Samsung Galaxy S24 / S24+ / S24 Ultra

[The Lurker]

The best way is to try them for yourself because everyone's needs are different. I've enjoyed most of the phones I've tried out, but I've ultimately settled with the iPhone for its boring, consistent simplicity. I always know what I'm getting it and it always works and I don't have to tinker with anything (although I used to love the tinkering aspect of Android phones).

Eh. When you had to tweak android to make it work, ios was good. But now I don't agree. You don't have to tweak anything if you don't want to. On the other hand, Ios navigation is inconsistent between apps. Visual bloat that's completely unnecessary. Application settings forced to fit one design philosophy. Widgets are crude and lack features. Ios is not as innovative as it once was and it has not kept up with android in many ways.

 

[The Lurker]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixe...m_back_to_pixel_8_pro_after_trying_s24_ultra/

Interesting reading the million replies in that post. All over the board, some say stick with the Pixel 8 pro, others say no the S24U is better, others say they're both good, some say no get an iPhone 15 PM. That thread is a good read.

Lotta buyers remorse in that thread.

 

[Mad Maxx]

The Official Flossy Carter S24U Review...


View: https://youtu.be/dFpNqg5F2qQ?si=BXo6aRY1Bx_0j8xa

 

[Zorachus]

So close on pulling the trigger on the S24 Ultra through Samsung's site for the true unlocked version in that blue color with the black frame.

But just not sure ...

Samsung is giving $450 for my old Pixel 7 Pro as trade-in. I would still keep my 8 Pro, and if I like the S24U could easily sell my Pixel 8 Pro locally.

Hmm....

 

[Travolta]

So close on pulling the trigger on the S24 Ultra through Samsung's site for the true unlocked version in that blue color with the black frame.

But just not sure ...

Samsung is giving $450 for my old Pixel 7 Pro as trade-in. I would still keep my 8 Pro, and if I like the S24U could easily sell my Pixel 8 Pro locally.

Hmm....

I got the titanium blue S24 Ultra unlocked from Samsung. Traded the S23 Ultra to get away from the curved screen and got $750 for the trade in. $550 total for the S24 Ultra 512Gb phone.

 

[Zorachus]

I got the titanium blue S24 Ultra unlocked from Samsung. Traded the S23 Ultra to get away from the curved screen and got $750 for the trade in. $550 total for the S24 Ultra 512Gb phone.

How do you like it?

 

[Travolta]

How do you like it?

I am very happy with it. I like the color, and the phone's performance is great. Feels smoother and more powerful than the iphone 15 pro max. I like the new flat screen and squared corners. Don't care much for the iphone shape.

 

[NamelessPFG]

No way!?

What comes up when you search for 'Navigation Bar' in settings?

Just for clarification, when I talk about the swipe gestures, I don't mean the newer pill/bar-based ones, but the ones modeled after the nav bar where it's which third of the lower screen edge you're swiping up from that determines which button you're pressing without actually showing the nav bar.

Samsung outright tells you if you used Smart Switch from an older phone with it on that they removed the option, never mind that with the pill gesture-based nav, swiping up and holding is how you bring up the app switcher now. They literally could've just done that with the old style nav for Circle to Search on the home button part of the bottom edge, it's so dumb of them to remove it like that.

So close on pulling the trigger on the S24 Ultra through Samsung's site for the true unlocked version in that blue color with the black frame.

But just not sure ...

Samsung is giving $450 for my old Pixel 7 Pro as trade-in. I would still keep my 8 Pro, and if I like the S24U could easily sell my Pixel 8 Pro locally.

Hmm....

While that trade-in value isn't spectacular, it's above typical eBay rates. I'd go for it; worst comes to worst and you don't like the S24U, Samsung will let you return it and get your money back.

I recall that you outright DESPISED Samsung during the TouchWiz era, which I can't really fault you for - that old Note 4 of mine really woke up in responsiveness with a more AOSP/LineageOS sort of custom ROM installed - but their One UI era is literally night and day from the bad old days, such that if you can get past the duplicate Samsung services, I think you'll find a lot to like in terms of added functionality. App windowing, DeX, Secure Folder, that sorta stuff.

Make damn sure you install Good Lock, though. You'll have to go through Samsung's store for this, unfortunately, but the added options that the sub-apps within Good Lock adds to One UI sometimes make you wonder why Samsung doesn't include those tweaks in the base OS to begin with because they're so useful.

