Given the current demands for smartphones, it’s no wonder that the industry has become somewhat uninteresting. Software is the primary focus, with all other aspects such as design, internal specs, and camera sensors being produced in a distant second. The Galaxy S25 Ultra, a smartphone that is exclusively based on AI-powered software tricks, is the epitome of this truth
The story is too basic for Samsung to comprehend. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is the only one among three new models this year to have any visual updates, but it also forfeits some of its features There are some useful yet unexplored features of the SP en One of the most bizarre smartphones I’ve ever seen for Android Police is this one, which feels like a superphone from an AI-first future. Although it may seem like a recipe for disaster, the outcomes are almost as predictable as they appear
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
With every new generation, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra loses some of its uniqueness that makes it stand out from other brands
- Improved, more comfortable design
- In comparison to previous years, shutter speed is no longer a significant issue
- Samsung’s display technology is still on the cutting edge, despite recent advancements
- The charging pace appears to be accelerated
- Uncertainty surrounding Samsung’s identity
- The Galaxy AI is a disappointment that can easily be overlooked
- Almost every competitor outperforms this camera system
- A few peculiar glitches and software selections in One UI 7
Availability, network, and specs
Available, well, everywhere
Typically, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is available for purchase at almost any electronics store. This smartphone is available on Amazon, Best Buy, a variety of carriers, and some MVNOs like Google Fi (with plans for future offerings). The Snapdragon 8 Elite-based experience will be available to consumers in Europe and beyond, as the Galaxy S23 series is an example of this year’s lineup that exclusively uses Qualcomm chips
Samsung has refrained from increasing its fans’ prices, unlike in 2024. Starting at $1,300, the Galaxy S25 Ultra with 256GB is available while its 1TB model starts at $2,660. Thankfully, Samsung’s trade-in bonuses and carrier deals are not the only factors contributing to low prices for smartphone buyers this year. More than ever, I would urge buyers to leverage trade-in valuations
In my honest opinion, the Galaxy S25 Ultra in its Titanium Silverblue hue is a worthwhile purchase In my opinion, it’s quite disheartening The light blue tinge in particular lights will only be noticeable at specific angles, making it gray by any other name. If you’re considering purchasing this phone, make sure to choose at least one of the three Samsung-branded colors. The titanium Jadegreen appears to have a sharp appearance in real life
Specifications
Design and display
Familiarity breeds contempt
The Galaxy S21 Ultra was the first to be released without the folding mechanism, and now Samsung has introduced a new design for its flagship device. The Galaxy S25 Ultra adopts the same features as its predecessors, but retains their Note-like appearance. With curved corners and a flat chassis, The future is now in sight. The Galaxy S24 Ultra was criticized for being too big, but it still appeared to be one-of-a-kind
A significant increase in comfort is achieved by compensating for a lack of aesthetic appeal. With its curved corners, the phone’s dimensions are slimmer, thinner, and lighter, providing those who prefer a caseless experience with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The device is a great improvement, but Samsung’s ability to make those changes without sacrificing the unique features makes it worth it
In the absence of these modifications, this phone is a fairly well-known one. All three main lenses on the back have their own “floating” camera rings, and the UWB window has been replaced inside the frame. In my opinion, it’s a perfect match Fine Design. The new flat edges make it appear more crinkly and unrefined than its previous version, but it’s still comfortable to touch
The display aspect of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s predecessor was kept by Samsung, which is fortunate. Gorilla Armor, co-developed by Corning, is back for the second year and will offer greater resistance when dropped than its predecessor. It appears to have changed Obtain some scratch resistance at a high cost , though, and we don’t know yet if it’ll wear off after months of use, as some Galaxy fans found with last year’s phone
