Review: Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra

You either fall into the “it's just a phone” camp, or you're someone who meticulously pores over all the new features of a smartphone, stays up to date on all the top devices every year, and feels a sense of pride when you look at your shiny, pricey investment.

This is my 10th year of reviewing smartphones for a living, and I still get excited. I saved up cash working at my college library to buy my first phone, and I'm just as delighted a decade later when a new phone lands on my doorstep and I get to puzzle over its new capabilities, even if it only has minor changes over its predecessor.

Except, I didn't get any tingly feelings when the Galaxy S25 series arrived. Samsung had one of the most lackluster smartphone launches I've seen of late—not because these are bad phones, but because there's not much new. The hardware is barely different—it's all AI, AI, AI, some of which is useful, some of which is not. I also struggle to find any character in this phone's design—the launch colors are boring.

All this to say the Galaxy S25 ($800), Galaxy S25+ ($1,000), and Galaxy S25 Ultra ($1,300) are powerful, reliable, and well-equipped smartphones. They're excellent upgrades if you're coming from a three or four-year-old device. They're just not otherwise interesting or exciting.

The Galaxy S25+ on the left, S25 Ultra in the middle, and S25 on the right.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Static Shock

I go over spec details and the like here, but I want to highlight that I like the tiny hardware changes in the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The sides have flat edges now, the corners are rounded, and even the S Pen stylus doesn't stick out so much from the bottom housing. The bezels (the black bars around the screen) are slimmer, which makes the screen bigger with minimal changes to the phone's dimensions. The flatter edges make the phone comfier to use one-handed, though nothing beats the compact design of the 6.2-inch Galaxy S25.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset delivers smooth performance, but mobile gamers may appreciate the thermal improvements in these phones. Last year, when I played Genshin Impact for an extended time on the S24 series, I encountered stutters and the phone got hot in a specific area. I didn't notice this after nearly an hour of gameplay on the Galaxy S25 series, and that's with maxed-out graphics at 60 Hz. The improved cooling solutions seem to work.

I frequently ended a day with around 40 to 30 percent battery left on all three devices with roughly five to six hours of screen-on time. Those results are good enough but nothing extraordinary for a modern-day top-end phone. The wireless charging story, however, is frustrating.

Qi2 is one of the most exciting features coming to Android phones in 2025 because it allows you to embrace a similar MagSafe-like accessory system iPhone users have enjoyed for the last five years. Magnetically dock your phone! Don't worry about misalignment on a wireless charger! Snap your phone magnetically to a bike mount! Unfortunately, the Galaxy S25 series is Qi2 Ready—I have details on what this means here, but the long and short of it is that it's not a true Qi2 phone because it doesn't have built-in magnets. To enable that Qi2 functionality, you have to pair it with a magnetic case.

Samsung didn't send me any official magnetic cases to try and only seems to be selling a single magnetic case for the S25 Ultra and S25+. Thankfully, third-party accessory makers have come through, and there are numerous options, though my experience so far is hit or miss. One case I tried had weak magnets, and my phone fell off a car charger too easily when I went over a pothole. Another refused to work with my Qi charger despite supposed backward compatibility. If Samsung had just baked Qi2 magnets into the phone, this experience might've been better, and it certainly would not be as confusing for consumers.

As a hobbyist photographer, I enjoy testing smartphone cameras, but the Galaxy S25 hardly feels any different from the Galaxy S24 series. The triple-camera system on the Galaxy S25 and S25+ allows for some great photos, but why is the $1,000 S25+ still stuck with a 3X optical zoom telephoto when the $1,000 iPhone 16 Pro was upgraded to a 5X optical camera?

The only major camera change is the 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor (up from 12 MP), exclusive to the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Don't get me wrong—the ultrawide is certainly an improvement—some of my low-light ultrawide shots are sharper compared to the Google Pixel 9 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. However, the unchanged 12-MP ultrawide on the non-Ultra phones is lackluster, and their cameras feel static.

