Samsung Galaxy S25 Series Review: Incremental AI Upgrades Amidst Hardware Similarities

Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus Review: The Best Thing About AI Is I Hardly Notice It

Battery life is similar to the baseline S25 Similar specs as the S25, at a higher price Better cameras on other phones at the same price Samsung's mantra when debuting the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus appears to have been, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," as this year's phones share a striking resemblance to last year's S24 and S24 Plus. But what the new phones lack in innovation, they make up for in consistency and practicality. While I found myself warming up to (most of) the many AI upgrades separating the S25 and S25 Plus from their predecessors, there are other time-tested attributes that remain more important to me - namely, cameras and battery life. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I grew to like certain AI-powered features after using the phones for a week. For instance, there's a new tool called AI Select that looks at your phone's screen and suggests actions like summarizing or translating text, the Gallery app can find a picture you're looking for with more conversational search terms and Audio Eraser can clean up distracting background noises in your videos. Google's Gemini has been further baked into the Galaxy's interface and can be summoned with a long press of the side power button to answer questions and carry out tasks as your assistant. At a time when major phone releases are as high-stakes as ever, Samsung tries to set the $800 Galaxy S25 and $1,000 Galaxy S25 Plus apart by leaning into what's new (AI), as well as the familiar (good cameras and battery life). And I am definitely impressed. So what's the difference between the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus? Not much. Other than the Plus being, well, bigger than the baseline model. The phones both have AMOLED displays with 120Hz adaptive refresh rates, with the S25's measuring 6.2 inches and the S25 Plus clocking in at 6.7 inches. At 162 and 190 grams respectively, the S25 and S25 Plus feel light in hand, thanks to their aluminum frames. The screens are covered in Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and the matte glass backs offer an elegant touch and premium feel. I hesitantly dunked the S25 Plus into a shallow pool at Filoli Historic House & Garden near San Francisco during testing and am happy to report it survived unscathed. This shouldn't come as a surprise, since both the S25 and S25 Plus have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, meaning they can survive being submerged for 30 minutes being under 1.5 meters of water (or about 5 feet). The phones come in navy, icy blue, mint and silver shadow, as well as the online-exclusive colors blue black, coral red and pink gold. I absolutely adore the icy blue color of the S25 I've been using, and the Plus I have in navy also looks nice and rich. The S25 and S25 Plus arrive with Android 15 and Samsung's One UI 7. And similar to the Pixel 9 series, you'll get seven years of OS and security updates, helping you get the most bang for your buck (and there's certainly a lot of buck involved here). The phones are powered by a custom-built Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, helping to bring those many, many AI features to life. I'm not alone in feeling severe AI fatigue. As someone who tends to be AI-averse (do I really need it to write my emails, brainstorm ideas or summarize a PDF?), I tend to be wary of AI-heavy announcements like the one Samsung had at its Galaxy Unpacked event in January. Once I got my hands on the devices, I put my skepticism aside and was surprised. After a few days, I found myself leaning on Gemini for help with everything from tweaking email settings (this was faster than Googling and reading), caring for my wood cutting board, and finding events and sending corresponding texts via a single voice command. Ultimately, it's the AI features that operate discreetly that won me over, like Circle to Search. This is a Google-powered feature that came out last year and lets you circle anything on your screen to quickly see product information and links. Now, Circle to Search can recognize a song playing in the background of a video or even a tune you hum or sing, and I had a lot of fun testing this out. When I hummed niche Taylor Swift songs like I Hate It Here and Foolish One, it nailed both. (Step aside, Shazam.) To be fair, I'm not sure how often I'll use this particular aspect of Circle to Search, but the tool as a whole remains impressive. The AI Select tool also served me well, but primarily for translating text. My Spanish vocab has (sadly) gotten rusty since high school. So when I came across an email in Spanish, I tapped the tool on the right-hand side of the screen, circled the text I wanted to translate and within a couple taps, it was quickly transformed into English (and hopefully, accurately). Not all AI features are a home run, though. Portrait Studio, which uses AI to create stylized portraits (kind of like caricatures an artist might sketch of you at the beach or on a boardwalk), is fun to play with but feels like a novelty. It did an admittedly great job replicating details like my hijab, eye shape and smile. But I'm not sure how useful a tool like this is in the long run. Similarly, Drawing Assist, which turns your sketches into different stylized illustrations, is impressive at transforming my crappy drawings into pleasing images. I don't have any real use for this tool, as I'm not going to be framing these random images of cats and flowers. The biggest disappointment, so far, has been the Now Brief. This is designed to learn your habits - like if you usually check the weather, read the news and consult your calendar each morning - then surface any relevant suggestions to simplify those routines. In the week I used these phones, the only time I was even slightly impressed with this feature was when it showed a highlight of the images I'd taken that day. But otherwise, Now Brief simply lists the weather, my events that day and articles that are irrelevant 90% of the time. That's not to say it won't eventually learn more about me and get better, but it hasn't proven its value just yet. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus share the same camera specs as last year's series: a 50-megapixel wide camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and 10-megapixel 3x telephoto camera. They also both share a 12-megapixel front-facing camera. So you'll get the same kinds of images on both the S25 and S25 Plus. I've always admired the punchy colors in Galaxy S photos, and the S25 and S25 Plus were no exception. Here are a few of my favorite shots. This is one of the best examples of how each shade of color, from pale pinks to vibrant reds, pop. There's so much texture in this image below, from the ripples on the water to the droplets on the petals, and the background maintains just enough detail and color without robbing the spotlight. Portrait mode on the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus is perhaps the most impressive I've seen, as it does the best job of knowing what to keep in sharp focus and what to blur. Even in this picture below of my (dying) tulips, each leaf and petal remains clearly in the foreground and isn't lost to background blur. Portrait mode isn't perfect, of course, as some of the many branches in this shot do get the undesired blur effect. But it's such a minor detail that hopefully all you'll notice is how well the flowers on the table pop. The improvements over previous Galaxy S devices come in the form of - yes, AI. Generative Edit debuted on the S24 series, but is now processed on device, allowing you to quickly and easily remove photobombers or objects cluttering your image. I tried this out with both people and objects and was blown away each time. Generative Edit did a seamless job filling in backgrounds (sometimes even generating new graffiti patterns, as seen below when I removed a railing). One downside, though an upside for transparency, is that there's a label on images that have benefitted from Generative Edit disclosing that this is "AI-generated content." I understand the importance of this, especially as AI gets better at fooling people, but object removal features are nothing new to photography. Samsung introduced a Virtual Aperture tool that mimics a standalone camera's f-stops, using the separate Expert RAW app. If you're a pro photographer, I can see this being a cool feature to have. But as someone who likes things plain and simple, I'm going to stick with the camera's built-in Portrait mode so that factors like background blur and lighting are sorted out for me. Another AI-related boost comes in the form of nighttime videos. I was impressed with how rich the dark sky looks in videos I recorded and with how smooth the motion appears as I panned the camera. Daytime videos also looked solid. Photos at night were splendid, with rich contrast and saturation. Night mode also did a great job of brightening up this image to almost make it look as if it were taken in the daytime, and not at 7 p.m. Selfies maintain the smoothing effect I so love on Galaxy S phones, while maintaining vibrancy and crispness in the foreground and background. Battery capacity is one of the few factors separating the phones, with the S25 sporting a 4,000-mAh battery and the Plus packing a 4,900-mAh battery. Both phones lasted about a day and a half with regular use. In CNET's 45-minute endurance test, which involves a combination of streaming, scrolling through social media, joining a video call and playing games, the S25's battery dropped from full to 93% (the same as last year's S24), while the battery on the S25 Plus dropped to 94%. In a longer, 3-hour streaming test over Wi-Fi, in which I watched a YouTube video in full-screen mode at full brightness, the S25 dropped from 100% to 85%, while the S25 Plus dropped to 86%. Higher percentages are better. The S25 supports 25-watt charging, while the S25 Plus supports 45-watt charging. In a 30-minute test using a 30-watt charger, the S25 went from 0% to 47%, and reached 100% in 80 minutes. In the same test using a 45-watt charger, the S25 Plus went from 0% to 63% in 30 minutes, and reached a full charge in 70 minutes. For comparison, in last year's test, the S24 went from 0% to 51% in 30 minutes, and the S24 Plus went from 0% to 50%. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus also support 15-watt wireless charging, which is the same as what you'll get with Qi2. You can use Samsung's own case with the Qi2 magnetic profile or a compatible third-party case to tap into those wireless capabilities. Benchmark tests for the CPU in Geekbench 6 place the S25 and S25 Plus well above the entire Galaxy S24 lineup. In a graphics test using 3D Mark's Wild Life Extreme, the S25 and S25 Plus exceeded the performance of the iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra. Check out the graphs below for more specifics. Perhaps the highest praise I can give to a phone in 2025 is that there was just enough AI to not make me go crazy. The S25 and S25 Plus have their fair share of AI-powered features, but for the most part, there are only several that I can see myself willingly using. Others like Portrait Studio and Drawing Assist may be fun for keynote demos, but don't seem to serve a real purpose beyond that. (But it wouldn't be a Galaxy phone without a flashy feature no one uses, right??) Thankfully, the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus continue to deliver on what, to me, makes the Galaxy S series notable: good cameras, solid battery life and a seamless interface. Because there are so many similarities between the S25 and S25 Plus, and the higher battery capacity on the Plus didn't result in any startling differences (although superfast charging is great), I'd personally save some money and just go with the baseline S25. If you want a bigger phone, it might be worth going a full step up with the S25 Ultra, so you could take advantage of added perks like that 50-megapixel ultrawide lens, but that costs $500 more than the regular S25. Still, the S25 and S25 Plus share many similarities with the Ultra, including Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB RAM and AI features, so you'll be getting a relatively good value from that baseline model. If you have a Galaxy S22 or older, switching to the S25 or S25 Plus could be a significant upgrade. If you have an S23, you can benefit from improved battery life and dip your toes into Samsung's newer AI waters. But if you're rocking an S24, there's no reason to pay for relatively modest upgrades. Ultimately, the S25 and S25 are much of the same as what we've seen before. But that isn't such a bad thing, when "the same" largely still does the trick. Every phone tested by CNET's reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone's features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it's bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor's performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates. All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests. We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET's initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.

Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus Review: Just Enough AI to Not Make Me Go Crazy

Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. Samsung's mantra when debuting the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus appears to have been, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," as this year's phones share a striking resemblance to last year's S24 and S24 Plus. But what the new phones lack in innovation, they make up for in consistency and practicality. AI upgrades are the biggest factors separating the S25 and S25 Plus from their predecessors. While I found myself warming up to (most of) these features after using the phones for a week, there are other time-tested attributes that remained more important to me - namely, cameras and battery life. For instance, there's a new tool called AI Select that looks at your phone's screen and suggests actions like summarizing or translating text, the Gallery app can find a picture you're looking for with more conversational search terms and Audio Eraser can clean up distracting background noises in your videos. Google's Gemini has been further baked into the Galaxy's interface and can be summoned with a long press of the side power button to answer questions and carry out tasks as your assistant. At a time when major phone releases are as high-stakes as ever, Samsung tries to set the $800 Galaxy S25 and $1,000 Galaxy S25 Plus apart by leaning into what's new (AI), as well as the familiar (good cameras and battery life). And I am definitely impressed. So what's the difference between the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus? Not much. Other than the Plus being, well, bigger than the baseline model. The phones both have AMOLED displays with 120Hz adaptive refresh rates, with the S25's measuring 6.2 inches and the S25 Plus clocking in at 6.7 inches. At 162- and 190-grams, respectively, the S25 and S25 Plus feel light in hand, thanks to their aluminum frames. The screens are covered in Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and the matte glass backs offer an elegant touch and premium feel. I hesitantly dunked the S25 Plus into a shallow pool at Filoli Historic House & Garden near San Francisco during testing and am happy to report it survived unscathed. This shouldn't come as a surprise, since both the S25 and S25 Plus have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, meaning they can survive being submerged for 30 minutes being under 1.5 meters of water (or about 5 feet). The phones come in Navy, Icyblue, Mint and Silver Shadow, as well as the online-exclusive colors Blueblack, Coralred and Pinkgold. I absolutely adore the Icyblue color of the S25 I've been using, and the Plus I have in Navy also looks nice and rich. The S25 and S25 Plus arrive with Android 15 and Samsung's One UI 7. And similar to the Pixel 9 series, you'll get seven years of OS and security updates, helping you get the most bang for your buck (and there's certainly a lot of buck involved here). The phones are powered by a custom-built Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, helping to bring those many, many AI features to life. I'm not alone in feeling severe AI fatigue. As someone who tends to be AI-averse (do I really need it to write my emails, brainstorm ideas or summarize a PDF?), I tend to be wary of AI-heavy announcements like the one Samsung had at its Galaxy Unpacked event in January. Once I got my hands on the devices, I put my skepticism aside and was surprised. After a few days, I found myself leaning on Gemini for help with everything from tweaking email settings (this was faster than Googling and reading), caring for my wood cutting board, and finding events and sending corresponding texts via a single voice command. Ultimately, it's the AI features that operate discreetly that won me over, like Circle to Search. This is a Google-powered feature that came out last year and lets you circle anything on your screen to quickly see product information and links. Now, Circle to Search can recognize a song playing in the background of a video or even a tune you hum or sing, and I had a lot of fun testing this out. When I hummed niche Taylor Swift songs like I Hate It Here and Foolish One, it nailed both. (Step aside, Shazam.) To be fair, I'm not sure how often I'll use this particular aspect of Circle to Search, but the tool as a whole remains impressive. The AI Select tool also served me well, but primarily for translating text. My Spanish vocab has (sadly) gotten rusty since high school. So when I came across an email in Spanish, I tapped the tool on the right-hand side of the screen, circled the text I wanted to translate and within a couple taps, it was quickly transformed into English (and hopefully, accurately). Not all AI features are a home run, though. Portrait Studio, which uses AI to create stylized portraits (kind of like caricatures an artist might sketch of you at the beach or on a boardwalk), is fun to play with but feels like a novelty. It did an admittedly great job replicating details like my hijab, eye shape and smile. But I'm not sure how useful a tool like this is in the long run. Similarly, Drawing Assist, which turns your sketches into different stylized illustrations, is impressive at transforming my crappy drawings into pleasing images. I don't have any real use for this tool, as I'm not going to be framing these random images of cats and flowers. The biggest disappointment, so far, has been the Now Brief. This is designed to learn your habits - like if you usually check the weather, read the news and consult your calendar each morning - then surface any relevant suggestions to simplify those routines. In the week I used these phones, the only time I was even slightly impressed with this feature was when it showed a highlight of the images I'd taken that day. But otherwise, Now Brief simply lists the weather, my events that day and articles that are irrelevant 90% of the time. That's not to say it won't eventually learn more about me and get better, but it hasn't proven its value just yet. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus share the same camera specs as last year's series: a 50-megapixel wide camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and 10-megapixel 3x telephoto camera. They also both share a 12-megapixel front-facing camera. So you'll get the same kinds of images on both the S25 and S25 Plus. I've always admired the punchy colors in Galaxy S photos, and the S25 and S25 Plus were no exception. Here are a few of my favorite shots. This is one of the best examples of how each shade of color, from pale pinks to vibrant reds, pop. There's so much texture in this image below, from the ripples on the water to the droplets on the petals, and the background maintains just enough detail and color without robbing the spotlight. Portrait mode on the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus is perhaps the most impressive I've seen, as it does the best job of knowing what to keep in sharp focus and what to blur. Even in this picture below of my (dying) tulips, each leaf and petal remains clearly in the foreground and isn't lost to background blur. Portrait mode isn't perfect, of course, as some of the many branches in this shot do get the undesired blur effect. But it's such a minor detail that hopefully all you'll notice is how well the flowers on the table pop. The improvements over previous Galaxy S devices come in the form of - yes, AI. Generative Edit debuted on the S24 series, but is now processed on device, allowing you to quickly and easily remove photobombers or objects cluttering your image. I tried this out with both people and objects and was blown away each time. Generative Edit did a seamless job filling in backgrounds (sometimes even generating new graffiti patterns, as seen below when I removed a railing). One downside, though an upside for transparency, is that there's a label on images that have benefitted from Generative Edit disclosing that this is "AI-generated content." I understand the importance of this, especially as AI gets better at fooling people, but object removal features are nothing new to photography. Samsung introduced a Virtual Aperture tool that mimics a standalone camera's f-stops, using the separate Expert RAW app. If you're a pro photographer, I can see this being a cool feature to have. But as someone who likes things plain and simple, I'm going to stick with the camera's built-in Portrait mode so that factors like background blur and lighting are sorted out for me. Another AI-related boost comes in the form of nighttime videos. I was impressed with how rich the dark sky looks in videos I recorded and with how smooth the motion appears as I panned the camera. Daytime videos also looked solid. Photos at night were splendid, with rich contrast and saturation. Night mode also did a great job of brightening up this image to almost make it look as if it were taken in the daytime, and not at 7 p.m. Selfies maintain the smoothing effect I so love on Galaxy S phones, while maintaining vibrancy and crispness in the foreground and background. Battery capacity is one of the few factors separating the phones, with the S25 sporting a 4,000-mAh battery and the Plus packing a 4,900-mAh battery. Both phones lasted about a day and a half with regular use. In CNET's 45-minute endurance test, which involves a combination of streaming, scrolling through social media, joining a video call and playing games, the S25's battery dropped from full to 93% (the same as last year's S24), while the battery on the S25 Plus dropped to 94%. In a longer, 3-hour streaming test over Wi-Fi, in which I watched a YouTube video in full-screen mode at full brightness, the S25 dropped from 100% to 85%, while the S25 Plus dropped to 86%. Higher percentages are better The S25 supports 25-watt charging, while the S25 Plus supports 45-watt charging. In a 30-minute test using a 30-watt charger, the S25 went from 0% to 47%, and reached 100% in 80 minutes. In the same test using a 45-watt charger, the S25 Plus went from 0% to 63% in 30 minutes, and reached a full charge in 70 minutes. For comparison, in last year's test, the S24 went from 0% to 51% in 30 minutes, and the S24 Plus went from 0% to 50%. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus also support 15-watt wireless charging, which is the same as what you'll get with Qi2. You can use Samsung's own case with the Qi2 magnetic profile or a compatible third-party case to tap into those wireless capabilities. Benchmark tests for the CPU in Geekbench 6 place the S25 and S25 Plus well above the entire Galaxy S24 lineup. In a graphics test using 3D Mark's Wild Life Extreme, the S25 and S25 Plus exceeded the performance of the iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra. Check out the graphs below for more specifics. Perhaps the highest praise I can give to a phone in 2025 is that there was just enough AI to not make me go crazy. The S25 and S25 Plus have their fair share of AI-powered features, but for the most part, there are only several that I can see myself willingly using. Others like Portrait Studio and Drawing Assist may be fun for keynote demos, but don't seem to serve a real purpose beyond that. (But it wouldn't be a Galaxy phone without a flashy feature no one uses, right??) Thankfully, the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus continue to deliver on what, to me, makes the Galaxy S series notable: good cameras, solid battery life and a seamless interface. Because there are so many similarities between the S25 and S25 Plus, and the higher battery capacity on the Plus didn't result in any startling differences (although super fast charging is great), I'd personally save some money and just go with the baseline S25. If you want a bigger phone, it might be worth going a full step up with the S25 Ultra, so you could take advantage of added perks like that 50-megapixel ultrawide lens, but that costs $500 more than the regular S25. Still, the S25 and S25 Plus share many similarities with the Ultra, including Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB RAM and AI features, so you'll be getting a relatively good value from that baseline model. If you have a Galaxy S22 or older, switching to the S25 or S25 Plus could be a significant upgrade. If you have an S23, you can benefit from improved battery life and dip your toes into Samsung's newer AI waters. But if you're rocking an S24, there's no reason to pay for relatively modest upgrades. Ultimately, the S25 and S25 are much of the same as what we've seen before. But that isn't such a bad thing, when "the same" largely still does the trick. Every phone tested by CNET's reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone's features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it's bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor's performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates. All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests. We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET's initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.

