is cranking the whites.

So this is intentional, and this is something that they just won’t get rid of. So it’s something that I got to speak on until they correct it because, you know, it needs to be more all-inclusive, like Pixel did an initiative to include all skin tones. Apple, although they didn’t do a full-on initiative, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

they always use different skin tones in their promo videos, and they always are, what I believe, to be inclusive in their camera. Is it perfect? No, but it is better than this one, and that’s my gripe. Until they fix skin tones, I can’t give this camera the best camera over any other camera. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Although I know how to tweak this camera and make it look extremely good, and the camera settings video that’s coming up, I’ll show you guys how to do it too. And then there’s the beloved ultrawide video mode, which is the vlog mode or whatever, you know what I’m saying, on the standard camera app. And, uh, yeah. But, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

I mean, this is the most ideal recording setup right here, so if it can’t perform in this situation, I don’t know when it ever will or if it will. But one thing that is interesting is how great the camera is when you’re shooting products, not necessarily faces. It’s like it recognizes that there’s a face there, and it does that intentional whitening. But outside of that, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

when you’re shooting other things like objects and so forth, the color science is so much better. Galaxy Watch 6 Classic with the custom watch face. If you guys want to know how to get these watch faces, I have a video on the channel as well, showing you the watch bands and having links to that. So get your Watch 6 Classic and get it to look like this or…

All right, so you guys saw it. The reality is, to get the best out of this camera, you got to use the pro video and pro camera modes. And I’m going to show you guys how to do that in the video that’s coming up soon. I’m going to show you guys how to get the true quality out of these good physical cameras. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

The camera hardware is good; the camera software, not so much. But when you use the pro mode, which allows you to take control, you get better camera results. And that’s the end of the discussion when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera. I can never give it a better camera rating over the iPhone because of that.

I can never give it a better camera rating over the Pixel, which I will go grab, but I’m not, because, you know, I just moved, I got things all over the place. I can’t do that because skin tones are better on those devices. But I could give it over the Pixel because in many ways, it could kick the Pixel’s butt in camera performance and stuff.

But it’s just color representation, color science. Samsung, get your color science, get your skin tones right, please. Okay, end of that rant when it comes to the camera. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Now, next topic of discussion: performance. Come on, you guys, this is the ultra device. Latest Snapdragon chip, really powerful GPU, they have the new heat sink in there or heat chamber or whatever. I mean, come on, man. It’s a smartphone that’s super thin. You still can push these and hit thresholds, but very well-performing device, very high-end, especially in graphics. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

It outperforms the iPhone in graphics. But when it comes to raw CPU power, the iPhone still kicks Samsung’s butt, and it’s done that year after year. That’s one of the things that I challenge Samsung to do. Can Snapdragon and Samsung beat the iPhone in CPU? You’ve done it in GPU, can you do it in CPU? My challenge to the manufacturers is better for us.

Allow me to challenge Samsung without you guys pulling out your swords and defending the foolery. You should want them to do the things that I’m asking. Okay, I’m the fanboy? No, you are the fanboy. All right, let me get off the audience.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Let’s continue on: user experience. The most important conversation piece or the topic that we could talk about in any of these reviews is user experience, right? And let me just say this before I continue on. Because in this space, a lot of people are afraid to speak the truth. You guys see in my videos, I don’t care. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Samsung should want to work with me. Samsung should want to send me their device and have me yield, you know, a positive speaking. Like, I’m not negative, yeah, I’m constructive. All of my criticism is constructive for improvement. Yes, I do feel like I deserve early review units to speak to you guys. Period. At Samsung, tell them to send CJ Knows Tech every Samsung phone at embargo period. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Now, user experience. The user experience is the most important topic because it’s the collective of everything. Me using my Samsung Watch 6 Classic in combination with this, my everyday use, how does the adding of all of these specs and features that they talk about at the keynote, how does it really pan out? The AI features that you actually use and not the ones that are advertised, you know what I mean? Circle to search is probably the only AI feature that I will put to use, you know, and every now and then you might need the erase tool, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

which is cool, but that’s been around, you know what I mean? It’s nothing new. What is the user experience? For me personally, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has been a pleasant device to use. I’ve been enjoying it. You know, you say one constructive thing, everyone thinks you’re hating. No, if you listen to all of my videos, the overall— even for Samsung—yo,

listen to the overall and not just the 5% where I’m constructive. Listen to the 95% where I’m actually objective and I do speak good of this device because it is a good phone, especially if you’re in the Android hemisphere. I think it’s a great phone.

