The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the best flagship phone available from Samsung currently, and like many others, I have been having a great time using it.
The smooth performance is the biggest draw for me. The Galaxy S23 Ultra was the first Samsung phone that felt totally impervious to lag and stutter and matched the consistently smooth experience iOS provides (or provided at one time; it’s apparently no longer as optimized as it used to be).
I expected the Galaxy S24 Ultra to offer similar performance, but it’s even faster and smoother compared to the S23 Ultra, suggesting that Samsung made further optimizations to the software instead of leaving things as they were on last year’s model.
Many have also pointed out that they are glad that Samsung decided to give up curved screens and equipped all three Galaxy S24 models with flat displays. S Pen users are especially thankful, as curved screens are extremely impractical for stylus input.
Until a few days back, I was also part of the group that loves the flat edges of the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s display, even though I’m not an avid S Pen user. However, I changed my mind when I recently held a Galaxy S23 Ultra without a case after a long time.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra may have a titanium frame that boosts its premium factor, but after using both the S23 Ultra and S24 Ultra, I have come to realize that the titanium has nothing on the curved screen when it comes to making you feel like you’re using an expensive premium smartphone.
The curves aren’t just visually more inviting. On paper, the S23 Ultra has a 0.3mm thicker profile, but the curves make it feel thinner than the S24 Ultra during use. The differences are negligible if you use a case on your phone, but if you prefer to go commando, the S23 Ultra’s in-hand feel is simply better.
Some folks also believe that the curved screen is better suited for Android’s gesture navigation system, particularly the back gesture that is performed by swiping in from the edge of the display. However, I still use the traditional navigation buttons, so this is one advantage I cannot confirm or deny.
Unfortunately, the Galaxy S24 Ultra likely marked the end of an era, and Samsung fans will have to get used to the fact that curved displays may never come back to Galaxy phones. It was good while it lasted, though, and if you own a flagship Samsung phone with a curved display, you may want to stick to it as long as possible if you’re not keen about the idea of going back to a flat display.