Galaxy S25 Ultra Review: Greatest Phone Screen Ever, but Let's Not Talk About the AI

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S25, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, OnePlus 13 With the new Galaxy S25 Ultra in my hand, I stand in the lobby of the LinkedIn building in San Francisco, which happens to be a POPOS: a privately owned public open space. It's a gorgeous hall, with long running panels of blonde wood on the ceiling and back wall. I use Samsung's new ultrawide camera to capture a dramatic photo of the lobby, and I'm pleased with how it turns out. The ultrawide's lens makes the space's long lines look like they go on for eternity, and I can even make out details in the wood grain. To keep the positive vibes flowing, I decide to add the photo to the S25 Ultra's new Gemini AI assistant, and test the "Talk Live about this" feature. That's when things go sideways. With the confidence of a 6-year-old telling a lie, Gemini explains that my photo is of the Miner Auditorium at the de Young Museum. Fun fact: The de Young Museum doesn't have a Miner Auditorium. Even more fun fact: There's a Miner Auditorium at SFJazz, but my photo was taken in LinkedIn's lobby. To quote Charlie Brown, "Good grief!" This is our AI future. At a time when companies push AI as the main appeal of their products, Samsung launches the $1,300 Galaxy S25 Ultra and touts the hell out of its AI features, the best of which are interesting and the worst of which, well, see above. Luckily, Samsung gets a lot of other things right on the S25 Ultra, which has a new processor, high-resolution ultrawide camera, and some sweet pro video tools that rival the iPhone 16 Pro. Samsung wisely kept all the best parts of last year's Galaxy S24 Ultra (basically the entire phone) but some of its worst parts, too, like the $1,300 price tag. Notably, the S25 Ultra marks another step away from the Galaxy Note influenced design that Samsung has embraced since the S22 Ultra. Samsung's refinements to the Galaxy S25 Ultra feel a bit like Pete Davidson getting all his tattoos removed: I miss those chaotic, wild days from them both a few years ago. Where's the Samsung that actually printed "Space Zoom 100x" on the S20 Ultra's camera bump? Or the Samsung that made a nearly three-minute video explaining how black the Phantom Black Galaxy S21 Ultra was? The result is that the S25 Ultra is lighter and more comfortable to hold, but also about as exciting to look at as someone wearing a pair of Dockers and a polo shirt. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is undoubtedly a wonderful phone -- its performance is jaw-dropping and it offers the most versatile phone camera you can find today. But before you buy one, consider why you'd want to. If you want to get the S25 Ultra for its AI features, don't. While Samsung and Google's AI does offer you squint-your-eyes glimpses at what could be, they aren't the reason you buy an Ultra - at least this year. The Galaxy S25 Ultra's appeal is muddied by its $1,300, £1,249 and AU$2,149 price. The regular Galaxy S25 has the same functionality, power and longevity, and it costs $500 less. Want a bigger screen? Consider the Galaxy S25 Plus. For the majority of people, the regular Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus will be a better fit. The reason to get the Ultra over its S25 siblings is its screen, which is truly the best I've seen on any phone, and the cameras, which are a step above what the S25 and S25 Plus have. Added video features like ability to record in Log format gets the Ultra as close as it's ever been to the iPhone in terms of professional video capture. But $1,300 is a lot, and this phone doesn't even fold in half. If you have a Galaxy S22 Ultra or older, the S25 Ultra will seem like a significant upgrade. It's harder to make that case for S23 Ultra owners, who, unless their phone's battery is ailing or they can score an incredible discount, should otherwise sit this one out. And for you S24 Ultra owners, you don't need this phone. Save your money and treat yourself to a nice steak dinner and a movie. When I wake the phone, I'm greeted with the new Now Bar at the bottom of the lock screen. I like the carousel interface, which shows a shortcut to my Now Brief and information from other background apps like directions from Google Maps or the live score of an NBA game. But unlike the iPhone and its Live Activities, the Now Bar is limited and can't track a rideshare. Now Brief is a new interface/widget that lives on the home screen and is all about you. It uses data from your phone including your calendar, email and photos, as well as connected devices like a Galaxy Watch, to give you a snapshot at the start of your day or as your day progresses. In theory, it should get to know you better over time, but after two weeks of testing, it largely just shows me the weather, my calendar, photos I took and a random news story which more often than not is tied to politics. I don't want to read about Mike Lindell when I first wake up - or ever, really. But it's the Ultra's cross-app functionality through Gemini that has the most potential. I can ask Gemini in a single prompt to search for upcoming Air Jordan 1 sneaker drops and add them to a note, and it works. I had Gemini search my email for a list of upcoming soccer practices and add each practice to my calendar. Again, no problemo. All three Galaxy S25 models have the same AI features. This is one area where Samsung could have helped the Ultra stand out from its siblings by having a unique AI feature that the others don't. Side note: You can do a lot of this on other Android phones by just using Gemini and Google apps. But the issue, like with a lot of AI, is when things go haywire. I asked Gemini to find a GIF of Homer Simpson walking backward into bushes and send it to a friend. It found a link to the GIF online and sent it to my friend, but it forgot to include the actual link. So my friend received a message that read, "Here is a link to a GIF online of Homer Simpson walking back into bushes." Beyond reliability, another obstacle to this hybrid online/on-device assistant is us. We're used to the one-step-at-a-time reality that our phones have had for nearly two decades. So having a digital assistant that's capable of more complex queries is going to take some rewiring in our brains before we can fully take advantage of it. The S25 Ultra now has flat sides, which makes me feel more confident that it won't slip out of my hand. Samsung reduced the overall mass compared to previous versions, too. The phone is 15 grams lighter than the S24 Ultra, which makes the S25 Ultra seem less like I'm carrying a tech-infused brick around with me. Samsung increased the screen real estate an extra tenth of an inch to 6.9 inches, thanks to thinner bezels. This, along with an antireflective coating, make the S25 Ultra's screen my favorite on any phone. Content looks immersive even with something as mundane as a news or social feed. Using it outdoors to take a picture is fantastic because it's bright, and the lack of glare doesn't interfere with seeing what the photos I'm taking are going to look like, even in direct sunlight. The S Pen no longer has Bluetooth connectivity, and as a consequence doesn't have the Air Actions found on previous S Pens for the Ultra and Note series. If you don't know what Air Actions are, you're not alone, as apparently less than 1% of Ultra owners ever used them. The lack of Bluetooth means that the S Pen cannot be used as a remote camera shutter either. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has four lenses on the back: a wide, an ultrawide, a 3X telephoto and a 5X telephoto. On the front is a 12-megapixel selfie camera. All of the cameras, except the ultrawide, are the same as what the S24 Ultra has and take just as amazing photos. I want to focus on what's new, and at the top of that list is the S25 Ultra's 50-megapixel ultrawide camera. It's simply amazing for a phone. The lens hits that sweet spot between distorting things in-frame enough to look dramatic without giving photos that warped-edge fisheye look. The higher resolution sensor captures a lot of detail. The dynamic range is good, but still a step down from the 200-megapixel main camera. Here are a few of my favorite ultrawide snaps: Take a look at the photo below of Peebles the cat that I took with the ultrawide. Despite Peebles dashing to his window bed, the phone caught a ton of detail in his fur and whiskers. This image has some challenging lighting, with sunshine pouring through the window at the left into an otherwise dark room. Notice the image noise in the shadows on the right side. Perfect? No, but the detail and lens dramatic distortion make up for it. Below is an image I took with the ultrawide of a water sculpture early in the morning. The flowing water looks like glass contrasted against the stone. This image is over-sharpened, but I like how the sun flare looks in the top right corner. The S25 Ultra's ultrawide doubles as a macro lens, allowing it to get close to a subject while keeping things in focus - it even crops the image's frame to match that of the main camera. In the photo below of a Godzilla toy on a window sill, the monster's plastic texture shows up well. Also the S25 Ultra balanced exposing the image of Godzilla without blowing out the highlights of the sky and cityscape in the window. Samsung nailed the Galaxy S25 Ultra's video features. There's a new zoom slider built for video recording, which makes doing a long steady zoom feel more controlled than the previous zoom dial. There's the Audio Eraser tool that helps you minimize background noise, like music or wind, and makes your subject's voice stand out more. I tried this tool at several different places and was impressed with the results every time. But don't get me wrong, this won't remove all background noises. I mean, it can, but that usually results in the subject's voice sounding odd and digitized. Samsung improved night time video capture on the S25 Ultra, and it's noticeable, especially compared to the S24 Ultra. Though phone video recorded in low-light on any phone is still OK at best. The S25 Ultra can record video in Log format - this is aimed at filmmakers and creative types, and most people will likely skip trying it out. Log video looks flat and desaturated but it retains more image information for highlights and shadows, allowing for greater flexibility to edit colors and retain dynamic range after recording. At the heart of the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a custom version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12GB of RAM. In everyday use, animations look smooth, video games look incredible and AI runs quickly. Samsung actually made improvements to its photo AI tools by having them run on-device, instead of in the cloud and the increased speed is definitely noticeable. But in terms of absolute power, the S25 Ultra, its custom chip and its larger cooling system lead to some absolutely wild performance. In the Geekbench 6 benchmark test for the CPU, the S25 Ultra scored higher than any phone we've ever tested, including the OnePlus 13 and iPhone 16 Pro. The same is true when it comes to the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme benchmark test for graphics. Keep in mind, you won't take advantage of all of this power right now. But as more AI features roll out or as new versions of OneUI/Android are released, this phone should be able to handle anything you can throw at it for years. So with a bigger screen, more AI and a faster processor, you might wonder how the Ultra's 5,000-mAh battery holds up. Over the two weeks I had the phone, it reliably made it through a full day on a single charge - often with 30% of its charge left. There were even a few days where the phone lasted well into a second day before needing to be topped off. I am still running CNET's battery tests and will update this review with the results. In terms of charging, the Galaxy S25 Ultra supports 45W wired charging (wall plug not included in the box) and 15W wireless charging, the same as the Qi2 standard. But the phone lacks Qi2's built-in magnetic profile required to use a slew of magnetic accessories -- kind of. Samsung is selling cases for the Ultra that have magnets built into them. So you can add a magnetic wallet to the back. Or have the Ultra charging on a magnetic power stand (if only the Ultra had the iPhone's Standby Mode). The Ultra in the phone's name means that the S25 Ultra is supposed to be ultra at everything in terms of specs: Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 12GB of RAM, 5,000-mAh battery, two telephoto cameras, a stylus and, the true star of the phone, that screen. But the same can be said of last year's S24 Ultra, and a lot of what I just listed can be found on the regular S25 and S25 Plus. If you want the best screen you can find on any phone, get the S25 Ultra. If you want the most versatile phone cameras, get the S25 Ultra. If you want a stylus, get the S25 Ultra. But if your needs scale back on any of those fronts, the more affordable S25 options, or even last year's S24 Ultra, may be worth considering. All that to say, make sure you need an Ultra before you buy one, because Samsung has made its other phones just as good as the S25 Ultra in pretty much every other way. Every phone tested by CNET's reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone's features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it's bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor's performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates. All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests. We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET's initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: More powerful, but more of the same