Also, try giving the S Pen a shot. Even if you're not an artist seeking a pocket Cintiq (quite apt when the S Pen runs on Wacom EMR tech) or see much value in handwriting out notes or marking up photos (a lot of my "notes" are really just annotated photos to begin with), you'll find that it makes a damn good mouse in a pinch if you're faced with Web sites that have mouseover navigation menus.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

How many of you are rocking 2 phones? I wanna run one for work and another for personal.

What's the best play for T-mobile? is 25 per line the best deal for everything unlimited? Is the artificial cap of 50GB still a thing?

 

[Mad Maxx]

So close on pulling the trigger on the S24 Ultra through Samsung's site for the true unlocked version in that blue color with the black frame.

But just not sure ...

Samsung is giving $450 for my old Pixel 7 Pro as trade-in. I would still keep my 8 Pro, and if I like the S24U could easily sell my Pixel 8 Pro locally.

Hmm....

Instead of spending so much time wondering what everyone else thinks of the S24U, why not just go to Best Buy and try it?

 

[Zorachus]

Instead of spending so much time wondering what everyone else thinks of the S24U, why not just go to Best Buy and try it?

I did go to Best Buy, and the T-Mobile store to look at the S24 Ultra. But those stores keep the phones on the dumb demo mode which prevents getting a real feel for the phone, plus they wire and clamp down the phones like Fort Knox can barely get a real grip of the device.

It's funny iPhone's at both stores don't have demo modes, it's the real phone on display. So why do the gimp Android phones on display and not the iPhone?

My point with demo mode on, it's nearly impossible to get an honest evaluation of the UI and feel of the phone. Plus grabbing and holding the phone sets off the alarm LOL happened at the T-Mobile store.

Anyways...did your phone ever arrive yet?

 

[Shoganai]

I did go to Best Buy, and the T-Mobile store to look at the S24 Ultra. But those stores keep the phones on the dumb demo mode which prevents getting a real feel for the phone, plus they wire and clamp down the phones like Fort Knox can barely get a real grip of the device.

It's funny iPhone's at both stores don't have demo modes, it's the real phone on display. So why do the gimp Android phones on display and not the iPhone?

My point with demo mode on, it's nearly impossible to get an honest evaluation of the UI and feel of the phone. Plus grabbing and holding the phone sets off the alarm LOL happened at the T-Mobile store.

Anyways...did your phone ever arrive yet?

You can try it by buying it. If you don't like it, you can return it.

 

[Zorachus]

Very thorough detailed review, this guy is a big Android user, and his final thoughts at the end are interesting;


View: https://youtu.be/L4X3_eZ-iig?si=PgHqVexTyNwDcuRX

 

[Mad Maxx]

I did go to Best Buy, and the T-Mobile store to look at the S24 Ultra. But those stores keep the phones on the dumb demo mode which prevents getting a real feel for the phone, plus they wire and clamp down the phones like Fort Knox can barely get a real grip of the device.

It's funny iPhone's at both stores don't have demo modes, it's the real phone on display. So why do the gimp Android phones on display and not the iPhone?

My point with demo mode on, it's nearly impossible to get an honest evaluation of the UI and feel of the phone. Plus grabbing and holding the phone sets off the alarm LOL happened at the T-Mobile store.

Anyways...did your phone ever arrive yet?

Been playing with it since yesterday. They sent the Grey 256GB instead of Yellow 512GB. Not good, Google! It's easily the best, most premium phone I've ever held. However, I just can't get the screen font/size to mirror my 8 Pro. Everything on the S24U is bigger, takes up more screen real estate. I set the font and display sizes equally on both phones, but always get more room on the Pixel screen than the Samsung. Might seem like a petty complaint, but it's something I really like about the Pixel. Probably will return the S24U tomorrow.

I noticed that the Pixel just got Samsung's circle to search function. I found out by accident when I was dragging my finger across the screen this morning. Pretty cool new feature.

 

[Zorachus]

Been playing with it since yesterday. They sent the Grey 256GB instead of Yellow 512GB. Not good, Google! It's easily the best, most premium phone I've ever held. However, I just can't get the screen font/size to mirror my 8 Pro. Everything on the S24U is bigger, takes up more screen real estate. I set the font and display sizes equally on both phones, but always get more room on the Pixel screen than the Samsung. Might seem like a petty complaint, but it's something I really like about the Pixel. Probably will return the S24U tomorrow.

I noticed that the Pixel just got Samsung's circle to search function. I found out by accident when I was dragging my finger across the screen this morning. Pretty cool new feature.

Ugh that's sad to hear, so the S24U is going back and your sticking with the Pixel 8 Pro?

