Hands-On with the Galaxy S24 Plus: Why Samsung's Ultra Might Not Be Your Top Choice

At Samsung's Unpacked event this month, the spotlight was firmly on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it's easy to see why. But amidst the excitement for the Ultra and the Galaxy Ring, two other smartphones quietly made their debut: the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus. These models seemed to slip under the radar, but having spent the last couple of days with both, I'm beginning to believe that the real star of Samsung's 2024 lineup might not be the Ultra after all.

I've devoted most of my time to exploring the Galaxy S24 Plus, and it's been nothing short of a treat. Picture the S24 Plus as a perfect blend, sitting right in the sweet spot where the regular S24 and the S24 Ultra intersect. This year, however, the S24 Plus leans more towards emulating the Ultra, especially with the Ultra getting a bit pricier due to a $100 hike in its price tag. This whole scenario threw me into a bit of a quandary as I got more acquainted with the S24 Plus. At its $1,000 (£999) price point, could the Galaxy S24 Plus be the savvy alternative to the pricier Ultra?

So, the Galaxy S24 Plus, at first glance, it's like the regular S24 went to the gym and bulked up a bit – same aluminum design, those iPhone-esque rounded corners, but just bigger. The cool thing? It sports a screen that matches the S24 Ultra in resolution. And get this – because its screen is a tad smaller at 6.7 inches (compared to the Ultra's 6.8 inches), it technically boasts a higher pixel density. Okay, it's just an 8-pixel difference, and honestly, my eyes can't spot it, but deep down, I feel a bit smug knowing it's there.

Under the hood, the Plus and Ultra are practically twins. They both rock the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, have the same screen brightness and resolution, identical RAM, those fancy Galaxy AI features, and similar storage options – though the 1TB is an Ultra exclusive. The Ultra does one-up the Plus with its titanium build, a slightly beefier battery, an S Pen, and, on paper, superior cameras.

But here's the kicker – with the Ultra now at $1,300, it's a whole $300 pricier than the Plus. While I'm still putting the S24 Plus through its paces to figure out if that extra cash for the Ultra is really worth it, I gotta say, the Plus has already made quite the impression on me in just a couple of days.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and its battery life- You're not going to believe this, but it lasted me two whole days on a single charge! n absolute dream if you're anything like me and always forgetting to put your phone on charge ready for the next day. 

Now, let's talk battery size. The S24 Plus is packing a 4,900-mAh battery, which is a bit beefier than last year's S23 Plus that had a 4,700-mAh one. On day one, I really put it through its paces. I'm talking a ton of downloads, screen brightness cranked up to the max for a morning photoshoot, and then keeping it blazing for a video shoot in the afternoon. Plus, I was playing around with new features like Circle to Search all day long. By the end of the day, the battery was at 38% – not too shabby!

Day two was more of a typical day for me. I dove into some more AI features, and let me tell you, they're pretty cool. The phone can magically expand the edges of a photo to show parts that were cut off, and it can even make objects disappear from an image. As someone who's a bit obsessed with keeping photo horizons level, I was all over the S24 Plus' Generative Edit feature. It lets you straighten a photo and then fill in the edges. To be honest, the results were a mixed bag – not amazing, but definitely not a disaster either.

Alright, so let's circle back to this nifty Circle To Search feature. Honestly, it might as well be called "Circle To Buy" because it's like having Google Lens integrated right into your screen. Whether you're browsing a website, using an app, or scrolling through your social feeds, you can circle any image, or part of it, to kick off an instant Google search.

Here's a fun example: I was scrolling through Instagram and stumbled upon a picture of cat wearing a stylish scarf. By pressing and holding the home button for a second, I circled the stylish cat in the image. Voilà, search results for cats popped up at the bottom of my screen. But wait, there's more! I gave it another whirl, this time circling just the scarf. Turns out, it was Hermes – talk about a high-fashion kitty! A bunch of buying options popped up, and let me tell you, it was tempting, but no, I didn't splurge.

Now, about the cameras on the S24 Plus. They're the same as the ones on the S23 Plus: a trio of wide, ultrawide, and telephoto lenses. The main camera boasts a 50-megapixel sensor, which is pretty sweet for capturing those picture-perfect moments.

My conclusions after spending two days with the Galaxy S24 Plus: I've got more work to do. There's a bunch more testing ahead before I can spill all my thoughts on it. Stay tuned for my comprehensive review coming your way soon. And yeah, I'm pretty optimistic about figuring out this whole Ultra vs. Plus dilemma. Keep an eye out for that!