Despite concerns, Gorilla Armor maintains an already impressive level of performance. Although the display is bright enough to use in direct sunlight, it tends to become dim so quickly that I never feel the need to switch to Samsung’s extra-dim mode at night. However, as with most things this year, it’s also a well-known fact. There’s nothing New If this panel is not within the notch, it will increase to 6. A change of 9 inches to Gorilla Armor 2. The current one is outstanding, but so was last year’s
Other hardware and what is included in the package
The SP en has been nerfed
The hardware presented this year, ranging from speakers to haptics, has not undergone any significant changes since its predecessors. A 6 is still a possibility. The S24 Ultra and its 9-inch display have a distinct appearance, but the smaller bezels may have contributed to this difference. I noticed that the rejection of palms was not as bad as I had initially gathered Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max Last year
Now, let’s focus on the elephant in the room:. The SP en’s Bluetooth LE support has been removed, resulting in the loss of Air Actions. Even though Samsung claims that less than 1 percent of Ultra users used Air Actions, I still believe it is significant. Samsung’s flagship smartphone is losing out on certain features of its predecessors for the second time, following the S23 Ultra’ S redesigned with a 10x telephoto sensor two years ago
If this is important to you, I’d suggest a visit Galaxy S24 Ultra Instead. Even though it’s only been a year since its launch, it will continue to receive updates until 2031. The package contains the phone, USB-C to USB–C cable, SIM tool and usual paperwork. The state of the smartphone industry is what you were hoping for
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Software and performance
The Galaxy AI aspect of this phone is a drawback
Samsung’s decision to upgrade to the Galaxy S25 series is entirely dependent on One UI 7 and Galaxy A I. T he company is presenting the phone as an AI-first device Galaxy S25 press release Describes it as a “real AI partner” regardless of the significance. The expectations of a regular customer led me to write this review, as Samsung has stated that the Galaxy S25 series is the first step in their vision to revolutionize user experience through innovative technology. ”
If this is a first step, it’s a small one. Let’s get the AI tools out of the way first, since I don’t have much to say about them. Samsung is Really Excited about Gemini this year, even booting Bixby out of its long-term default assistant spot. I can understand why — Gemini makes up the bulk of the features Samsung is marketing as part of its Galaxy AI suite, meaning you should be excited about whatever Google’s been cooking up
Right now, that’s cross-app actions, allowing Gemini, in theory, to work across multiple apps. Samsung’s favorite example is to have Gemini look up upcoming basketball games and add them to your calendar. By default, it’s using Samsung Calendar on the S25 Ultra. However, if you specify an alternate app like Google Calendar on your first request, it’ll remember that selection on your next prompt, which goes double for all other cross-app actions
Now, basketball’s a long-dead dream in Buffalo, so instead, I asked Gemini to add the next three Sabres games to my Google Calendar. To make it a little More Difficult, I requested home games only. Credit where credit’s due: It did it without breaking a sweat, correctly adding games for February 22nd, 25th, and March 1st against the Rangers, Ducks, and Canadiens, respectively. So far, so good, right?
Two problems. First, this isn’t exclusive to the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Not only could I do the same task on my Pixel 9 Pro, but I also pulled it off on last-gen’s Galaxy S24 Ultra. It might be one of Samsung’s big selling points for this phone, but that doesn’t mean you have to buy it to try it. Second, however, is an even bigger issue. On a follow-up prompt, I asked Gemini to add the next Buffalo Bandits game — that’s our professional lacrosse team — to my calendar. In response, it pulled up an 8: 30 P. M. Home game against the Calgary Roughnecks taking place on Wednesday, February 12th