But for me getting poorer eyesite the older I get, I've had to increase the font size on my phones the past year or two to see the screen better LOL The default Pixel display size and font is way too small for me, I have to do each slider to the 3rd spot to read the screen comfortably. So for me, wondering if the S24U would be easier to read than my P8P?

 

[Mad Maxx]

Ugh that's sad to hear, so the S24U is going back and your sticking with the Pixel 8 Pro?

But for me getting poorer eyesite the older I get, I've had to increase the font size on my phones the past year or two to see the screen better LOL The default Pixel display size and font is way too small for me, I have to do each slider to the 3rd spot to read the screen comfortably. So for me, wondering if the S24U would be easier to read than my P8P?

Yeah, I'm sticking with my 8 Pro... reluctantly. Just increase the font size on your Pixel instead of buying a new expensive S24U.

 

[Travolta]

Ugh that's sad to hear, so the S24U is going back and your sticking with the Pixel 8 Pro?

But for me getting poorer eyesite the older I get, I've had to increase the font size on my phones the past year or two to see the screen better LOL The default Pixel display size and font is way too small for me, I have to do each slider to the 3rd spot to read the screen comfortably. So for me, wondering if the S24U would be easier to read than my P8P?

I'm going to be 49 this year and I wear progressive lenses and I am using the S29U with the font on the smallest setting and I have no issues seeing it, with or without glasses.

 

[Zorachus]

As you all know I'm a diehard Nexus / Pixel guy, just looking for a slight change and try something new, would like a phone with better battery life and zero lag whatsoever, I'm hyper sensitive to noticing even the littlest bit of lag, if it's just half a second, it pisses me off. My Pixel 8 Pro will have very very minor almost barely noticeable lag on certain things, probably lasts 1/4 a second, but I see it when it happens. I want a phone with ZERO lag whatsoever, always smooth, always fluid. Scrolling in Reddit or other apps my 8 Pro will sometimes once in awhile see some stutter for a brief moment, I want that gone.

One thing I did like with the iPhone when I had one like 3 or 4 years ago was able to individually set the font size per app, which was great, and that setting has never been in Android. And as much as I b!tch about iOS I will say it's a very fluid UI.

First world problems.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Very thorough detailed review, this guy is a big Android user, and his final thoughts at the end are interesting;


View: https://youtu.be/L4X3_eZ-iig?si=PgHqVexTyNwDcuRX

I can tell this particular reviewer really favors camera performance like most tech influencers/reviewers do, and in that respect, it really does look like Google put more thought overall into their camera app than Samsung did, particularly with the AI features.

That said, I'm surprised he didn't say anything about shutter lag, since the source of that on Samsung devices is traditionally that it triggers on the "negative edge" of the shutter button - its release, rather than its initial press. Good Lock has a plugin/sub-app to address that so it shutters on initial press, but I don't expect most reviewers to actually know that.

It looks like Google's also got a better voice memo app than Samsung with the live transcribing rather than the latter's "record, THEN transcribe" approach, but I admittedly never noticed because I don't usually take voice memos, just as he barely even mentioned the S Pen at the very end whereas I use it fairly frequently. Everyone's got different priorities in what they want in a smartphone, after all - never hurts to look at someone who might bring up functionality you never thought about at first.

If he wanted to live up to the moniker of "In Depth Tech Reviews", I would've seen the full gamut of settings tweaks, including the Good Lock ones, niche functionality like DeX tested, that sorta thing. Right now, it feels more like "In Depth Smartphone Camera Reviews" with everything else being noticeably shallower. That's not to say the camera reviews should get shallower, I just think there's plenty of room to get deeper and really set himself apart from the pack of people parroting specs and showing off cameras.

Been playing with it since yesterday. They sent the Grey 256GB instead of Yellow 512GB. Not good, Google! It's easily the best, most premium phone I've ever held. However, I just can't get the screen font/size to mirror my 8 Pro. Everything on the S24U is bigger, takes up more screen real estate. I set the font and display sizes equally on both phones, but always get more room on the Pixel screen than the Samsung. Might seem like a petty complaint, but it's something I really like about the Pixel. Probably will return the S24U tomorrow.

You just gave me Note 4 flashbacks with that gripe, because that device shipped with a software DPI of 640 (the screen itself is actually physically closer to 585 DPI!) and made everything look stupid huge, especially in comparison to Note 5 and later that used a more sane software DPI setting of 560, which wasn't perfectly accurate but much closer. The only way to get around that was with tweaks that required root access.

