Which is better? The Google Pixel 8 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra? We’ll put these phones head to head, comparing their hardware, software, photo and video quality, and much more!
Product Links:
Samsung S24 Ultra (Affiliate Link)
Pixel 8 Pro (Affiliate Link)
Pixel 8 Pro Advantages
Pixel Call Assist
It’s 2024, and I’ve spent the past 6 months using the Pixel 8 Pro. Now that the S24 Ultra is out, and I’ve spent a few months with it, I will break down what differentiates these two phones. First, let’s look at the Pixel 8 Pro and its advantages.
The first advantage is Pixel Call Assist. While Samsung’s new Galaxy AI Feature Suite does include a new call translation feature where your phone call is translated in real-time between you and somebody else, which the Pixel can’t even do right now for everything else phone calls, the Pixel has better features like Call Screening. Here, the Google Assistant will automatically screen unknown numbers for you and send you a transcript of the conversation with the person before you pick up the phone. In the US, the Pixel can show you the estimated wait time when you make a call and visually show you menu options for specific numbers with the Direct My Call feature. When you’re placed on hold, you can use the Assistant on the phone to wait on hold so you can get back to doing other things.
Pixel Camera Features
The second advantage of the Pixel 8 Pro is that you get all of the exclusive camera features, which include the Magic Editor, Best Take, and Video Boost. The Magic Editor allows you to resize, delete, and move objects around a photo. At the same time, the S24 has a feature similar to this, also powered by Google, called Generative Edit. The Magic Editor has two advantages: one, it’s built directly into Google Photos, so you can use it on any photo that you’ve uploaded to Google Photos, whereas Samsung’s Generative Edit is built into their Gallery app. Second, I found the Magic Editor easier to use with how you select objects. You can either draw around something or paint over it with your finger. Samsung’s Generative Edit only allows you to draw around the object, which I found to make less accurate selections than the Magic Editor. When filming this comparison, the Generative Edit on the S24 Ultra failed to remove the leash and blurred out leaves in the background. The Magic Editor did an excellent job. Best Take is another Pixel-exclusive feature that allows you to take a series of photos and select people’s faces and expressions you like best. The Pixel will automatically Photoshop in the faces you want. The last one is Video Boost, which boosts the video quality on the Pixel 8 Pro by uploading your footage to Google servers and increasing the color and lighting. It uses an entirely different photo processing pipeline than the on-phone processing. It’s similar to how raw image files keep more data from the photo you took than a JPEG image file can. I also found that Video Boost works best when you have medium to low or low light indoors. It works pretty well, though it is limited to only using the rear primary camera, and you can only shoot at 4K 30 frames per second or 1080 30 frames per second.
Pixel Version of Android
The next advantage I’ll give to the Pixel is its version of Android. If you want a great, essential, barebones Android experience, that’s what Google delivers with the Pixel. Plus, aesthetically, you’re getting what Google wants Android to look like with its flat material design, and I think it looks nice. But that’s not to say Samsung’s One UI is terrible. It has way more features than the Pixel version of Android.
Price
Alright, and the Pixel 8 Pro’s fourth advantage is its price. Depending on current sales, this phone is typically $200 to $450 less than the S24 Ultra.
Weight
The Pixel 8 Pro’s advantage, coming in at number five, is weight. At 213 g compared to 232 g, the Pixel 8 Pro weighs significantly less than the S24 Ultra, making it a much easier phone to hold and type on for long periods.
S24 Ultra Advantages
Display
This display can go as bright as 2600 nits compared to the 2,400 nits of peak brightness that the 8 Pro has, barely beating it out. However, the most crucial difference between these displays is the anti-glare coating. Samsung partnered with Corning to develop a better glass material called Gorilla Glass Armor. It reduces reflections up to 75%, four times more scratch-resistant and three times better with drops.
Camera System
The number two advantage of the S24 Ultra is the camera system. Though it’s much closer than in years past, the 8 Pro camera system is pretty good overall. I’ve found its camera system to be a bit better than the Pixel 8 Pro’s in most categories. Like selfies, night shots are typically better. You still get excellent zoom ability with the 10x, though it’s not a true 10x optical, and the video quality is also slightly better than the Pixel’s. Though I wouldn’t say I like it when you move videos off the phone for playback, the S24 Ultra’s videos always start with a black screen, which is annoying. The only area where I’ve seen this camera system fall is, on occasion, with its color science. Specific photos you take during the daytime tend to skew warmer than the Pixel 8 Pro. But with a shot like this pink house in downtown Cary, the Pixel 8 Pro’s color science is more accurate to life, and I often prefer it in many situations like this.
Customizations and OneUI
Coming in at the number three advantage for the S24 Ultra is customizations. By default, one UI already comes with many settings that you can tweak and customize to your liking, but you can go even further with Samsung’s Good Lock app. I’ve customized the multitasking view colors for specific UI elements in the OS and increased the volume steps past Android’s default to make it more like the infinite amount you get with iOS.
S Pen
The number four advantage of the S24 Ultra is the S Pen. It gives you another way to interact with your phone. It makes circle-to-search more precise and allows you to handwrite notes, auto-convert handwritten notes to text, handwriting in the UI, use it as a camera remote, magnifier, and so much more.
Processor
The S24 Ultra’s number five advantage is its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. This processor gets significantly better single-core and multi-core performance compared to Tensor G3 on the Pixel 8 Pro, which will matter to some phone users who use CPU-intensive tasks like gaming.
Recommendation
All right, those are the standout features of each device, but which one do I think is better? In terms of just being the best phone, period, that’s the S24 Ultra, thanks to its better screen and camera system. However, because the Pixel 8 Pro can cost anywhere from $200 to $450 less than the S24 Ultra, it is often going to be the best value. You still get a lot by going with the Pixel 8 Pro, which has a sound camera system, better ergonomics and typing experience, and excellent phone calls and AI features. It’s a solid phone, and if you want to know when products like these go on a significant sale, make sure you sign up for my free monthly newsletter:
Product Links:
Samsung S24 Ultra (Affiliate Link)
Pixel 8 Pro (Affiliate Link)
Now, if you want to learn more about the Pixel 8 Pro, I’ve done a 6-months-later review of it; you can get to that here:
Or, if you want to learn more about the S24 Ultra or other smartphones, check out my smartphone playlist here:
