Hands on Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: improving on perfection is hard
The S25 Ultra may not be a ground-up rework, but I found it still has a huge amount to offer
Stuff early verdict
An incredible smartphone yes, but it doesn’t offer a huge amount new over last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Pros
- Improved performance
- New ultawide camera
- Stronger front glass
- Refined design
Cons
- Same size battery as before
- No major new features
- Will rivals gain ground?
Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy S25 Ultra alongside the Galaxy S25 Plus and standard Galaxy S25 smartphones. I’ve been hands on and these are my initial thoughts on the key new phone from the series.
It’s important to make something clear from the outset. If you’re expecting a major transformation you’ll be very disappointed. From my limited time with this new phone, it’s clear that Samsung has iterated on the successful Galaxy S24 Ultra rather than coming up with a root-and-branch replacement. It’s easy to understand why; it is one brilliant phone. So there are no huge changes as you’ll see. But inevitably it means that rivals will be circling as they seek to better Samsung on hardware.
It’s clear to me that Samsung will have to bring some top new tricks to the 2026 Galaxy S26 series to continue the appeal, even though this year there are a bunch of enhanced features under the skin and in the software which will appeal to Galaxy aficionados. Anyway, let’s get going with my hands on review of the Galaxy S25 Ultra!
Galaxy S25 Ultra pre-orders are now open and the phone will be fully available on 7 February. Pricing is the same as last year, set at $1299.99/£1249 for the 256GB model, $1419.99/£1349 for 512GB and $1649.99/£1549 for 1TB.
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Design & display: rounding things off
Last year’s S24 Ultra had a very angular design. This time, the corners have been shaved off, which makes for a much more comfortable feel in the hand. But rather than rounded edges, things are a lot flatter. That’s a design trend we’ve seen elsewhere too, such as on the OnePlus 13.
As was well-rumored, the S25 Ultra is confirmed to be Samsung’s thinnest flagship yet, at 8.2mm (0.4mm thinner than S24 Ultra). This phone is also 15g lighter this year at 218g, which is always welcome.
This phone also has 15 percent thinner display bezels than before, but there is also a slightly larger display, too, at 6.9in rather than 6.8in before. It’s a modest improvement. The QHD+ AMOLED display (with 2600nits of peak brightness) is now covered by Corning Gorilla Armor 2 glass which Samsung says is 29% more fracture resistant than previously.
Interestingly, Samsung says increasing the strength of the glass between generations is having a tangible result in terms of repairs with 60% less screen repairs having to take place with S24 rather than S23. It will be very interesting to hear if this increases yet further with the S25 series.
The S25 Ultta will be available in a wide variety of shades of titanium: Titanium Silver, Titanium Blue, Titanium White, Titanium Silver, Titanium Gray and Titanium Black. There will also be some colors that are exclusive to the Samsung web store, too.
Once again the responsive S Pen stylus is included inside the body of the phone – the move that killed off the Galaxy Note.
Performance: enhanced power, same battery
As before, Samsung has decided to use Qualcomm Snapdragon inside its flagship phones, here presented as Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (this time there are no Samsung Exynos variants). It’s a super-efficient chip with cutting-edge neural processing (NPU), based on the 3nm manufacturing process and it’ll be really interesting to see how this impacts on battery life when it comes to our full review.
Speaking of battery life, Samsung has decided to stick with a 5000mAh capacity with 45W wired, 15W wireless charging. That’s only just about OK for a high-end phone now and you’d have to assume that space and/or cooling is the issue there. This time around there are new cooling tricks including a 40 percent larger vapor chamber which should mean the S25 Ultra can boast longer battery life than its predecessor and be able to more easily stay cool for demanding tasks.
12GB of memory is also on board across the different models which are again available in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB sizes.
Cameras: ultrawide upgrade
The cameras are the main area where I expected some improvements to be made for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it’s a mixed story as the undoubtedly excellent 200MP main f/1.7 camera with optical image stabilisation has been brought over from the Galaxy S24 Ultra as have the 10MP, f/2.4 (3x optical) and 50MP, f/3.4 (5x optical) telephoto cameras.
The ultrawide has had a serious upgrade though, bringing in a 50MP lens to replace the 12MP unit that was there before. So if you’re taking pics of flowers, for example, you’ll be able to get much more detailed shots. I’m looking forward to seeing how well this new lens works in the wild!
There are some software enhancements including a new ProVisual engine and custom Spatial Temporal Filter (STF) which should mean even better quality processing than before. Samsung’s Galaxy Log format also means you can film in 10-bit HDR if you wish to, rather than the 8 bit of previous models.
Software: AI refinements
As you’d expect, the S25 Ultra is running Samsung’s latest One UI 7 software on top of Android 15. Once again it makes for a really great combo. One UI is one of the best of the Android versions and is just great to use, without much in the way of intrusion from well-meaning but ultimately annoying extra info.
With Galaxy AI having been introduced last year, the focus this time around is on refinement, with Samsung saying that conversation with the device can be a lot more natural, similar to the proclamation from Google about natural conversation with Gemini on the Pixel lineup. The intent is for the phone to be able to cope with multi-step tasks so you don’t have to jump between apps.
There are also several AI-based features designed to become a natural part of how you use the phone day-to-day. A feature called AI Select anticipates your needs and suggests helpful actions using the pop-out Edge panel. The Now brief is a bit like a browser start page which is personalised to you and learns as you use it, surfacing important info such as smart home alerts from SmartThings or boarding passes for your flight later.
You’ll get seven years of new Android software updates, along with seven years of support.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra early verdict
While there are numerous under-the-skin enhancements, a refined design, more power and revamped ultrawide camera, this year’s Galaxy S25 Ultra is ultimately a small year-on-year update and disappoints. A slew of new Galaxy AI features isn’t enough to excite and Samsung will have to breathe new life into its next flagship. The mitigation is that this is still an incredible phone – and that most people aren’t going to be upgrading from the previous generation.
Those coming from an older Galaxy smartphone will be impressed at what’s on offer here. Rivals will start circling, but Samsung need not worry, playing it safe is fine when the result is as good as this. Our full review will follow soon.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra tech specs
| Galaxy S25 Ultra tech specs | |
| Screen | 6.9in, 3120×1440, 1-120Hz, 2600nits AMOLED |
| CPU | Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy |
| Memory | 12GB |
| Cameras | 200MP + 10MP + 50MP + 50MP rear 12MP front |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB/1TB |
| Battery | 5000mAh |
| Charge speed | 45W wired, 15W wireless |
| Durability | IP68 |
| Dimensions | 163x78x8.2mm, 218g |
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
