Galaxy S24 Series

[IHateMyTreo]

I was shocked when I got the shipping notification! I was expecting this next Wednesday the 31st, which is release day. To get this phone 5 days ahead of time, Friday the 26th, Samsung is obviously anxious to get this phone into users' hands in a hurry so the excitement over the new features will spread far & wide. Fine by me!

Of course, I can't ignore the usual weasel wording of "Expected Delivery: January 26"

 

[Hadron]

The only reservation I have about the S24 Ultra is that whole Galaxy AI thing. I don't like AI; I don't trust it; I really don't need it; and hopefully I can disable it. As a writer and author, it sickens me that so many people use AI to compose articles, ebooks, and other works... and then take credit for it. Worse, I'm concerned that my own creative work will be assimilated and regurgitated into someone else's AI-generated content without my consent. Anything with my name on it was crafted by ME: not some freaking algorithm.

"AI" is a term which used to have a clear meaning but has now been taken over my marketing people, and hence loses all meaning because they use it to mean whatever they want it to. What little I've read about "Samsung AI" so far (from Samsung) has been so vague that I've no idea whether they are using "generative AI" at all (the sort that's created all the hype of the last year or so, and is based on industrial scale plagiarism), or just the more traditional sort that's been available online for some time but can increasingly be done on-device as long as it doesn't need external data. Hopefully it wil become clear that this really does in due course - my own red line is what data it shares with the mothership.

I was waiting for something like that, now Mickey Mouse is public domain.

Only the very first version, where he looked more "ratty". This particular Mickey I would think is still a copyright violation

 

[The_Chief]

I had high hopes of getting the phones today but checked UPS and saw "Severe Weather Delay"...

 

[IHateMyTreo]

Oh no, that sucks!

Mine is still scheduled for today by 7 pm, but who knows?

 

[Duckster]

I was shocked when I got the shipping notification! I was expecting this next Wednesday the 31st, which is release day. To get this phone 5 days ahead of time, Friday the 26th, Samsung is obviously anxious to get this phone into users' hands in a hurry so the excitement over the new features will spread far & wide. Fine by me!

Greetings,

Did you find a great deal on this somewhere? If so, and you don't mind me asking.....where? It seems that most of the deals are pretty much the same. What deal did you get (extras, etc)? I didn't see a kickstand option on the ones that I was looking at (Youtube videos with a link provided). I'm still on the fence for upgrading my S22 Ultra 1TB. I have an old SG Note 8 that I can trade in for $400 or the SG S22 Ultra 1TB for $650. I'm thinking about getting rid of the Note 8 just so that I can keep the S22 as a backup. If I find a deal that is good enough, I may pull the trigger this week.

Thanks for the update on how fast you got yours. I'd probably get the unlocked 1TB version considering how large the files are for photos and videos.

 

[IHateMyTreo]

I went directly to Samsung because the TMo trade in offer sucked eggs. Sammy gave me $650 for my S22 Ultra, a $50 early reservation credit and $150 Sammy discount and $125 off their insurance package.

The kickstand case I bought on Amazon. It is from Poetic but cheaper from Amazon. Same case I had for the S22. Quite sturdy.

 

[The_Chief]

I order unlocked devices directly from Samsung because I do NOT want a carrier-branded phone, ever again. I want the freedom to change carriers at any time... and no carrier bloatware! I just uninstall/disable Samsung's bloatware... er, "featured content", and rock on. I got the 512 GB because all my stuff is on my NAS and I rarely pack a lot of stuff on the phone itself. Now that microSD cards are gone, I don't trust internal memory: one good drop and that stuff is GONE unless it's backed up.

 

[The_Chief]

UPS is really on my nerves. I keep getting this '"severe weather delay" excuse as to why our phones haven't been delivered... when they were shipped 2nd Day Air.

Turns out they've been sitting at the UPS depot ten miles from our house since 1:30 AM yesterday. They had plenty of time to put them on the truck that delivered our UPS Ground packages yesterday. They can't blame this on "severe weather" because all the snow was melted away before the phones were even shipped!

 

[IHateMyTreo]

UPS is really on my nerves. I keep getting this '"severe weather delay" excuse as to why our phones haven't been delivered... when they were shipped 2nd Day Air.

Turns out they've been sitting at the UPS depot ten miles from our house since 1:30 AM yesterday. They had plenty of time to put them on the truck that delivered our UPS Ground packages yesterday. They can't blame this on "severe weather" because all the snow was melted away before the phones were even shipped!

All carriers are lazy a$$es. Especially when it starts to drizzle! Good luck Chief. I'm setting mine up. And I always run into a problem of different passwords between phone and desktop accounts! Drives me nuts.

 

[The_Chief]

You're setting up your phone? Well, it must be nice that you had less "severe weather" than me (which is none)...

 

[Duckster]

The only reservation I have about the S24 Ultra is that whole Galaxy AI thing. I don't like AI; I don't trust it; I really don't need it; and hopefully I can disable it. As a writer and author, it sickens me that so many people use AI to compose articles, ebooks, and other works... and then take credit for it.

I saw a news report recently where University Professors have been using AI to detect term and research papers for plagiarism. One Professor said he just scans in the papers, and AI does the rest. You may be able to Youtube it. However, it does seem like AI has been unleashed without fully thinking about the ramifications.

 

[IHateMyTreo]

You're setting up your phone? Well, it must be nice that you had less "severe weather" than me (which is none)...

