Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: A Pricey Way to Join the AI Craze

The Galaxy S24 Ultra's new AI tricks show promise, but you don't need to splurge on Samsung's top-of-the-line phone to get them.

All the messages sent between my wife and me in the last few days were translated into French with the click of a button. I don't need to show custom words or text balloons or copy and paste text between apps. When I pressed the "Chat Translate" button on the Galaxy S24 Ultra's screen, the text was instantly translated as I scrolled through my message history.

This story is part of the Samsung Event, CNET's collection of news, tips and content. Recommendations for Samsung's most popular products.
This is one of the many new features of the Galaxy S24 series and is part of Galaxy AI, a collection of productivity, communication and content creation tools powered by artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has been the buzzword of the tech world since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, and it will be easy to knock out Galaxy AI as there are other attempts to monetize it. This may be true to some extent.

But my experience with the Galaxy S24 Ultra a few days ago convinced me that there is some hope behind the excitement. While many of the Galaxy AI features seem familiar rather than obscure, Samsung's Instant Translation and Circles technology for Search (a feature Samsung developed in collaboration with Google) are expected to be useful.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra will be announced on January 31 for $1,300 (£1,249, AU$2,199) and will have features you don't need to be a high-end phone from Samsung. These features, which are available on all Galaxy S24 devices, will also be available in the previous generation Galaxy S23 series. Circle for Review is also supported on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, which are cheaper than the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Read more: The best phones to buy in 2024

Last year's Galaxy S23 Ultra was what I call the "King of Extras." This also applies to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. What really sets the Ultra apart from the regular Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus isn't Samsung's new AI features, but its larger display, scratch-free S Pen, and extra-long camera. Samsung has given the Galaxy S24 Ultra a new color finish with a sharper 50-megapixel zoom that can take sharper photos at 5x magnification, a new titanium design, and a beautiful face. Perhaps most importantly, the entire Galaxy S24 series will receive seventh-generation Android version upgrades like the Pixel 8 series, a big step forward from Samsung's promise from four years ago.

New AI tricks aside, the Galaxy S24 Ultra looks like a slight upgrade over last year's phone. Samsung hasn't yet had the opportunity to make its flagship phone stand out from the rest of the S24 lineup with Ultra-exclusive Galaxy AI features.