Samsung Only Uses $5 Worth of Titanium in S24 Ultra, Less Than Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max

As Samsung rolled out its flagship line of Galaxy phones earlier this year, the S24 Ultra, in particular, was heavily criticized for various reasons, including but not limited to the $100 price bump and the similarity in the Titanium frame, which was first seen on Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro(s).

Zach Nelson, better known as JerryRigEverything, recently tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra in a video earlier this week. In the video, he didn’t fully tear apart the phone but instead tested its durability, where we learned that the Gorilla Glass Armor on the phone is a notable improvement from the last generation.

The Titanium on Both, S24U and iPhone 15 Pro(s) is Mainly Just for Aesthetic Value, Nothing More

In his teardown video later, Zach opened up the phone, showcasing its internals and how the Titanium frame is very differently integrated as compared to the iPhone 15 Pro. For both the phones, the Titanium pieces seemed to be very thin, and only limited to the outer areas of the side rails, mainly for aesthetics.

Since the metal did not extend all the way to the inside of the device, Samsung used a technique known as “over-molding” to connect the Titanium frame to the aluminium covering most of the ‘skeleton’ via a small intermediary piece of plastic. Apple, on the other hand, relied on solid-state diffusion to achieve the same result, albeit without the thin piece of plastic in between.

Zach separated the Titanium pieces by first fully tearing down the phone, removing all of its components and then burning it in a 2,000°F furnace where the aluminium and plastic melted, leaving behind the pieces of Titanium.

These pieces were then analysed under an XRF scanner, revealing that Samsung was using Grade 2 Titanium, whereas Apple used a Grade 5 Titanium alloy (Ti 6Al-4V), which is not only significantly stronger but also boasts greater tensile strength.

Grade 2 Titanium is a commercially pure alpha (α) alloy. Although not as strong as Ti 6Al-4V, Titanium grade 2 has outstanding corrosion resistance against a variety of aggressive media.

Titanium Grade 5 vs Titanium Grade 2 | NeoNickel

The remaining pieces of Titanium were not weighed by the YouTuber, but it was concluded that the amount of Titanium Apple used cost about $12-$15 per device, whereas for Samsung, that number dropped significantly to $3-$5.

Whatever the phone is, it is evident that a lot of screen-time was given to promote the new Titanium chassis (at least on the outside), whereas the actual metal that was present inside was so minute that it didn’t really hold any actual value.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.