Over a year since it dipped into generative artificial intelligence, Samsung's Galaxy S-series phones are now the vanguard for its gen-AI features. This year, we're getting even deeper hooks into Google's Gemini AI assistant and more built-in software tricks than ever before. At the same time, however, the Galaxy S25 arrives with marginal hardware upgrades over last year's S24. While there's a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," you'll need to stare hard at the spec sheets to spot the differences between this year's phone and the 2024 model. With the Galaxy S25, there's a triple-camera system, a 6.2-inch Full HD+ screen and support for the ever-improving Galaxy AI, which the company seems to be prioritizing this year -- even if it isn't quite enough to carry an entirely new device. Barring a powerful new chip, the S25 is a massive serving of deja vu from a hardware perspective. You could revisit last year's S24 review to get the gist. Samsung decided thinner is the new direction this time around. Galaxy S25 Edge aside, this year's range has been slimmed down. I think the S25 is tangibly thinner - but that's because I was able to compare it with a Galaxy S24 side-by-side. It's less of a selling point when measuring a change of 0.4 millimeters. After several years of carrying around and testing phones with screens over 6.5 inches, having the S25 with me is refreshing. Even if the 6.2-inch screen is a little small for extensive Netflix or YouTube watching, like the 6.3-inch Pixel 9 Pro, it remains plenty big for pretty much everything else. The 2X AMOLED screen tops out at 2,600 nits, which is plenty bright enough, with variable refresh rates that top out at 120Hz. I received the Silver Shadow S25 with a frosted sheen, which I love. It's not the most eye-catching option, however. I think the rich Navy blue is my pick. But who are we kidding? Most of us throw our phones into cases - and I'll do the same once my case gets here. Oddly enough, one of the upgrades with the S25 involves adding a case: support for faster Qi2 charging (and magnetic latching) is only possible through compatible cases. Those cases, however, weren't available for this review. My colleague Sam Rutherford explains it all here; but at least there's some compatibility, which was lacking in last year's Galaxy phones. Samsung makes some of the best smartphones for photography, which is lucky because the S25's camera sensors appear identical to last year's. Which themselves are the same as the year before. Hmm. As a refresher, that includes a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide shooter and a 10MP 3x telephoto camera with a front-facing 12MP camera. if you're looking for 5x zoom and high-res sensors, you should check out the Galaxy S25 Ultra (or the Pixel 9 Pro) -- but the setup on the base S25 still works well, despite the aging sensors. I was pleasantly surprised with the S25's sheer consistency. Most of my photos were crisp and objects were in focus, although I preferred the iPhone 16's results in darker conditions. I found that the Galaxy S25 tends to process images differently between the telephoto and primary sensor, with some night-time shots coming out a bit amber-hued. Samsung's claims that the new Snapdragon 8 Elite would help low-light performance are also accurate. The company says that with the chip's power, the S25 series can better analyze noise, even detecting moving and static objects and processing them differently. Samsung's computational photography has also improved when it comes to difficult shooting conditions. Digital zoom, at 10x, seems crisper and offers more usable photos than its predecessors. If you're willing to dip into a separate camera app, Samsung's Expert RAW features another new option: virtual aperture. I've struggled to discern a tangible difference while shooting with the S25. It appears to be a more advanced version of Portrait mode, without requiring the phone to identify a person or subject to apply a soft bokeh to the background. The effect is moderately successful, but demands a good level of light. I found it struggled to apply a virtual aperture effect in dark environments. Unfortunately, the feature is hidden away in the experimental section of Samsung's Expert RAW camera app, which needs to be downloaded separately. This camera app is for power users who demand manual controls, and it's great that it's available. However, lots of (maybe most) prospective S25 buyers won't need it, or even know it exists Another under-the-hood improvement is within S25's gallery, where the search feature has improved categorization and makes it generally easier to find what you're looking for. As I typed, it'd suggest WhatsApp images, locations and more. Samsung says it's added 2.7 times more keywords, which is delightfully specific. While photography is still similar, spec-wise, on the S25, Samsung has substantially improved video for more seasoned cinematographers. This year's phones will also capture video in HDR by default, while a new Galaxy Log mode means you can capture log video for improved dynamic range. It'll also mean you can apply more accurate color grading if you like to edit videos and get in deep. Video is also recorded in 10-bit color, offering more latitude for editors. Still, like I said, this is for folks already neck-deep in using LUTs, with a compatible editing app at the ready. With Audio Eraser. Samsung has caught up with Apple and Google. This is its own post-processing feature for recording video in louder environments. It taps into AI to nix specific environmental noises, like wind, water and traffic. The effect isn't quite as impressive in real life as during Samsung's S25 launch keynote, however. When faced with the erratic street traffic noise, Audio Eraser's automatic setting compressed the audio pretty severely, leaving my voice sounding a little gurgly and crunchy. It's similar to audio with noise cancellation on Google Meet and WhatsApp voice notes. I was definitely more audible - but it wasn't easy listening. The upgrades are welcome, but given the iPhone 16's Camera Control button and the Pixel 9's latest software tricks like Add Me, Samsung's cameras have had a weaker showing than the competition. Software additions don't stop at the camera app. There's a scattering of new features across the board with the S25. The most immediately noticeable update is more of a duo: Now Bar and Now Brief. The Now Bar is a new lockscreen tile -- part contextual info panel and part notification banner. With rolling Google Maps navigation instructions and media playing functions, we've seen many of these ideas on the iPhone's Dynamic Island. Samsung's version is more limited, at least for now. Embarrassingly, only eight apps (or features) can appear on the Now Bar, including the clock, sports notifications from Google and a voice recorder. It's underwhelming. If third-party app makers (or more Google apps) can make their way into the Bar, it could be more helpful, but as it is, it's barely more than a lock-screen widget. The Now Brief, similarly, could use a little more meat. I hate to make another Apple comparison, but it's a more accessible version of the iPhone's summaries generated in Notifications. The Now Brief populates with relevant notifications, weather summaries and even traffic guidance, all of which is possibly most valuable in the mornings. It will also generate daily summaries accessible from a widget on the S25's home screen. I'll be strapping on a Galaxy Watch to see how these interact with fitness goals and wellness, so stay tuned for more insight here. (Sidenote: Google Discover, a swipe-left-from-home screen also offers a similar stream of news, notifications and other smartphone info. It has been around for years.) Changes elsewhere seem more like rebranded features. AI Select (once called Smart Select) resides in the pull-out Edge Panel (and the screenshot toolbar) and will offer up suggested actions once you select or circle something onscreen. It can offer clever suggestions when it contextually detects an event to add to your calendar or something that needs translating. I'm not sure AI Select is noticeably better than Smart Select, but it's at least on by default. You had to enable the former in Settings for it to appear in the Edge Panel. While it's not completely straightforward, AI Select does work well as a shortcut, suggesting translation with foreign languages or offering to pull dates into your calendar with a tap. This ties into Gemini AI upgrades, which appear first on the S25 series but will be coming to other Android phones that can run Gemini AI. With a long press of a button, your voice commands to Gemini can pull in information and then apply them to make a reminder, plan a route or send details through text message to a friend, or even a WhatsApp message. I'm looking forward to Android adding further third-party apps and services, but I've been waiting for more effortless uses for AI assistants. This is a step in that direction. I'm also not entirely writing off the Now Brief. It could improve over time, especially with Samsung's Personal Data Engine, which will attempt to join the dots between your smartphone interactions. As I finished this review, the Now Brief began offering audio highlights from The Guardian, even though I hadn't yet installed the news organization's app. However, Galaxy AI figured it out, it was the right choice: I don't read the Daily Mail Online. I wish Google and Apple News would work that out without me having to actively block news sources. Has Samsung solved our smartphone battery life woes? The Galaxy S25 clocked in at over 28 hours of video playback. That's almost four hours more than last year's S24, and given the hardware parity with the S25, it's a testament to the processor efficiency upgrades this year. With more typical use, I was recharging the phone every two days. That's not how often I usually have to charge smartphones during reviews -- I'm very impressed. With the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, those gains aren't just in efficiency. The CPU multi-core performance hit 8,950 (up from 7,049 on the S24), while GPU scored 19,158, up from 15,082 last year. Not that there was that much need for such a leap. Once again, the Galaxy S25 is fast and handled everything I threw at it effortlessly. However, back-to-back generative AI requests and shooting and uploading 4K video made the S25 heat up - it lacks the expanded vapor chamber that Samsung added to the S25 Ultra. With the Galaxy S25, never has a Galaxy S series seemed more iterative. Fortunately, Samsung's premium smartphones are in a commanding position, so even with a screen (an cameras) that are now two years old, the Galaxy S25 isn't a bad smartphone. In fact, it's a very good one. I described the S25's cameras as consistent and I think that applies to the entire phone. The screen is bright, smooth and rich, the battery life is, frankly, incredible, while both performance scores and my experience with it prove this is a powerful flagship phone. I love the streamlined Gemini AI capabilities, which can take a voice command and easily turn it into a calendar entry, reminder and even plan my route. Even Galaxy AI diversions like the Portrait Studio offered more refined (and consistent) 3D cartoons and sketches of my portrait photos. I'm not sure Samsung's features would warrant an AI subscription -- I doubt many would pay for them as they stand. And that brings me to a bigger point: Besides a powerful new chip and AI tricks, why isn't the S25 cheaper? The Galaxy S25 is priced at $799 at launch, the same as the S24 and even the S23. The comparison you have to make isn't only with the latest iPhone, but also cheaper Android phones, like the $499 Pixel 8a. Or, unfortunately, the year-old Galaxy S24. Unless you're desperate for a bump in processing power and battery life, it would be wise to see how heavily last year's models get discounted in the coming months.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: Not enough to justify an upgrade

Not much else going on besides new AI tricks Some of the "new" AI features aren't really new AI continues to be largely stupid Phone companies are going to need to start doing new releases every two or three years instead of annually if this is how things are going to go from now on. Annual phone upgrades started looking incremental to regular people years ago, but the tech-savvy among us could always point to at least one or two changes that were actually meaningful. With the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, we might have finally passed the rubicon where even I, a professional tech writer, can't really muster a reason why anyone with a somewhat recent Android phone would need to upgrade to this device. The differences between last year's model and this one are so marginal as to almost not exist. Yes, the display is very slightly bigger, and there's a new chip inside that puts up nice scores in benchmarks. But much of that new processing power is devoted to AI applications that are mildly useful at best, gimmicky on average, and outright hostile to human creativity at worst. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is not a bad premium flagship by any means, but it's really difficult to think of a reason why you should buy one. Starting at a staggering $1,299 (which, to be fair, is the same price as the Ultra model a year ago), the Galaxy S25 Ultra includes these specs: For the sake of comparison, the display is a tenth of an inch bigger than the S24 Ultra, while the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is top-of-the-line phone hardware at the moment. Those are your two functional differences between the Galaxy S25 Ultra and its immediate predecessor. Display resolution, storage and RAM options, and even the size of the battery are all identical between the 2024 and 2025 models. Samsung actually has a comparison page on its website that highlights just how similar these two phones are. If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself. One of the bigger differences between S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra is in its physical form factor. To its credit, Samsung has marginally slimmed down this year's model, increasing display size while actually making it a slightly more comfortable phone to hold. Samsung deserves some flowers here for ditching the hard, 90-degree corners that framed the S24 Ultra and replacing them with curved edges instead. It makes the phone significantly more pleasant to hold, as does its new weight of 218g. That's 15g lighter than the S24 Ultra, which isn't the biggest difference in the world, but it's certainly worth noting. Aside from that, these two phones don't differ too much from each other in terms of design. For posterity, the color options this year are: I'd also be remiss not to mention that the S Pen stylus accessory is included with the S25 Ultra, as it has been in recent Ultra models. There's still a little slot in the phone where the pen lives, and you can easily get through your day without even remembering the pen is there if you're not the type of person who likes to use styluses. It's nice if you want it, but to be honest, I never felt like I personally needed it. A new high-end mobile chipset means higher expectations for performance. I'm happy to report that there are no real problems to be found with the way the S25 Ultra performs on a day-to-day basis, though again, the change from last year might be pretty insignificant. Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy does an admirable job of keeping things moving, as general phone operations are satisfyingly smooth and snappy. This includes the use of AI features, which are closely tied to the new chip. I'll go into more detail about what those are and how they work later, but for now, it's worth noting that every AI feature I tried worked very quickly and without much hassle. For the number-crunching heads out there, I ran the S25 Ultra through the Geekbench 6 benchmarking software. The results here are fairly astonishing, as the new device's multi-core score is 10,049, compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra's score of 6,675. That's a pretty big numerical jump! I should note, however, that for everyday app usage, you probably won't notice a huge difference between the two phones. Every recent premium flagship is fast and diminishing returns are inevitable. Still, credit where it's due: This phone is, according to available metrics, more powerful than the S24 Ultra. Samsung rates the 5,000mAh battery in the S25 Ultra for 31 hours of video playback. While I couldn't quite replicate that, I was satisfied with the results I got in my testing. When it comes to general usage, you can go about 24 hours between charges with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. You might be sweating it out at the end of that period, depending on what you like to do with your phone, but it's doable. When I had the phone loop a 1080p video on its display from a 100 percent charge until it died, I got 26 hours and 56 minutes of playback time out of the S25 Ultra. These figures will likely vary for people depending on how they use their devices, but on the whole, it's hard to complain about the battery here. Samsung, Apple, and Google are all going hard on AI features these days, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra is no different. It sports a handful of new AI tricks that are theoretically supposed to be selling points for people. I can't speak for everyone, but if I was a Samsung guy with a flagship released in the last three years or so, none of this stuff would get me to upgrade. Part of that is because some of the most heavily advertised AI features on S25 Ultra aren't really new. Google's Circle to Search functionality is here, but that's also available on Pixel phones and even the last four generations of Galaxy S-series phones. The same goes for Audio Eraser, a feature that lets you isolate and remove certain sounds from videos you've filmed. It's a neat trick, but Google already had it before. In terms of things that are actually new, Now Brief is probably the most handy feature of the bunch. It's a little widget that lives on your home screen and, when tapped, opens up a single, scrollable page that includes info about the day's weather, events on your calendar, and news stories you might find interesting. Now Brief is basically just a way to repackage your morning routine, so you're only checking one app instead of two or three to find all of that information. It's not massive, but in the realm of AI features, it's hard to complain about it. Cross-app actions are also new and worth talking about. You can now long-press the power button on an S25 Ultra to bring up Gemini, and command it to perform multiple actions across multiple apps for you. For example, if you want to know when the Super Bowl is, you can tell Gemini to "find the Super Bowl schedule and add it to my calendar" or something like that. If all goes well, it can create calendar events, store online recipes in your notes, or share restaurant recommendations with friends, all based on a conversational voice command. Now Brief and cross-app actions are nifty, but not really essential. I'm fully capable of looking up the day's weather and news, or finding out when a football game is happening in just a few seconds on my own. That's really the best thing I can say about the suite of AI features on S25 Ultra. Many of the other ones, which are largely made up of already-existing generative editing features for photos and videos, are affronts to my sensibilities. Removing unwanted audio from videos is nice in theory, but filming in a less noisy environment or finding another creative solution are better ways out of that problem. I feel similarly about features that "clean up" photos you've taken by using AI to remove people or objects; just take a better photo instead of using AI to create a fake version of reality. Do you really want all of your photos of your children to have the creepy sheen of generative AI all over them? Would you like it if you found out someone was texting or emailing you messages that were heavily edited by AI? I don't and I wouldn't. To each their own, but as long as this stuff is the crux of every new phone release, I'm going to complain about it. The rear camera array represents the only other notable hardware difference between S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra. Namely, the ultrawide lens has been upgraded from 12MP a year ago to 50MP this year. Aside from that, everything else is the same: a 200MP wide lens, 50MP telephoto lens, and 12MP selfie camera. I didn't have an S24 Ultra on hand for direct comparisons, but the new ultrawide lens does produce nice, colorful, sharp shots. Regular shots at default settings look similarly crisp and vibrant. Portrait mode's bokeh effect is as pleasing to the eye as ever. While the telephoto zoom hasn't been significantly altered this year, I still had a fun time playing with it. You can digitally zoom up to 100x, but I found that keeping things around 30x produced shots that were both impressively clear and didn't have that smudgy "the phone made up details to fill in the blanks" look that digitally zoomed photos often have. The only real issue I had with the S25 Ultra's cameras came when I tried to take photos at night. Nighttime photography can depend a lot on your environment, and NYC is definitely too light polluted to get the best results in my experience. That said, the shots I did get looked a little too warm and artificial in nighttime mode. The version without any software correction was often closer to what my eyes saw, even if it wasn't necessarily something you'd want to post on social media. The only reason I can really think of to upgrade to a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is if you're rocking a really old handset and just need to catch up with the times. Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is indeed a power boost over previous generations, and quality everyday performance backs that up. A long-lasting battery will also remove unwanted stress from your life, and the camera array is generally pretty good at what it does. This is, in most ways that matter, a fine premium flagship phone. It's just difficult to find a reason to recommend the S25 Ultra to anyone else for any other reason. Its hardware changes are so iterative as to almost not exist, and whatever new AI features are here are more neat than life-changing. We might seriously need to rethink the whole annual release cycle if this is going to become the status quo.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: It's so good I'm thinking of ditching my iPhone

