GoKawiilDavid Imel / Android Authority
Before I picked up a Galaxy S24 back in 2024, I also strongly considered the Galaxy S24 Plus and the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The problem with the Galaxy S24 Plus was that it didn’t feel like a sufficient enough upgrade to justify the extra cost. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 Ultra did offer plenty of extras, including a better camera, S-Pen features, a higher-resolution display, and a more durable design thanks to its titanium frame.
That said, I admit I’m not a big stylus guy on phones. I appreciate them for drawing and taking notes on tablets, but I simply don’t use my phone that way. Between the over-focus on niche productivity features and its boxy design, the Galaxy S24 Ultra felt less like a souped-up version of the Galaxy S flagship and more like “a Galaxy Note by another name”.
Starting with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, we’ve seen Samsung alter this perception a bit, ending the boxy design and distinct Ultra identity that they’ve stood by for years. Despite plenty of Samsung fans being angry about this change, I’m happy with it and feel this is a step in the right direction.
Do you prefer Ultra's older boxy design or would you rather have more consistency with the Galaxy S line? 51 votes I prefer the classic Note-style design hands-down. 65 % I prefer the new design, as it's more consistent. 18 % I care more about the specs than the design, so I'm indifferent. 14 % Other (Let us know more in the comments). 4 %
The Note was great, but keeping its DNA made the Galaxy S series feel inconsistent
Andy Walker / Android Authority
For hardcore Samsung Note fans, the Ultra was never just an S model. It was the continuation of one of Samsung’s most successful power user devices. Of course, there was a reason that Samsung retired the Note line in the first place. The features were too similar, except for a few Note-specific additions like S-Pen, and a component shortage supply in 2021 helped push the decision in this direction as well.
By integrating it into the Galaxy S family and releasing it in the same window, Samsung likely hoped to make the phone more appealing to new customers and not just existing Note loyalists. At the same time, Samsung understood it needed to keep existing Note users happy, and so it leaned heavily on the Note’s design language and feature set.
The thing is, some of its bleeding-edge features, like the S-Pen, were truly useful once. These features might still be important to some people, but the truth is that better touch screen quality, shortcut methods, new AI features, and other changes to both Android and One UI have made the S-Pen less critical.
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