That game does not exist. NLL games are almost exclusively held on Saturdays, not Wednesdays, and the next time the Bandits will face the Roughnecks at home is March 8th. As far as I can tell, there’s no way to check where any of Google’s extensions got their information from; you have to recognize the tell-tale signs that something’s gone wrong — as I did, when noticing the Bandits game took place on Wednesday — or fact-check every action you use with Gemini. Either way, that’s a recipe for disaster
Maybe I’m being too hard on Samsung here — this is, as I mentioned, a Google feature that Happens To be a strong selling point for the S25 series. But if this Really Is the future of using my smartphone, I’m going to miss a whole lot of events moving forward, and I might be attending some that simply do not exist
The only other AI tool I think is worth diving into is Samsung’s Now Brief. Unlike cross-app actions, this Is Exclusive to One UI, and more specifically, it’s only on the Galaxy S25 series at launch. The idea behind the Now Brief is simple: What if Samsung spun back up a new iteration of Google Now, only this time, it was powered by the magic of AI? I think you can see where I’m going with this
The Now Brief, like Google Now before it, is a brilliant idea with a wasted execution. Once this review is filed, I’ll likely never re-open it again. It routinely provides updates on weather, calendar appointments, trending news stories, and entirely random, user-generated Spotify playlists (often with as little as zero follows). Occasionally, it’ll include traffic updates, suggested routines, and YouTube Shorts. Personally, my suggested routines included” opening the settings menu every morning “while the YouTube Shorts integration is literally just a link to YouTube Shorts
It adds nothing to your life that, say, Google’s (terrible) Discover feed couldn ‘t. And while it Might Get better over time, Samsung’s overall track record with software improvements…isn’t great? I’d love to see the Now Brief evolve into something remotely worth using, but right now, it’s another One UI tool that you’ll probably disable a few days after you unbox this phone
At first glance, One UI 7 is a pretty big visual overhaul. It’s a good-looking skin, and the inclusion of features like a vertical app drawer has been a long time coming. But generally, One UI 7’s additions fall into two categories, and neither is particularly good: wasted potential and bad iOS knock-offs
In the” wasted potential “zone, you’ll find things like Samsung’s newly-optimized search bar in settings. In theory, Samsung’s using AI to allow for more natural-sounding search terms. You aren’t typing” hotspot “you’re typing” how do I turn my hotspot on “and One UI is delivering that result right into your feed. In practice, it pretty much returns the same exact search terms, without any additional context that might help less-informed users. In the case of my hotspot example” Hotspot 2.0 “was actually the top result, while the one you Would Have wanted —” Mobile Hotspot “— was the third result
The Now Bar bleeds into both categories, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s keep it to” wasted potential. “I was optimistic when I heard Samsung was building its own version of Apple’s Live Activities into One UI 7. Sure, we’ll get a little more support in Android 16, but considering just how handy those Dynamic Island-adjacent widgets have proven on iOS over the last couple of years, I’m down for as many iterations of these as possible
Unfortunately, I never got it working properly. Outside of some basic functionality — media controls, timers in Samsung’s clock app, a recurring alert that my Now Brief had refreshed — the Now Bar just didn’t work for me. I’m not saying it didn’t sync with the vast majority of my apps (I mean, it didn’ t, but that’s to be expected). I’m saying even its own core functionality didn’t properly work. After more than two weeks of attempts, including a troubleshooting call with Samsung, I’ve been unable to get sports scores to appear on my phone for any team
Then there’s the Actual Apple knock-off stuff, like the new split-screen layout for quick settings and notifications. By default, your notifications are accessed through a swipe down from the upper-left corner, while a swipe from the right corner unveils your quick settings. You can swap these controls or mesh them back together, but either way, I’m not a fan
This new dedicated quick settings page is somehow less customizable than Apple ‘s, while it introduces weird missing elements, like open space where the settings shortcut Could Live. And wasn’t One UI originally all about reachability? Why am I reaching over this entire 6.9-inch display to access my notifications for crying out loud?
