Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: phone of the year already?

If there's ever one major event in the annual tech calendar – certainly when talking about the best Android phones – it's Samsung Galaxy Unpacked and the reveal of the next S series flagship. Which, for 2025, is the Galaxy S25 Ultra – the top-of-the-line offering in Samsung's line-up, complete with unique S Pen stylus proposition and a raft of upgrades for this generation.

I've been a long-time fan of Samsung's Galaxy flagships, having used the handsets for more than a decade now – among many other phones for comparison and context. The Galaxy's most recent predecessor, the S24 Ultra, was so impressive that it has long sat atop the best phones guide – and even won T3's Phone of the Year Award accolade.

This year Samsung has gone all-in on artificial intelligence, with AI embedded throughout the operating system to personalise and simplify the user experience. There's even Google Gemini on hand via the power button for conversational voice commands and control – yes, Bixby has largely taken a backseat and Samsung is invested in Google's functionality.

But it's not all about software: the S25 Ultra is clearly an exercise in refinement, with subtle yet stellar design tweaks to deliver an even larger display in a technically smaller footprint, plus further camera improvements. But is that enough for this generation or is Samsung's latest too much of a marginal update? I've been using the handset for a full working week to find out.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Price & Availability

Despite economic conditions, the Galaxy S25 Ultra costs the same as the equivalent S24 Ultra did upon its launch last year. That's a £1,249 / $1,199 / AU$1,949 asking price for the 256GB storage model, scheduled to go on sale from 7 February 2025.

If you were quick enough to pre-order up to and including the 6 February, then Samsung offered a double storage promotion – and even free Galaxy Buds 3 earbuds if you had a code from the Unpacked showcase reveal – for the 512GB or 1TB models.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: What's New?

• One UI 7 brings personalised AI into whole operating system
• Wide-angle camera upgraded to 50-megapixel (from 12MP)
• Larger 6.9-inch display, owed to 15% bezel reduction
• Thinner (8.2mm thick) and lighter (218g) build

I'll admit that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is, in many ways, like its predecessor – but it does also present plenty of positive updates. The most obvious at first glance is the newer handset's rounded corners – the S24 was much 'squarer' with more right-angled shoulders, so it was a little less comfortable to hold and handle.

The S25 Ultra manages to squeeze in a slightly larger screen – it's 6.9 inches rather than the 6.8-inch one of its predecessor – owed to shrinking the bezels by 15% around every edge of the device. That maintains the handset's symmetrical look with maximum focus on the screen itself. Not that the screen is any brighter or higher resolution for this generation.

Despite that minor rise in screen scale, the S25 Ultra is actually a tiny bit smaller than its predecessor. I really don't think anyone will notice, as it's just 15g lighter (owed to those trimmed corners, no doubt) and a scalpel's thickness less deep too (yep, 0.4mm!). If anything it's the 'rolled' edges that make the grip and reach when using the device that prevents it from feeling too super-massive.

While the camera system certainly isn't a full remaster – it's the same as before, but the wide-angle finally ups its game from 12-megapixels to 50MP – the four-lens rear arrangement caters 0.6x to 5x optical zoom, while further AI feature improvements, such as enhanced Generative Edit, promise even better results.

That's helped along, in part, by a processor upgrade – now Snapdragon 8 Elite 'for Galaxy', tuned in collaboration with Qualcomm specifically for Samsung. The same processor makes it into every S25 model this year, not just the Ultra, and there's no Exynos processor to be seen.

A big part of the S25 Ultra's update is dependent on new software look and feel and, of course, functionality – with One UI 7's full release promising Personalised AI, thanks to a Personal Data Engine that will learn your habits through context patterns and preferences. That takes around a week to have its initial understanding of your habits, though, and software updates will be required from launch day for a fuller picture.

I should also again mention the embedded S Pen stylus that's part of the S25 Ultra – and only the Ultra. It's a great tool for those who enjoy using a pen-like addition for their workflow, but I shan't focus on it in this review as there's certainly nothing new about it. For some people, however, it's a defining reason to buy this phone. If it's not for you then it's no compromise – you can just leave it stowed in the phone's body.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: Design & Display

• Titanium finish: Titanium Silver Blue, Titanium White Silver, Titanium Grey, Titanium Black
• Flat 6.9-inch AMOLED panel, 2600 nits peak brightness
• QHD+ resolution (3120 x 1440), 1-120Hz refresh rate
• IP68 water/dust resistance

It was the previous Galaxy S24 Ultra that introduced the brand's Titanium finish, with colourways to suit, and the S25 continues that trend. The colour palette is somewhat subdued, though, with the silver-blue, silver, silver-grey and black all rather sensible. However, there are Titanium Pink Gold and Titanium Jade Green options direct from Samsung's store, to add a little more pizzazz.

Visually, the style of the S25 pays respect to the now iconic look of this series. Sure, it cuts a very similar figure to its predecessor – especially considering the same-look camera arrangement – but still looks contemporary. And I much prefer this camera layout to the 'giant circle' that many Chinese makers are opting for at present. Although I do still dislike the 'desk wobble' experienced by the S25 given to the camera alignment – as it rocks about on surfaces when laid flat on its back.

The display, at 6.9 inches across its diagonal, is largely similar to its predecessor. It's an OLED panel capable of a maximum peak output of 2600 nits and 1-120Hz refresh variation across its QHD+ resolution (meaning it maxes out at 1440 x 3120 pixels).

