From the Pixel 8 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max late last year to the OnePlus 12 in January, it’s been a banner time to be in the market for a new smartphone. And despite the stiff competition, there’s one phone that really stands out above the rest, at least in terms of its combination of performance, style, and features: the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. It’s a strong enough contender that I’m willing to ditch my iPhone and make the switch to Android.

One of the first things you’d notice about a Samsung back in the day were the curved “infinity bezels”. Gone now are those bezels. I didn’t mind them on the OnePlus 12, but I’ve never been a huge fan of the design, so I applaud the S24 Ultra’s return to a flat panel, if for no other reason than that it makes the phone look absolutely gorgeous.

Samsung has also made the move to titanium this year, adding the lighter metal to the S24 Ultra’s chassis. It makes the phone feel light despite its large size, and the overall look of the device is sleek. The back does attract fingerprints, which is something that many smartphones struggle with these days.

Beyond the form factor of the display, its functionality is also pretty impressive. Samsung has provided a gorgeous 6.8-inch AMOLED display, with a resolution of 3120 x 1440 pixels and an adaptive refresh rate of 1-120Hz. Samsung has also bumped up the screen brightness to a peak of 2600 nits, making it brighter than last year’s S23 Ultra but not quite as bright as the OnePlus 12’s 4500 nits peak. Still, that’s more than bright enough to view the screen in bright sunlight, and I never had any trouble seeing what I was doing on the screen, or even watching video outdoors or in bright lighting.