So far, I don't think everything looks excessively large, but I am coming from a Note 20 Ultra with similar software and screen size. The main thing to note is that there's two separate "Font size and style" and "Screen zoom" options, and I've left the former third from the left (I think that's default) while the latter's on minimum zoom. Why they're separate despite having similar effects on the overall UI perception, I have no idea.

If you could check the DPI on the Pixel 8 Pro, that might clue us all in a bit. Samsung's still using 560 DPI on the S24U - 508 horizontal density, 504 vertical density, 3.5 scaled density, whatever any of that means.

As you all know I'm a diehard Nexus / Pixel guy, just looking for a slight change and try something new, would like a phone with better battery life and zero lag whatsoever, I'm hyper sensitive to noticing even the littlest bit of lag, if it's just half a second, it pisses me off. My Pixel 8 Pro will have very very minor almost barely noticeable lag on certain things, probably lasts 1/4 a second, but I see it when it happens. I want a phone with ZERO lag whatsoever, always smooth, always fluid. Scrolling in Reddit or other apps my 8 Pro will sometimes once in awhile see some stutter for a brief moment, I want that gone.

One thing I did like with the iPhone when I had one like 3 or 4 years ago was able to individually set the font size per app, which was great, and that setting has never been in Android. And as much as I b!tch about iOS I will say it's a very fluid UI.

First world problems.

Alas, I think we're now at the point where they can only mask background loading so much when scrolling through Web sites and so forth. That's what usually causes stutters in anything that's not entirely on-device.

The real question is whether these phones are still going to feel as responsive toward the end of their 7-year software update lifespan, as it's not uncommon for them to gradually slow down as the OS and its apps get a bit more bloated with each release.

My Note 20 Ultra didn't exactly feel slow or laggy after three years the way the Note 4 would have on a stock TouchWiz ROM, but the S24 Ultra somehow manages to feel that extra bit snappier just moving around the UI and so forth. Both actually still felt more responsive in general use than a lot of iPhones and iPads that I've handled for brief moments, particularly going through the settings or revisiting a Web browser tab that now has to reload because it got evicted from RAM in the background.

Can't compare to a Pixel or an old Nexus, though - I've never used 'em or really known anyone with them. Almost everyone I've ever met in person uses either iPhones or Galaxy S/Note/Fold models of some flavor.

 

[Mad Maxx]

Here's what I found for the 8 Pro: 3,120 x 1,440 pixels, 20:9 ratio, 513 PPI.

On the S24U, I set the Font Size and Screen Zoom scalars as far to the left as they could go. Already boxed it up for return. I should've taken pics of the 8 Pro and S24U side-by-side to help illustrate my complaint.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Looks like Samsung recently updated the NavStar part of Good Lock to bring back the old-style edge swipe gestures, though I'm having a bit more trouble executing them properly than I did with my old Note 20 Ultra. Might have something to do with the lip at the edge of my case just beneath the screen.

Peculiarly enough, if you swipe up from the middle and hold like you're holding down the Home button, you just get your usual assistant as opposed to Circle to Search, which is still triggered by just holding down the very bottom edge of the screen toward the middle, like the nav pill was still there.

I think I'm going to just continue the new-style gestures for now, until I get some options to tweak the sensitivity for the old-style gestures. Rapidly switching between the two isn't doing my muscle memory any favors as it is.

 

[Zorachus]

Seeing these type of posts on Reddit daily with tons of people having screen issues. Ugh. I know every new phone release has minor bugs or issues at launch that get ironed out in patches, but the S24U Ultra seems to be having a ton of complaints on various forums.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS24Ultra/s/Csny1ViaGr

 

[Shoganai]

Seeing these type of posts on Reddit daily with tons of people having screen issues. Ugh. I know every new phone release has minor bugs or issues at launch that get ironed out in patches, but the S24U Ultra seems to be having a ton of complaints on various forums.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS24Ultra/s/Csny1ViaGr

My cousin had a dead pixel on her first one, but the replacement is perfect. That gradient banding is clearly not by "design" as that idiot Samsung support person stated. Samsung customer support is generally decent, but then you get morons like that.

