Pixel 8 Pro vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: 4 Months Later!

The Google Pixel 8 Pro has been my go-to Android phone since it launched just over six months ago. But in that time we've had a whole new generation of challengers, not least the beastly S24 Ultra here, which on paper pretty much clowns the Pixel across the board. I've been using these two for the past several months, and taken hundreds of photos and a whole bunch of videos, as usual, to decide between them.
But the need to pick a winner here -- as we do in all our comparisons -- is complicated by the fact that the Pixel has had some pretty generous discounts lately, pushing it well below both the S24 Ultra or even the more affordable S24 Plus. SO can the Ultra really justify what is at this point a five hundred dollar price difference?
0:00 Intro
0:43 Hardware & Performance
4:48 Software & Features
7:27 Cameras, Photo & Video
13:57 The Verdict
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[@WinterSoldier0315]

I have both of these devices and I've been switching between them every 3 to 4 days for about a month. My biggest gripe with the Samsung is the big bulky heavy feel. It just doesn't feel very ergonomic when you use it with a case. Not really a gamer at all, so that makes the Pixel in general more attractive with its AI features. However, Samsung has really stepped up its game with One UI 6.0. As a tech enthusiast, I don't see myself keeping either phone for more than 2 years, so that's why it's generally the Pixel for me.

[@EricK-vw5wh]

How do you call yourself a tech enthusiast and then bring up One UI 6.0 which was released BEFORE the S24 Ultra. S24 Ultra released with One UI 6.1.

[@WinterSoldier0315]

@@EricK-vw5wh I mean the "stepped up game" really started with the big changes which started with One UI 6.0.

[@Al_Idrissi_]

I'm thrown between the pixal 8 Pro or the Samsung s24 Plus? Is it true that the pixels battery is bad?

[@moom6340]

Thanks for the video. But my s24U has big problems photographing pets and moving people indoors. You did a little test with the swinging pink thing on the rope but then did not show the pictures 🤔. I'm using the recommended camera assistant settings.

[@mjjones1045]

The s24 ultra's camera is very poor for photos. Otherwise, the phone is amazing. I sold mine due to how bad the pictures were. It was way too poor. I'm using my backup pixel 7 pro until a better phone hits the market that is somewhat worth the price.

[@fahim.foysal]

Most reviews oversell Samsung cameras imo. Camera is underwhelming esp for moving subjects. Samsung flagships are overall the best device otherwise.

[@SavvySavant]

Excellent, casually presented but very detailed comparison... As usual 👍🏼...

[@barryallen119]

Samsung would be invincible if they had less bloatware and better cameras.

[@chetlyp]

Absolutely what I think. Especially the bloatware stuff. Cameras are very close tho.

[@kchiafulio]

I loved almost everything with the 24u but went back to my 8 pro because of the camera and screen call and sort of now playing (I made Shazam work mostly).

[@parshakamarsh]

I think my ideal phone would be an S24 Ultra with Google's camera processing 🤔

[@szilardkorhetz1188]

The Pixel with Snapdragon 8 gen 3 would be my dream phone. The normal P8P is still lovely for me, TBH.

[@NguyenNam20777]

@@szilardkorhetz1188 yeah, the Tensor chip is not good for its price

[@juampikunxd4065]

​@@NguyenNam20777 Ajajajajaja Almost 500 dollars less than the Samsung that the Xiaomi is cheaper than the honor and especially the Huawei Pura 70 Pro. And this one has even a bad processor even worse than the tensioner. 1000 dollars vs cell phones of 1500 dollars approx. Which is bad for its price when the Huawei costs 1300 dollars. And it doesn't even 5G. Xioami is more expensive than Samsung and its software is horrible. Me I think the tensioner is fine for the price of the pixel. being that it costs less than all its competition

[@parshakamarsh]

@@szilardkorhetz1188 I wouldn't turn that down either

[@debrajsom]

useless comment

[@faaheim]

I'm using the 23 plus. The most annoying thing in this camera is the HDR halo effect and andd sharpening photos which makes your skin or object looks so dry. It's so frequent that you can't ignore it. One friend has pixel 6, almost all of the photos we take are either with pixel or the iphone 14 (especially for selfies) From what I can see, pixel directly competes with iphones. Pixel 6 is superior compared to my s23 plus. There are some advantages for having telephoto and some exclusive camera features but from photography perspective i prefer iphone or pixel

[@DirtCheapFU]

512 storage and no microsd slot...? That's weird. When you're getting to point of these large sized phones, you need that option. What are you going to partition off 512 or carry around a ext h/sdd or NVME USBC stick?

