With Google’s recent Pixel 9 series release, the company is finally challenging the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with its top-tier Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. Both handsets are similarly priced right now, so it’s a valid dilemma for many users looking for an upgrade right now. Especially in the US, where smartphone choice is somewhat more limited with fewer brands owning the entire market.
Table of Contents:
For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor’s assessment in the following text.
Size comparison
The Pixel 9 Pro XL and the Galaxy S24 Ultra are rather large devices – with their 6.8-inch displays, we’d go as far as calling them borderline unwieldy for most people. If you never held one of these two in your hand, better go and try one in a store to check them out for size.
However, if you know you what one, then you should bear in mind a few nuances. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is wider and has sharp, pointy corners that make the phone feel bigger than it actually is. Some find the sharp corners offer a more secure grip, but others find them awkward.
The Pixel, on the other hand, has rounded corners and а flat side frame, so it feels easier to hold in the hand.
In any case, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the better option build quality-wise. It has supposedly tougher Gorilla Armor protective panels on the front and back, compared to the Victus 2 sheets on the Pixel, and it boasts a superior titanium frame design as opposed to regular aluminum.
Display comparison
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a more boxy screen ratio, so even though both phones have the same screen 6.8-inch screen diagonal, the S24 Ultra will also offer you a tad more screen real estate.
Feature-wise, both panels are neck and neck – 120Hz refresh rate with granular control, HDR10+ certification, etc.
In our tests, the Pixel scored an outstanding 2,365 nits of max brightness in auto mode and more than 1,300 nits in manual mode. That’s hands-down the brightest display on a flagship this year (maybe even before that). The S24 Ultra caps at 1,440 nits in Auto mode.
It’s still important to note that Samsung has added a unique so far anti-reflective coating, making the S24 Ultra’s display extra comfortable under the bright sun. Still, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is noticeably brighter so it should make up for that easily.
Battery life
The Galaxy S24 Ultra wins by a small margin in the battery endurance race. The handset scores more than an hour of extra Active Use Score, mainly due to its longer 4G call runtime. It also has a tad better video playback and gaming scores but falls short of the Pixel in the web browsing segment.
Nevertheless, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is probably your safest bet if battery life is one of your top priorities. The Pixel’s tiny web browsing runtime advantage is largely negligible in this context.
Charging speed
Neither of the two phones is particularly fast when it comes to charging – the Galaxy is rated to charge at up to 45W, while the Pixel – at up to 37W.
Both companies have a 45W fast charger to offer you as an extra purchase. The chargers don’t have any proprietary technologies and both use USB Power Delivery 3.0 – they are even quite closely spec’d.
Of course, the max charging power ratings don’t tell the whole story. At the 15 and 30-minute marks, both phones are equally fast, or slow, depending on how you look at it.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra offers ever so slightly faster charging to 100%. In our tests, it completed a full cycle in 1 hour and 5 minutes, which is 13 minutes faster than the 9 Pro XL.
Speaker test
According to our speakers test, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is slightly louder than the Pixel 9 Pro XL, but they both get a “Very Good” score. The difference is in the tuning. The Pixel sounds a tad warmer, deeper and the mids are a bit more pronounced, whereas the S24 Ultra’s speakers sound more flat. The difference isn’t striking, though, as both handsets offer excellent sound quality.
Performance
The Pixel 9 Pro XL has Google’s latest Tensor G4 chipset but this chipset is far from being the fastest on the market.
On the other hand, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 inside the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the top silicon available currently – it’s even the slightly overclocked “for Galaxy” edition a.k.a. SM8650-AC.
Regarding memory, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a notable advantage. The device comes with 12GB/256GB by default and can go up to 12GB/1TB. The Pixel’s default option is 16GB/128GB and goes up to 16GB/1TB. Sure, you do get more RAM with the Pixel, no matter the configuration, but storage is arguably more important nowadays. 12GB on the S24 Ultra is plenty, so we would prefer more storage instead.
Benchmark performance
Unfortunately, we had trouble running benchmarks on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. We consistently got lower results than last year’s Pixel 8 series with Tensor G3, and since the scores don’t make any sense, we won’t be publishing them here.
Having said that, it’s probably safe to assume that the Galaxy S24 Ultra packs more raw horsepower. Pixels are notoriously slower than their flagship rivals and this has been the case for generations now, so the most powerful Qualcomm chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, will likely go uncontested by the Tensor G4.
