Long-term Review: Two Years with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

I purchased the Galaxy S24 Ultra in January 2024. The phone is now two years old, and it remains an absolute powerhouse.

At the time of its announcement, I was using a Google Pixel 7 Pro. I liked the Pixel a lot, but Google’s aftersales support - particularly in the UK - was almost non-existent. That became a deal-breaker. As much as I loved the photos I got from it, I decided I wouldn’t upgrade to another Pixel device. But I digress.

When Samsung announced the S24 Ultra, one thing immediately grabbed my attention: the square corners. Finally. It’s something most people don’t realise, but heavily rounded corners may improve comfort while quietly eating into usable screen real estate. Just look at the corners on an iPhone. The S24 Ultra avoids that entirely. On top of that, Samsung introduced an excellent anti-reflective display coating. Once again, Samsung claimed the top spot for screen quality. I was sold.

I pre-ordered the Natural Titanium model with 1TB of storage. Even then, I suspected this might be the last square-cornered flagship we’d see from Samsung - or anyone else - for a long time. So far, that assumption has held true.

I genuinely love my Galaxy S24 Ultra. It represents exactly why I enjoy technology, and why I’m so interested in smartphones.

That said, it isn’t perfect. What follows is pure nitpicking.

The downsides (minor ones):

1. Battery life
   It isn’t outstanding. I’m a heavy user and regularly push the phone like a handheld computer. Performance never suffers, but battery drain is noticeable. I use Maximum Battery Protection (charging capped at 80%) and typically recharge once it hits around 30%, which naturally limits endurance.

2. Camera character
   The camera is good, but it’s a step behind the Pixel and iPhone. It’s very capable, yet somewhat clinical. Pixels and iPhones make me want to take photos. The S24 Ultra doesn’t inspire me in quite the same way.

3. Good Lock frustrations
   Good Lock is excellent overall, but when I contacted the Camera+ team to request custom aspect ratios for photos, I received no response. A small annoyance, but an avoidable one.

Again, this is nitpicking. On battery life alone, I could easily double my endurance by being stricter with social media usage.

To finish, here’s a quick barrage of positives:

1. It still looks as good as the day I bought it. I’ve always used a case and a tempered glass screen protector - and I’m only on my second one.

2. It remains fast and stable. I’ve never needed to factory reset it.

3. Samsung DeX is genuinely brilliant and comes in clutch whenever I need to be productive.

4. LDAC support, paired with Wavelet and AutoEQ presets, makes it a surprisingly serious music player.

5. It was crowned MKBHD’s 2024 Phone of the Year. Mic drop.
   

All things considered, I’ll happily continue using the Galaxy S24 Ultra as my workhorse for a few more years. Samsung will provide OS updates for another three years, with security updates continuing beyond that - and that long-term support still matters.