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate. Here's the most ironic thing about the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The moment it launched, lots of people were calling out Samsung for copying the iPhone's design. But after testing this device I actually think the S25 Ultra is the closest Samsung has come to convincing me to ditch my iPhone. The 6.9-inch display on the latest Ultra is brighter; the cameras are more versatile and arguably just better; and the S25 Ultra is packed with smarter AI features I wish the iPhone 16 Pro Max had, like the ability to perform multiple actions at once across apps using just your voice. And it's all wrapped up in a design that -- while Phone-like -- is lighter than its main rival. Samsung did cut some corners with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The S Pen no longer has Bluetooth. And the newly added Qi2 charging support forces you to buy a compatible case. No magnets here. But overall the performance, battery life and AI smarts on the Galaxy S25 Ultra add up to the best Android phone I've tested and possibly the best phone period. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has a release date of February 7, and it still starts at the same "yikes"- inducing starting price of $1,299 / £1,249 for 256GB of storage. You can upgrade to 512GB for $1,419 or 1TB for $1,659 but while pre-orders are still happening you can get 512GB for the same price as 256GB and 1TB for the usual 512GB price. Samsung is also offering up to $1,200 off, which includes up to $900 in instant trade-in credits and up to $300 in Samsung credits. Check out our Galaxy S25 Ultra deals page for the best discounts available. As they say, haters are gonna hate. But I think some of the criticism around the Galaxy S25 Ultra's design being too iPhone-like is warranted. The sides are flat now just like the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and the corners are rounded, which means the Samsung digs into your hand less than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. But I actually blame Samsung for not copying the iPhone enough. I'm talking about the left and right edges of the design. They're too sharp for my taste and make the phone less comfortable to hold and use. Apple does a better job of beveling these edges so they're smoothed out. The titanium frame feels as sturdy as ever, and the thinner bezels allowed Samsung to increase the screen size slightly from 6.8 to 6.9 inches. I also like the floating camera design on the back. It looks better than the iPhone 16 Pro Max's unsightly patch. Measuring 6.41 x 3.06 x 0.32 inches and weighing 7.69 ounces, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has nearly the same dimensions of the iPhone 16 Pro Max while being noticeably lighter than Apple's 7.99-ounce handset when I was holding both phones. The S24 Ultra weighed in at 8.22 ounces while being a slightly thicker 0.34 inches. The Galaxy S25 Ultra color options are not exactly wild. There's Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Silverblue and Titanium Whitesilver. I tested the Silverblue hue and I think it has just enough pop without being too in your face. If you're feeling more adventurous, Samsung.com is also offering online exclusive colors like Jadegreen, Jetblack and Pinkgold. There's two design trade-offs I need to talk about here. One way Samsung cut down on the weight is a notable downgrade to the S25 Ultra that removes the Bluetooth radio from the S Pen. That means you can't perform air gestures like taking photos remotely, though Samsung says it removed Bluetooth because not enough people were using the features. The second trade-off is that the S25 Ultra has half-assed Qi2 charging support. I say that because the magnets are not built into the phone itself. So if you want to easily attach to magnetic Qi accessories like docks and car mounts you're going to have to spring for a special case. The Galaxy S25 Ultra's display is the closest to perfect we've tested yet, and that's saying something because the S24 Ultra was frickin' good. The size has grown from 6.8 to 6.9 inches, thanks to slimmer bezels. And that makes this an even more immersive canvas for movies, games and more. When watching the trailer for "Superman" side by side with its predecessor, the Galaxy S25 Ultra's display was a bit more vivid and brighter than the S24 Ultra when viewed outdoors. I then watched the same trailer on the S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max indoors, and I'd say they were neck and neck with the Samsung doing slightly better in darker scenes like those with stars. In our lab testing, the Galaxy S25 Ultra turned in a max brightness of 1,860 nits. That doesn't eclipse the insane score the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL turned in (2,469 nits), but it does beat the iPhone 16 Pro Max (1,553 nits) by a fair margin. * lower is better The Galaxy S25 Ultra also turned in better scores for color saturation, covering 128.1% of the sRGB color gamut and 90.8% of the DCI-P3 color space. The iPhone 16 Pro Max hit 114.1% and 80.9%, respectively. Samsung even won out in terms of color accuracy with a Delta-E score of 0.24 (where 0 is perfect). Apple's flagship scored 0.26. You can get even richer colors if you set the Samsung display to Vivid mode. The S25 Ultra's screen promises better durability, too, though we have not been able to test it. It's made of Corning Gorilla Armor 2, which is designed to provide better drop protection and better scratch resistance. There's always that one feature that you want to show your family and friends when checking out a new phone, and with the Galaxy S25 Ultra that's cross-app actions. With Google Gemini now deeply integrated into Samsung's flagship, you can accomplish multiple things at once using just your voice. For example, I pressed the side button on the S25 Ultra and said "Look up the date and time of the Oscars and add it to my calendar and then text it to Mike." The phone then looked up the info, and I could see it connecting to Google Workplace to make the addition to my calendar. It then sent the text to my brother with the relevant info. That's pretty impressive, and it shows the potential of agentic AI on your phone. I also asked Gemini to look up the top 5 rooftop bars near me in New York City and then output the list to Samsung Notes, making sure to include the phone number and address for each one. Within several seconds, I had my list. Cross-app actions work with Samsung's apps, Google's apps and third-party apps like WhatsApp and Spotify. And I'd certainly like to see this list expand. Another helpful new AI feature is AI Select, a key part of Samsung's One UI 7 software that can look at the content on your screen and provide contextually relevant suggestions. For example, I could easily turn a portion of a YouTube Short video into a GIF with a couple of taps. Note that this feature is different from the popular Circle to Search, which gains new powers with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. You still long press the home button to activate Circle to Search, but it can now recognize emails, phone numbers and URLs on your screen; you just tap and go. Plus, Circle to Search can now recognize sounds or music in things like videos. Personalization is another big theme with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and One UI 7, and that comes with two major AI features. The first is Now Brief, which can give you a quick summary to start your day. You'll be able to see the latest weather, your upcoming appointments and the latest news at a glance, as well as suggested Spotify playlists. The idea is that Now Brief will get smarter over time as it learns more about you via what's called the Personal Data Engine. Think of it as a personalized large language model. The Now Brief can also summarize things like the Energy Score from your Galaxy Watch, as well as show highlight photos from your day out. I'd like to give Now Brief more time to see if it lives up to its actionable insights promise, but at least during my testing it was a bit too barebones. Plus, some of the news it suggested was click-bait fodder like "Conservative Crusader Played Secret Role in Spread of 'Anti-Woke' Schooling." The Now Bar is a handy tool that's designed to give you timely info on your lock screen, from sports scores and reminders to timers and directions. It's very similar to Live Activities on the iPhone, and I like how you can easily flip between multiple alert boxes on your home screen, which are stacked on top of each other like cards. However, I'd like to see Samsung add more partners, such as Uber for seeing your rideshare status at a glance or DoorDash for your delivery updates. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has lots of other AI powers that are worth trying out. With the help of Google Gemini, I can ask about a video I'm watching on YouTube and get quick answers to questions. For example, I asked Gemini to summarize the top 25 AI features announced during Unpacked and the AI analyzed the video and came back with a list. That's pretty amazing. You can also ask questions about any photos on your screen. I pressed the side button and asked about a church I saw in San Jose and found out that it's the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, which is an example of Romanesque Revival architecture. So the S25 Ultra can easily be your tour guide. Last but not least, the Galaxy S25 Ultra makes searching for images in your library easier with natural language. I could just type "flower close-up" and instantly see macro shots I took with the ultra-wide camera, though it strangely left some out. And you can get super specific with your searches, such as "fountain with icicles around it." The Galaxy S25 Ultra doesn't offer much in the way of camera hardware changes. The key upgrade involves the ultrawide sensor, which gets a boost from 12MP on the S24 Ultra to 50MP. This means better detail in your shots, as well as the promise of sharper macro photos. Otherwise, you get the same 200MP main sensor, 50MP 5x telephoto, 10MP 3x telephoto and 12MP front shooter found on Samsung's previous Ultra model. To test out the S25 Ultra's ultrawide camera I pointed it at this creek. Comparing the image to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I preferred the detail in the water and snow from the Samsung shot. The iPhone's pic is brighter but it offers less contrast in the sunny part of the frame and looks a bit blown out. In macro mode, the S25 Ultra fell behind the iPhone 16 Pro Max in this close-up of a crystal. There's a lot more definition in the iPhone's pic while the Samsung looks a bit blurry. When it comes to capturing colors, the S25 Ultra's 200MP main camera is fantastic. The blues, greens, purples and oranges really pop in this Samsung photo of a mural, and there's more gradation in the hues versus the iPhone 16 Pro Max's shot, even if the iPhone's image is brighter overall. There's more dimension and depth to some of the Galaxy S25 Ultra's photos as well. Take this image of the San Jose Museum of Art with a sculpture in front of it. There's more definition in the brick and the pic feels more 3D. So how about low light? This photo of some plants and a small thinking person sculpture taken in almost complete darkness is a bit brighter through the iPhone than the Samsung, but if you zoom in there's less noise in the S25 Ultra's shot. Outdoors in low light, I took this photo of a street with colorful strings of lights hanging down at 5x zoom. I prefer the S25 Ultra's photo because the lights are more distinct and you can make out more detail at the top of the lamp posts. The funny thing about this portrait shot from the S25 Ultra is that I like it because it does some of the things I generally prefer the iPhone for. My face has a warmer tone to it and my blue shirt pops a bit more off of a more artfully blurred background. It's a similar story with this selfie. The iPhone 16 Pro Max offers more detail in my hair and wayward eyebrow hairs but the S25 Ultra pulls in more light, especially on my face and eyes. With this 10x zoom shot of a clock, the iPhone 16 Pro Max produces the more inviting, share-worthy shot with its brighter sun bouncing off the bricks and lighter blue sky. But the S25 Ultra wins on details when you look at the bricks themselves and metal around the clock. For more samples, see our dedicated Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max photo shoot-out, but overall I think the Galaxy S25 Ultra is easily one of the best camera phones we've tested. It's also worth mentioning that the Galaxy S25 Ultra picks up some new AI photo editing tricks. The most notable features include an improved Generative AI edit that does a better job of removing unwanted subjects from your images (including their shadows). In addition, the S25 Ultra gets one of my favorite Galaxy Z Fold 6 features: Sketch to Image. I drew a very crude looking bee on top of a flower with the S Pen, and this phone turned it into a realistic looking bee in seconds. The Galaxy S25 Ultra steps up its video recording game with 10-bit HDR support for more colorful results, as well as the ability to shoot in Log format for pros who want more creative control over their footage. I put the S25 Ultra up against the iPhone 16 Pro Max in this first clip of the Bryant Park fountain, and both phones deliver crisp video. However, as I zoom in to 5x, the Galaxy S25 Ultra delivers a brighter stone in the fountain and crisper looking water. Bonus points for the Samsung offering louder sound with its zoom mic. Samsung also recorded better looking video when I used both phones to record skaters in Bryant Park. As I pan around, the iPhone's footage looks softer with more of a haze. You can make out more details in the signs around vendor booths as well as in the windows above the rink through the Samsung. The S25 Ultra steals a trick from the iPhone 16 Pro Max and improves upon it with a new Audio Eraser feature. While the iPhone lets you remove unwanted background noise with its Audio Mix, Samsung goes further on the S25 Ultra by letting you fine tune certain sounds, such as wind, voices, music and crowd. In this video you can hear the before and after results with Audio Eraser, which works remarkably well. My voice sounds a bit computerized but overall the Audio Eraser-treated version is a major improvement over the original. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is powered by an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip along with 12GB of RAM, and it's definitely one of the fastest phones we've tested. I flipped between over a dozen open apps -- constantly dipping in and out of Chrome, Spotify, Photos and more -- and the S25 Ultra remained silky smooth under pressure. The S25 Ultra is also a gaming beast. I enjoyed rock solid frame rates when playing "Diabolo Immortal" even with over a dozen enemies on screen. When I unleashed my undead minions on some overgrown spiders while also brandishing my thresher, the gameplay remained fluid. The S25 Ultra beat the iPhone 16 Pro Max in some key benchmarks but not all. On Geekbench, which tests a phone's CPU, the S25 Ultra turned in a higher multi-core score but lower single-core score. But when it came to graphics performance, the S25 Ultra blew away the iPhone with a much higher frame rate in the 3DMark Solar Bay Unlimited test. If you're transcoding video, though, the Samsung was a good 30 seconds behind Apple in our Adobe Premiere Rush test. It's not quite the longest lasting phone we've tested, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra certainly earns a spot on our best phone battery life list. On the Tom's Guide Battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over 5G at 150 nits of screen brightness, the S25 Ultra's 5000 mAh battery lasted an epic 17 hours and 14 minutes. That's about 30 minutes better than the Galaxy S24 Ultra but about 20 minutes behind the iPhone 16 Pro Max. However, when we enabled the lower power 60Hz screen mode on the S25 Ultra, this handset lasted an even longer 18:35. The OnePlus 13 is the champ among current flagship as it endured for 19:45 in auto mode with its 6,000 mAh battery. In terms of charging speed, the S25 Ultra remains at 45W, which is faster than the iPhone's 30W speed but slower than the 80W supported by the OnePlus 13. A drained S25 Ultra reached 71% after 30 minutes of charging, compared to 55% for the iPhone 16 Pro Max and 92% for the OnePlus. The One UI 7 update is mostly about sprinkling more AI throughout the system, but there's some other welcome upgrades outside of that. For example, the notifications and quick settings are now split up, and you access the former with a swipe from the top left and the latter from the top right. I personally like the look of the new quick settings menu. It's very Control Center-like, but it's super intuitive. In terms of AI features, I like the new call transcript feature. You can see the contents of your call after you hang up, and if it's a longer call, you can ask for an AI summary. Lastly, I like that Samsung has simplified and streamlined the controls in the camera app, so it's easier to find the various buttons while freeing up more room for your live view. Samsung backs up the S25 Ultra with 7 years of software and security updates. Along with Google's matching software support for its Pixel phones, that's the longest period available to any current phone. Sure, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is an iterative update, but Samsung has made big improvements where it matters most, including introducing AI features that will save you time and make your life easier. The ability to perform actions across multiple apps at once using your voice has the potential to change how we interact with our phones forever. But it's clear that Samsung needs to add more partners, both for this AI agent feature and for things like Now Bar. I'm less impressed with the Now Brief (at least until I spend more time with the phone), and I wish Samsung had included Qi2 magnets in the phone itself so you didn't have to buy a case to connect to magnetic accessories. But overall, I really like the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Its AI smarts, vivid display, mostly top-notch cameras, super smooth performance and long battery life add up to a very impressive flagship -- so impressive that I'm tempted to switch to Android myself.

I tested the standard Galaxy S25, and it beats Google and Apple's offerings in several ways