Camera comparison
The Pixel 9 Pro XL packs a potent camera setup with 50MP f/1.7, 1/1.31″ main camera aided by a 48MP f/2.8, 1/2.55″ periscope telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. The ultrawide unit is 48MP f/1.7, 1/2.55″ with autofocus. An unconventional 42MP f/2.2 selfie camera with an ultrawide lens sits on the front.
As for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it has just as big 200MP 1/1.3″ sensor with f/1.7 aperture, but is joined by not one but two telephoto units – 10MP f/2.4, 1/3.52″ with 3x zoom and 50MP f/3.4, 1/2.52″ periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom. The ultrawide is 12MP f/2.2, 1/2.55″, while the selfie camera is once again 12MP f/2.2.
Judging solely by the specs sheet alone, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a more versatile setup thanks to the extra 3x telephoto unit. But let’s dive deeper to see the nuances.
Image quality
The stills from both phones’ main cameras aren’t fundamentally different, but you will likely find the Galaxy’s shots a bit more lively. The HDR algorithm goes for brighter shadows and the post-processing, although more restrained in the current S24 series, prefers punchier color reproduction. This leaves the Pixel 9 Pro XL with slightly muted colors and darker shadows, in comparison.
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 5x • 10x
Galaxy S24 Ultra: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x • 10x
It’s hard to tell which one does a better job in the 2x crop zoom mode, but the Galaxy’s stills are somewhat cleaner and slightly sharper.
The same goes for the 5x telephoto samples. The S24 Ultra still delivers livelier scenes with brighter shadows and punchier colors and if you look closely enough, you could make a case for the S24 Ultra being slightly sharper too. Still, the difference is hard to spot, so we call this a tie. We couldn’t find any notable difference in the 10x hybrid zoom photos either.
Although the ultrawide camera on the Pixel 9 Pro XL is better on paper, it barely shows any advantage over the Galaxy. It does have a bit of extra definition, but we can’t say it’s noticeably better than the Ultra.
In the low-light scenery, the S24 Ultra has a slight upper hand, delivering a tad sharper, more defined objects in both shadows and highlights. Samsung’s flagship handles highlights and light sources better too.
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 5x
Galaxy S24 Ultra: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
These findings become more apparent as you move up the focal length. The low-light 2x zoom photos are better on the Galaxy, while the 5x telephoto pictures are considerably cleaner and sharper.
When it comes to the ultrawide, both phones trade blows. The 9 Pro XL’s low-light ultrawide shots are somewhat cleaner with less noise, especially in more challenging conditions, but the S24 Ultra’s are sharper and more detailed.
Selfies look quite similar in terms of quality, but the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s ultrawide selfie cam has wider FoV.
Selfies: Pixel 9 Pro XL • Galaxy S24 Ultra
Video quality
We didn’t expect it to be that easy, but the winner in the video quality comparison is the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The phone consistently delivers considerably sharper footage with all of its cameras.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL’s video capture capabilities mostly pale in comparison, except for low-light video recording, where the Pixel’s main camera delivers sharper footage.
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.5x • 1x • 5x • 1x Low-light
Galaxy S24 Ultra: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x • 1x Low-light
Verdict
Although the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s launch price was higher than the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s, both devices are now similarly priced. In fact, the former can be found for a little less, tipping the scales in its favor. Especially if you consider the more powerful chipset, twice the default storage, more versatile and perhaps better overall camera experience, longer battery life, the more premium build and the S Pen. Perhaps not all will care about the stylus, but it’s a bonus worth considering. It has its perks and features.
Then again, the software could be a deciding factor for many users still on the fence. The two companies have a fundamentally different approach when it comes to software. The Pixel software is plain, vanilla Android with Pixel-exclusive features on top. At the same time, Samsung’s One UI is a heavily customized Android skin overlay with a plethora of features and a very different UX. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, so it’s up to you to decide. Both OEMs promise 7 years of software updates.
All in all, the Galaxy S24 Ultra seems like the more sound choice as it has an advantage in key areas, asks a little less than its rival and brings more value to the table in terms of features.
Get the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL for:
The easier handling, feels more compact.
The brighter display.
The slightly better-sounding speakers.
The slightly longer web browsing runtime in battery tests.
More RAM (16GB) across all storage tiers.
Get the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for:
The unique anti-reflective screen coating.
The tougher build/materials.
The S Pen.
The more versatile set of camera.
The more powerful chipset.
The longer overall battery life.
The lower price tag (at the time of writing).