Galaxy S24 Ultra Owners Share Hideous Pics Of Display Coating Wearing Off After Just 1 Year

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra may be a halo product—we thought it was a fantastic device in almost every aspect—but it looks like an emerging display issue may tarnish its reputation somewhat. A growing number of users are taking to social media to share how the anti-reflective coating layer of their S24 Ultra displays seem to be failing. The results are unsightly and irreparable, retaining fingerprint smudges, streaks, and even micro-scratches on the surface.

My Galaxy S24 Ultra Display Coating after almost one year. :/ Did anybody else experience this? pic.twitter.com/0hu6noTsAt

— Zaryab Khan (@xeetechcare) December 15, 2024

When we reviewed Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra in January, we found the display hard to fault. Not only did it exhibit vibrant colors and viewing angles, outdoor readability was superb even under direct sunlight (thanks to its 2,600 nits brightness). The Ultra also saw the introduction of the exclusive Gorilla Glass Armor, which had an anti-reflective coating that helped with screen legibility and contrast control without having to crank brightness up.

That said, a growing number of Ultra owners are sharing what seems like a failure of said anti-reflective coating. In the X post by Zaryab Khan above, the effect is quite drastic. The glass layer has collected finger smudges and streaking that cannot be wiped off or cleaned. It's believed that Khan used his phone without a screen protector (as many Ultra owners do), but the photo he shared goes beyond normal wear-and-tear. The user even shared a shot of what seems like layer delamination.


Khan's complaint isn't unique either. In the past few months, other users have taken to X and Reddit to share their woes with the coating (with some even reporting permanent micro-scratches), although Khan's example is one of the more visually severe ones we've seen. It must be said that the issue is rare, as many in those social media threads reported no problem with their units.

From what we're seeing, it would look like a small batch of S24 Ultras having either defective oleophobic or anti-reflective layers (or both). Oleophobic coatings on phones are designed to provide a certain amount of finger smudge resistance, but when it starts to go, owners are left will dirty and oily screens that are beyond what a little vinegar and water can help long term.

Samsung hasn't officially commented on the situation, but if this turns out to be legit, we hope that Samsung at the very least does right by its affected customers with a recoating service or phone replacement. This issue is similar to another big-profile case with the MacBook Air some years ago.