Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra has a completely underrated killer feature

What is the most important thing about a smartphone? The operating system? Battery life? The processor? Or maybe the screen? After all, many of us stare at it for several hours every day.

When presenting the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung focused on the exciting and especially useful AI functions for image editing and live translation of conversations, telephone calls or WhatsApp chats. The South Koreans also emphasized that their smartphones will now receive Android and security updates for at least seven years.

Another innovation, which was surprisingly only mentioned in passing, concerns the display, which is visibly less reflective thanks to a new anti-reflective layer.

The difference with the previous model Galaxy S23 Ultra or the new iPhone 15 Pro Max is striking.

According to Samsung, reflections have been reduced by up to 75 percent under different lighting conditions. That also matches my perception. The touchscreen is of course not matte, it still reflects depending on the light, but the difference with other new smartphones is clear at first glance.

The new screen provides a more comfortable viewing experience, which ultimately reduces eye strain. An anti-reflective screen protector is therefore unnecessary. Important: The reduced reflection has no negative effect on the color reproduction, touch sensitivity or other aspects of the screen.

What also helps: in sunlight, the new screen becomes even brighter than the already bright display in the S23 Ultra – and also brighter than Google’s Pixel 8 Pro or Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The anti-reflective glass for the Galaxy S24 Ultra was developed by the well-known glass manufacturer Corning. The cheaper models S24 and S24 Plus do not have this glass, which the manufacturer calls ‘Gorilla Armor’.

Since the reduced reflection shows up well in photos and videos, you’d think Samsung was heavily promoting this clear advantage over the competition. Instead, Samsung is advertising the supposedly particularly robust titanium frame that Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max already has. I bet the vast majority of users are more interested in the less reflective screen.

Google and Apple will probably soon also use ‘Gorilla Armor’ glass, at least in their respective top models. And Apple’s marketing won’t miss the opportunity to tout the first non-reflective iPhone as an innovation.

Really the best screen?

The new display is not only impressive because of the anti-reflective coating. Overall, according to the experts at DxOMark, this is the best mobile phone display available today. The difference with Google’s Pixel 8, which previously topped the rankings of the best smartphone displays, is only marginal.

The display testers confirm that the Galaxy S24 Ultra is “easy to read in sunlight thanks to very high peak brightness”, reduced “screen reflections, thanks to advanced glass technology” and “precise color reproduction”. However, the test also showed “that the brightness of the screen can sometimes be too high at night and sometimes too low indoors.”

Samsung has the advantage over other manufacturers that it produces many components such as memory, camera sensors and displays itself and can be the first to integrate the latest technology into its own top model.

The question remains how stable the display is: the first tests show that it is very scratch resistant, but of course not indestructible. Overall, the fact that Samsung is now using flat screens that are no longer round on the frame should have a positive effect when you fall to the ground. Samsung’s earlier “curved displays” would have been significantly more susceptible to damage than flat screens.

Speaking of screen protection: the effect of the anti-reflective coating is apparently neutralized by regular screen protectors. If you use a screen protector, you should purchase an anti-reflective film or use Samsung’s official “Anti-Reflecting Screen Protector” for the S24 Ultra.