We interrupt our ongoing coverage of the absolute flood of Black Friday 2023 deals currently taking place at all of the major US retailers and carriers for an important and somewhat unexpected update on quite possibly the most highly anticipated smartphone launch of (early) 2024.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is widely expected to go official alongside its "vanilla" and Plus siblings in less than two months after having virtually all of its key details leaked by rock-solid sources numerous times of late, might be pictured in the flesh for the very first time today.
Same same but different
What we're looking at here are most certainly not computer-generated depictions of the potential S24 Ultra design or dummy units meant to help case makers develop accessories for Samsung's "next big thing" ahead of time. Instead, these are almost surely actual photographs of some kind of an early prototype of the unreleased device, although just like everything else that doesn't come directly from the company in the lead-up to such a major product announcement, it still needs to be viewed with a healthy degree of skepticism.
No one can say for sure the pics are not doctored in some way or, for instance, that we're not looking at a (very convincing) Galaxy S24 Ultra clone manufactured by an entirely different company. But assuming no such shadiness is at play here, we have to admit the phone looks pretty good... and predictable.
Just as anticipated over the last few months by too many insiders and tipsters to name here, it appears that even the Galaxy S23 Ultra's minimal curves are all gone, making way for a completely flat screen and flat back panel this time around.
That's something that would have probably stirred quite a bit of controversy just a few years ago, but now it feels natural and... expected given how Samsung has subtly revised the design of its last couple of flagships.
Other than that, the Galaxy S24 Ultra seems virtually identical to its predecessor at first glance, with the same rear camera arrangement and positioning of the four imaging sensors and LED flash, an unchanged centered hole punch at the front, and nothing much to note in the buttons and ports department either.
The pre-production unit photographed in the wild appears to be powered on and functional, but unfortunately, these images don't give us much in terms of glimpses at the actual user interface. Hopefully, that will come a little bit later... unless, of course, the person who made these pictures public is already in a world of legal trouble.
What (else) do we know about the S24 Ultra?
Because "everything" would likely be a slightly exaggerated answer to that question, let's go with... pretty much everything. For instance, we have no idea if Samsung is preparing any sort of price hike over the already costly S23 Ultra.
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This is our very own S24 Ultra concept render... that looks eerily similar to the photographs above.
We sure hope not given all the rumored similarities between the two super-flagships, ranging from a 5,000mAh battery to a 200MP primary rear-facing shooter to a 6.8-inch display with the same "general" specifications. But then you have the subtle yet important upgrades, like a possible jump from 1,750 nits peak screen brightness to 2,500 or so nits, an entirely new 200MP sensor, and storage options that could go from as little as 128GB to as much as 2TB.
Meanwhile, the camera system on the back of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is likely to be fundamentally different from the one featured by the S23 Ultra, with the periscope telephoto lens tipped to go up from 10 to 50 megapixels but down from 10x to 5x optical zoom. It remains to be seen exactly how Samsung will try to frame that potentially divisive last change, and whether or not that means the S24 Ultra could start at a lower price than the S23 Ultra.
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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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