With its massive Super Actua screen, triple camera setup, and Tensor G4 SoC, the Pixel 9 Pro XL competes directly with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Even though Samsung’s flagship is six months old at this point, it is among the best, most feature-rich smartphones. This creates confusion among buyers looking for flagships. To end their misery, here’s a detailed comparison between the Pixel 9 Pro XL and the Galaxy S24 Ultra (review).
Pixel 9 Pro XL Vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Design
The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL features an oblong rear camera module that houses three sensors (more on that later). Users get a punch-hole display and symmetrical bezels on the front. The back has a silky matte texture, while the side has a polished metal frame. However, instead of the contoured edges, the Pixel 9 Pro XL ship has flat edges (with rounded corners). This results in a slightly different in-hand feel. To increase the phone’s durability, Google has used Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the cover glass and the back panel. Further, the phone has an official IP68 dust and water resistance rating.
- The Pixel 9 Pro XL is available in four finishes: Porcelain, Rose Quartz, Hazel, and Obsidian.
- The phone measures 162.8 x 76.6 x 8.5 mm and weighs 221 grams.
Even though the S24 Ultra has a similar form factor to the Pixel 9 Pro XL, there are subtle yet noticeable changes. For instance, the S24 Ultra has four flushed cameras on the rear panel, each with its own housing. The sensors protrude out of the Corning Gorilla Armor glass on the back. There’s a punch-hole display on the front (with Gorilla Armor glass) with symmetrical bezels on all sides. The phone’s frame, unlike the Pixel 9 Pro XL, is made of Titanium and has a slightly curved finish (with boxy corners). The S24 Ultra also ships with IP68 dust and water resistance.
- The Galaxy S24 Ultra is available in seven colors: Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow, Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, and Titanium Orange.
- The phone measures 162.3 x 79 x 8.6 mm and weighs 233 grams.
ALSO SEE: 5G Mobile Phones Price List in India 2024
Pixel 9 Pro XL Vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Display
Google’s latest flagship ships with a 6.8-inch Super Actua OLED display with a peak brightness of 3,000 nits and a pixel density of 486 ppi. The screen supports LTPO technology, which allows it to switch the refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz. Built on an aspect ratio of 20:9, the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s screen has a contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1, supports HDR content, and full 24-bit depth for 16M colors.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra features a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x screen with a peak brightness of 2,600 nits and a pixel density of 505 ppi, making it less bright but sharper than the Pixel 9 Pro XL. With an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, the phone is slightly wider than its competitor, supports HDR10+ content, and can produce 16M colors. The S24 Ultra has a layer Gorilla Glass Armor, which not only improves durability, but it also increases visibility by reducing glare.
While the specifications have been pretty similar until now, the S24 Ultra supports the S Pen, a tool that unlocks new ways of interacting with the screen. Using the stylus, you can take notes, edit pictures with better precision, control the camera’s shutter, and so on. Moreover, the S Pen support provides the S24 Ultra an edge over the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Pixel 9 Pro XL Vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Performance
Tensor G4
For years, the Pixel phones have fallen short of performance while taking on their competitors. Unfortunately, this year is no different. Google’s Tensor G4 features a prime core clocked at 3.1GHz, three balanced cores at 2.60GHz, and four efficient cores at 1.95GHz. The Exynos 5400 modem is about 50% more efficient than the modem on Tensor G3, making the chipset consume significantly less power.
With the Tensor G4 chipset, the latest Google flagship ships with 16GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. Talking about the benchmark scores, an early Pixel 9 Pro XL Geekbench visit suggests that the Tensor G4 can score up to 2,005 points in the single-core and 4,835 points in the multi-core score. Yes, synthetic benchmark scores aren’t the best indicators to gauge a phone’s day-to-day performance, but they still give a good idea about a processor’s maximum capacity.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
On the other hand, team Samsung gets the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, one of the most powerful chipsets on an Android smartphone. It features a 3.39GHz prime core, three performance cores clocked at 3.1GHz, two balanced cores at 2.9GHz, and two 2.2GHz efficiency cores. Right off the bat, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has more powerful cores than the Tensor G4. Hence, it is only apparent that the chipset will perform better in benchmarks and real life. This doesn’t mean that the Tensor G4 isn’t a good chipset; it just means that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has more raw processing prowess.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra ships with 12GB of RAM and three storage variants: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. To draw a fair comparison, the S24 Ultra scores over 2,300 points in the single-core and over 7,400 points in the multi-core GeekBench 6 benchmark.
Both smartphones have a vapor chamber that ensures optimal temperature for prolonged usage. While the Pixel 9 Pro XL excels in everyday tasks, the Galaxy S24 Ultra would handle video games better or render a video faster.
ALSO SEE: Samsung Mobile Phones Price List in India (Aug 2024)
Pixel 9 Pro XL Vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Cameras
While the Pixel 9 Pro XL features a triple-camera setup, the Galaxy S24 Ultra ships with one additional sensor on the rear panel.
