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Is the Galaxy S24 Ultra the absolute best Android phone money can buy right now? Our comprehensive review of Samsung's latest crown jewel certainly seems to suggest so, but while many early adopters have taken to social media to express their delight with the camera capabilities, overall performance, and hot new AI tricks of the 6.8-inch super-flagship, a definitely-not-small number of users appear to have a big problem with the handset's display.
Make that two, three, or even four different problems, as depending on your luck and exactly how closely you tend to inspect every individual pixel on your smartphone's screen, you're likely to notice one or several of multiple weird behaviors (let's call them that) widely reported over the last couple of weeks.
Galaxy S24 Ultra with 512GB is now $321 off on Amazon
The S24 Ultra is at discounted prices on Amazon. You can now save $321 on the model with 512GB of storage. Not all colors arrive at the same discount.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 with 256GB of storage is now $80 cheaper than usual at Amazon. At present, the only discounted color option is the one in Marble Gray.
You can purchase a fully unlocked Galaxy S24 Ultra via the official Samsung store. The almighty AI genius arrives for up to $750 off with an eligible phone trade-in. This is the 256GB model.
Galaxy S24+: up to $600 off with eligible trade-in
If you don't care much for the latest and greatest flagship model from Samsung, consider the S24+. The middle member of the S24 family is currently up to $600 off with eligible trade-ins.
The S24 arrives at Samsung as well. Right now, there are no discounts available before trade-ins, but you can trade in an eligible device to save up to $400. Online exclusive colors available.
To begin with, we're going to dub this controversy "grainygate" in order to easily distinguish it from the hardware malfunctions and (not)bugs we've already extensively covered since the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra made their commercial debut on January 31.
In a nutshell, it appears that quite a lot of S24 series units purchased around the world look... off in low brightness, having big trouble displaying clear and uniform images especially on a gray or dark background. Most people who've noticed this describe the screen as presenting a grainy quality or grainy texture, while others say that it looks like there is a "layer of unmoving static on top of the darker colors."
The best and most thorough explanation comes from a Redditor who claims to be a scientist with more than a decade of experience in the OLED panel industry, but hundreds of "everyday" users with (presumably) no PhD in this field are clearly bothered by the exact same thing.
Apparently known in the industry as "mura", the issue is generally "minimized" in a phone's pre-production process to a "degree where human eyes can barely tell." For some reason, Samsung may not have done that (or at least not successfully), shipping at least an initial batch of S24 series devices with what "erodeloeht" on Reddit is calling very "low quality displays."
Are these units defective? Not exactly. Can you do anything to fix the issue once you notice it? Probably not, as it's most likely caused by improperly tested and optimized hardware rather than faulty software. Should you return your S24, S24+, or S24 Ultra? That's definitely your choice and your choice only and it might depend on a number of other factors as well.
How many issues are too many issues?
That, our friends, is the key question you need to ask yourselves before deciding whether to hang on to your Galaxy S24 series device or not. And while grainygate (or mura) may not seem like a big deal to some people, only becoming truly noticeable at super-low brightness levels for some users of some units, previously reported problems have certainly impacted more users to a larger degree.
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The S24 Ultra's "muted" display, for instance, is something that almost everyone has noticed... because it's apparently intended behavior. For what it's worth, Samsung is preparing a fix... of sorts, which may or may not please the masses.
A far bigger problem were those green lines that appeared on some screens after just a few days of use and no abuse whatsoever, and in such extreme (yet rare) cases, you obviously need to return your phone to its manufacturer as soon as possible.
On a somewhat unrelated but still related note, some camera problems were also reported at one point although they didn't exactly spread like wildfire and all these display malfunctions. All in all, while it might seem like Samsung's quality assurance dropped the ball on the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra, the truth is new smartphones often have issues. Some are bigger, some are smaller, some are advertised as features rather than bugs, and some you need to decide for yourselves if they're deal breakers or not.
If you ask us, these are still among the absolute greatest phones out there, and you should definitely consider buying whichever model fits your preferences and budget best... while keeping an eye on any and all potential issues.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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