The camera still suffers from shutter lag, making it less ideal for capturing fast-moving subjects. The Samsung Galaxy S25 might not be as flashy as the Ultra, but it's still the best compact phone you can buy right now. It refines an already great formula with a slimmer, lighter design, better battery life, and smarter AI features. But with minimal hardware upgrades over its predecessor, is it still worth $799? Also: I replaced my iPhone 16 Pro with the Galaxy S25 Ultra - and there's a clear winner It helps that Samsung is counting on an upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor this year, which not only brings speed improvements but also better image clarity and more efficient battery life -- arguably the three most important aspects for consumers. I've spent the past week testing the device, and while the spec sheet may not excite you, the real-world experience tells a different story. The Galaxy S25 is slimmer and lighter than last year's Galaxy S24. In fact, it's one of the most comfortable phones I've held and used. Unlike the larger Galaxy S25 Ultra, the flat sides don't feel unwieldy, and the curved edges keep it handy. I'd go as far as to say it offers a better in-hand feel than the Google Pixel 9 and iPhone 16. Also: Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. iPhone 16: I compared the base models that most people should buy On the front, there's a 6.2-inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution, which, on paper, is less sharp than the QHD+ screens found on the Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra. But in practice, it's still sharp and vibrant for its size. From scrolling through Reels on Instagram to browsing on Chrome to watching movies on Netflix, the Galaxy S25 display delivers a satisfying content consumption experience. I just wish the anti-reflective coating of Gorilla Armor 2 from the Galaxy S25 Ultra had trickled down to this model, as it makes the screen more usable in bright environments. It's a quality-of-life upgrade that would have made the compact phone experience truly one of a kind. That said, the screen is still fairly legible in direct sunlight, as shown in the image above. At Galaxy Unpacked, I had the impression that Samsung was over-relying on the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor to deliver a substantial upgrade over the Galaxy S24 this year. Maybe I dismissed it too quickly because, in my time reviewing the Galaxy S25, I've noticed battery life improvements that I've never seen from the smallest Samsung model. Also: I've tested every Samsung Galaxy S25 model - and my favorite isn't the Ultra From my tests, the Galaxy S25 lasted me at least an hour and a half longer than its predecessor under similar usage. It's a one-day phone for moderate users -- those who browse, use social media, and message frequently. While navigation and camera use will drain the battery faster, most people will be satisfied with the battery life here. While I like the fact that Samsung has managed to deliver better battery life in a slimmer and lighter design, I'd have preferred a charging rate faster than 25W this year. At least keep it on par with the Galaxy S25 Plus and Ultra's 45W! Like the charging, Samsung hasn't updated the cameras on the Galaxy S25 this year. It features the same optics as the Galaxy S24, which are the same as the Galaxy S23 from the year before. Instead, Samsung continues to lean on the latest processor to enhance its camera hardware, which keeps the devices market-relevant, but nothing more. For a refresher, the camera system includes a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilization, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide-angle sensor. Also: These useful One UI 7 features are coming to the Galaxy S25 series - and older models too The phone offers good dynamic range and consistent colors across its sensors. I've found my image samples to be slightly more detailed than those from last year's model. Samsung has also worked on delivering more accurate human skin tones, along with better low-light results in terms of clarity and lesser noise in challenging environments. Compared to the iPhone 16 and Pixel 9, I prefer the Galaxy S25 camera for its versatility. A dedicated 3x telephoto camera is essential for me. However, if your camera usage involves capturing toddlers or pets, the iPhone may serve you better, as these cameras still struggle with fast-moving subjects. Unless you use the Expert RAW app to adjust the shutter speed for all photos, this isn't the best camera system for capturing little humans and furry friends. Some of the biggest camera upgrades come in video mode. You can now shoot log videos with Galaxy Log, enabling cinematographers to apply LUTs to color-grade their 10-bit footage. Also: Every Samsung Galaxy S25 model compared: How to decide which phone to buy The Galaxy S25 also introduces a new post-editing feature called Audio Eraser, which uses AI to recognize and remove unwanted noises such as wind, water, or public chatter. A similar feature is available on Apple and Google phones, so I'm happy to report that Samsung has finally caught up -- and it works well. The Samsung Galaxy S25 runs Android 15-based One UI 7, which will soon roll out to the older Galaxy S24 series, bringing most, if not all, of the features I'm about to mention to last year's phones. Starting with AI Select, my most-used AI feature over the past few days. It works like Circle to Search, allowing you to highlight on-screen content and suggest on-device actions based on the information. Also: This $300 Samsung phone looks as good as the Galaxy S25 - at a fraction of the price For example, if you receive an event invite via text or email with time, date, and location details, you can tap on AI Select from the Edge Panel, highlight the invite details, and the phone will suggest an "Add to Calendar" option. Tap on it, and the time, date, and location are automatically filled in within your Calendar app. There's also a new Galaxy AI feature called Now Brief, an app-widget hybrid that consolidates important data in one place. In theory, it can show weather updates, suggest taking the day easy if Galaxy Health detects poor sleep, recommend Spotify playlists from your favorite artists, display news and calendar events, and suggest YouTube Shorts. However, in my experience, it has mostly been a glorified weather app. It couldn't detect my Google Fit data synced with Galaxy Health and didn't show me any news. The suggested Spotify playlists weren't based on my preferences either. Samsung claims the service will improve over time, so I'll update this review if I notice changes. One UI 7 introduces the Now Bar, a new way to display active app notifications on the lock screen. If you have a timer, music player, or navigation running, they appear as stacked cards on the lock screen that you can swipe and interact with. It reminds me of Dynamic Island and Live Activities on iPhones and, in a similar fashion, supports a limited number of apps at launch. I expect it to gain support for more apps as developers integrate it into their products. For now, it feels like a nice feature in its early stages. Also: Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. iPhone 16: I compared the base models that most people should buy Other Galaxy AI party tricks include Portrait Studio for creating 3D cartoons and sketches from portraits, Sketch to Image, and Generative AI for adding objects to photos. These features are more refined and consistent, but tasks like Generative AI and background expansion in the Gallery app can still take more than 10 seconds to process. The Galaxy S25 also includes Gemini AI upgrades. The new, transformed version of Google Assistant can be triggered by a long press of the side button. It allows you to ask for information, plan things, and send WhatsApp messages to contacts. It's better at handling multiple commands in a single line, and I'm looking forward to broader third-party app support. While it may seem like an underwhelming upgrade on paper, I've enjoyed using the Samsung Galaxy S25. My only gripe is its inability to capture moving subjects well without adjusting the shutter speed in Expert RAW. If you can overlook that, this is a solid phone for $799 -- and an even better deal if you can snag it with a trade-in offer or promotion. Compared to Google and Apple, the Galaxy S25 offers a better display, the best in-hand feel in its segment, a more versatile camera setup, and good battery life. It's better than the similarly priced Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 -- and my top pick for anyone looking for a compact flagship right now.

Why I'm recommending the standard Galaxy S25 over the Plus and Ultra this year

The camera still suffers from shutter lag, making it less ideal for capturing fast-moving subjects. The Samsung Galaxy S25 might not be as flashy as the Ultra, but it's still the best compact phone you can buy right now. It refines an already great formula with a slimmer, lighter design, better battery life, and smarter AI features. But with minimal hardware upgrades over its predecessor, is it still worth $799? Also: I replaced my iPhone 16 Pro with the Galaxy S25 Ultra - and there's a clear winner It helps that Samsung is counting on an upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor this year, which not only brings speed improvements but also better image clarity and more efficient battery life -- arguably the three most important aspects for consumers. I've spent the past week testing the device, and while the spec sheet may not excite you, the real-world experience tells a different story. The Galaxy S25 is slimmer and lighter than last year's Galaxy S24. In fact, it's one of the most comfortable phones I've held and used. Unlike the larger Galaxy S25 Ultra, the flat sides don't feel unwieldy, and the curved edges keep it handy. I'd go as far as to say it offers a better in-hand feel than the Google Pixel 9 and iPhone 16. Also: Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. iPhone 16: I compared the base models that most people should buy On the front, there's a 6.2-inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution, which, on paper, is less sharp than the QHD+ screens found on the Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra. But in practice, it's still sharp and vibrant for its size. From scrolling through Reels on Instagram to browsing on Chrome to watching movies on Netflix, the Galaxy S25 display delivers a satisfying content consumption experience. I just wish the anti-reflective coating of Gorilla Armor 2 from the Galaxy S25 Ultra had trickled down to this model, as it makes the screen more usable in bright environments. It's a quality-of-life upgrade that would have made the compact phone experience truly one of a kind. That said, the screen is still fairly legible in direct sunlight, as shown in the image above. At Galaxy Unpacked, I had the impression that Samsung was over-relying on the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor to deliver a substantial upgrade over the Galaxy S24 this year. Maybe I dismissed it too quickly because, in my time reviewing the Galaxy S25, I've noticed battery life improvements that I've never seen from the smallest Samsung model. Also: I've tested every Samsung Galaxy S25 model - and my favorite isn't the Ultra From my tests, the Galaxy S25 lasted me at least an hour and a half longer than its predecessor under similar usage. It's a one-day phone for moderate users -- those who browse, use social media, and message frequently. While navigation and camera use will drain the battery faster, most people will be satisfied with the battery life here. While I like the fact that Samsung has managed to deliver better battery life in a slimmer and lighter design, I'd have preferred a charging rate faster than 25W this year. At least keep it on par with the Galaxy S25 Plus and Ultra's 45W! Like the charging, Samsung hasn't updated the cameras on the Galaxy S25 this year. It features the same optics as the Galaxy S24, which are the same as the Galaxy S23 from the year before. Instead, Samsung continues to lean on the latest processor to enhance its camera hardware, which keeps the devices market-relevant, but nothing more. For a refresher, the camera system includes a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilization, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide-angle sensor. Also: These useful One UI 7 features are coming to the Galaxy S25 series - and older models too The phone offers good dynamic range and consistent colors across its sensors. I've found my image samples to be slightly more detailed than those from last year's model. Samsung has also worked on delivering more accurate human skin tones, along with better low-light results in terms of clarity and lesser noise in challenging environments. Compared to the iPhone 16 and Pixel 9, I prefer the Galaxy S25 camera for its versatility. A dedicated 3x telephoto camera is essential for me. However, if your camera usage involves capturing toddlers or pets, the iPhone may serve you better, as these cameras still struggle with fast-moving subjects. Unless you use the Expert RAW app to adjust the shutter speed for all photos, this isn't the best camera system for capturing little humans and furry friends. Some of the biggest camera upgrades come in video mode. You can now shoot log videos with Galaxy Log, enabling cinematographers to apply LUTs to color-grade their 10-bit footage. Also: Every Samsung Galaxy S25 model compared: How to decide which phone to buy The Galaxy S25 also introduces a new post-editing feature called Audio Eraser, which uses AI to recognize and remove unwanted noises such as wind, water, or public chatter. A similar feature is available on Apple and Google phones, so I'm happy to report that Samsung has finally caught up -- and it works well. The Samsung Galaxy S25 runs Android 15-based One UI 7, which will soon roll out to the older Galaxy S24 series, bringing most, if not all, of the features I'm about to mention to last year's phones. Starting with AI Select, my most-used AI feature over the past few days. It works like Circle to Search, allowing you to highlight on-screen content and suggest on-device actions based on the information. Also: This $300 Samsung phone looks as good as the Galaxy S25 - at a fraction of the price For example, if you receive an event invite via text or email with time, date, and location details, you can tap on AI Select from the Edge Panel, highlight the invite details, and the phone will suggest an "Add to Calendar" option. Tap on it, and the time, date, and location are automatically filled in within your Calendar app. There's also a new Galaxy AI feature called Now Brief, an app-widget hybrid that consolidates important data in one place. In theory, it can show weather updates, suggest taking the day easy if Galaxy Health detects poor sleep, recommend Spotify playlists from your favorite artists, display news and calendar events, and suggest YouTube Shorts. However, in my experience, it has mostly been a glorified weather app. It couldn't detect my Google Fit data synced with Galaxy Health and didn't show me any news. The suggested Spotify playlists weren't based on my preferences either. Samsung claims the service will improve over time, so I'll update this review if I notice changes. One UI 7 introduces the Now Bar, a new way to display active app notifications on the lock screen. If you have a timer, music player, or navigation running, they appear as stacked cards on the lock screen that you can swipe and interact with. It reminds me of Dynamic Island and Live Activities on iPhones and, in a similar fashion, supports a limited number of apps at launch. I expect it to gain support for more apps as developers integrate it into their products. For now, it feels like a nice feature in its early stages. Also: Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. iPhone 16: I compared the base models that most people should buy Other Galaxy AI party tricks include Portrait Studio for creating 3D cartoons and sketches from portraits, Sketch to Image, and Generative AI for adding objects to photos. These features are more refined and consistent, but tasks like Generative AI and background expansion in the Gallery app can still take more than 10 seconds to process. The Galaxy S25 also includes Gemini AI upgrades. The new, transformed version of Google Assistant can be triggered by a long press of the side button. It allows you to ask for information, plan things, and send WhatsApp messages to contacts. It's better at handling multiple commands in a single line, and I'm looking forward to broader third-party app support. While it may seem like an underwhelming upgrade on paper, I've enjoyed using the Samsung Galaxy S25. My only gripe is its inability to capture moving subjects well without adjusting the shutter speed in Expert RAW. If you can overlook that, this is a solid phone for $799 -- and an even better deal if you can snag it with a trade-in offer or promotion. Compared to Google and Apple, the Galaxy S25 offers a better display, the best in-hand feel in its segment, a more versatile camera setup, and good battery life. It's better than the similarly priced Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 -- and my top pick for anyone looking for a compact flagship right now.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Review: A Compact Flagship For Everyone

Samsung's new Galaxy S25 is the series' most pocketable device. Both in its form factor and price starting at $799.99 the same as last year's S24. It shares a similar flair to its previous iterations with under-the-hood changes and AI enhancements. Having used the phone for a week, I can confidently tell you that it's the best Galaxy Samsung has introduced in a while but takes the title for the best compact phone of the year already, in this review of the Samsung Galaxy S25. If you are a nerd like me then you may want to check out the key specifications of the Galaxy S25 before going any further. In typical Samsung style, the company has not only gone minimal with the box design but its contents as well. It has a black textured look with the silhouette of the device at the top. Inside you'll find these contents: A good phone is known not just for its design, build, and internals but the software as well. Samsung's One UI 7 (review) is already preached for its stability, regular updates, and customizations. But this year, the company went ahead and gave the entire interface a refreshing coat of paint. Everything from the icons, Quick settings, and Recents has received a whole new look. So you'll be welcomed with a new setup screen when you boot up the S25 for the first time. We have discussed all the changes in One UI 7 in a separate read and covered the interface in depth as well. But if you saw this year's Galaxy Unpacked event, you'll know AI was the star of the show. Samsung calls the Galaxy S25 series the True AI companion for all the features they have packed in. There are plenty of AI additions in the S25 this time around, like AI call transcripts which can record or transcribe calls in multiple languages. Or Now briefs which show a report of all the necessary things you want to check at a glance. Though my favorite ones were Writing Assist which can help you fix errors, proofread or change the tone of the texts, and work on any app. Along with the Audio eraser that removes unnecessary noise from videos so you can clearly hear the subject. Then there is the new Gemini agent which can perform multiple tasks from one command. I can ask it to find nearby Chinese restaurants and share it with my friend on WhatsApp at once. Without me interfering once, it does all of it in seconds. So I can say that these new Galaxy AI features seem more practical compared to what Samsung offered last year. The best aspect is that given the concern for privacy lingering around AI, these features mostly work on-device. We have the Icy Blue color variant of the Galaxy S25 with us at Beebom. Before this, I was using the Galaxy S24 to test the One UI 7 Beta, and switching to this device made all the refinements apparent immediately. It's the lightest Galaxy device in the past five years coming at 162 grams only. The width has also slimmed down to 7.2mm compared to last year's model which was 7.6mm in width. Not sure how Samsung lost this much weight while keeping most of the internals the same. They also chamfered the previously flat edges. It all comes together to make the phone very comfortable and easy to hold. The sides no longer make it difficult to grip the device, nor does it seem too top-heavy. It's the ideal blend of what works for these little smartphones, and Samsung has only refined its winning formula. The vertical triple camera setup has a ring around it, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It rests on S25's Armor Aluminum 2 frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 rear glass. So it can take a fall, and don't tell my editor, but it did slide out of my grasp once. Fortunately, there was no scratch to speak of. The phone is also IP68 certified for dust and water protection, which safeguards from such accidents. Apart from this, it's the usual affair of volume and power buttons on the right. USB-C port, speaker, and SIM tray at the bottom, a plain left, and two mics at the top. The front houses a beautiful 6.2-inch Full HD+ 2x AMOLED display. As always, Samsung has gone with its best panel which outputs slightly saturated colors, and inky but detailed blacks. Watching the recent Mission Impossible was such a thrilling experience on this display. The bezels are so slim, that at one point, they completely disappear making it seem like you're just holding the screen itself. This panel also houses the fast ultrasonic fingerprint scanner and is covered by the same Gorilla Glass Victus 2 as the back. Samsung has also done a charming job with the speakers this time. The stereo setup sounds fuller and has a good depth for lower frequencies. It isn't immediately noticeable until you put it side-by-side with the Galaxy S24. Then it becomes evident. Samsung has outfitted the Galaxy S25 with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite (benchmarks) in all regions. To be more precise, it is 8 Elite designed for Galaxy or a more optimized version of the chipset. This is coupled with 8GB LPDDR5X RAM and 128 or 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Those of you who watch performance comparisons must be really happy reading the spec sheet. For those who don't know what I am on about should check out the benchmark numbers in the images above. I couldn't believe the numbers when I saw them for the first time. The Galaxy S25 outputs almost a 33% jump in results across the board compared to the S24 running Exynos 2400. I also conducted several gameplay tests. In games like Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG Mobile, the graphics default to maximum. I played them both at 120FPS with medium graphics, and they performed smoothly. With Genshin Impact, I enabled performance mode and even it couldn't make a dent. The S25 remained cool as I fought multiple foes during my 30-minute gaming session at high visuals and 60FPS. It even handled the problematic Warzone Mobile. With the visuals set to High and the FPS to Unlocked, I jumped into a match of battle royale. There were few performance hiccups, particularly during intensive gunfights, but it never slowed to a crawl. These issues were rectified when switching to low graphics. The best part was that it didn't heat up much. We can thank the 8 Elite for this which somehow outputs such good performance without heating up like a steam engine. Another charming effect of using the Snapdragon 8 Elite is its effect on battery life. Despite delivering such levels of performance, it somehow manages to be battery-efficient. I had assumed that the tiny 4,000mAh cell of the S25 won't be able to last very long. However, I got around 4.5 to 5 hours of screen time which was on par with the S24. When kept idle, the device only lost 2-4% battery in overnight drain. These results were consistent in my week's worth of usage. The only big difference was the initial day of testing when I ran all the benchmarks. While I am content with the battery, I wish Samsung had bumped up the charging speed from 25 watts. The smartphone takes just a little over an hour to charge to full from an empty tank. This speed slows to a crawl if you go the wireless route. The Galaxy S25 comes with a combo of three sweet snappers. This includes a a 50MP main sensor, a 10MP 3x telephoto lens, a 12MP ultra-wide snapper, with another 12MP selfie shooter on the front. This is a tried and tested setup that Samsung has used in the Galaxy S24 series as well, and it keeps flexing it's muscles in this device too. The 50MP f/1.7 shooter is the highlight for me. This 24mm lens captures some great photos with all the elements carrying rich details. The smartphone keeps a tight focus on the subject while preserving highlights. The colors are vibrant, though slightly toned down to give a natural appeal. I like this balance as they photos don't look devoid of colors as with some other flagships devices. The 10MP 3x telephoto helps you get close and personal with your subjects. You can use it to take some scenic shots, whether it is a bright sunny day or neon filled lights of Connaught place in Delhi. The real show of talent is using this lens for capturing human subjects. It creates a light bokeh which makes your subject stand out. The Samsung's post processing further hightens the image quality. The 12MP ultrawide also serves well and takes neat looking wide shots. There's not a lot of fish eye effect to speak of here, and the 120 degrees of view is enough that you don't need to back up much to capture the whole view. I like the results it produces which appear clear and on par with some other flagship phones. Though at night, things can get slightly grainy at times. On the selfie front, the S25's 12MP shooter clicks natural-looking photos. They looks pretty nice, and the shots are on par with what we had with the Galaxy S24. The portrait mode here does its job well and properly blurs the background for some social media-ready snaps. As for the video front, the phone can do up to 8K video in 30FPS, and shoot 4K 60FPS video from all its cameras. Including the front one which makes it a compelling option for those who like to capture vlogs. The good news here is that you can record Super Steady footage at 4K 60 FPS too. In my S25 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max comparison, I mentioned that Samsung has found a safe design language that they want to stick with. There is nothing wrong with that as long as they keeping refining further which they have done here. I also have to give the company kudos for going with the 8 Elite chipset across all regions. I have nothing against Samsung's Exynos processors but in all honesty, Qualcomm simply does it better. As discussed at the start, the Galaxy S25 starts at $799.99 which is the same price as the S24. Without any price increase, you get an improved design, better battery efficiency, a 33% increase in performance, and new AI stuff to play with. If you want a compact phone with the latest and greatest of everything that there is, then your options are pretty slim. And the chipset alone is a compelling enough reason to pick this phone at the moment. It is promised to get 7 years of updates, and I put my belief in the processor that 7 years down the line, the Galaxy S25 will be chugging smoothly as ever.

