In the world of Android, there’s no other comparison worth looking at right now other than a Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra face-off — since this a matchup that has often seen Samsung coming out on top historically. More importantly, it will likely dictate which is the best Android phone for the foreseeable future.
These two are without a doubt two of the best phones money can buy, complete with large displays, big batteries and robust cameras. If the hardware isn’t enough to look at, they also package in some of the best AI features you can access on a mobile device right now.
In our Galaxy S24 Ultra review, we praised the outstanding performance of its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, which also propelled it to achieve the longest lasting battery life in a Samsung flagship to date. Meanwhile, we were shocked by the record setting achievement of the upgraded Super Actua display in our Pixel 9 Pro XL review.
We’ll be grading them across the 7 different categories below to find out which flagship comes out on top.
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Specs
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Price
No one has yet to top Samsung’s flagship when it comes to price, but the Pixel 9 Pro XL is the most expensive Google phone to date with its $1,099 starting cost — and that’s for the base 128GB model. On the other hand, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is still more expensive at $1,299, but it comes with a generous 256GB of storage.
Given how we’ve seen a bigger gap in price between Samsung and Google’s flagships in the past, this is the closest it’s been. It’s also worth noting that the Pixel 9 Pro XL technically got a $100 price hike over last year’s Pixel 8 Pro, so while it’s still cheaper and more affordable, the Pixel 9 Pro XL doesn’t have the same level of affordability that prior Pixels offered.
Winner: Pixel 9 Pro XL
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Design
Clearly there’s a distinct design language that each phone goes after. While they both feature flat-edged screens and IP68 ratings for water resistance, those are the only similarities they share in terms of design.
Between them, however, I think the Pixel 9 Pro XL has the more charming looks to draw in more people. This is due to how the corners of the phone are rounded off, the flat edges all around the phone, and the new horizontal camera cutout on the back. And it also helps that the Pixel 9 Pro XL is lighter and not as big as the Galaxy S24 Ultra — so it’s slightly better to hold and use comfortably.
Samsung technically uses a more durable titanium frame on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which makes it better equipped for absorbing impacts. But beyond that, it’s almost a utilitarian design that doesn’t win points in the style department, especially with the arrangement of its quadruple cameras on the back of the phone.
Winner: Pixel 9 Pro XL
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Display
Usually Samsung’s flagships have larger displays, but Google finally matches its rival in this area. That’s because the Pixel 9 Pro XL features a 6.8-inch Super Actua display, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra sports a 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display.
We’ll admit that the displays look lovely in all sorts of ways, like their exceptional viewing angles and brilliant looking colors — making them perfect for watching a flick on any of the best streaming services around. It also helps that they also offer adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, which makes action sequences look silky smooth on their displays.
At the end of the day, though, the biggest difference between them is how we’re better able to see the screen on a bright, sunny day. That’s because the Pixel 9 Pro XL sets a record in our testing for having the brightest screen with a peak brightness of 2,469 nits — far more than the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s reading at 1,363 nits. This disparity is definitely noticeable when we played the same video outside with both phones.
Winner: Pixel 9 Pro XL
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Cameras
Earlier this year, our Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. Pixel 8 Pro photo shootout just about came to a draw — which shows how Google has been creeping up on Samsung in the camera department. Now that the Pixel 9 Pro XL is finally here, it’s not going down easily armed with a 50MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, and 42MP selfie camera.
Those cameras are undoubtedly a big step up for Google, but the Galaxy S24 Ultra isn’t going down easily with its cameras — a 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and 12MP selfie camera. For a number of years now, Samsung has kept ahead of Google in the zoom department, but this time it’s a tie with their 5x optical zoom telephoto lenses. Here’s how they stack up against each other.
On paper it seems that Samsung’s 200MP main camera has a huge advantage over the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s 50MP one, but it takes more than pixels to come out on top. Case in point, the photo above by the water where the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s shot better draws out the details in the docked boats and bright areas in the background. The S24 Ultra is pretty good at handling the scene, but when we zoom into different areas in the photo, the details aren’t as defined.
With its upgraded 48MP ultrawide camera, the Pixel 9 Pro XL tops the GalaxyS24 Ultra’s 12MP one in these shots taken close to Times Square in New York City. Not only does it have a wider 123-degree field of view, but the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s picture is much brighter in the shadows thanks in part to its wider f/1.7 aperture lens.
Another clear area where the Pixel 9 Pro XL is better is taking selfies with its 42MP front-facing camera. On top of its wider field of view, which makes it much more suitable for group photos, it also handles contrasting scenes like the one above with its stronger dynamic range performance. The S24 Ultra’s selfie camera over exposes the bright areas in the background.