[@FrozenThunder]

But why portrait mode/human subject not reviewed in the camera section?

[@ElMartilloBlanco]

I tried three Pixel 8 Pro's hoping I would get good results eventually (tried two shortly after it came out, and one just recently in case maybe some updates fixed it), because I love the Pixel camera. Ended up returning each one. Their modem is terrible. I could sit in one place in my bedroom and watch the service cut out and come back a few seconds later. I normally get about 300mbps on 5G in my bedroom because I'm near a tower, so my service is awesome. The Pixel's connectivity is just trash. My dad had the same problem with his Pixel 6, which lead him to switch back to an iPhone. I had it happen with my Pixel 7 Pro and three Pixel 8 Pro's.

[@JesseJuarezz12]

Wait doesn't the Obsidian Color for the Pixel 8 Pro comes with 1TB??

[@xdadev]

*S24U has a better screen, way better performance, better battery-life, S-pen etc.* I prefer Pixel's photos but S24U is better in portraits, videos, selfies and zoom too. I also like material UI more than One UI although both are great. Overall, *S24U > Pixel 8 pro*

[@petrobull2560]

Great video! Can’t wait for the S25 Ultra, I currently have the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Going to change things up and try the Galaxy. My last Samsung was a S8 Plus which I miss.👍

[@TheB1nary]

I got an s24 ultra to replace my 23 Pro Max. Amazing. Night and day. I also have the 8 Pro, and can honestly say that if cameras are important to you, this is the one to get.

[@CJworld360]

Updates through 2030 is great deal...future highly unpredictable.

[@TexasTimelapse]

They'll quit in three years. It gets hard ya know....

[@vincetoreno6178]

I have had both since launch and think both are excellent. The S24U has the edge when it comes to hardware for sure. But I think the P8P is more fun and interesting to use. If the difference in price is several hundred dollars then I'd recommend the P8P hands down. If price is no object.... Get both!!!

[@AnotherDay-ce6th]

P8p more fun to use? Lmao go buy iPhone

[@vincetoreno6178]

@@AnotherDay-ce6th why?

[@jordanjackson8873]

​@vincetoreno6178 What is fun about using Pixel? I genuinely always heard people say it's vanilla android experience was the smoothest. How does that make it fun? It doesn't even have that many features or customization options unless you go out of your way to root the phone.

[@EricK-vw5wh]

Pixel more fun? It has no features to play with. It is as locked down as an iPhone. No real customization features like Sammy has. Any of Pixel's AI features exist on S24 Ultra too.....

[@user-ct8zg4nb3g]

A curious question: Are there people over eighty years of age who are very elderly people who own modern smart phones???

[@kundansingh914]

i find it interesting that no KZbinr is talking about the flawed color science on the S24 Ultra. its progressively worse than the S23 Ultra. I have sold my S24 Ultra and moved back to S23 Ultra. Also the colors totally change when shooting in 200 megapixels of 50 megapixels. This cannot be overlooked.

[@terriem3922]

I noticed that on KZbin videos. 23 better.

[@PlayingLittleLife]

Cannot wait for Pixel 9 series with flat design ❤

[@lunatic6819]

ive made my decision. S24 ultra it is then!!! bye bye iphone 15

[@Al_Idrissi_]

Great pick. Byebye iphone Cult 😂

[@lunatic6819]

@Al_Idrissi_ lmao Iphones are still awesome. I keep switching to an iphone and a galaxy every other year

[@TheB1nary]

​@@lunatic6819iPhones definitely have strengths!

[@HiddenPalm]

Which one holds the most space? Which one is easier to de-google? Which display is best for digital comic books and animated movies?

[@levipb1403]

I feel like the battery in the S24 ultra doesn't last as much as many claim. In my cas around 5hours sot which I think is low for a 1400€+ phone

[@goldentrout4811]

good video thank you

[@ccallaghan84]

I'd make a case for the OnePlus 12. I've had all these devices, and I kept just coming back to the OnePlus. I couldn't justify the added cost for either the S24U or P8P.

