Brief historical overview
The first Galaxy S Ultra device came in 2020: the Galaxy S20 Ultra. It sported a notable at the time 5,000mAh battery cell.
The S24 Ultra and the S23 Ultra
Although 5,000mAh is quite big of a battery anyway, times are changing and as phones become more powerful, we start to demand more from them. Phones are obviously no longer only needed for texts and calls. We have sophisticated mobile gaming, we can watch movies, stream videos, and do all kinds of fancy stuff on our phones.
That begs one question. In our recent battery tests, the Galaxy S24 Ultra‘s battery fared somewhat worse than its main competition in the likes of the iPhone 15 Pro Max and OnePlus 12 in two main categories: video streaming and 3D gaming. That could actually be an issue given the fact that the S24 Ultra’s battery life beats its competition only in browsing: but do you need such an expensive and fast phone just to browse?
Case study: batteries, phones, competitors
Galaxy S24 Ultra’s battery tech compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra
Apart from that, we’re seeing improvement in battery life (although not enormous) for the S24 Ultra in browsing. The specs are pretty much the same here: we get a Li-Ion battery with 5,000 capacity (rated 4855mAh).
Bigger battery size (quick examination): OnePlus 12, Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro
One could argue that Samsung’s got it better than the ROG, because it lasts longer when browsing or gaming. But then comes the OnePlus 12. The phone comes with a 5,400 mAh battery and lasts notably longer (even more than the ROG) for streaming AND gaming. The only category the OnePlus 12 loses to the Ultra is in browsing, and given the fact we’re talking about 18 hours vs 20 hours, I’d argue the loss isn’t that dramatic (yep, both lasted more than the hours you’re awake in a day (or that you should be!), so I wouldn’t call that a fail anyway).
The OnePlus 12 manages to last 13h37min in our custom video streaming test with the S24 Ultra only lasting 8h18min. For gaming, the OnePlus flagship outlasts Samsung’s Ultra by 1 hour and 15-ish minutes.
As you can see, in the categories for which you’d be interested in a mighty performer like an Ultra phone: gaming and video streaming, the Ultra loses to the OnePlus in the battery battle.
Software optimization (magic behind the scenes?): iPhone 15 Pro Max
This isn’t really sorcery of some kind, but more like software optimizations of unknown Apple origin. Whatever magic Apple does behind the scenes with the iPhone battery, it’s doing it right. I’m bringing this example just to illustrate that Samsung has some tough competition in the battery performance game.
It’s 2024 and more is demanded from phones
I’m not saying the S24 Ultra is terrible with battery life. It’s actually pretty good, and should be good enough for most people. But what I’m arguing is that no one really buys a powerful and super fancy (and expensive) Galaxy S24 ultra just to browse social media. It’s become expected from a mighty flagship to endure video streaming and mobile gaming. And the Ultra endures – but for less time than other players on the scene. Isn’t it due for an upgrade on this front? Samsung’s S24 and S24+ have gotten love in terms of battery upgrades over their predecessors, but the Ultra is stuck with the same 5,000mAh one.
The argument that Samsung can’t put more battery in the Ultra as the phone could lose its slim looks isn’t really standing given the fact that the OnePlus 12 managed to squeeze a larger battery cell without losing its top-model proportions and premium looks.
All that is to say is that Samsung probably needs to think about the battery on the Ultra for its next iteration. After all, the company is known for innovating and I bet all Samsung fans will be ecstatic with an innovation in that department as well.