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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Better overall$1320 $1400 Save $80100x Space Zoom, a vibrant, curve-free AMOLED display, an S Pen with great features, and a whole lot more wrapped up in a titanium package. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is Samsung's statement on what a traditional slab smartphone should be in 2024.
Pros- Better spec set of the two plus S Pen
- Camera versatility with 200MP sensor, telephoto options
- Titanium build enables internal design enhancements
Cons- Substantially pricier
- One UI can be pretty cluttered
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Google Pixel 8 Pro
The alternative$799 $999 Save $200The Google Pixel 8 Pro is a lot of smartphone at a great price. The AI features make capturing the perfect photos a breeze. Its bright screen and curved edges make it comfortable to use, and there's decent battery life, too.
Pros- Proven photo champion
- Frequent feature drops take the Pixel further
Cons- Battery life shorter, takes a little longer to charge
- Tensor G3 SoC remains less performant than Snapdragon
The Pixel 8 Pro has been around for a while, and has impressed many with its intuitive AI skills as well as it's long seven-year support. The new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra dropped in mid-January at Samsung's Unpacked event, and we're interested in how it holds up against the Pixel 8 Pro. Can the S24 Ultra match the AI smarts of the Pixel 8 Pro, or will it's superior camera system blow the Pixel 8 Pro out of the water? We put the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro up against each other to see how they compare.
Price, specs & availability
The Pixel 8 Pro was announced on 4 October 2023, and became available to buy starting Oct. 12, 2023, at $999. You can currently get your hands on a Pixel 8 Pro from Amazon or the Google website for just $799. You can upgrade the default 128GB of storage to 256GB ($859) or 512GB ($979). There's also a 1TB option ($1,199) but this model is only available in the US. You can get the Pixel 8 Pro in three different color options: Bay (pale blue), Obsidian (black) and Porcelain (off-white).
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra was announced on Jan. 17, and pre-orders are now open. The phone will be available starting Jan. 31 from Samsung and other major retailers. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra starts from $1,300, and is available in three storage capacities: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. If you preorder directly from Samsung, you also get a free storage upgrade; for example, if you preorder a 512GB model, you'll be upgraded to a 1TB model free of charge.
There are a range of color options for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, including Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow. If you order directly from Samsung, you also have three additional color options: Titanium Orange, Titanium Blue, and Titanium Green.
Let's take a look at some of the key specs of both phones.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Google Pixel 8 Pro SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Google Tensor G3 Display 6.8 inches, Dynamic AMOLED 2X @ 3088 × 1440 (505ppi), 120Hz adaptive 6.7-inch Super Actua OLED, 2992 x 1344, 489ppi, 1-120Hz, up to 2400nits RAM 12GB 12GB Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Battery 5,000mAh 5050mAh, 30W fast charging, 12-18W wireless Ports USB-C USB-C 3.2 Operating System One UI 6.1 w/ Android 14 Android 14 Rear camera 200MP f/1.7 main w/OIS, 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide (120°), 50MP f/3.4 5X telephoto w/OIS, 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto w/OIS 50MP main, 48MP ultra wide, 48MP telephoto Dimensions 163 × 79 × 8.6mm 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8mm, 213g Colors Titanium Black, Blue, Gray, Green, Orange, Violet, Yellow Obsidian, Porcelain, Bay Weight 233g 213g Charge speed 45W wired, 15W wireless 30W wired, 15W wireless IP Rating IP68 IP68 Stylus S Pen No
Design and build
The overall dimensions of both phones are fairly similar. They're almost exactly the same width, with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra being a couple of millimeters taller. There's very little difference in thickness too, with the Pixel 8 Pro being a shade thicker. Despite their similar sizes, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is around 20g heavier than the Pixel 8 Pro, thanks in part to the titanium construction of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. The Pixel 8 Pro is made from lighter aluminum. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is around 10g heavier than the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is also made of titanium.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs S23 Ultra: Titanium this, Ultra that
Samsung's high-end smartphones have their similarities, but also some key differences. We discuss what sets them apart.The most noticeable difference from the front is that the Pixel 8 Pro has rounded corners, whereas the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra opts for much sharper corners, for a more rectangular shape. Both have a circular punch hole camera located at the top of the display. The differences are more notable on the rear, where the Pixel 8 Pro opts for a camera housing that spans the full width of the rear of the phone, and frankly looks a little odd.
In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra sticks with the tried and trusted vertical stacks of lenses that were on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, with three larger lenses in one row, and an additional lens, flash, and sensor in the next row. It definitely looks much smarter than the back of the Pixel 8 Pro. There's one other key difference between the design of the two phones, although it's difficult to spot unless you know what you're looking for. On the bottom of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, along with the USB-C port, there's a nook where the S Pen stylus is housed.
Display
The Pixel 8 Pro has a 6.7-inch OLED Super Actua display, with an always-on option. The dimensions are 2922 x 1344, with a pixel density of 489ppi. There's a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and the Pixel Pro has a peak brightness of 2,400nits.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, despite having very similar dimensions to the Pixel 8 Pro, manages to squeeze in a 6.8-inch display, making it a little larger than the Pixel 8 Pro. The lack of rounded corners may help towards the increased screen real estate. It has dimensions of 3088 x 1440, with a pixel density of 505ppi. The dynamic AMOLED 2x display is designed to reduce the amount of blue light emitted by the phone, and has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It's also a little brighter than the Pixel 8 Pro, with a peak brightness of 2,600nits.
Cameras
We've already discussed the difference in the design of the rear cameras on these two smartphones, but what about their performance? The Pixel 8 Pro has a triple camera system, with a 50MP sensor with an f/1.68 aperture, a 48MP telephoto sensor with an f/2.8 aperture, and a 48MP ultrawide sensor, with an f/1.95 aperture. The telephoto camera offers 5x optical zoom, with up to 30x digital zoom. On the front, the Pixel 8 Pro has a 10.5MP camera.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra goes one better, with a four camera system that includes a 200MP wide camera sensor with an f/1.7 aperture, a 10MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom and an f/2.4 aperture, a 50MP telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom and an f/3.4 aperture, and a 12MP ultrawide sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. There's also the enhanced digital zoom up to 100x which has been around since the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, and a 12MP front camera.
The Pixel 8 Pro has been heavily promoted based on its AI photography features. The Best Take feature will automatically find the best facial expressions from multiple shots and stitch them together into a group shot where everyone is looking good. The Magic Editor allows you to remove or even move objects within your photos, and the enhanced zoom uses AI to fill in the missing pixels when you zoom in on an image.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra also boasts its own AI tools for your photos. The Galaxy AI editing tools allow you to erase objects or recompose images, and can even offer suggestions for editing tweaks. Generative Edit can fill in parts of a photo background using generative AI, and Instant Slo-mo uses AI to generate additional video frames if you want to turn a standard video into a slow motion clip.
Hardware and performance
The Pixel 8 Pro runs Google's Tensor G3 processor that's built on a 4nm process, and comes with 12GB of RAM. There's a 5,050mAh battery that can easily make it through the day with plenty to spare. The Pixel 8 Pro supports fast charging, up to 30W, which can charge up to 50% in around 30 minutes.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which is also built on a 4nm process. In comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max run on the A17 chip that's built on the faster and more efficient 3nm process. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with 12GB of RAM, and packs a 5,000mAh battery.
We're yet to get our hands on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for long term testing, but we'd expect it to also easily make it through the day without charging. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra can support fast charging up to 45W, meaning it can charge up to 65% in around 30 minutes, making it significantly faster at charging than the Pixel 8 Pro.
Software
The Pixel 8 Pro was the first phone to launch with Android 14, and for the first time, Google offered seven years of updates for the phone. It means that if you buy a Pixel 8 Pro, you won't have to worry about missing out on important security fixes, as you'll continue to get these for up to seven years.
Not to be outdone, Samsung has announced that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will also support up to seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates, matching the Pixel 8 Pro, and leaving Apple in the dust. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra runs on Android 14, but with Samsung's own One UI 6.1 interface. It's not the greatest UI in the world, and can feel a little cluttered, but it does the job.
In terms of AI, the Pixel 8 Pro unsurprisingly runs Google's Gemini Nano AI model, which has a host of features including the ability to summarize recorded conversations or suggest responses for chat apps. The big news with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is that, thanks to a partnership with Google, it can also take advantage of Google's AI models, although this is via the cloud, rather than on the device. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra users can access Gemini Pro and the text-to-image features of Imagen 2 via the cloud, as well as be able to take advantage of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's on-board AI features, such as Live Translate, Interpreter, and Chat Assist.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Google Pixel 8 Pro: Which is right for you?
The Pixel 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra are both great smartphones that come with a wide range of AI features that some other smartphones are not yet able to match. They're both very similar in size, with high-quality displays, and powerful hardware.
However, there are a couple of places where the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra really stands out. First, it has a better camera system, with a whole extra lens when compared to the Pixel 8 Pro. It's also built from titanium, which gives it a more high-end feel, and has a slightly larger display, too. As well as better specs, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra also comes with the S Pen, making it even more versatile, and can charge a little faster, too.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
That said, the Pixel 8 Pro has solid strengths too, not least its significantly lower price tag. It has some useful AI features that don't appear on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it's likely to see additions to these features as Google makes more strides in the world of AI. If you're looking for a smartphone that makes capturing great images a breeze, and won't break the bank, the Pixel 8 Pro is definitely worth a look.