[@ElMartilloBlanco]

Ya it's crazy how much cheaper the OP12 is, with basically the same internals as Samsung.

[@eddieevangelista6014]

I have both ,currently love the s24u over the p8p.

[@josiahsoko32]

I love samsungs because of power and OneUI. Im not that much a fan of the camera. Today i installed Gcam and its night and day in quality! I feel like its a pixel with oneui and I couldn't have been happier

[@xBINARYGODx]

gcam is a sidegrade over all - but regardless, it forces an ad down your throat for 10s before you can use, or its monthly sub charge. No thanks. I will have to see about getting a version of this from one of the FOSS stores.

[@JustinDufrene]

I couldn't find a gcam that didn't crash after opening it

[@orangeyellow-me1pz]

How about neither of those? No expandable storage and fake pictures and no headphones jack makes both these options terrible.

[@BlackhawkTDI]

Have both, love both.

[@thecoryguy]

I hope this comment gets seen. XDA Developers was my go-to place for all things ROOT. My entry point was Google earlier line: the Nexus. So many things to do when rooting it. How is XDA looking now with the Pixel and Samsung rooting community - moreso the Pixel?

[@xBINARYGODx]

oh for the love of... you're going to put into a case - so who cares how it feels without one.

[@Cre8teQ]

I recently picked up the 256gb bay P8P for £784 direct from Google(Pixelfan price) and they offered almost £470 for my P7P on trade in. Was a no brainer, as the 8 Pro got rid of all the gripes i had with the 7 Pro. I'll be happy with this for a few years now. I wouldn't recommend buying any Pixel at launch as, they drop like a stone pretty fast and then they become a much better value proposition. Look at the regular 8, it's less than the 8A now and you'd have to be an idiot to buy an 8A at launch...

[@prplhze2000]

In Feb, Google knocked down the price of the 256 gb 8P to $849. Trade in for 7Pro was $360 so I bit. Didn't think it was a bad deal at all.

[@hussainassaggaf5723]

I want any way to root honor 8s ksa-lx9 please

[@user-ct8zg4nb3g]

A curious question: Are there people over eighty years of age who are very elderly people who own modern smart phones?

[@alexdenton6586]

iPhone 15 Pro Max isn’t better for photos and videos ? In fact, I really like the latest Samsungs, whether it's Android or One UI, and then the large boxy screen, perfect format, etc. But what has always kept me with iPhones is the photo and video quality, which I find superior to Samsungs, and also the fact that I can never get the voice command to work with the Gboard keyboard. I understand that with the Samsung keyboard you can use Google voice typing simply, but I don't really like Samsung's keyboard. What would you recommend? Do you think this smartphone is better than the 15 Promax right now? I'm talking in terms of photos and videos.

[@eddieevangelista6014]

With good lock you get key Cafe. There you can edit the samsung keyboard. From button placement to size of keys. I made my samsung keyboard a 1:1 og the gboard. I like the native features of samsung

[@Rinnara21]

The video is comparing the P8P to the S24U only. If you have the 15 pro max (like I do) just stick with it as yes, photos and videos are generally better. Samsung keyboard is crap and no customisation in keys cafe improved it for me so when I had the S22 ultra I just used Gboard.

[@SrijanPaulsatya]

I haven't watched the full video (Just saw the verdict). But the concept of multi-tasking is sold too much these days. I wish it made sense but the more you do multi-tasking the more you end up doing "multi" things badly. It could be a skill issue on my part though 🙂

[@Bugside]

Good multi tasking means you're in the middle of something in an app, get a notification and take care of it, and then come back to the first app in the same place you were, without it closing in the background and losing your place

[@mdprince2695]

Just amazing

[@rhaibi12]

Pixel may edge out the S24 in camera sometimes but the S24 is absolutely insane. I can't go back to the Pixel after using my S24 Ultra. Camera is phenomenal, battery life is excellent, best display, amazing build quality. You honestly can't go wrong with either... However the Ultra is just insane.

