Popular YouTuber Zack of JerryRigEverything just put the Galaxy S24 Ultra through the ultimate torture test to expose its titanium design secrets. As one does, he tossed it into a fiery 2,000°F furnace.
While the phone sadly didn’t survive, we learned some fascinating construction insights. It turns out the titanium exterior belies a more cost-effective hybrid interior.
Unlike last year’s milled aluminum S23 Ultra, the S24 uses titanium only for the outer frame. This keeps costs under control versus machining an entire titanium unibody. As for the guts, it relies on an inner aluminum frame for mounts with molded plastic surrounding the perimeter to secure the exterior titanium strips.
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Surprisingly, this hybrid approach seems plenty durable as the phone initially survived JerryRig’s savage bend test. Apple seemingly fuses its titanium frames directly to internal aluminum, perhaps contributing to their higher costs.
Samsung also opts for a lower-grade titanium alloy (titanium+aluminum) rather than Apple’s harder titanium+vanadium variant. But for most buyers, the impact should be minimal and Samsung likely optimized performance per dollar.
So while the Galaxy S24 Ultra may dazzle with its titanium glint, know some budget-friendly aluminum and polymer are lurking just below the surface. Still, for anyone nervous about durability given the exotic exterior, it seemingly doesn’t skimp where it counts. JerryRig’s experiments prove Samsung built a formidable titanium flagship by cleverly blending metals for everyday ruggedness.