I digress. Look, I’m not here to say One UI 7 is bad or anything, but like most of this phone, it’s simply Fine Considering how rough iOS 18 is, how sterile and cold the Pixel experience feels, and how delayed this year’s update was, I just hoped Samsung would seize the opportunity to blow me away in the software department. But hey, I like the new app drawer
This is the third Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered smartphone I’ve used in as many months, and I continue to find myself simultaneously satisfied and disappointed with Qualcomm’s latest. On one hand, any concerns over power draw seem to be moot. This is the worst battery life I’ve seen from anything running on this chipset, but as I’ll address later on, that doesn’t mean it’s Bad Battery life
Now, on the other hand, I have yet to see any OEM or developer find a way to utilize the power promised by the Snapdragon 8 Elite. I would’ ve Loved To see Samsung make some big changes to DeX in the wake of this improved performance. Oh well — maybe next year
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Camera
Better than last year, but just barely
As a daily driver, I found the Galaxy S24 Ultra pretty unreliable for any scene with motion — so, you know, everything but landscapes Months of rumors Surrounding a big camera update that would fix the S24’s shutter speed problems came and went, and today, it’s still essentially the same camera system that launched last year. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is, undoubtedly, better at handling motion than its predecessor, but I’m damning it with faint praise. Samsung is behind its rivals in nearly every capacity, including those shutter speed issues
During the daytime, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is perfectly fine. It can handle motion without breaking a sweat, but the second the lights start to dim, those same problems from the past decade’s worth of Samsung phones start to rear their ugly heads: blurry subjects, graining images, and bad post-processing results
Its problems go beyond that, of course. I haven’t taken a single photo with this device that made my jaw drop, something that can’t be said for OnePlus or Google or, honestly, even Apple, once you Utilize those silly Photographic Styles Everything looks a little too desaturated to my eye, a little too flat. Most of these sample shots are not bad — I’d even call a few of them outright good — but none of them make me want to bust out my photo printer to get a physical keepsake
The one hardware change Samsung made this generation comes from a new ultra-wide sensor. Please, sit down and try to not get too excited when I tell you that…. It’s fine. I don’t use the ultra-wide lens particularly often on any smartphone, and when I do, it’s usually for macro mode, not big group shots. (And yes, I have friends, I swear. They’re just out of frame.) Here’s an example using a Catbus toy from My Neighbor Totoro Compared to the same shot on the Galaxy S24 Ultra
Left: Galaxy S25 Ultra. Right: Galaxy S24 Ultra
The S25 Ultra is probably the better shot, and that’s before you account for the bump in resolution, but it’s certainly not the sort of generational leap that’ll make you rush over to Best Buy. And, frankly, macrophotography is a pretty niche use case — certainly this attention could’ve gone towards finally bringing a 1-inch sensor to a single flagship available in the US, right?
On the video side, Samsung added LOG recording this year, which should please the content creators around us. I didn’t test it out—my video production degree aside, I’m not shooting much these days—but the standard 4K shooting seems good enough for most consumers to be happy with. I’m not sure Steven Soderbergh is abandoning his iPhone for a Galaxy S25 Ultra, but for everyone else, it’s a perfectly enjoyable experience
One more note before I close out on the camera, and this one’s a weird one. I have never had a camera struggle with its accelerometer’s orientation like I’ve seen here. I have had to fix rotation issues on more than two dozen photos taken with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, including shots that were taken Seconds Apart from each other. I’m not sure if this is a problem with my specific device, or something Samsung could address in a post-launch patch, but it’s a particularly frustrating experience regardless
Battery life and charging
Don’t get us started on Qi2
A couple of years ago, I might’ve called the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s battery life” outstanding. “This year, I’m keeping things a little more reserved. The S25 Ultra’s battery is good, there’s no doubt about it, but I’m not sure it’s up to par with the current state of Android flagships. Sure, this phone can outlast the Pixel 9 Pro XL, but Google’s Tensor era has never been Android’s most efficient. And compared to what we’re seeing from current and rumored 2025 flagships, I think Samsung might be falling behind the curve
If you’re worried about getting through a full day on a single charge, here’s the good news: I never found myself topping up this device out of necessity. There were, admittedly, a few times when I ended the day with less than 15 percent left, absolutely requiring an overnight charge, but usually, I fell into the 20 to 30 percent area. Still, I’d recommend plugging in at bedtime; despite turning out the lights with 21 percent remaining one night, I still awoke to a dead device the next morning
