The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is nearly a year old, and that can only mean one thing: the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is on the way.
While it’s still being worked on behind closed doors at Samsung HQ, there are plenty of leaks and rumours that help provide a solid idea of what to expect from Samsung’s 2024 flagship – and it’s largely positive, with potential upgrades to display tech and performance, and it could arrive sooner than expected too.
With that said, here’s everything there is to know about the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra right now, from release date rumours to the latest leaked specs.
When will the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra be released?
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra launched alongside the rest of the flagship S23 collection in February 2023, suggesting a February 2024 launch for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, recent rumours suggest that Samsung might be planning on bringing the release date a little closer.
More specifically, several rumours claim that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will launch sometime in January, with others whittling down the possible release even further. According to known leaker IceUniverse on Weibo, it’ll launch sometime in mid-to-late January, while South Korean site SBS Biz claims it’ll make its initial reveal at an event on 17 January 2024.
Of course, Samsung has yet to confirm its release date plans for the Samsung Galaxy S24 range. Still, with so many independent sources pointing towards a January 2024 launch, it’s looking increasingly likely.
How much will the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra cost?
It’s hard to say at this point how much the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra could cost, but rumours point towards a potential price increase.
That’s according to Yogesh Brar anyway, who claimed that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will cost more than the S23 Ultra, though they didn’t provide much in terms of specifics. For reference, the S23 Ultra starts at £1,249/$1,199, which already makes it one of the priciest phones around. Any increase could potentially make it unobtainable for some.
However, that’s not set in stone. In fact, one competing rumour from UniverseIce claims that Samsung is looking to keep the S24 range pricing in line with that of the S23 line, suggesting that the S24 Ultra could start at the same £1,249/$1,199 as its predecessor, but we’ll have to wait and find out for sure.
Latest Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra rumours
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra may still be a closely guarded secret by Samsung, but that hasn’t stopped a flurry of leaks and rumours appearing online over the past few months. These glimpses help paint a broader picture of what to expect from the upcoming flagship, and it certainly looks positive.
Design and screen
All the current leaks and rumours point towards a very familiar device in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. We’ve seen a plethora of renders all depicting a phone that looks near-identical to the current Galaxy S23 Ultra, albeit with a few minor changes.
One such change comes in the form of bezels, which, according to tipster UniverseIce, will offer “the thinnest bezel and the thickest middle frame.” Per the leaker, these will measure a minute 1.52mm thick, while the middle frame is a little larger at 1.85mm thick.
The leaker also threw the alleged dimensions of the phone in too, measuring in at 162.3 x 79 x 8.7mm and 233g. That’s a smidge shorter, slimmer and lighter than the S23 Ultra, but it wouldn’t be noticeable unless you held the two side-by-side.
It might also boast an upgraded titanium chassis, matching that of the iPhone 15 Pro – a claim backed up by The Elec, although the latter claims it’ll be a titanium alloy rather than pure titanium.
Prominent leaker and analyst Ross Young suggests that we’ll see the S24 Ultra in shades of black, grey, violet and yellow from most retailers, though Samsung may sell orange, light blue and light green options exclusively from the Samsung Store. This is also something backed up by leaker UniverseIce.
As with the design, the screen is set to be essentially unchanged with the S24 Ultra if rumours are anything to go by. All signs point towards the use of the same 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display as the S23 Ultra, although two separate sources have claimed that the brightness will be boosted to a whopping 2,500nits, beating the 2,400nit Pixel 8 Pro and 2000nit iPhone 15 Pro to the punch.
It’s also said that the S24 Ultra’s refresh rate could see a boost to 144Hz, up from 120Hz on the current model and most of the Android competition. That’s more common among gaming phones, with a higher refresh rate allowing for more frames to be displayed, but we’ll see.
Camera tech
The Samsung Galaxy S Ultra smartphones have often paved the way when it comes to photo performance and telephoto performance in particular, with the 10x optical zoom found in recent models leaving most of the competition – like the 5x of the Pixel 8 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max – in the water. However, rather oddly, that might change with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
That’s because leaker UniverseIce claims that the S24 Ultra will have a 5x optical sensor in place of the current 10x, alongside a secondary telephoto offering 3x zoom.
Elsewhere, leaker Yogesh Brar claims that the S24 Ultra will sport a 200MP primary camera alongside a 12MP ultrawide, a 50MP telephoto and a 10MP periscope, with the latter likely being the ‘new’ 5x optical zoom mentioned above. It’s also said that the S24 Ultra will have a 12MP front-facing camera.
It’s worth noting that, aside from the 50MP telephoto, these specs seem identical to the S23 Ultra, suggesting a rather incremental update this year. Still, given that the current S23 Ultra takes some of the best photos around, that might not be a bad thing.
Performance and specs
It’s almost certain that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will sport the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, if not a custom version of it. After all, that’s what happened with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy found within this year’s S23 Ultra.
However, rumours claim that Samsung is reverting to an older (read: frustratingly annoying) strategy of splitting the chipset offering, with some regions getting a Snapdragon chipset while others will get an equivalent Samsung Exynos chipset.
That’s a pretty unfortunate move for Samsung if accurate as, even with the best tuning, there will be differences between the two chipsets that essentially mean one will be better than the other. Of course, it’s too early to say which would offer more bang for your buck, but traditionally, Samsung’s Exynos chipsets haven’t been entirely up to scratch.
However, other rumours suggest that the S24 Ultra will get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 wherever you are in the world, while it’s the standard Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus will get the upgraded Samsung Exynos 2400.
It’s hard to say for sure right now, but we’re certainly hoping for the latter rather than the former. The chipset split in the Galaxy S22 range was a headache for buyers to navigate.