[@gwiz3059]

I Love my S24 ultra with all it's heft and squareness 🙂

[@ArtixBlader]

I bought the pixel 8 pro and it costs roughly £37 per month over 24 months. I honestly wanted the s24 ultra but the cheapest I could find it at the time was around £50 per month. I have big hands but the pixel 8 pro was just more comfortable to hold and use. For me the pixel 8 pro is a good phone for the price compared with the s24u when saving £300.

[@kierenkd]

How many months are you talking? S24 256GB is about £715 now in the UK, so just over £100pa for 7 years support. unlimited calls and SMS with 50GB data £8pm with Smarty (Three network)

[@ArtixBlader]

@@kierenkd as I said above 24 month contract. Where can you buy s24 ultra from a reputable retailer for £715? Cheapest I have found is Amazon at £936 which didn't have blurry item photos and was from an online retailer I've never heard of that was offering an international model. Might be fine with Amazon customer support if there were any issues but not guaranteed like a local company or known brand retailer. The total prices of the contracts at the time of purchase for me were around £875 for P8P and £1200 for S24U and both of those were cheaper then buying phone outright with SIM only contract alongside. So for me the P8P was the better deal

[@kierenkd]

@@ArtixBlader Not sure how I missed that - cheers. I didn't say Ultra - I said S24 256GB (rrp £859) - £709 on Samsung now with £100 trade in on any phone with a working screen (more if a recent iPhone / pixel/ samsung but only £110 for my S9). Plus 5% discount if you buy through Samsung app = £578 plus a £10 Galaxy store credit but no idea what you can spend that on. I always buy outright too & sim only. Just jumped form Vodafone to Smarty as better roaming & data for under £10 Internation Samsungs seem hard to reset region since recent boot loader locking, so things like esim, voLTE, Samsung Wallet, etc have a high chance of not working if you get Asian / US phones. A cheap EU import should be OK for UK use (I think)

[@ArtixBlader]

@@kierenkd I thought you made a typo on s24 (missing out the ultra) because I was talking about S24U Vs P8P as that's what the video was about. I think the base s24 is great. If it weren't for the chip set variation internationally and if the camera was comparable to the non-pro pixel 8 I probably would have gone with it. I very nearly went with the base s23 but the 7 years of updates and best in class camera for still photography sold the P8P for me. I can get by just fine without the bleeding edge mobile processor. The G3 is much better than the 855+ my OnePlus 7T came with as you would expect after 4 years.

[@harryvlogs7833]

When it comes to camera pixel 8 pro is far superior much better hdr and more natural colour

[@ZMJ87]

Agreed

[@alexdenton6586]

So superior indeed

[@abdullahbinshahid3199]

Agreed 100%

[@tytownsend8219]

When I needed superior pics I bought a camera

[@Antagon666]

How can you have much better hdr and more natural colors at the same time ? Natural means keeping the view as faithful as possible, when you expose each part of the image so it doesn't "clip", it can't be natural.

[@iAfroTech]

Snapdragon and OneUi for me. Pixel are bêta until the new chip with Pixel 10. Pricing is too high too

[@chitrarth]

1300 vs 750

[@jordanjackson8873]

​​@@chitrarthpixel 8 pro is like 1000 dollars if you don't get a discount. I literally just looked it up. Also, the s24 and s24+ are cheaper than the s24 ultra and still have better chipsets and hardware features than the P8 Pro.

[@chitrarth]

@@jordanjackson8873 dont know where you are looking or may be at the moment price is high but its an established fact that all pixels stay at $150-200 discount even here in India pixel 8 pro is equivalent to $ 1050 vs $1300 without any discount

[@krin_c747]

The light year ahead HDR of PIXEL is on another level 😳

[@e3vL1]

Why not wait till pixel 9 comes out?

[@clipgta1]

Then wait for Pixel 10...

[@e3vL1]

@@clipgta1 Google io is this Tuesday.

[@e3vL1]

@@clipgta1 Google io is on Tuesday.

[@dwights1024]

What's wrong with you guys I've already pre-pre ordered the Pixel 11 pro max XL

[@francischijioke6425]

Waiting for pixel 9 pro as well. No need getting any of these phones yet until the pixel 9 series launches

[@SilvioBritto]

Great but the fairest comparison would be with the S24+. The Ultra is in another league.

