Leaked Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra case shows a shift back to the mundane

Depening on where you sit, you either want a lot more uniqueness in the world of smartphones, and pine for the days when the best phones came out with genuinely different designs, or you're more of a fan of the modern world of standardisation. 

They both have their perks, but it's fair to say that the last few years have seen the biggest phone makers all trending in the same direction, with rounded-off corners and simple designs triumphing for the most part.

Samsung's Galaxy S Ultra phones were long a standout on this front – even as its main smartphone releases all started to get more rounded and harder to tell apart from competitors at a glance, the Ultras, such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, remained boxy and deliberately different. Now, though, that looks like it's being chucked out, too.

After months of rumours to this effect, prolific leaker Ice Universe has posted some images on X that are purportedly of an early prototype case for the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra, which should arrive early next year. 

It underlines what had been rumoured – that the phone will be moving to a far softer design with those all-important rounded-off corners, instead of the straight lines and edges that it's had for the last few years. 

The phone has apparently been given the in-house codename of "paradigm", according to GalaxyClub, which would suggest that Samsung thinks it could break through the noise to usher in a major shift in focus. That would presumably require it to become more of a top seller, luring in people who might otherwise have happily saved a few hundred of their local currency and opted for the standard S25 without qualms.

This year's model is also expected to pack in yet another camera upgrade, something that almost goes without saying given the pace at which Samsung has crammed new camera tech into its top-end phones over the years. 

Still, we'll have to wait a good while longer to actually hear anything official to back any of this up, even with photos of cases circulating. Samsung is unlikely to announce the S25 Ultra anytime this year unless it decides to rip up years of precedent.