I'd like the Samsung Galaxy S25 just as much without the AI

I'm Google Editor here at AP, and I spend most of my time carrying a Pixel. Samsung plays a central role in the Android ecosystem, though, and I've used plenty of its phones over the years, too. I reviewed the S24+ last year and the S23+ the year before, and I liked them both just fine. This year, I'm tackling the smallest Galaxy S25. I've been using the S25 for just over three days now, and being a fan of small phones, I'm loving the compact hardware. But the hardware is hardly new; the S25 series is all about One UI 7 and Galaxy AI, and I can't say I'm as enthusiastic on that front. Here's how I'm feeling about the new Samsung Galaxy S25, 72 hours in. The Galaxy S25 feels great Samsung's premium hardware has always been some of the best you'll find in the smartphone space, and the Galaxy S25 is in keeping with that legacy. The S25 looks and feels a lot like last year's Galaxy S24, but it's slightly (read: almost imperceptibly) smaller and lighter. I'm a little torn about this. On the one hand, the general look and feel Samsung's been working with for three generations running now is quite nice: it's clean and minimal, and the S25 feels good in the hand. It's a smaller and more comfortable device than Google's Pixel 9 or Pixel 9 Pro, which makes it an appealing option for anyone into compact phones. But while it's a little more svelte than the newest Pixels, the Galaxy S25 also doesn't have much character to it. In reviewing the larger Galaxy S24+ last year, I said that it looked like what you'd get if you stopped someone on the street and asked them to draw a phone: the Galaxy S24 and S24+ are plain rectangles with some cameras on one side and a screen on the other. And so is the Galaxy S25. The design is inoffensive and the hardware feels good overall, but there's nothing to point to in the S25 as a definitively Samsung piece of design. It's just... a phone. A well put together phone, but not an especially exciting one. Related I tried the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S25 to see which small phone feels better When small flagships compete, we all win Posts 10 People tend to keep phones longer than they used to, though, and anyone upgrading to the S25 from an Android phone released more than a couple of years ago won't mind that, visually, it looks like Samsung's released the same phone three years in a row. Next to a modern Google or OnePlus phone, though, the Galaxy S25 looks awfully basic. I've only run into a couple of issues with the hardware, and both are nitpicks. For one, the power button is a little wiggly -- not ideal in an $800 phone. There are also small gaps between the rings surrounding the three rear cameras and the back glass of the phone. I've only been carrying the S25 for a few days, but I can already tell the cameras are going to be a hotspot for pocket lint and pet hair. I don't think One UI 7 is my cup of tea The Galaxy S25 series is debuting Samsung's newest One UI 7 software, built on Android 15. I don't like it very much. The most notable new UI element is the Now Bar, Samsung's take on features like OnePlus's Live Alerts and, to an extent, Apple's Dynamic Island. The Now Bar pops up at the bottom of the lock screen under certain conditions -- when you have a timer going, for example, or when you're playing media. It gives you info at a glance, which can be handy, and it's visible on the always-on display by default, even when your notifications aren't. Most of the time when the Now Bar has popped up in my first few days with the S25, it's to show me One UI 7's new Now Brief. Now Brief is sort of like a legacy Google feature called Google Now: both try to surface relevant information at helpful times, including weather, calendar events, traffic information, and the like. I'm open to the possibility that Now Brief will get more useful over time as One UI comes to grips with my phone habits, but inside my first 72 hours on the Galaxy S25, it's been patently useless. It always shows the hourly weather forecast, which is nice. It also surfaces recommendations for news stories, user-generated Spotify playlists, and YouTube Shorts -- which, so far as I can tell, don't take my preferences into account. Now Brief is ostensibly AI powered, of course, but I'm yet to see it do anything yet that regular, non-AI algorithms haven't been handling on smartphones for years (Google Now debuted in 2012). It also surfaces content I definitely don't need AI to find: if I'm wondering what the weather will be doing in a few hours or I want to listen to some music, it's no more difficult to manually open the weather app or Spotify than it is to access Now Brief. The most AI-y thing I've seen Now Brief do is surface photos I'd taken earlier that same day (ah, memories), and even that doesn't seem like it should require any AI intervention. The one place I've seen Samsung apply its AI in a way that really makes sense is in the settings app, where you can search in natural language -- so if you didn't know what specific setting you need to find, you can search something like "my eyes hurt" to reach display settings. Not something I need personally, but a practical application of the tech. Another noteworthy AI inclusion: Google Gemini is the default digital assistant on the S25. Bixby is still around, but Gemini is pre-installed and mapped to a long press on the power button. You might not be especially interested in Gemini, but I don't think many people would argue Bixby provides a better assistant experience, especially now that Gemini can interact with Samsung's stock apps. (If you're a true Bixby sicko, you can remap the button to Samsung's in-house assistant.) For me, One UI 7 still requires a lot of tweaking before it feels comfortable. Samsung ships a lot of bloat on its flagships (get out of here, Facebook and LinkedIn); the default app drawer is annoying; Edge panel and Samsung Wallet shortcuts get in the way. The default display density is weird, too -- it seems tuned for an even smaller phone, with text rendering large and UI elements in many apps surrounded by unnecessary negative space. If you're a One UI fan, these things might not bother you. But coming from any other major US smartphone brand, the Galaxy S25's software feels... busy. Related Why I wouldn't buy a Galaxy S25+ if I had a modern Samsung phone Not the experience I was promised Posts 6 A word on performance (the word is 'good') I'm not an especially demanding user, but the Galaxy S25's performance has been top notch so far. I haven't experienced any slowness, any hanging, any hiccups. Granted, the most intensive tasks I'm likely to do on a phone are navigating in Google Maps or playing a few matches in Pokémon TCG Pocket. But the S25 is certainly up to the task. Battery life's been fine, too. I haven't run the S25 into the ground yet, but based on my usage so far, it's looking like I'll be getting about six hours of screen time on a full charge -- with the AOD wallpaper active. That's hardly exceptional, and I'd happily sacrifice a little performance headroom or thinness for another hour or two of use between charges. But six hours is fine for my needs. If you can't live with that kind of battery life, the S25+ might be more your speed. There's still plenty of testing to do I've only been using the Samsung Galaxy S25 for a few days, so there's plenty I don't know about it yet. I'm really keen to get a better idea of camera performance; Samsung's cameras historically haven't been my favorites, and I'm hoping this can be the year that changes. Look out for our full review sometime in the next week. Samsung Galaxy S25 Samsung's Galaxy S25 keeps things small without sacrificing power. With a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB of RAM, and all sorts of tools courtesy of Galaxy AI, this is everything you expect from a modern flagship squeezed into a relatively svelte chassis. $800 at Samsung $800 at Best Buy $800 at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S25+ vs. Samsung Galaxy S23+: Leaping into the AI generation

An AI powerhouse Samsung Galaxy S25+ Samsung's Galaxy S25+ continues to be the ideal middle ground in the company's flagship lineup, offering an expansive, crisp, and bright display for those who don't need the advanced features of the S25 Ultra. Pros & Cons Oustanding 6.7-inch screen with even slimmer bezels Excellent performance Advanced AI capabilities, including Gemini Live Design is getting a bit bland Not all AI features are useful $1000 at Samsung Still going strong Samsung Galaxy S23+ The Galaxy S23+ offers surprisingly solid performance for an older phone, with the ability to handle many of Samsung's latest Galaxy AI and One UI 7 features. It's hampered mostly by weaker battery life, a shorter update policy, and a lower-resolution display than its successors. Pros & Cons Great performance All-day battery life Solid build quality Photos can be overprocessed Still a bit pricey Nearing the end of its Android update cycle $970 at Amazon Samsung kicked off 2025 with its annual Galaxy Unpacked event, ushering in an exciting year for smartphones with its new Galaxy S25 series. It's the same trio of flagships, upgraded with cutting-edge silicon to power a more mature set of AI features. Samsung gave us a taste of this last year with Galaxy AI, but the Galaxy S25 lineup feels like it's coming into its own. The latest phones embraced the "Gemini Era" by adopting Gemini Live as the standard voice assistant and packing more powerful image processing to take photography to new heights. Samsung's Galaxy S Plus models have always been the sweet spots among the company's flagships, offering a class-leading full-sized smartphone for folks who don't need all the bells and whistles of the pricier Ultra models. This year, the Galaxy S25+ solidifies that position, but is it a worthy upgrade over the Galaxy S23+, a two-year-old model that still handles the latest software updates and a solid collection of Galaxy AI features? Let's take a look at how Samsung's two middle children compare. Read our Ranking Best Samsung phones in 2025 There's a Samsung phone for everyone Posts Price, availability, and specs The Samsung Galaxy S25+ is up for preorder from Samsung and will land in physical and online retail stores, carriers, and customers' hands on February 7. The base 256GB model sells for $1,000, with a 512GB version available for $1,120. Samsung's usual aggressive trade-on offers are available and can shave quite a bit off those prices. The standard colors for this year's models are navy, mint, Icy Blue, and Silver Shadow. Unlocked versions ordered from Samsung.com also come in exclusive Blueback, Corralled, and Pinkgold finishes. Released two years ago, the Galaxy S23+ is hard to find in new condition, although Samsung still sells the 256GB version in lavender on its website for the original price of $1,000. Certified renewed models are available from Samsung for as little as $769 for 256GB. Even better deals on renewed models can be found at Amazon, with prices as low as $500. The Galaxy S23+ originally came in Phantom Black, green, cream, and lavender, with exclusive graphite and lime finishes available from Samsung. However, you'll have difficulty finding most of these colors in the renewed market. Phantom Black seems to be commonly available. Samsung Galaxy S25+Samsung Galaxy S23+SoCQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for GalaxyQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for GalaxyDisplay type120Hz AMOLEDAMOLED, 120HzDisplay dimensions6.7 inches6.6"Display resolution3120 x 14402340 x 1080RAM12GB8GBStorage256GB/512GB256GB or 512GBBattery4,900mAh4,700mAhCharge speed45W wired, 15W wireless45W wired (Quick Charge 2.0, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging), 15W wireless (Samsung Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, WPC), Wireless PowerShareCharge optionsWired, wireless, wireless powershareUSB-C wired, Qi wirelessPortsUSB-CUSB-COperating SystemAndroid 15, One UI 7One UI 5.1 w/ Android 13Front camera12MP f/2.212MP f/2.2Rear camera50MP, f/1.8 OIS main; 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide; 10MP, f/2.4 telephoto (3× zoom)50MP f/1.8 OIS main, 12MP f2.2 wide (120°), 10MP f/2.4 OIS telephoto (3x)Cellular connectivity5G, 4G LTELTE, 5G, mmWaveWi-Fi connectivityWi-Fi 7Wi-Fi 6EConnectivityNFC, UWB, Wireless DeX4G, 5G, UWB, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFCBluetoothBluetooth 5.4Bluetooth 5.3Dimensions158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm163.3 × 78 × 8.9mmWeight190g196gIP RatingIP68IP68ColorsSilver Shadow, Navy, Ice Blue, MintPhantom, Cream, Green, Lavender + Samsung.com exclusive Lime, GraphiteStylusNoNoPrice$1,000From $1,000 Read our review Samsung Galaxy S23+: No S Pen, no problem The middle S23 is the best one for most people Posts Design A new style for a new era While this year's Galaxy S25+ doesn't change much aesthetically over last year's model, the Galaxy S24+, it inherits the same changes that set that one apart from the Galaxy S23+. The Galaxy 25+ preserves the iPhone-like flat edges of its predecessor. Apple may have led the way into flat edges among mainstream smartphones four years ago, but Samsung made it popular in the Android world. Nearly every manufacturer now embraces the new flatness, but Samsung's Galaxy S25+ remains distinctively a Samsung phone. That's because as soon as you flip it over, you'll see the same trademark triple-camera array that's become Samsung's hallmark. The Galaxy S23+ eschewed the camera bump in favor of a more refined design with all three lenses protruding independently. It's an elegant and uncluttered look, and we're glad Samsung stuck with it. The Galaxy S23+ is part of the same pedigree as its successors, but the Galaxy S25+ feels like it's all grown up. Its edges are flat but not sharp, and the design allowed Samsung to shrink the bezels even more. The result is a 0.1-inch increase in screen size over the Galaxy S23+ that comes more from a reduced frame than an increased size. The Galaxy S25+ grows by only 0.7mm in height over the S23+ but reduces the thickness by 0.3mm. The Galaxy S25+ and S23+ are tied for durability, at least on paper. Both feature Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus 2, Samsung's Armor Aluminum frame, and IP68 dust and water resistance that lets them survive a dip in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes. Display Big and bold The Galaxy S25+ has a larger 6.7-inch screen that follows in the footsteps of last year's model, which was a substantial upgrade over the Galaxy S23+. The screen makes good use of its 0.1-inch size increase by pushing the resolution to a QHD 3120 x 1440 pixel resolution, a healthy bump over the 2340 x 1080 FHD quality of the Galaxy S23+. The result is a crisper screen, at 514 pixels per inch (ppi), compared to the 393 ppi of the Galaxy S23+. In the Galaxy S23 lineup, the S23 Ultra had a noticeable quality advantage, but that gap no longer exists with the Galaxy S25+, which now sports the same resolution as its pricier sibling. Samsung Galaxy S23+ The Galaxy S25+ screen also gets considerably brighter, reaching 2,600 nits outdoors compared to 1,750 nits on the Galaxy S23+, and the variable refresh rate was extended downward to let it drop to 1Hz to deliver longer battery life and some nice improvements to the always-on display. Last year, Samsung introduced a richer always-on display in One UI 6.1 with the Galaxy S24+ with a more colorful and dynamic view that could include the user's wallpaper and not just the time. Despite being a feature of One UI, this didn't come to the Galaxy S23+ as that older display bottoms out at 48Hz. The Galaxy S25+ still supports this feature. While Apple's original implementation proved it's not everyone's cup of tea, Samsung made it easy to bend it to your will. Software Welcome to the AI generation The Galaxy S25+ ships with the latest Android 15 release and heralds the official arrival of One UI 7, a significant update that feels greater than the sum of its parts. With One UI 7, Samsung has rethought some of its core user interface designs. There are enough changes here that long-term One UI fans will need to make some adjustments, but we think most will be happy with the new way of doing things when they become accustomed to it. Samsung Galaxy S23+ users can also get One UI 7. The Galaxy S25+ has it out of the box, but the Galaxy S23+ shouldn't be far behind. While One UI 7 impressed us with how much more smoothly it ran on the Galaxy S24 lineup during the December beta, we'll have to wait and see how well it performs on the older Galaxy S23+. One UI 7 introduces a slew of new Galaxy AI tools, including swapping out Samsung's classic Bixby assistant for Gemini Live, a Now Bar that provides Live Activities similar to the iPhone, and a Now Brief that gives you a glanceable summary of important information, from news and weather to your schedule and health metrics. Some of these features will likely come to the Galaxy S23+ when it gets One UI 7, but there's little doubt it will perform better on the Galaxy S25+ due to the enhanced AI processing capabilities offered by its newer silicon. The Galaxy S23+ will also reach the end of its software updates sooner than the Galaxy S25+. Samsung only promised four years of software updates for the Galaxy S23 series, and we've used two of those, which means the last it will get is Android 17. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25+ will be good for seven years of updates, taking it to Android 22 someday. Performance Living on the edge Samsung put the best silicon available in this year's Galaxy S25 models, using a customized "for Galaxy" version of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip in all three models everywhere. This represents a two-generation upgrade over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip in the Galaxy S23+, which also followed a Snapdragon-only policy. Qualcomm rebranded its Snapdragon chip with the "Elite" moniker this year, but it's effectively the Gen 4. The Galaxy S25+ is ahead of the Galaxy S23+ in raw performance, but we're not sure most folks will notice this in daily use. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was already ahead of its time in 2023, and we've never had complaints about it being slow. The faster performance and souped-up Adreno GPU in the Snapdragon 8 Elite will make a big difference for serious gamers. Still, both phones should be equally snappy when performing everyday tasks. The Galaxy S25+ gets a boost from an improved neural processing unit (NPU) that's nearly twice as fast as the one found in the Galaxy S23+. This allows for more advanced image processing in the camera, better natural language processing for Gemini Live, and faster execution of on-device language models for things like summaries and writing tools. When Samsung unveiled its Galaxy AI features in early 2024, it did its best to bring those to older Samsung devices, and the Galaxy S23 got many of the same AI tools as the Galaxy S24 lineup. However, it was left out of a few, and it's reasonable to assume that we'll see the same thing with this year's One UI 7 release. You'll need a Galaxy S25 model to take advantage of everything Galaxy AI offers. Battery life Power efficiency is key The Galaxy S25+ packs a 4,900mAh cell, which is a modest upgrade over the 4,700mAh battery of the Galaxy S23+. However, it boasts greater battery life thanks to this year's more efficient Snapdragon chip. The Galaxy S23+ can get you through a day of typical use, but you'll likely need to hit a charger every night. Heavy gaming or long streaming video sessions could empty the tank prematurely, but lighter users could get the better part of a second day. We'll have to wait until we've put the Galaxy S25+ through its paces to see how it holds up. Last year's Galaxy S24+ had no problem getting through a 15-hour day with five hours of screen time, an hour of gaming, and 20 minutes of GPS navigation, with 23% remaining at bedtime. We expect the Galaxy S25+ to do even better, as we've seen what Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip can do on the OnePlus 13, which boasts stellar battery life. One area where the Galaxy S25+ hasn't moved the needle is in charging speeds. It still caps out at 45W for wired charging or 15W for wireless. There's no direct support for the new Qi2 standard, although you can bridge that gap by adding a magnetic case. The Galaxy S23+ has the same wireless charging speeds and Qi support. Camera Same hardware with better software It's become evident in recent years that the race to improve megapixel counts and other smartphone camera specs is over. Today, the improvements are all about the software and deeper hardware, such as image signal processors (ISPs) and NPUs. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in Samsung's Galaxy S series smartphones. The Galaxy S25+ has the same camera hardware as its recent predecessors, including the Galaxy S23+: a 50-megapixel (MP) primary, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP telephoto. The improved photographic prowess of the Galaxy S25+ comes from the enhanced AI processing in the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which promises computational photography advancements in recognizing scenes and objects, reducing noise, and improving dynamic range. Samsung also bolstered its ProVisual Engine with a new "Nightography" mode that offers better low-light performance. There's also support for 10-bit HDR video and native support for the professional Log V3 video format. It's hard to say how well the Galaxy S25+ will perform until we've done some photographic comparisons. However, the improvements in last year's Galaxy S24+ make us optimistic that the Galaxy S25+ will do even better. For years, Samsung's phones have leaned heavily into vibrancy and saturation, often producing over-processed images. The Galaxy S24+ was a nice course correction last year, with the ProVisual Engine giving photos a more natural and balanced look. We're hoping the Galaxy S25+ continues this trend. Should you upgrade? Most smartphone makers understand that most folks switch to a new phone every two to three years or more. This is why many flagships only offer modest year-over-year upgrades. The Galaxy S25+ may not be a huge leap over the Galaxy S24+, but it's a significant enough jump over the Galaxy S23+ to make it worth considering. It's probably not surprising that the Galaxy S25+ is all about AI. It will be a compelling upgrade for those fascinated by these new features, which embrace Google's "Gemini Era" in a big way. However, there's more to the Galaxy S25+ than AI. Serious gamers will enjoy a better chip with an enhanced GPU, the new One UI 7 was made for Samsung's latest phones and should run buttery smooth, and the cameras promise a noticeable quality improvement. You also get a crisper and brighter screen with a lower refresh rate that helps extend battery life, particularly for using the always-on display and streaming videos. Best overall Samsung Galaxy S25+ Samsung's Galaxy S25+ has everything most folks are looking for in a modern flagship, with top-notch performance, excellent battery life, and a crisp and bright display. New AI features improve photography and videography, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip has a souped-up GPU that should help drive mobile gaming to new heights. $1000 at Samsung $1000 at Best Buy $1000 at Amazon If you're a Samsung fan on a budget, a renewed Galaxy S23+ at half the price may be worth considering. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip is more than powerful enough for everyday use, the cameras are competent, and it's powerful enough to handle many of the best One UI 7 and Galaxy AI features. However, you'll only get two more years of Android updates before it's put out to pasture. There are other midrange Android phones in a competitive price range that you can purchase brand new with more current specs. Samsung on a Budget Samsung Galaxy S23+ $970 at Amazon $1000 at Best Buy $1000 at Samsung