[@SilvioBritto]

About 7-8 years of update it's much better news on Samsung phones (way better hardware).

[@jshoun273]

12:44 it's Taipei❤❤❤

[@XDAVideo]

Good eye

[@crownoffyre894]

Dang it So overall, the Samsung just has a bunch of little tiny qualities that are over the pixel...but the pixel is cheaper... I'm still angry at samsung because they are making phones impossible to repair

[@GameN3rdz]

Just downgrade to a older flagship

[@crownoffyre894]

@GameN3rdz but they only have a year or 2 of updates left right? As they will slowly be less and less supported by the ecosystem, I got the freaking s21 ultra the 1 year there was no samsung note so I lost my s pen plus I no longer have removable storage, atleast the s22 brought the pen back and made the lowest storage option 256, I got stuck with a 128 gig because that's all my carrier had, I'm so pissed, the pixel will be good for 7 years and is relatively cheap but I just started to de Google my like by getting rid of my cloud storage and self hosting to safe money and not get my information taken to be sold

[@alexandrumacovei7174]

Pixel is better for the time the battery is alive, but since that s half of the Samsung s time, we pick samsung

[@navshri]

Pixel has great camera. But what's the point if it does every 7 hours?!

[@user-ct8zg4nb3g]

A curious question: Are there people over eighty years of age who are very elderly people who own modern smart phones??!

[@prplhze2000]

I've known a couple over 80 who have their iPhones and iPads totally figured out. I don't mean basic calling and texting but using the advanced features.

[@sviraci]

Why the Display of S24U always get that hyped? Yes the anti glare reflection is great but no high PWM, and on the Ultras the viewing angles are just one of the badest of all "Flagships". OP12, GP8P, X14U, HM6P has all much better Displays. Also color Calibration, Gama and this is one of the worst on s24 of all the Flagships

[@amany5383]

S24 ultra all day 🎉

[@brandonsmith6962]

Pixel absolutely suck I choose this as my Android trying something different I thought it was my phone so I took it back and got a new after telling Google it’s nothing working properly cause it was running slow and temperature was out of this work to run KZbin I realize it’s just the phone it sucks that tensor chip is azz….screen call is the best thing in this phone other than that save your money ….i keep laughing at the fact that they have Samsung helping do there chips meanwhile Samsung buys their chips from Qualcomm cmon google ….think about it

[@ElMartilloBlanco]

I agree. I had a P7P and tried three different P8P (I tried them for a bit and ended up returning them). They did improved some stuff in the P8P, like the screen quality is better. But the fingerprint reader is still terrible, and I could literally sit in one place and watch the bars for my cell service disappear and come back. Whatever chip they're using for cell service is crap. My house is near a tower, so I get like 300mbps on 5G, but the P8P constantly would drop service on all three that I tried.

[@brandonsmith6962]

@@ElMartilloBlanco yes absolutely….its terrible 😞…. I bought it based on KZbin reviews that was my experience tho

[@tusharkompella772]

U changed the name of the video from sorry pixel

[@DeadofWinter321]

Typing this comment from my Google Pixel 8 Pro that I got after returning my S24 Ultra 👑

[@helterskelzer3883]

Not even a contest

[@sly412]

Pixel is far superior to any Samsung phone based on custom ROM availability. Unfortunately XDA forgot about how they were started. Never again Samsung or any other brand without custom ROM availability. I like my calyxos or grapheneneos. Why don't XDA talk about custom ROMs or repairibility?

[@AnotherDay-ce6th]

OenUI with goodlock kills all OS in the market.

[@sly412]

I really couldn't care less about oneui and if I tried I probably would be able to find a ROM with oneui for my pixel. My point was is the phone has unlockable bootloader or plenty of available ROM? That's what XDA should talk about. I remember the days on XDA forums when someone started to talk about iPhone that was an automatic ban. I had few Samsung devices in past and I regretted my last s21 ultra purchase and the best (the reasons above) Samsung device I've owned was the galaxy nexus

[@cesarjuarez1355]

It's like ordering a Samsung with android one

[@sly412]

Not exactly, neither of them very privacy friendly, if I have to choose I'd choose google one over oneui. My ROM list would be 1. Grapheneos, 2. calyxos. 3.Lineageos with microg, 4 /e/OS. End of the day when I already paid for the hardware and I want to be able install any ROM that I'd like.