 

[Travolta]

I do not see any gradient banding on my S24U or my wife's. There are no dead pixels either.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I upgraded from an S22U to the S24U, and have been using the S24U since the 26th (received it a few days earlier than official launch). In sum:
- I strongly prefer the flat screen to the curved screen. I didn't think this would be a noteworthy change, but it is. Hard to articulate why, I just like it a lot better.
- Performance in the more demanding apps I use (3D modeling and imaging-focused) is noticeably faster. Photo editing in LightRoom is noticeably faster.
- Battery life is MUCH better. This was my primary motivation for making the change. The S22U has notoriously poor battery life, so I expected a big upgrade, and got it. I am now charging my phone every other day for my usual light-to-moderate daily use. On heavier-use days, like when I'm taking a lot of photographs, it'll chew through half to maybe two-thirds of the battery. Heavier use days on the old S22U would drain the battery by the time I went to bed.
- UFS 4 makes a noticeable difference with file transfers. I know I am unusual in doing this frequently but I appreciate this upgrade.
- Screen is defect-free.
- Photos don't look any better or worse, they looked great on the S22U and look great on the S24U.
- I'm not using any AI features so I can't comment on those.

Happy with my decision. Glad I waited, spent more money, and didn't get a P8P. A friend got the P8P and while it's a great phone, it ain't an Ultra. The only thing I consider it broadly equivalent or better at is photography. Everything else, the Ultra is better. At least in my experience. I very much share Zorachus' opinion above that the slightest lag on a phone is maddening, and my buddy's P8P lags in Instagram and Reddit. My S24U does not. (For that matter, neither did my S22U, so I would've been super pissed to deal with that now.)

 

[Zorachus]

View: https://youtu.be/5OgdVYF2HEs?si=A6UFhHJDUN1V1wi4

 

[Zorachus]

So I actually ordered from Samsung, the titanium blue S24 Ultra.

Only way to tell if I like a new Samsung phone, is test it out for myself, instead of watching a million YouTube vids or reading forums. I am trading in my old Pixel 7 Pro to Samsung getting $450 for it. But still keeping my Pixel 8 Pro for now.

 

[Zorachus]

Came in the mail today but I have no time to really play with it until maybe later tonight.

Very quick impressions. Just looking at it and feeling it. It's definitely a beautiful looking phone and high quality feeling piece of tech.

UPDATE:

Just going through the main start up and setup, and the phone looks amazing, and the screen beautiful. This full screen squared off look seems so Star Trek or futuristic

 

[Shoganai]

Came in the mail today but I have no time to really play with it until maybe later tonight.

Very quick impressions. Just looking at it and feeling it. It's definitely a beautiful looking phone and high quality feeling piece of tech.

Yes, it's a very sleek looking phone.

 

[Zorachus]

Very early into the phone, got it setup to start with. Still so much to explore and tweak.

Hardware is superb, this is a very high quality feeling phone.

Screen so far looks great to me. Phone is super smooth no lag whatsoever. Was surprised I could truly uninstall some apps the phone shipped with, and there really wasn't much bloatware on the phone, just a few apps I easily got rid of.

I recall older Samsung phones especially carrier ones had a shit ton of bloatware garbage. Not on this phone.

I really need a couple days especially using it at work for a day or two to really feel how I like the phone.

So far it's great, I'm pretty surprised, in a positive way. Yeah OneUI isn't vanilla Android ( which I prefer ) but this is pretty darn good so far.

I guess my question would be how much better of a phone is this than my Pixel 8 pro. I suppose that would be my biggest question throughout the next couple weeks.

 

[Zorachus]

My quick comparison between stock Android on the Pixel and OneUI on the Galaxy.

Pixel UI everything seems extra large or big. It's a very artsy bubbly almost goofy / funky design throughout the UI. The animations and the way things bounce and cool things like that are really neat. Which I've always liked and thought was a fun design, but I will say it's almost gotten too much into the cute almost kiddy style with things blown up extra large and silly looking at times.

Samsung's UI seems more business like, more like a Windows PC desktop UI if that makes sense? Or kind of like iOS design in some ways, and not at all the funky artsy Pixel UI. I like this newer OneUI no complaints.

The Lagwiz / Touchjizz days of old, I can officially say are over LOL. This S24 Ultra is super fast, very fluid, no lag or hiccups yet whatsoever. It's a very smooth operating smartphone to use so far.

Yeah there are some widgets or things I like better on the Pixel, wish I could get the bubbly looking Google Weather widget on OneUI, or the At A Glance widget. But I haven't dived into customization fully yet.

Ok that's my quick review after 12 hours so far.

 

[Zorachus]

Would love to get this type of custom home screen, but not sure how to go about all this.

Saw this on Reddit in the S24 Ultra sub;

 

[Zorachus]

Uh, Houston we have a problem.