4 reasons the Galaxy S25 Ultra is the right choice for your first Samsung phone

Pre-order numbers reveal buyers are Ultra-impressed with Samsung's new top-of-the-line flagship If you've been following our coverage of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, you'll see that we have mixed opinions on the phone. While it's undoubtedly a phenomenally powerful phone that's packed with features, in many ways it feels like a sideways step for Samsung. The company simply hasn't innovated enough to make us wholeheartedly recommend the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but if you've never owned a Samsung phone before, it might be the best phone you can buy in 2025. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is not a significant upgrade over the S24 Ultra, but it is substantially different from every other Android phone on the market, despite Samsung's move away from the Ultra's distinctive silhouette. Here's why the S25 Ultra might be the perfect choice for your first Android phone. 4 A perfectly balanced suite of features Plenty of customization options Every Android OEM takes a different approach to its implementation of Android on their phones. Some, like Google, take a bare-bones approach; Pixel phones are the closest to stock Android in 2025. Pixel phones might offer fewer software features than other Android phones, but in general, they all work well together. It's the best choice if you want an Android phone that just works without any fanfare. At the other end of the scale are Android skins like Xiamoi's HyperOS, which pairs an impressive suite of features with bloatware and a frustrating amount of bugs. Great if you want lots of features, terrible if you want to enjoy using your phone. Samsung has sometimes erred on the side of bloat with OneUI, but OneUI 7 brings a variety of powerful and useful features that show that Samsung now offers the most customizable and useful Android experience on the market. From the Now Bar that shows relevant information at a glance, to notification filters, it's a significant upgrade for the Android skin. Related 6 powerful new One UI 7 features every Samsung user needs to try The most significant visual change in years Posts 3 OneUI 7 is coming to older Galaxy devices, which means you don't need the S25 Ultra to enjoy its features. However, the powerful chipset and upgraded screen are the best way to experience the new features. With seven years of software support, you can hold onto the S25 Ultra until at least 2032. The upgraded chipset is also vital for powering One UI's AI tasks 3 The best phone for handling demanding AI tasks Use generative AI without a hiccup It's impossible to avoid AI features when picking out a new Android phone in 2025. So if you're going to get a new phone, you might as well get one that does AI well. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset is the driving force behind the AI features on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. AI features are notoriously demanding on your phone's battery life and performance, but the improved power efficiency of the Elite lets you perform any AI task without wiping out your phone's battery. Thanks to the chipset, you also won't need to rely on the cloud as much as features like Generative Edit are processed on-device. Older phones like the S24 Ultra rely on the cloud for this feature. Galaxy S25 phones are also the first non-Pixel devices to support Gemini Nano. If you don't want to use Gemini, you can try the new AI-powered Bixby assistant. In short, if you want the smoothest and most up-to-date AI experience, choose the Galaxy S25 Ultra. 2 The lightest and most comfortable Ultra phone yet The differences are small but significant Samsung has rounded the corners of the S25 Ultra, which brings it in line with the silhouette of every modern flagship Android and iOS phone. While it's a shame to lose the Ultra's distinctive silhouette, the rounded corners and flat frame don't dig into your hand like previous Ultra phones. The phone is lighter by 14g, thinner by 0.4mm, and narrower by 1.4mm than the S24 Ultra. These aren't big numbers, but for phones known for being big and heavy, a small reduction in size and weight is massive. Don't worry about screen size either, thanks to a minor reduction in bezel size, the screen is 0.1 inches bigger than the S24 Ultra. It's tough to justify upgrading from an S23 Ultra or S24 Ultra with these numbers in mind, but if you're on the edge of making the jump to the Galaxy series, this Ultra phone is a more comfortable experience than earlier iterations. It makes it easier to make the switch from a smaller phone like the Pixel 9. 1 Relatively safe without a case You can only get Gorilla Glass Armor 2 here We always recommend picking up a case for your Android phone. It's the simplest way to extend the lifespan of your Android phone, but you can't show off how good your phone looks, as everyone just sees the case. If you prefer using your Android phone without a case, you'll be pleased to know that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra features new Gorilla Glass Armor 2 glass panels. This is exclusive to the S25 Ultra, and it is more durable and less reflective than its predecessor. In Corning's lab tests, the glass can survive drops up to 2.2m onto "a surface replicating concrete." Only time will tell how durable the Galaxy S25 Ultra's frame is, but it has the same titanium frame as the S24 Ultra. That phone proved that it was a top-tier choice when faced with brutal durability tests, so the S25 Ultra should be the same, if not better. When paired with the Gorilla Glass Armor 2, we can say that it's the best phone on the market if you want to avoid damage without a case. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is a good choice for your first Samsung phone We won't lie, there aren't many reasons to upgrade to the Galaxy S25 Ultra if you own any Galaxy S23 or S24 phone. However, switching from a device like the Pixel 9 gives you access to the best screen and chipset of any Android phone, a bigger variety of AI tools, and an Android skin packed with useful features. It'll last you for years, and you won't have to think about upgrading until at least 2030. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy Display type LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz Display dimensions 6.9" Display resolution 3120 x 1440 RAM 12GB Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Expand $1300 at Samsung $1300 at Best Buy $1300 at Amazon

5 unique and powerful features the make the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra stand apart from the competition

Pre-order numbers reveal buyers are Ultra-impressed with Samsung's new top-of-the-line flagship The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is available now, but many outlets (including us) have noticed that Samsung seems to have taken a lazy approach to hardware development this year. However, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra is not a huge step up from the S24 Ultra, it still has plenty of unique features that make it one of the best Android phones you can buy in 2025. Samsung emphasized the S25 series' AI features, which meant that other aspects of the S25 Ultra got lost in the Unpacked announcement. Features like Gorilla Armor 2 display, and the upgraded speakers are notable upgrades, but Samsung didn't delve into just how impressive these features are. If you're unsure about whether the Galaxy S25 Ultra is worth its high price, here are its best features that show it's a unique phone despite its unimpressive design. 5 Phenomenal anti-reflective display The display is a significant upgrade over the S24 Ultra's screen The rumors that the Galaxy S25 Ultra would feature Gorilla Armor 2 surfaced in December, but we didn't realize how significant this upgrade was until we got the phone in our hands. We were already impressed by the anti-reflective and scratch-resistant properties of the Gorilla Armor 1 featured on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra's display is on a whole new level. Take a look at this comparison photo shared by @theonecid on X to see the difference. As you can see, the difference is night and day. Videos of the S25 Ultra also show that the display looks impossibly vibrant in bright light. It's bizarre that Samsung didn't show off this feature more, as it's something you will appreciate every time you use the phone, and sets it leagues apart from the competition. On top of the S25 Ultra's anti-reflective properties, the display can survive drops up to 2.2. meters. While we would still recommend using a case, you can be more confident that the S25 Ultra will survive a drop than any other OEM's flagship Android phone. Gorilla Armor 2 is also exclusive to Galaxy S25 phones. 4 Speakers produce fuller and brighter sound Expect impressive audio quality without needing an external speaker or headphones Another feature that Samsung ought to have advertised more was the Galaxy S25's speakers. It's hard to spot at a glance, but it's the S25 Ultra's speaker grille is larger than the S24 Ultra's. Samsung hasn't explained why the S25 Ultra's speaker grille is bigger, or provided details on how it's improved the sound quality. Nevertheless, multiple outlets have reported that the S25 Ultra delivers better audio than the S24 Ultra. Samsung improves its phones' speakers every year, so the upgrade isn't unexpected. However, it seems to be a bigger jump in quality than usual. Whether it's a hardware or software upgrade, Samsung has done a fantastic job. 3 Satellite messaging connectivity However, the rollout is limited The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip in the Galaxy S25 Ultra is capable of satellite connectivity. The S25 phones are the first Android devices to support Qualcomm's Snapdragon Satellite connectivity feature, but there's a catch. While the S25 Ultra is capable of sending messages via satellite, only Verizon users will be able to make use of this feature. This is because Samsung, unlike Apple and Google, did not sign an agreement with satellite network provider Skylo. Instead, it handed the responsibility to carriers. This is a frustrating limitation, but it's a step in the right direction. Despite the limited rollout, the S25 Ultra can send messages over satellite. While we'll have to wait for this feature to become available in more carriers and countries, until then, Verizon users can feel smug. Apart from Verizon, no mobile network operators have announced support for satellite messaging on the Galaxy S25 series. 2 Capable of handling tough AI tasks From Gemini to Bixby AI, the Galaxy S25 Ultra can handle it all Software is where the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra shines, and nowhere is this renewed effort more clear than the S25 Ultra's powerful AI features. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has access to all the AI features of One UI 7, plus support for Google's latest Gemini Nano model. Gemini Nano is Google's large language model (LLM) designed to run directly on phones. The original version only worked with text, but Gemini Nano 2.0 can also handle images, voice, and audio inputs. It's currently only available on Pixel 9 and Galaxy S25 phones. Gemini Nano is optimized to run on phones, but it's still resource and power-hungry. This is where the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor comes into play, as its improved efficiency and performance let you run AI tasks without draining the S25 Ultra's battery. Related Samsung's One UI 7 ushers in the era of AI agents Coming first to the Galaxy S25 series Posts 1 Seamless updates make for easier software upgrades Gone are the days of lengthy restarts Until the Galaxy A55 launched in 2024, you had to restart every Samsung Galaxy phone to apply updates. This feature was disruptive, and it meant people put off applying updates to avoid long and inconvenient update times. Seamless updates apply software upgrades in the background, you only need to reboot your phone at the end to apply the update. Not only is it less disruptive, but there's less chance of failure as seamless updates create fallback partitions during the process. If there's a problem, your phone can switch back to the old partitions. All the Galaxy S25 phones offer seamless updates. We expect to see this feature on all future Galaxy phones, but in the meantime, you'll want a Galaxy S25 for the smoothest updates. With seven years of OS updates, you'll be able to appreciate this feature for a long time. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has plenty of great features Samsung would likely have made a bigger splash with the Galaxy S25 Ultra if it had announced that some of the best One UI 7 features were exclusive to the S25 series. Nevertheless, once you look past the dull exterior, the S25 Ultra has plenty of features that show it's a phone worth buying. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy Display type LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz Display dimensions 6.9" Display resolution 3120 x 1440 RAM 12GB Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Expand $1300 at Samsung $1300 at Best Buy $1300 at Amazon