On Wi-Fi, I’d call the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 5,000mAh cell is perfectly efficient. It’s the days when you’re going to be on a cell network that you might find yourself in trouble. This phone seems to drain surprisingly fast on 5G, even when it’s just chilling in my pocket or casting a downloaded podcast to my earbuds. On days when I wasn’t home for long periods, I’d absolutely find myself starting to feel the slightest pangs of battery anxiety. Frankly, I think it’s time for Samsung to push past this 5,000mAh threshold — the Galaxy Note 7 debacle was nearly a decade ago
Although Samsung hasn’t promoted the Galaxy S25 Ultra as featuring faster charging speeds, it seems quicker to power up than its predecessors — with the right charging brick. Paired with a 45 WP PS-supported plug, I found myself powering up from dead to full in around an hour. That’s far from the fastest charging speeds you’ll find in the world of Android these days, but it’s definitely an improvement on what came before
Samsung would love to tell you its latest flagship is” Qi2-ready “and I’d love to roll my eyes at that statement. Sure, you Can Buy a Qi2/MagSafe-ready case, but the only thing that’s new for 2025 are first-party options. I had a MagSafe case on my Galaxy S24 Ultra for crying out loud. Like OnePlus before it, Samsung doesn’t get bonus points for offering an optional accessory years after MagSafe on Android began to grow traction. Regardless of how many users keep their devices in cases, I’d still like to see the Galaxy S26 series gain native support
Competition
It’s pretty stiff this year
Right now, there’s no better alternative to the Galaxy S25 Ultra than the OnePlus 13. It’s not a perfect match — you won’t find stylus support on this year’s OnePlus flagship, and it’s not quite as premium-feeling in the hand. Still, if you’re after a do-it-all Android phone (or, you know, the modern equivalent of that), the OnePlus 13 is a great choice, matching or beating the S25 Ultra spec-for-spec in practically every regard
The OnePlus 13 is a true multi-day battery champ, whether on Wi-Fi or cellular, and despite Samsung’s faster charging speeds, the S25 Ultra simply can’t compete with an 80W charging brick. To me, though, the Hasselblad-branded camera system trumps Samsung’s 2025 efforts. Even the shutter speed improvements aren’t enough to leave me wowed with the multitude of lenses provided by the Galaxy S25 Ultra; the OnePlus 13, meanwhile, frequently left me surprised, even with the occasional botched shot
If you’re after a more reliable overall experience, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is a great choice. I think long-time Samsung fans will find Google’s flavor of Android to be pretty lacking, but a third-party launcher can go a long way in bringing back some of that missing functionality. Its camera is trusty and reliable — albeit a bit boring and undersaturated at times — and it includes the best mobile AI tools in the game, for whatever that is (or isn’ t) worth. And while I don’t expect everyone to love Google’s design language, I think it’s the sort of device that stands out in that Same-old same-old Crowd
The OnePlus 13 starts at $900 — though you’ll likely want to pony up for the $1,000 model with more RAM — while the Pixel 9 Pro XL starts at $1,100. Both manage to undercut the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s MSRP, with their own respective trade-in deals. But no one offers savings like Samsung, and considering the OnePlus 13 isn’t even In A single carrier store, it’s obvious why the S25 Ultra has the upper hand
Should you buy it?
Objectively, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a fine phone. It’s got one of the best displays available on any device today, regardless of form factor. It’s got a competent camera system. It’s got enough battery life to get you through a day in all but the most extreme of use cases. It’ll see seven years of software support, a timespan that could see most of its users abandon it for something new well before that date ever shows up on a calendar. It’s everything that makes up our most basic idea of what a smartphone should be
Shouldn’t we ask for more than that, though? I’m not here looking for Samsung to revolutionize the very concept of mobile phones, but certainly, consumers should expect more out of their four-digit gadgets than this, right? From a hardware perspective, this feels virtually indistinguishable from what came before, save for the lack of pointy corners — a nice improvement, to be sure. The software here feels bloated and uninspired, with a focus on AI that simply isn’t earned. Factor in those missing SP en features, and it’s tough to get particularly excited about Samsung’s latest launch
The Galaxy S25 Ultra isn’t a bad phone — it just fails to stand out in any particular way. It’s the first of Samsung’s recent flagships to feel as uninspired as its design, a device that exists solely to fulfill the need for a” new “ultra-premium smartphone sitting on shelves in every carrier store. If you’re rocking a Galaxy S20 or Galaxy S21, or maybe even a Galaxy S22 that’s starting to feel a little long in the tooth, I could see upgrading to the Galaxy S25 Ultra. For everyone else, though, I’m just not sure there’s enough here to justify that sticker price. Better start shopping around for carrier deals — or, better yet, skip out and wait for whatever comes next
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 SP en is still here too
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