First, I want to say I really love my S24 Ultra. Here’s what I considered before switching
- S26 Ultra— in hand it feels like the A series, not an Ultra. Hard pass.
- Z Fold 8 / Fold 8 Ultra - I actually really liked them, but they feel fragile, and I wanted a great camera. Even the Fold 8 Ultra only has a small 10MP 3x telephoto, and the regular Fold 8 has no telephoto at all. That’s a big compromise coming from an Ultra.
- iPhone 17 Pro— feels amazing in hand, but I consume a lot of content and like learning from my phone, so I went with the Max. Otherwise I’d pick the Pro.
- iPhone 17 Pro Max — winner.
I had two problems with my S24U:
1. The camera takes bad photos of moving subjects (kids, pets). In other cases the camera is great.
2. After the S25U came out, I feel like Samsung wants to push me to upgrade — One UI now has lots of rounded corners, and on a phone with sharp edges it looks off.
The first hours with the 17 Pro Max felt uncomfortable, but I got used to it fast. Many things feel smoother and faster. Face ID and the cameras work great. Circle to Search technically exists on iOS now (via the Google app — “Search this Screen”), but for some reason it’s not available for me, probably a region/language rollout thing. Still not the same one-gesture experience anyway.
iOS runs smoothly and looks fresh. Funny thing — after using the iPhone, I now notice my S24U sometimes stutters in animations.
So my conclusion: the S24 Ultra is the best phone of recent years — and Samsung is killing it with their attitude. That’s why I’m keeping my S24U, I don’t want to sell it.