Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra flag(shipped) off an impressive start to the year, featuring a 6.8-inch Quad-HD+ Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display, now flat instead of curved. The device boasts a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy Chip and a stellar camera setup with a 200MP main sensor and periscope lens for 5X optical zoom. A robust 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charging, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse charging powers the phone. Running on Android 14 with Samsung’s OneUI, it guarantees seven years of software updates.
Priced at Rs 1,29,999, the S24 Ultra faces formidable competition despite its premium features. So, if you are planning to go all out on a smartphone, here are all the other devices you can check out:
iPhone 15 Pro Max: The Max iPhone Takes On The Ultra Galaxy
Price: Rs 1,59,900
The most power-packed S24 has to go head to head with the most loaded iPhone (good old Apple-Samsung rivalry). Hence, the very first phone in the list is the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This massive iPhone brings a tall 6.7-inch OLED display with Apple’s Pro Motion technology with an adaptive refresh rate of 120Hz (a feature still limited to the Pro iPhones), with a Dynamic Island.
The phone is powered by Apple’s most powerful smartphone chip yet — A17 Pro. Despite unknown RAM numbers, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has been put through enough tests by now for us to know that the phone can pretty much handle anything you throw at it.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max carries Apple’s great camera legacy forward and brings new and improved cameras. In the triple camera setup, there is a 48-megapixel main sensor with two 12-megapixel supporting sensors — one telephoto with up to 5X optical zoom (the only phone with this zoom), and one ultrawide. These deliver consistently clean and accurately coloured images and exceptionally good videos (they can capture 4K videos up to 60fps). A large battery means that this is also the iPhone that will last you through the day and then some.
Top this with clean, uncluttered software with assured updates, and a proper headache for the Galaxy S24 Ultra is ready.
Google Pixel 8 Pro: The Pro Camera Player In Ultra Path
Price: Rs 1,06,999
It is the first Pixel above the one lakh rupee mark but it does come with a lot for that price.
The Pixel 8 Pro has a brilliant 6.7-inch FHD+ LTPO AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate. This is backed by Google’s own flagship Tensor G3 processor, which is not the most powerful chip around but enables the kind of smart features that might make the Galaxy S24 Ultra sweat. Cameras on the phone are all things Pixel (read: ‘awesome’).
It has a 50-megapixel main sensor with OIS, a 48-megapixel telephoto sensor which offers 5X optical zoom and a 48-megapixel ultrawide sensor, making it the biggest megapixel star we have seen from Google.
This being a Pixel that is the latest and the greatest, smarts from Google are an absolute given, which makes not just the photography, but the general experience on the phone very good indeed. Bundled with all this are really good stereo speakers, a 5,050mAh battery with support for 30W wired and 23W wireless charging, and stock Android 14 with assured updates for a whopping seven years. All of this adds up to a package which may be quite lethal to the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: The Galaxy That Folds Productively
Price: Rs 1,54,999 onwards
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is an absolute productivity beast but its biggest competitor in terms of productivity is another Galaxy– Galaxy Z Fold 5. The phone comes with a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display on the front with 120Hz refresh rate and unfolds into an even bigger 7.6-inch display Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with 120Hz refresh rate and a massive 1,812×2,176 pixels resolution.
All that display real estate is backed by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which can still handle a truckload of smartphone chores both everyday and power-hungry. The triple camera setup on the phone is a very versatile one — a 50-megapixel main sensor with OIS, a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom and a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor.
There are two selfie cameras on the phone, a 10-megapixel one on the cover display and a 4-megapixel under-display camera on the main display. It has a 4,400mAh battery, which comes with support for 25W wired and 15W wireless charging.
It comes with Android 13 out of the box with OneUI on top but the phone is assured to get major software updates. All of this paired with S Pen support, makes it a productivity master that can do it all, all while being an absolute productivity nightmare for the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
OnePlus Open: Ensuring That The Ultra Is Not An Open-And-Shut Winner
Price: Rs 1,39,999
If you wish to get out of the Samsung world…er…Galaxy completely and still want a productivity pro, you can also opt for the OnePlus Open– OnePlus’ first but mighty attempt at foldable phones.
The Open comes with a 6.31-inch FHD+ LTPO3 Super Fluid AMOLED cover display with 120Hz refresh rate and a tablet-like 7.82 inch LTPO3 Flexi-Fluid AMOLED display with 2,268×2,440 pixel resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate.
This remarkable display combo is backed by the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which may not be on the same level as the Gen 3, on the Galaxy S24 Ultra but with a massive 16GB of RAM by its side, the phone is more than capable of handling all your smartphone chores.
The cameras on the phone mean business too. The device brings a 48-megapixel main sensor with OIS, a 64-megapixel telephoto sensor with OIS and 3x optical zoom, and a 48-megapixel ultrawide sensor, all designed in collaboration with the legendary Hasselblad. To top this, both displays (main and cover) have serious megapixel muscle — a 20-megapixel one on the cover display and a 32-megapixel one on the main display.
Getting the OnePlus Open through the day is the job of a 4,805 mAh battery which comes with 67 W fast charging support. Even though the phone comes with Android 13 out of the box and OxygenOS on top, assured updates and a clean, clutter-free UI, make the OnePlus Open a big hurdle in the way of Galaxy S24 Ultra’s success.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Old Ultra Remains An Ultra Dangerous Rival
Price: Rs 94,999 onwards
It may be the predecessor, which automatically puts it on the back foot but the Galaxy S23 Ultra remains a solid proposition for anyone looking for a substantial device, and a little wary of crossing that one lakh Rupee mark. The phone brings a beautiful, tall, curved 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X always on display with adaptive 120Hz refresh.
It is backed by not the latest but still a proper flagship-level Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and comes with up to 12GB RAM and 1TB storage, enabling it to handle tons of work without showing any signs of fatigue.
The three cameras on the S23 Ultra are very megapixel-aly similar to the S24 Ultra — a 200-megapixel main sensor with PDAF and OIS, a 10-megapixel telephoto with 3X optical zoom and a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor but instead of a 50-megapixel periscope there is a 10-megapixel periscope lens offering 10X optical zoom which more than the zoom on that the S24 Ultra offers.
Top this with the same battery capacity and fast charging support — 5,000mAh and 45W charging, S-Pen productivity, and the prospect of getting many of the Galaxy AI features that the S24 Ultra has, and you get the closest competitor to the S24 Ultra in the truest sense.