The funny thing is, let me just say this. Everyone always wants to say, “Oh, it’s the best phone, the best phone, the best phone.” Has everything well-rounded enough for the collective user experience to be smooth or even or ideal across the board? There aren’t, you know, radicals or like strong throw-offs in certain areas. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

It’s just like, if you calculate it and you look at that median point, you’re hitting it. And that’s what makes the best phone. Now, whether this does it or not is up for debate. I’ll talk about it at the end of the year after we get the iPhone and the latest Pixel.

User experiences are great on these devices. I mean, it’s one of the most power-packed Androids, one of the most customizable Androids. It’s one of the better Androids out of the Android bunch. It’s one of the big companies, the big three. The big three I like to talk about are Apple, Google, and Samsung. So what’s interesting, though, is Apple did pass Samsung in overall units and market share in the mobile market. That’s another video, another topic, another discussion.

So it’s interesting to see that. Like, what has happened to make Apple creep past Samsung and Samsung take a reduction? Now, Samsung has made a smart move in focusing more on refinements than trying to always innovate. But has that come at a cost? Is Samsung not pushing its boundaries, causing them to take a hit or what? Because how do you lose to a device that’s only about refinements when you are the innovative pusher? You know? But all in all, the collective—when you look at this device, it’s ideal. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Now, there’s been a lot of bumps in the road for user experience on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Out the gate, you have the screen issue. A lot of people complaining about Vivid not being there; they have to release an update for that. The camera—there were issues with the camera, and there still are issues with the camera in the update. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

You know, they’re promising camera setting fixes and things like that. It’s interesting to me that a device that comes out—all devices are like this now in the tech space and need updates to, you know, remedy things. And I get it, it’s like the soft launch. The people who get it first, you’re like the soft launch, and then they find out the issues that are apparent once the public gets them, and they address them in the update. That’s why these long-term reviews are important.

The little two-week review that everyone does, they move on, you know, they no longer have the device. How are you getting value out of that when there’s updates that come later? That’s why long-term, long-form reviews are the true review that you need to get into, which is why I’m going to be giving you guys updated reviews month after month and so forth on this device as the updates come. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Or maybe as soon as the updates come, I can make a video about it and share that with you guys. You know, hit the comment section down below. Let me know what you guys want. But I’m here for you guys, and that’s the thing. I’m not just here for me all around. Like, if I think someone’s shopping this and this is a device that they’re considering, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

I think it’s a great device to pick up. Is it all the way 100% and well-rounded? No. Is it the majority of what you need to have an ideal user experience? Yes. Is it the phone of the year for 2024 already, as people are claiming? I don’t think so. Like, that’s just me being honest because it’s too much coming for you to just give it that. Like, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

that’s just hype, you feel me? For a phone to come out in February and just guarantee phone of the year? No, it’s not doing that. And this came out at the end of January, basically February. We still need to see the updates that are coming, the promises; we still need to see those, you know, actualized. And then we need to see what the competition is bringing.

We need to see what the Pixel is going to bring, and we need to see what the iPhone 16 is going to bring. Unfortunately, there’s more not-so-good news when it comes to the Z6, which we’re going to talk about in the upcoming video.

My name is CJ. This is the S24 Ultra a month later. Is it a go? Yes. Is it a no sometimes? Yes. Is it the best? I don’t think so. But is it worth picking up and purchasing? Yes and no. Versus video against the S23 Ultra coming,

that’s going to be spicy because I’m going to be honest. It’s tough to say what are the initiatives to make you feel like this is better than this. There are some that some people may argue, and there are some that aren’t really necessarily the reasoning. We’re going to do the versus against the iPhone that’s coming, and we’ll do the Pixel. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

There are some other devices I got to do it against, the Z Fold, and so on. So you already know what to do. If you haven’t hit the bell, if you haven’t even turned on subscribe, what are you doing, bro? My name is CJ. Peace.

Diamond. Yeah, no diamonds. New watch, good time. Yeah, no middle man, I’m the man. The man. Send it in, I like what I like. Me, I know my right. I lay having fun, I do what I want. It’s what it is for my son. Son for my twin.