5 promising Galaxy AI features on Samsung's latest S25 flagships

If Samsung wants me to care about the Galaxy S25, it should come in better colors It's no secret I've been critical of Galaxy AI in its current form on the new Samsung Galaxy S25 phones. It needs a bit more polish to be ready for prime time, especially if Samsung wants to use it as the main reason you'd buy a new Samsung in 2025. However, despite my initial disappointment, Galaxy AI is far from a lost cause. The sales pitch still sounds good, and if Samsung can deliver on the promise of Galaxy AI, I think the final result will be positive. Here are the 5 Galaxy AI features I'm most looking forward to if Samsung can right the ship. Related Samsung sold me the future but sent me the Galaxy S25+ instead Not the experience I was promised Posts 4 1 Now Brief I need more than just the weather and news Samsung presented Now Brief as a personal information dashboard curated with news and information about your day. It is designed to keep you up-to-date and organized. Unfortunately, my experience so far has been that Now Brief tells me about meetings and serves up bizarre news stories, with the occasional ski weather warning, even though I don't ski. I had to jump through hoops for Now Brief to start picking up and displaying health data, but it still doesn't provide meaningful insights. Despite its poor first impression, I'm hopeful Now Brief will become more helpful. Instead of just a widget hub listing information from various sources, I'd love for Now Brief to become a more active participant in my day. When I have a meeting different from the usual time, I'd like Now Brief to remind me to grab some lunch or realize I have a few stacked events and suggest working on something coming up later during downtime in between. If you're going to sell me on agentic AI solutions, that's what I want to see. The future is there; Samsung needs to deliver it. 2 Now Bar Samsung will need assistance from developers Similar to Now Brief, I expected more from the Now Bar. So far, it's helpful for media controls and telling me when there's a new Now Brief, but it has the potential to grow into more. I was excited to see Google Maps integration come to the Now Bar, giving me turn-by-turn navigation from the lock screen. I can also tap on the Now Bar to see more detailed information about the next direction and use it to end navigation when I arrive at my destination. Samsung will need assistance from third-party developers with the Now Bar. I'm optimistic app makers will adopt the Now Bar as an intuitive way to display information and aid our interactions. Sports scores are a fine start, but I'd love to see apps like Stellarium take advantage, letting me know when something extraordinary is happening in the night sky. Notifications still serve a purpose, but developers can get more inventive with the Now Bar. 3 Cross-app integration It needs to be easier Cross-app integration on the Galaxy S25 series allows you to access information and perform actions between multiple apps with a single prompt to the voice assistant. I generally got good results in early tests, but the output wasn't polished. I've had to go back and rewrite texts multiple times because of poor formatting or an impersonal tone. I hope it just needs more context over time. However, I have to parse words to ensure I get information from the right app. If I want to pull an event from my calendar and send it to a friend, I have to highlight that I want the information from my Google Calendar and that I want it sent to a friend over WhatsApp. I still find it easier to pull out the information myself. I'm not claiming there is a simple fix, but if you're advertising AI as a way to change my user experience, I need it to be more intuitive than what I'm already doing. I think cross-app integration shows a lot of promise, and I'm excited to see how it progresses over time, but it needs work in its current form. 4 Photo editing Galaxy AI shows it's getting better Samsung's photo editing tools have delivered the best of everything it promised from Galaxy AI. Samsung highlighted we'd be able to do more editing on the device, and the company focused on improving results from its generative editing tools. The early returns have been good, as I've had success removing an unwanted item or person from a photo and any artifacts, like shadows, they may leave behind. It's a more practical function of AI, and that's what I'd like to see more of from Galaxy AI. I still don't absolve Samsung for not giving us a more upgraded camera system for the Galaxy S25 lineup, but I have noticed improvements in its computational model. Photos look crisp with vibrant colors, and while they are nothing to brag about so far, they show Galaxy AI's potential to improve older hardware with up-to-date software models. 5 Video editing Never have another moment ruined Samsung did an excellent job integrating Galaxy AI enhancements into its video editing software. We saw several impressive demos of the Galaxy S25 identifying and isolating individual audio sources, allowing us to raise or lower the volume as needed. We saw extreme examples of people climbing mountains and reducing wind noise after recordings, but if I were Samsung, I would lean into more practical scenarios. When I look at Samsung's video editing tools, I don't think of hiking in the mountains, but I think of life events I can record without worrying they'll be ruined. I look forward to taking a video of my daughter's first school concert without obsessing over the noisy parent next to me overpowering the audio. When she walks for the first time, I love knowing I can edit out a particularly loud garbage truck in the background. It's about preserving and maintaining memories, and I think it's a highlight of Galaxy AI on the S25 series. It is a rough start, but there is room for improvement I may not recommend you buy a Galaxy S25 series phone based on Galaxy AI, but that doesn't mean I will completely dismiss its potential. Samsung has plenty of work to do, but the pieces are there for Galaxy AI to transform how we interact with our smartphones. Samsung should focus more on the practical and polishing how Galaxy AI handles daily tasks. Still, I'm confident there will be a tipping point where AI functionality becomes more straightforward than how we've interacted with our phones in the past. Samsung Galaxy S25 Samsung's Galaxy S25 keeps things small without sacrificing power. With a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB of RAM, and all sorts of tools courtesy of Galaxy AI, this is everything you expect from a modern flagship squeezed into a relatively svelte chassis. $800 at Samsung $800 at Best Buy $800 at Amazon Samsung Galaxy S25+ Samsung's Galaxy S25+ finds just the right middle ground between its two siblings. With a 6.7-inch display, up to 512GB of storage, and 12GB of RAM, this smartphone includes practically everything you could ask for in the modern AI age, without driving up the price. $1000 at Samsung $1000 at Best Buy $1000 at Amazon Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra leaves the Note-like design behind for the very first time. With flat edges, curved corners, and a massive 6.9-inch display, this is a modern flagship through and through -- and yes, that S Pen is still here too. $1300 at Samsung $1300 at Best Buy $1300 at Amazon

I won't be upgrading to Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra -- here's why

We're just under a week away from the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra release day, and with that comes a choice many Android phonemakers will have to make: Will you buy the phone, or skip it and choose something else instead? Frankly, for me at least, it's a pretty easy decision to make. The answer is a resounding no, and it's all down to the fact that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is one of the blandest upgrades I've seen over the past couple of years. Beaten only by the iPhone 14, which was essentially an iPhone 13 with some very minor upgrades. It's getting to the point where I'm wondering whether my money would be better spent buying a Galaxy S24 Ultra instead. When you look at the Galaxy S25 Ultra specs, and compare them to last year's model, there isn't a whole lot of what I'd consider "new" stuff. The screen is marginally bigger at 6.9-inches, and the chipset has been upgraded to a newer and faster model. There's also a version of Qi2, though it relies on a specialist case if you want the magnetic benefits. Really the only major hardware upgrade is the 50MP ultrawide camera. That's a useful upgrade, even if it is long overdue, and it's going to help the Galaxy S25 Ultra claim a position on our best camera phones page. But it's not the kind of upgrade that makes buying a whole new phone worthwhile. In fact there are a couple of places where the Galaxy S25 Ultra is either a downgrade compared to last year or still not on par with some of its main rivals. The S Pen is proving to be the most infamous of these, with Samsung stripping out the Bluetooth functionality and related features from the stylus -- claiming they weren't popular enough to keep around. Samsung claims that a Bluetooth enabled pen will go on sale as a standalone product, but that feels like a price hike with extra steps. Tom's Guide Phones Editor John Velasco also pointed out that the loss of Air Gestures meant that the Galaxy S25's desktop mode (DeX) isn't nearly as useful this time around. So it's no surprise that it hasn't stopped a petition trying to return the decision from appearing. Other notable omissions include any meaningful rise in wireless charging speeds, which is still stuck at 15W. The maximum amount of RAM available in the U.S. is also 12GB, despite rumors that a 16GB model could make an appearance. RAM is very important for on-device AI, and we're seeing other Android flagships like the Pixel 9 Pro boost its memory up to 16GB. Given how much Samsung has emphasized AI in the Galaxy S25 series, it's a massive surprise that the Ultra model now has the same amount of RAM as the standard and Plus models. There's more to a phone than mere hardware, and software does play a big part in what the device can do. Unfortunately it's unclear whether the Galaxy S25 offers much that won't also come to older phones. Samsung has spent a great deal of time discussing how the Galaxy S25 Ultra's software can benefit the phone and its users. AI in particular has been at the forefront of Samsung's marketing, offering up a bunch of ways Galaxy AI is improving this year. A big part of how Galaxy AI has changed involves the addition of AI agents, and multimodal capabilities that allow Galaxy AI to see and understand multiple kinds of input -- including speech, text, images and video. All with the aim of making the process of communicating with AI more natural. It's a big change for Samsung, even if these aren't particularly unique capabilities. For all the benefits Samsung has been lauding, it's unclear whether these improvements are general upgrades to Galaxy AI -- or features kept exclusively for the Galaxy S25 series. Samsung hasn't been particularly clear on this point, and the last thing anyone wants is to pick up a new $1,300 phone only to find that all its best features are also available on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. On the one hand Samsung does have the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which promises to offer greater performance and helps power more advanced on-device AI processing. But on the other hand, we've already seen that some features, like the Now Bar, are already available as part of the One UI 7 beta -- meaning it's available (in some form) on the year-old Galaxy S24 Ultra as well. Likewise improvements to Circle to Search and other Google-made AI features are likely to make their way to Pixels and other Android phones in the coming weeks and months. Not knowing what the future holds for Galaxy AI, and other software flourishes, makes me even more hesitant to take the plunge and pick up a Galaxy S25 Ultra. We don't know what One UI 7 has in store for older Galaxy phones, and if last year is anything to go by we could see a bunch of new AI features and upgrades make their way to older phones. Heck, even the Samsung Galaxy A35 supports some Galaxy AI features -- and that's $900 cheaper than the S25 Ultra. And bearing all that in mind, it has me seriously doubting whether the Galaxy S25 Ultra is worth it. If you have an older phone, or maybe even a mid-range model then perhaps the S25 Ultra will be a worthwhile upgrade. There's a lot on offer here, and while it does cost a lot, I have no doubt that the S25 Ultra will be one of the best phones you can buy. But that doesn't change the fact that this is a very disappointing upgrade, and it feels like Samsung hasn't tried that hard to give us a substantial upgrade. Whether its downgrades to the S Pen, minimal extra hardware, or software that could easily come to older phones in the near future, the Galaxy S25 Ultra doesn't really seem to have a unique selling point. Worse still the rounded design means that it's lost its visual distinctiveness compared to other phones. If you're spending $1,300 on a brand new phone, the last thing you need is either the same thing as last year, or something that doesn't stand out against the competition. Unfortunately the Galaxy S25 Ultra seems to hit both those boxes.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: what's new?

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025 This story is part of our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025 coverage Updated less than 1 minute ago Table of Contents Table of Contents Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: specs Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: design and display Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: performance and software Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: cameras Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: battery and charging Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus 2 vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: availability and price Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus 2 vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: verdict The Samsung Galaxy S25 series is a minor upgrade over its predecessors. Like every year, it contains three models, Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra. These smartphones are primarily differentiated by size. If you need a big phone but don't want to drop $1,300 on it, you should go for the Plus model. But what's new and should you spend on the Galaxy S25 Plus over the Galaxy S24 Plus? Or, if you already own the S24 Plus, should you spend on an upgrade for the newer model? If you look at the specs sheet, you might not find many differences when comparing the two Plus models. However, the upgrades this year are more experiential. Here's what you need to know if you are confused between the Galaxy S25 Plus and the Galaxy S24 Plus. Recommended Videos Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: specs Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus Display 6.7-inch QHD+ 1440 x 3120 resolution Dynamic AMOLED 2x 6.7-inch QHD+ 1440 x 3120 resolution Dynamic AMOLED 2x Refresh rate Adaptive 1-120Hz Adaptive 1-120Hz Dimensions and weight 6.24 x 2.98 x 0.29 inches 6.7 ounces 6.24 x 3.00 x 0.30 inches 6.95 ounces Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy Memory and storage 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB Colors Icyblue Navy Mint Silver Shadow Cobalt Violet Amber Yellow Marble Gray Onyx Black Camera Rear facing: 50MP main 12MP ultrawide 10MP telephoto Front facing: 12MP selfie Rear facing: 50MP main 12MP ultrawide 10MP telephoto Front facing: 12MP selfie Battery 4,900mAh 4,900mAh Charging 45W wired 15W wireless 4.5W reverse wireless 45W wired 15W wireless 4.5W reverse wireless Price Starting from $1,000 Starting from $1,000 Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: design and display The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S24 Plus feature a similar design language. You get a triple rear camera setup, flat sides with curved corners, and a flat display on the front. Both of them are comfortable to hold in the hand but the Galaxy S25 Plus is lighter and slightly slimmer than its predecessor. The weight difference is only noticeable when you hold them side by side. As for the looks, the new Navy color stands out for its bright and bold look. Both the phones feature the same display. You get a 6.7-inch QHD+ display AMOLED display, with support for an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. It can go down to 1Hz and up to 120Hz, depending on the type of content on the screen. The screen is easily legible in bright sunlight and makes content consumption an enjoyable experience. Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: performance and software The big difference between these two phones is all about performance and software. The Galaxy S25 Plus is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset. It is said to offer better performance than other Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered smartphones like the OnePlus 13 or Realme GT 7 Pro. On the other hand, the Galaxy S24 Plus sports the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy SoC, which is a year-old chipset but still capable to deliver flagship performance. Both phones come equipped with 12GB of RAM and in two storage variants of 256GB and 512GB. While the Galaxy S24 Plus introduced Galaxy AI, the Galaxy S25 Plus takes it a step further with cross-app AI agents and features like AI Select, AI Brief, and more. The latest device runs One UI 7, while the Galaxy S24 Plus is still on Android 14-based One UI 6.1. It is expected to receive the Android 15 upgrade with new Galaxy AI features soon. One UI 7 brings a refreshing list of features. For example, you get a Now Bar that's like Dynamic Island but sits at the bottom of the lock screen. It's a stack of cards from active apps like Spotify, stopwatch, navigation and more. You can swipe up to switch and interact with these cards. The Galaxy S25 Plus has a new Audio Eraser feature, which works like iPhone's Audio Mix when recording videos. It can detect up to six types of sound in a video to select, separate, and tune the sound to your liking. Other AI features include AI Select, Circle to Search and more that arel likely to make your experience better. While most of the new AI features are expected to come to the Galaxy S24 Plus, the Galaxy S25 Plus will last you a year longer where updates are concerned. If you are going for longevity, the Galaxy S25 Plus might be a better choice. Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: cameras Both Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S24 Plus come equipped with the same set of cameras. Samsung is banking on the new chipset for improved camera performance. It's unfortunate that we aren't getting a hardware upgrade in optics but we'll put the claims to test in our review and see how it performs. Both have a 50MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization (OIS), a 12MP ultrawide-angle sensor with 120-degree field-of-view, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP front camera for video calls and your selfie needs. There's no real difference between these two camera systems, so any improvements Samsung have made are likely to be fairly small. Of course, that may not be the case, so we'll have to wait and see. It's nothing to be sad about, though, as the Galaxy S24 Plus's camera was certainly capable, and nothing to mourn having. Notably, the camera system is the same as the $200 cheaper Galaxy S25, which is a bit of a disappointment if you were hoping to get more for your money. You'll need to spend $1,300 on the Galaxy S25 Ultra if you want the best cameras on a Samsung phone. Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: battery and charging Like the display and cameras department, Samsung hasn't upgraded the battery and charging tech on the Galaxy S25 Plus. Both phones pack a 4,900mAh battery with support for 45W wired charging, 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging support to top up your accessories when needed. Again, repeating what worked on the S24 Plus is no sin, as that phone was easily a two-day smartphone, and so we're expecting similar feats from the S25 Plus. Unlike the Chinese competitors, Samsung is yet to embrace silicon-carbon battery tech -- which could've allowed the company to add a bigger battery capacity this year. It seems like a missed opportunity but the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a efficient chipset, and we expect it to offer strong battery life for most people. Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus 2 vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: availability and price The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus costs the same as the launch price of the Galaxy S24 Plus. It is priced at $1,000 and is up for pre-order now. The phone comes in two variants 12GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 512GB storage. The Galaxy S25 Plus is now up for pre-orders. It'll go on sale starting February 7 and will be available from major retailers, both online and offline. Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus 2 vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: verdict The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is eerily similar to the Galaxy S24 Plus. It features the same camera setup, batter capacity and display tech as before. It's slimmer and lighter than before, which makes it more ergonomic to use. The most prominent upgrades lie under the hood, including the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset and One UI 7 features. You shouldn't upgrade from the Galaxy S24 Plus this year, at least, not until we've finished reviewing the S25 Plus anyway. However, if you are coming from an older device, the presence of a new chipset is likely to give you a performance boost and better efficiency. Plus, if you want a $999 phone for recording videos, the Galaxy S25 Plus would be a good choice, thanks to its support for LOG video recording and Audio Eraser features. While the Galaxy S24 Plus might get the new Galaxy AI features, those two video additions, an extra year of software support, and a more powerful processor would be worth an upgrade if you are on the Galaxy S23 Plus or older device. Pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: Buy the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: