Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review - Why Buy Anything Else

The Samsung S24 Ultra: A $1,300 Phone with a Lot to Offer

Now that this phone also has that, why get anything else? But speaking of the iPhone, they're going at them too. Now I know I said in the beginning of this video, $1,300 slab Android phone, so I know the iPhone 15 Pro Max was never really on the table, but if we're being honest, Samsung has never been shy about competing directly against the iPhone, so why not take some of the best stuff from there too? They weren't being subtle about it. So they've got this shiny brand new titanium color with titanium rails on the S24 Ultra, just like the iPhone. They have flattened the screen and the sides, and made boxier corners all the way through the lineup, just like the iPhone. They have moved to a max 5X telephoto lens, like I talked about earlier, also just like the iPhone. They also have this new always on display that doesn't just show the time but shows your whole wallpaper now, kinda like it's half awake, just like the iPhone. Thankfully, you can also turn that off and save some battery, just like the iPhone. You can also now long press to select an object in a photo that automatically cuts it out and makes it a sticker you can use in other apps, just like the iPhone. And there's even these new lock screen widgets now that look exactly like the iPhones.

These two are going to keep copying each other till the end of time, none of this is a surprise, it's just at the end of the day we are technically winning because they're making each other a little bit better bit by bit. But at the end of the day, S24 Ultra, I really do feel like it feels like peak slab phone. And there's also a whole bunch of stuff I didn't even really mention with this phone. The haptics are really nice, I didn't even get to that. Now there's AI generated wallpapers, a whole section for them, if you're into that. It's nice that the AI stuff is mostly kinda tucked away in ways where you don't ever have to use it if you don't want to, but if you notice it and it's helpful to you, bam, turn it on, could be your favorite feature.

Really the only things that I miss from the Pixel specifically are Call Screening and Now Playing. So really the best argument not to buy this $1,300 phone is the fact that it's a $1,300 phone. And the truth is, you can get 98% of the phone for much less money. You can see it in Samsung's own lineup. Samsung's own S24 Plus has a 4,900mAh battery instead of a 5,000. It has a 6.7 inch display instead of 6.8 and it drops the S Pen and one of the telephoto cameras for $300 off. And you know you can get the regular S24 again, also for much less money with almost as much phone. So you don't have to spend $1,300 on a phone. But if you are going to, and you put the word Ultra in the name, and you stuff as much stuff in one phone as you possibly can, this is the one that you should get.

This has all the things; it's reliable, it's fast, it does everything, it checks all the boxes, it sounds great. It kinda feels like an ad when I just say all these positive things about the phone but it's not. Until right now, this video is sponsored by Ridge. The Ridge Wallet is iconic at this point. It's a minimalist, modern wallet like the opposite of those old school wallets. It's got the patented dual-track design that expands to hold one to 12 cards while being as slim as possible. And at this point, there's like 30 plus different colors and styles including carbon fiber, burnt titanium, and forged ember. This one is the forged ember, so it's got these little red flex in it, which look cool.

You can also get accessories for it, so if you wanna carry cash, you might want the money clip or this one has the cash strap. Or if you want the Air Tag holder, you can get one that holds the Air Tag to it, so you never lose your wallet. And on top of all that, if you get one and you don't like it, you can return it within 99 days, no questions asked. So if you wanna grab one, you can get 10% off using code MKBHD or go to ridge.com/mkbhd. Tell 'em I sent you. Either way, that's been it for the S24 Ultra. Thanks for watching. Catch you guys on the next one, peace.