[@xBINARYGODx]

the US version is the one that is locked down - anyway, if you care about roms, then of course you get the pixel.

[@VladyslavKL]

🕊

[@draz9765]

I dont like pixel i cant customize it like i can with a samsung phone

[@Peterstarzynskitech]

Samsung being faster than the pixel in 7 years? I never thought I'd hear that.

[@georgeirvingnormaniii3291]

👏👏👏👏

[@imwjamie]

There is just no comparison between this two devices. S24 Ultra is the king

[@DeadofWinter321]

😂😂😂

[@camronrubin8599]

Android updates until 2030 though

[@EnricoBrandt]

On both

[@camronrubin8599]

@@EnricoBrandt Samsung only gets 4 years of updates . Google had 7 years, now 6

[@cephas1495]

​@@camronrubin8599Have you read tech news recently? 😅 The Samsung gets same 7 OS updates

[@user-wq3ez7in6x]

💪💪❤🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗❤

[@muhammadhamadhasan4466]

S24 ultra is overall a great phone...

[@kindofanmol]

How is this even a comparison? The S24U is FAR superior.

[@Omagus]

If price is not a concern, sure. But with current pricing the P8P might provide more bang for the buck.

[@jordanjackson8873]

​@Omagus The P8P is still listed at like $1000 on Google and Amazon. The s24+ is more bang for your buck at the same price.

[@mgaming7]

Pixel 8 Pro is the best Android phone on the market. benchmarks mean nothing. both are smooth as silk. The pixel screen is fantastic. the Camera is fantastic. and best of all, it doesn't have bixby, it doesn't have 2-3 duplicate apps that are the same apps from an other App Store. it also only has ONE App Store instead of two. The S24 Ultra is a Killer phone. it is NOT worth $500 More. The google experience is better than the OneUI experience. unless you are a Big Time gamer, the Pixel is the best of the best, specially for the money. The Samsung can't take a picture of a pet to save its life. They are the wrong color they are 99% of the time Blurry or the hair looks bad. The S24 has an over all, terrible camera IMO. it is only good in the most perfect of conditions.

[@mawash0309]

All I know is I regret buying the Google Pixel pro 8 😂 I want the s24 ultra

[@marioherrerajr5293]

Samsung is simple too oversharpen and over saturated for my taste

[@theworldoffun8997]

Samsung is a brick, while pixel is more of a classic smooth android flagship that comfortably lies in hand

[@CreepyFilmz]

Google Pixel 8 Pro for me.............

[@beefgoat80]

Samsung Android is still ugly AF. Yes, it's not as bad as it used to be, but still ugly AF. And their update support is also still trash.

[@parshakamarsh]

Yeah, because 7 years of OS and security patches is terrible..

[@helterskelzer3883]

Clearly hasn't actually used a samsung phone

[@beefgoat80]

@@helterskelzer3883 nope. Never had the captivate, s2, s3, note 3, etc. never owned a Samsung at all. Nope

[@beefgoat80]

@@parshakamarsh enjoy being stuck on the same version of Android the moment a new Samsung Galaxy S drops.

[@helterskelzer3883]

@@beefgoat80 samsungs from years and years a go🤣 learn some stuff and try again

[@___David__]

Samsung has OneUI. That alone is enough to beat Google's absolute garbage software. Hardware-wise, they're both oversized featureless garbage.

[@jordanjackson8873]

Featureless hardware wise? Literally has one of the best and brightest screens on top of having an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, LTPO screen, new titanium railing & Victous glass, 8K video capability, 4k slow-mo video capabilites, 100x zoom, 45W charging(Which Google doesn't have), and reverse wireless charging. Also, the S pen literally has remote capablites 😭😭How is Samsung featureless hardware wise?

[@nickadm8321]

you forgot to mention the bad modems that pixel has no 5g weak signal on 4g and WIFI also the so advertised AI features of the pixel don't work out side of America also pixels software updates are full of bugs and break the phone

[@prplhze2000]

I live in a somewhat rural state. When I get outside of the metro area, then I can tell the difference. Even in the middle of the city, my signal strength is 95-105. Very weak on my 8Pro