Went to bed last night, left the S24U on my desk, wake up, go to check on it, first thing I notice no AOD, no clock on? Ok, double tap the phone, nothing. Hmm ... battery last night was like 90%. Click the power button, nothing. Click and holding the power button and then letting go, nothings happening. Plugged the phone to a charger, and nothing showing up on the screen. Ugh. WTF?

 

[Zorachus]

I am so disappointed and frustrated right now. I've probably had 30+ different smartphones over the last 15+ years, and never had any brand new phone just not turn on again, and act dead like this before.

 

[Zorachus]

I just don't know how or why the phone just turned off by itself, and now won't turn back on again? Just makes no sense.

 

[Mad Maxx]

My quick comparison between stock Android on the Pixel and OneUI on the Galaxy.

Pixel UI everything seems extra large or big. It's a very artsy bubbly almost goofy / funky design throughout the UI. The animations and the way things bounce and cool things like that are really neat. Which I've always liked and thought was a fun design, but I will say it's almost gotten too much into the cute almost kiddy style with things blown up extra large and silly looking at times.

Samsung's UI seems more business like, more like a Windows PC desktop UI if that makes sense? Or kind of like iOS design in some ways, and not at all the funky artsy Pixel UI. I like this newer OneUI no complaints.

The Lagwiz / Touchjizz days of old, I can officially say are over LOL. This S24 Ultra is super fast, very fluid, no lag or hiccups yet whatsoever. It's a very smooth operating smartphone to use so far.

Yeah there are some widgets or things I like better on the Pixel, wish I could get the bubbly looking Google Weather widget on OneUI, or the At A Glance widget. But I haven't dived into customization fully yet.

Ok that's my quick review after 12 hours so far.

First thing I do with any new Android phone is install Nova Prime Launcher. I still couldn't get the S24U screen real estate as good as on my P8P. Hardware-wise, the S24U is a marvel. Everything screams high quality.

I just don't know how or why the phone just turned off by itself, and now won't turn back on again? Just makes no sense.

Same thing happened with my P7P a few months before the 8 series was released. I ended up getting a warranty replacement because nothing I or tech support tried could fix the problem.

 

[Zorachus]

F Samsung support, I originally paid in full with debit card to purchase the S24U which was like $1400+ w/Tax and shipping, but now for the replacement they are asking for payment in full again, and will refund the payment later once they get the bad phone back and review it, which could take a couple weeks or more per customer support.

This whole thing is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth, probably just going to return the bad phone, and get my money back, not get another one, and be done with Samsung.

UPDATE:

Customer Support said call the TD department 1-800 line explain all of this, and give them all order info and details, and they will probably waive the fee to purchase the new phone. Ugh, I got no time for this BS I have a very busy day. Now TD 1-800 is closed, only open Mon-Fri.

 

[Zorachus]

Spent an hour text chatting with customer support, went nowhere. Then they sent me to warranty for half hour, they couldn't help either . Now they sending me to another department, where I'm still waiting for this chat to start, it's been 15 minutes.... While all this time they said just purchase a new phone, pay in full upfront now, and then once they get the old phone back and review it, will credit me the money in a few weeks.

Ugh no, hard pass on that option.

Last 2 chats they just left the chat room, and the chat box went empty. They keep switching me to different support people or warranty people, I'll chat with them for 15 or 20 minutes, they say wait...then the window erases and another person comes on "hello how can I assist you" ugh, then I need to start over.

All I am asking for is a replacement phone, and of course I will mail back the bad phone on Monday via FedEx. But they insist I pay in full for the new one first, then they will credit me back in full once they receive and review the bad phone. Oh and get this, for the inconvenience will give ma $25 gift card. WTF

 

[Zorachus]

The shocking this, last night I LOVED this S24 Ultra, it really surprised me in a great way. It was going to be a keeper, I admit OneUI 6.1 is fantastic, and the phone itself beautifully designed, and very fast, and smooth.

But then this morning that all changed. A dead phone not turning on. super strange. Literally I've owned like 30 smartphones over the years, never once did a brand new phone just not turn on and die on me overnight while just sitting on my desk with 90% battery left.

Samsung customer support has been a total disaster and pissing me off, to the point I might not ever buy another Samsung product again.

 

[Zorachus]

5th customer support person, who said they were a manager;

" Unfortunately we do not have an option to replace the device. However, you can return the phone as the device is still within the return window, and get a refund after it's been inspected to be defective. And we will be happy to assist you in purchasing a new Galaxy phone, we can offer you a 5% discount if you pay for it today. Thank you. "

Uh, no!!!!