Galaxy S24 Ultra could share a design element with the Galaxy S9

With Samsung's biggest phone launches for 2023 done and dusted, the company is no doubt focusing all its efforts on the Galaxy S24 lineup. The rumor mill has given us plenty of information about the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra over the last few weeks, and we have also seen the design of the new phones thanks to leaked renders.

The Galaxy S24 lineup isn't expected to bring any major design changes – the most notable one will probably be the flat frames on the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+. The rest is said to be similar to the Galaxy S23 series, with the Galaxy S24 Ultra in particular looking like an exact copy of its predecessor.

Or at least it did when the renders of these devices were leaked. Apparently, there is one small change that Samsung has made to the Galaxy S24 Ultra: the speaker grille will reportedly be a long rectangular strip and won't have the pill-shaped holes that are seen on current Galaxy flagships.

A minor design change that won't affect the user experience

As long time Samsung fans will know, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, Samsung's first flagship phones with stereo speakers, had a similar design for the speaker opening (see the image above), but it was not carried over to subsequent flagships, including the Galaxy Note 9 that launched six months later.

If the latest rumor is true, that speaker grille design could be making a comeback with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It's a minor change that won't really affect how the speakers sound, but it could ruin the look for some people. But the bottom side of a phone is not one people often see, so we don't think this is something that will bother anyone after the first few days of using the device.

Of course, that's just speculation and we can't come to any conclusions without seeing the actual phone. It also remains to be seen if the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ speaker grille will receive a similar treatment. Thankfully we might not have to wait too long for all the answers, as Samsung is reportedly planning to unveil the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra in January.