Here’s a breakdown of the camera sensors on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
- 50MP (f/1.68, 82-degree) wide camera
- 48MP (f/1.7, 123-degree) ultrawide camera (which doubles as a macro shooter)
- 48MP (f/2.8, 22-degree) telephoto camera
- 42MP (f/2.2, 103-degree) front camera
What’s good is that the Pixel 9 Pro XL has high-megapixel cameras, so no matter which one someone uses, the phone delivers the best quality shots. Further, the telephoto shot provides up to 5x optical zoom and Super Res Zoom up to 30x. Additional features include Pro Controls, High-Res images (up to 50MP), Add Me, and Macro Focus. Some popular editing features users get on the Pixel 9 Pro XL include Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, Best Take, Photo Unblur, and so on.
Regarding video, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is among the first Pixel smartphones to support 8K video recording at 30 fps. Additional video-related features include Dual exposure on the wide camera, Super Res Zoom Video up to 20x, Video Boost, Night Sight Video, Audio Magic Eraser, etc.
Here’s a breakdown of the camera sensors on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
- 200MP (f/1.7, 24mm) primary camera
- 12MP (f/2.2. 120-degree) ultrawide camera
- 50MP (f/3.4, 111mm) periscope zoom camera for 5x zoom
- 10MP (f/2.4, 67mm) telephoto camera for 3x zoom
- 12MP (f/2.2, 26mm) selfie camera
The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s additional 3x optical zoom lens gives users slightly more flexibility, as the dedicated sensor kicks in when zooming in beyond 3x, while the periscope sensor kicks in when zooming in beyond 5x. The phone also provides 100x Space Zoom, supports 8K video recording at 30 fps, and offers generative photo editing, which includes features like expanding an image, removing an object from the image, etc. However, you don’t get as many features as the Pixel 9 Pro XL offers.
Moreover, you’ve to choose whether you want better hardware, in which case you’d have to go with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, or if you want to experience the AI magic that’s happening in the Photos app on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Pixel 9 Pro XL Vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Battery & Charging
The Pixel 9 Pro XL ships with a 5,060 mAh battery that supports 37W fast wired charging. You might have read somewhere that the phone supports 45W fast charging, but that is not the case, as the fine print on the company’s website suggests otherwise. It is actually the 45W Google USB-C charger with which the phone draws up to 37W and charges up to 705 in about 30 minutes. Further, the phone supports fast wireless charging (up to 23W, Qi-certified).
Anyway, while the phone can last over 24 hours in regular mode, the Extreme Battery Saver mode extends the duration up to 100 hours.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra ships with a similar 5,000 mAh battery but supports slightly faster wired charging at 45W but slower wireless charging at 15W. For those wondering, the battery is rated to last up to 27 hours of usage on LTE and provides up to 30 hours of wireless video playback. Both phones support reserve wireless charging.
Pixel 9 Pro XL Vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Software Support
Though the Pixel 9 Pro XL ships with Android 14 out of the box, it will get the Android 15 upgrade soon. Further, the phone will get all major operating system upgrades (along with security fixes and Pixel drops) until 2031.
Similarly, the S24 Ultra also runs on One UI 6.1 based on Android 14. While Samsung is working on One UI 7.0, it will arrive only when Google releases its upcoming operating system. Samsung has also promised seven years of software upgrades with Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Another difference to consider is the host of Google AI and Galaxy AI capabilities; the latter surely contains more options and features for now.
ALSO SEE: Sports Bikes Price List
Pixel 9 Pro XL Vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Conclusion
Pixel 9 Pro XL Price
- Pixel 9 Pro XL (256GB): Rs. 1,24,999
- Pixel 9 Pro XL (512GB): Rs. 1,39,999
Galaxy S24 Ultra Price
- Galaxy S24 Ultra (256GB): Rs. 1,29,999
- Galaxy S24 Ultra (512GB): Rs. 1,39,999
- Galaxy S24 Ultra (1TB): Rs. 1,59,999
With the introductory offer, interested buyers can get the Pixel 9 Pro XL for Rs. 1,14,999. While this is a limited-time offer, Google seems to have the pricing right now. For the money, you get a large display, excellent cameras, a massive battery, and 256GB of storage right from the base model.
However, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, for a slightly higher price, offers an additional telephoto camera, S Pen, and access to more AI-based features that are spread across One UI. Hence, it is up to you to prioritize and decide between the two phones.
Pro tip: Look out for deals on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. If you can get the phone’s base variant for around Rs. 1,10,000, there’s no Android phone that offers better features and versatility in the same package. However, if you have been a Pixel user and own a Pixel 5 or Pixel 6, an upgrade to the Pixel 9 Pro would be life-changing, in a good way.
You can follow Smartprix on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google News. Visit smartprix.com for the latest tech and auto news, reviews, and guides.
Samsung galaxy S24 ULTRA