Zooming has always been an area where Samsung’s phones consistently came out on top, but not so much this time. We snapped several photos between the two at 5x and 30x zoom, but the results came out differently. Sometimes the Pixel 9 Pro XL comes out on top, like the photos of the W 41st Street sign above, but in another shot of a PG-13 stamp on a billboard, it’s the S24 Ultra with the sharper looks.
Under low light situations, it’s nearly a deadlock with each phone delivering their own set of favorable results. While the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s shots typically come out brighter, the Pixel 9 Pro XL does better at handling high-contrast lighting in the shots — like the first set of images above. Meanwhile, the S24 Ultra’s night mode better draws out details in the tree in the next set of images.
As for their respective camera apps, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has the richer set of tools and modes to appeal to enthusiasts — like a dedicated manual mode for video, dual recording mode, and even the ability to use wireless earbuds as a source for recording audio. While these tools are great, it’s the Pixel 9 Pro XL that ultimately comes out on top purely on performance.
Winner: Pixel 9 Pro XL
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Performance
Synthetic benchmarks tests easily show that the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip performs significantly better than the Tensor G4 chip in the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Just look at the single and multicore scores put up by the S24 Ultra in Geekbench 6, which at 2,300 and 7,249 respectively, easily puts it ahead of the 1,929 and 4,747scores out of the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Likewise, the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s a champ in the GPU department as well — putting up scores that make it out of this world. In 3DMark’s Wild Life Unlimited test, it delivers a blistering average frame rate of 123.5 fps, which leaves behind the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s 55.6 fps rate in the dust. Gamers will also like how the S24 Ultra supports ray tracing in gaming titles like Diablo Immortal, which better adapts to the changing lighting conditions and special effects in the game.
Despite it being an easy win for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, we will say that the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s performance with day-to-day activities doesn’t differ all that much from the S24 Ultra. Whether it’s multitasking a few apps or doing other productivity centric tasks, the same fluid responses and actions are also evident in the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Winner: Galaxy S24 Ultra
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Battery life
Oddly enough, it’s the Pixel 9 Pro XL that has the larger battery this time around — a 5,060 mAh cell, versus the S24 Ultra's 5,000 mAh one. Most people would think this would inherently be a win for the Pixel, but that doesn’t quite turn out to be the case because it takes more than having a bigger battery to make our best phone battery life list.
In fact, it comes down to the power efficiencies of their displays and processors. With its time of 16 hours and 45 minutes, the Galaxy S24 Ultra shows how the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is far more efficient in getting the most out of its battery. Meanwhile, the Pixel 9 Pro XL taps out at 14 hours and 37 minutes running the same test.
Not only does it have a longer battery life, but the S24 Ultra’s faster 45W wired charging speed gets it up to 71% in 30 minutes of charging. But to be fair, the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s 37W wired charging isn’t too shabby either, getting up to 64% in the same amount of time.
Winner: Galaxy S24 Ultra
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Software
Nowadays, a phone’s worth is also valued in how long the phone maker supports it. Luckily for these two flagships, they boast 7 years of major Android and security updates that will get them the latest experiences for years to come. And while both are expected to get Android 15 at some point soon, their software differs in a number of ways.
For example, they’re both rife with incredible AI features that are practical to use and saves you time. On the Pixel 9 Pro XL, we really enjoy how we can have casual conversations with Gemini Live — even when we interrupt it mid-response to ask something else. There’s also all the generative AI stuff with Pixel Studio and Magic Editor’s Reimagine feature, which both rely on text prompts to generate new things.
In comparison, the Galaxy AI features on the Galaxy S24 Ultra are equally as good, but not to the same caliber as those on the Pixel. For example, the AI-assisted translation feature in Live Translate isn’t quite as polished as we’d like — often stumbling when there’s too much casual conversation. However, we do enjoy some of its generative AI features such as Instant Slo-Mo and Generative Edit.
While they fundamentally offer the same Android experience, the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s software goes the extra distance for leaning heavily into productivity. It can juggle multiple apps simultaneously, while the S Pen simply completes the experience as a writing tool. There’s also Samsung DeX, which basically offers a desktop PC experience when the phone’s connected to a monitor.
Winner: Galaxy S24 Ultra
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: Verdict
This rarely happens, so it comes as a surprise that the Pixel 9 Pro XL comes out on top over the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Most notably, its blinding display and outstanding cameras help to carry its performance — even though it costs $100 more than last year’s flagship model. And we can’t discount how Google continues to offer the best AI experiences in a phone with the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
For the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it’s a stinging loss in what should’ve been another win for the prized flagship. Don’t get us wrong, it still manages to defeat the Pixel in battery life and processing power, but its cameras fail to outmatch its rival. Knowing this, there clearly needs to be more focus on ensuring that the Galaxy S25 Ultra won’t share the same fate next year.