I don't want to get into a megapixels war, because more megapixels doesn't mean a better camera, but when the $800 Pixel 9 and $1,000 iPhone 16 Pro have a 48-MP ultrawide, it's a little confusing when Samsung doesn't give the full lineup the upgrade. Generally, I preferred the photos from the Google Pixel 9 Pro over the Galaxy S25 series, though there are several instances where the Samsung phones pull ahead.

A close-up of the four cameras on the back of the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Samsung has made some improvements specifically for video—the image processing algorithm can better reduce noise, and it delivers, though the improvement isn't dramatic. (FYI, I've been enjoying Google's Video Boost tech that makes low-light videos brighter, more colorful, and more stable, albeit with longer processing times, and I wish Samsung offered something similar.) Samsung has also joined Apple’s and Google's ranks by adding a feature called Audio Eraser, allowing you to strip away annoying sounds from your videos, like a siren or someone yelling. It does the job, though audio quality can sound severely processed. It might work in a pinch.

The one thing I'd note? I want the Ultra to feel more ultra. I desperately miss the 10X optical zoom lens, something you still won't find on a smartphone in the US. (You can get comparable results with the S25 Ultra's 5X zoom camera, but imagine if Samsung improved on the original 10X camera.) Yes, it's made of titanium, but so is the iPhone 16 Pro that's $300 less. I get it—the S25 Ultra is the biggest of the lot, has five cameras in total, and sports more durable glass, not to mention a stylus. But you can get a decent stylus experience in a $300 Motorola phone these days. I'm just struggling to justify the $1,300 price.

AI Madness

Artificial intelligence is the name of the game for Samsung's Galaxy S25 series. In my two weeks of testing these phones, I haven't found much use for these new AI features. Google's Gemini is now the default assistant instead of Bixby when you press and hold the power button, a change I can get behind, but I have no idea why Bixby is still an option. It can control your phone's settings, but having two assistants is confusing—why can't Gemini do the same thing?

Google's Gemini interface on the Galaxy S25 Ultra can understand the context of what's on the screen.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

I like the new minimal user interface when you call up Gemini, and since it can understand what's on your screen, it's powerful—if a friend sends an invite, you can ask Gemini to add it to your calendar. If you're watching a YouTube video, you can ask Gemini to summarize it or ask a specific question about the video before watching the whole thing. One top new feature is “seamless experience across apps.” It's a terrible name, but it lets Gemini work with multiple apps.

For example, I asked Gemini to find a list of food options near me that were still open because it was close to midnight, and I asked it to text the options to my friend Chris. It did the job! Bizarrely, it didn't provide a single link to any of these places in the text, so my friend had to manually look them up in Google Maps, but you know, baby steps. The problem is that while this feature works with Google and Samsung apps, it's limited in third-party app support. It's also difficult to use because you don't know what will work and what won't. Also, these features will be available in other Android phones (if they aren't already), so they don't feel like a reason to buy the Galaxy S25 series specifically.

The Now Bar sits on the lock screen and opens up Now Brief, which is supposed to give you personalized updates throughout the day.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

What is specific to Samsung are features like Drawing Assistant and Now Brief. The former lets you draw a sketch or type a prompt and generate an image, not unlike Apple's Image Playground or Google's Pixel Studio. Now Brief is unfortunately far less interesting. It persistently sits on the lock and home screen as a widget. Right now, it says, “Evening check-in,” and when I click on it, I see a weather report and a random news story. Sometimes, it'll tell me I have an alarm set for 8:30 am the next day. If I wear my Galaxy Ring, it shows me how I slept. Riveting stuff. Now Brief is supposed to feature “personalized updates and actionable insights,” but in my two weeks with these phones, I've yet to get anything insightful.

Arguably, the best part of the Galaxy S25 series is the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and the improved heat dissipation techniques. The rest are standard-fare features we've come to expect that do the job well but won't excite. Maybe I'm expecting too much, or maybe I know most people can get a great smartphone experience without spending as much. Shouldn't we expect more for $1,300?