With the announcement of the Galaxy S25 series at its Galaxy Unpacked 2025 event , it’s another year of refinements ahead for Samsung.
The hardware remains excellent, but the company hasn’t given much reason to upgrade unless you’re interested in the custom AI features. I’ve tested all three phones and here are my impressions.
Galaxy S25 Ultra: the must-have of the range
The Ultra line has always felt like a phablet. It’s a big phone with a lot of power under the hood. That doesn’t change this year, but Samsung has reduced the weight and flattened the edges of the device to make it easier to hold.
Compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the Galaxy S25 Ultra , with its 6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display, is 15 grams lighter than its predecessor . It’s still a heavy device, weighing in at 218g, but every little detail counts.
The flat sides are consistent with what we’ve seen on the smaller flagships in the Galaxy lineup, and I love them. The new look can be described as “boxy,” but the square design with rounded corners is easy to hold and complements the flat screen . This change really makes this big phone feel more compact.
Additionally, we get a new 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera sensor , up from 12 megapixels on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. While I wasn’t able to take many photos with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and analyze the image quality, this change should improve wide shots and macro photography. All other sensors, including the 200-megapixel primary cameras, 10-megapixel 3X cameras, and 50-megapixel 5X telephoto camera, remain unchanged.
It’s all powered by the brand new Galaxy Snapdragon 8 Elite and 12GB of RAM. Unlike previous Qualcomm chips in Galaxys, Samsung says it’s tweaked and customized the processor to handle all of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s AI features, cameras, and ProVisual Engine . While I wasn’t able to put the 3nm chip through its paces during my brief hands-on time, I have no doubt this flagship will chew up anything you throw at it.
No Qi2 charging natively
Another rather annoying fact is that Samsung is not fully integrating Qi2 into the Galaxy S25 Ultra, contrary to what was reported earlier this year. Instead, the company is following in OnePlus’ footsteps with the OnePlus 13 and selling a case that includes a magnetic connection . Only then will you be able to mount the phone on MagSafe-compatible chargers and attach magnetic wallets and other accessories to it.
I’m grateful that Samsung managed to make these magnetic accessories work with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, especially since they caused issues with the S Pen on the S24 Ultra, but the lack of built-in support is a bit of a bummer for those who prefer to use their phone without a case. Apple has had MagSafe working since 2020, but Samsung still can’t get there.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is available for pre-order starting at €1,400 with 256GB of storage . 512GB and 1TB options are also available. You can choose from Titanium Blue, Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, and Titanium Silver. There are also Samsung-exclusive colors, including Titanium Absolute Black, Titanium Green, and Titanium Rose Gold. The devices are expected to ship starting February 7, 2025 .
Galaxy S25 and S25+ get the most minor updates
If we compare the Galaxy S25 to the S24, there is a 99% chance that I won’t be able to tell the difference . Except for a slight change in physical dimensions and a slight difference in weight, the overall appearance is virtually identical.
Like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, both devices are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy and benefit from the same tuning that should ensure optimal performance. The other good news is that both devices come with 12GB of RAM as standard. Last year, if you preferred the smaller size, you had to settle for 8GB. I will always be happy to see “small” phones match their physically larger siblings, spec for spec.
Holding both of these phones, I can tell you that the hardware is excellent. It feels premium, should be comfortable enough to use all day, and is just a solid device. If you buy either one, you shouldn’t be disappointed.
But that’s what many have been saying about the Galaxy flagship lineup for several years. There isn’t much (if any) difference from year to year. If you have a 4-year-old device and are looking to upgrade, these are great options. If you bought a device from last year, the camera sensors haven’t changed. There will be software improvements, but the hardware is the same.
Available from 900 euros
As with the Ultra model, the Galaxy S25 and S25+ are available for pre-order starting today and will ship starting February 7, 2025. The smaller Galaxy S25 starts at $1,020 with 128GB of storage and is also available with 256GB. The Galaxy S25+ costs $200 with 256GB of storage, and the 512GB option costs a bit more.
Both smartphones can be purchased in Midnight Blue, Light Blue, Gray and Sea Green, with Absolute Black, Coral and Rose Gold options sold exclusively on Samsung’s website .
To summarize, the Galaxy S25 is a powerful and compact smartphone with a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and a 120Hz refresh rate. It is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB of RAM and a 4,000mAh battery with 25W Super Fast Charging. The Galaxy S25+ is a high-end smartphone with a 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and a 120Hz refresh rate. It is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB of RAM and a 4,900mAh battery with 45W Super Fast Charging 2.0.
AI Features I Can’t Wait to Try
2024 was the year that AI features on devices started to take shape, but the actual utility wasn’t necessarily there. Sure, you could draw the outline of a tree and have your phone generate an image, but the actual functionality just wasn’t there.
This year, Samsung is making AI helpful and personalized . The first two new features, Now Brief and Now Bar, provide helpful information based on your habits and routines. Now Brief provides a morning and evening summary of upcoming meetings, the weather, suggestions for calling someone on their birthday, and more. The taskbar looks like Apple’s Live Activities and provides status updates on your Lock screen. You can expect sports scores and other suggestions from apps and your Now Brief to appear there.
All this personal “workout data” is locked away on your device in a dedicated kernel and can be deleted at any time. Of course, you can transfer this information to a new Samsung phone using the Smart Switch app when you decide to upgrade.
You can also access multi-modal, multi-step AI queries by long-pressing the side (power) button. This launches a new Gemini interface where you can type or give instructions. In one example, I was able to ask Gemini to search YouTube for videos about the Galaxy Fold 6, summarize the key findings, and paste them into Samsung Notes. The results took some prodding, but the phone eventually got there.
At launch, cross-app actions will work across all Google and Samsung apps, as well as WhatsApp and Spotify.
AI-enabled research
Samsung is making it easier to select text and images on the screen . With the introduction of AI Select (in the Edge panel), the tool can analyze what’s happening on your screen and provide suggestions. For example, the feature can suggest creating a gif if you’re watching a video. Or, if you’re looking at a photo, you can use generative AI to add or remove a subject.
Finally, Samsung is introducing Conversation Search in the Settings menu . This is a feature that I think will really help most people. Galaxy phones are known for having a million and one settings, but knowing where to look to find a specific button requires knowing some keywords. With Conversation Search, you can tell the phone that you’re missing notifications in an app, and it can suggest you check your battery settings to make sure background sync is working. This feature takes the hassle out of knowing where to look.
Unfortunately, Samsung hasn’t announced which of these AI features will be coming to the next generation. The company told us that some (if not all) of them should be coming to the Galaxy S24 series and the latest Z Flip and Z Fold, but no timeline was provided. I expect these contextual features to remain exclusive to the Galaxy S25 lineup for at least a few months, before rolling out widely with OneUI 7 once the initial sales period ends.