Yeah I'm afraid the 70 degree weather today in LA is going to cause frost bite or solar radiation.

 

[Duckster]

I got the 512 GB because all my stuff is on my NAS and I rarely pack a lot of stuff on the phone itself. Now that microSD cards are gone, I don't trust internal memory: one good drop and that stuff is GONE unless it's backed up.

Agreed 100%. However, I think I'll get the 1TB. With the improvements in the camera, size is everything. Even if I just want to video something cool, like an airshow, at least I know I can review the video on the device. Often enough, at the highest resolutions it would be too large of a file to upload anywhere else. Backup is ALWAYS the way to go with important stuff.

In another note... I use a Lens Protector on my S22 Ultra. Did you consider one? I haven't seen any compatibility comments with the Otterbox case I'm considering.

 

[The_Chief]

View attachment 170358

I saw a news report recently where University Professors have been using AI to detect term and research papers for plagiarism. One Professor said he just scans in the papers, and AI does the rest. You may be able to Youtube it. However, it does seem like AI has been unleashed without fully thinking about the ramifications.

Didn't SkyNet start this way? I thought the Terminator movies were a warning, not an instructional video series...

size is everything

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!
(BabyBlues would be proud of me)

To answer your question about the lens protector, NO. I got this incredible ESR kickstand case for my S23 Ultra and I'm very happy to know it's available for the S24 Ultra. In fact, I already have them here in the house... waiting for the phones to show up. It stands out 1mm further than the lenses, protecting them. It's stylish, functional and the kickstand doesn't block the wireless charging (which I use overnight).

 

[olbriar]

If either of you fortunate early adopters care to share a first impression it would be greatly appreciated. My brother-in-law is on the fence with this phone. Though never a member, he has always counted on me to relay the good, bad and ugly with the latest and greatest. Thanks in advance and have some fun with your new tech. I'm both happy for you guys and jealous.

 

[The_Chief]

Until I have the phone in-hand and activated (hopefully by Tuesday, if I receive it tomorrow), I have to drool a lot over the glowing review articles. This one might convince your BIL that even S23 Ultra owners may be remiss if they don't upgrade.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review: the best Ultra ever | Digital Trends

Samsung may not have changed the look of the Galaxy S24 Ultra much, but everything else has been given a massive upgrade. Prepare for a very positive review.

www.digitaltrends.com

I seriously doubt anyone is going to hold onto the same phone model for seven years, I don't care how good it is. Perhaps Samsung sees the future of mobile technology and realizes that, between maxxed-out features and the nanometer limits of microprocessor foundries, mobile phones aren't going to get better in a revolutionary way. Maybe the future will be more about user experience and owner loyalty... which is why Samsung is offering seven years of updates and security patches for the S24 series.

 

[IHateMyTreo]

You guys are way more tech savvy than I so my "review" of the S24 Ultra is simple - I'm not noticing a huge difference in screen brightness. And it's tough to assess battery function during this start-up phase, but it looks like it's going to be better! Sorry for the simplistic report.

 

[Duckster]

You guys are way more tech savvy than I so my "review" of the S24 Ultra is simple - I'm not noticing a huge difference in screen brightness. And it's tough to assess battery function during this start-up phase, but it looks like it's going to be better! Sorry for the simplistic report.

Thanks for sharing. I just ordered mine today. The expected arrival time is almost a month later than it was if I would have ordered it Friday. I googled "problems with the S24 Ultra" and I was surprised at what popped up. More and more people are complaining about the washed out colors on the display. Many held it up next to the s22 and said that the S22 colors were better. Some reviews said that Samsung is aware and it looks like I can be fixed with a software update. So my question for you is if you are seeing any issues with washed out colors on the display?

 

[IHateMyTreo]

I did a side-by-side comparison of the same photos on my S24 (on the left) vs S22 (on the right).

Both phones are turned up to highest brightness, vivid color, as well as "extra brightness." No Adaptive Brightness.

I am hard pressed to see a difference. MAYBE the S24 is barely brighter in the first shot, and MAYBE the S22 has a bit more red in the dog shot and the sunset. Nothing looks "washed out" to me.

But your eyes may be better.

 

[The_Chief]

Samsung's YouTube channel has several videos about the AI functions of the S24 Ultra - this one is about Note Assist (something that I will find very helpful).

 

[The_Chief]

We finally received the phones yesterday. I charged them up, didn't power them on. I'll set them up today and start putting mine to the test.

 

[olbriar]

Have some big time fun Chief! There is nothing quite like that new phone smell

 

[The_Chief]

I'm not as surprised by how much moved over and restored to the new phone as I am how much DIDN'T. I backed everything up to Google Backup and Samsung Cloud... but this was a surprisingly sparse restoration. It's going to take considerable time to recreate all this data.

 

[olbriar]

I'm assuming that Samsung Switch was your choice of transfer???

 

[The_Chief]

Yes, it was. It was very easy, as the S24 created a QR code that I scanned with the S23. It moved much of my accounts and home page information over... and most of my apps reinstalled with a few omissions. I had also done backups to Samsung Cloud and Google just prior to this. While some app data restored nicely, however, much of it didn't. That means I have to start these apps over from zero.

Example: I don't use Samsung Messages... I use Textra for my messages. While I was able to restore my SMS/MMS messages to the default app, Textra is BLANK. It's almost as if Samsung and Google are trying to make it as inconvenient as possible for users who choose alternative apps - but I can't prove that.