By default the panel doesn't opt for this maximum resolution, though, with Samsung really pushing its new ProScaler technology, as promoted by the new Qualcomm chip's abilities, to upscale content. This means you can use a lower resolution output to save battery life without really knowing the difference – I've been fixed at 1080 x 2340 and everything looks great to my eyes. The extra battery life is the gain I'd prefer, too.

In addition to the tough Titanium finish, the S25 Ultra is also coated in Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2, which is said to be 29% "more durable" than its first-gen version, while a "next-gen DX anti-glare surface" further reduces reflections. So far I've only dropped the phone twice – oops! – once onto tiles and the other time onto an aeroplane's firm (yet carpeted) floor. It's returned unscathed each time, which is reassuring to know the anti-dent, anti-scratch, anti-shatter and basically anti-everything protections work in practice.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: Performance & Battery

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 'for Galaxy', 12GB RAM
• 5,000mAh battery, 45W charging (15W wireless)
• Vapour Chamber is 40% larger year-on-year

It's great to see that Samsung is back to using Qualcomm's hardware across the board – here the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, amped up in its overclocked 'for Galaxy' form – and that's wherever you live around the globe. To further enhance performance, the S25 Ultra's vapour chamber is 40% larger than its predecessor – enabling a greater power push for longer, thanks to improved cooling.

This processor was made with AI at the forefront, so it should not only be more powerful, but better at predicting and allocating resources for extending battery life. My experience, now onto day six of review testing, seems to confirm that.

With an 8am start, unplugging the phone just before then, I made it to 11pm on the same day with 25% charge remaining. Impressively, of that time, almost 8.5 hours were with the screen on – including over 3 hours of gaming, an hour of WhatsApp, Strava GPS tracking for an hour, Bluetooth connectivity to a speaker for some hours, and more. That's a decent innings – and better than the previous S24 experience.

However, it's worth noting that the S25 Ultra's battery remains the same 5,000mAh cell as its predecessor – that's the same even going back two generations. So there's no change there, with even the same USB-C charging at 45W as its predecessor – which is easily surpassed by many competitors now. And many of those competitors are introducing silicon-carbon batteries for improved density, which Samsung isn't yet invested in.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: Software & AI

A big part of the experience that Samsung is pushing are the integrated AI experiences. Circle to Search and AI Select have both been improved, for example, as has conversational search – with Gemini integrated for easy press-and-hold of the side button to ask for on-device or search-based queries to be resolved. I've had some hit-and-miss results with this, though, so don't expect it to always work miracles.

There's also the introduction of 'Cross App Action' which can use your permitted data across Samsung and Google apps (and some third-party ones, with Spotify and WhatsApp the first) to deliver personalised results and save you time. The idea would be to ask Gemini questions that can utilise, say, what you're looking at on screen, or for a combination of apps – Contacts, Maps, Calendar, Weather, and so on – to deliver a cohesive answer.

There are also new Now Brief and Now Bar features. The former gives you a brief about your day – at various times, from morning to night, as you engage with it – to summarise what's forthcoming and make suggestions. But as Now Brief can't see all apps, it's not thorough enough for me – my British Airways flight, for example, couldn't be seen, as that app isn't part of the Cross App Action, so I wasn't alerted of a delay there. Its Spotify playlist suggestions are also placeholders at present – and of no use to me.

Now Bar, meanwhile, displays relevant open apps on your Lock Screen, so you can quickly swipe between them without having to unlock. This is useful for, say, controlling music playback or glancing at a window into your directions without having to open any apps. It's easy to swipe between them or have the full selection of cards 'waterfall' on screen for full viewing.

The promise makes sense, so it's certainly an AI foot in the door, but there needs to be more cohesion for a true AI experience. The personalisation needs more access to a wider array of apps in my view, which isn't a Samsung issue – it's an overall developer hurdle that can only be overcome with collaboration.

Elsewhere on the AI front, the inclusion of various features, such as Portrait Studio – where you can turn yourself into a comic book character or 3D cartoon – are really fun, but not world-changing for most people. Generative Edit is handy for removing small intrusions in pictures, though, and is better than before in my experience.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: Cameras

• Main (24mm): 200-megapixel, f/1.7 aperture, 1/1.3in sensor size, optical stabilisation (OIS)
• Zoom (5x, 120mm): 50MP, f/3.4, 1/1.56in, OIS
• Zoom (3x, 70mm): 10MP, f/2.4, 1/3.52in, OIS
• Wide (13mm): 50MP, f/2.0, 1/1.57in

While the S25 Ultra's rear camera arrangement may look nigh-on identical to that of its predecessor, it's what's within that array of lenses that's been partly upgraded. Samsung has finally boosted the wide-angle camera, raising its resolution from 12-megapixels to 50MP. That's been a long time coming – and also means better macro photography is possible too.

Otherwise, the other optics remain the same, marrying a 5x optical zoom (also at 50MP) with an ultra-resolute 200MP main, and an in-between 3x optical zoom at 10MP. I'm beginning to question the true worth of that smaller zoom now, however, as this surely could have been boosted as part of the upgrade too? And with Samsung having dropped the longer-reaching 10x zoom of the earlier S23 Ultra model, that step-between lens, in my mind, has less requirement to remain.

But much as I can query small aspects of the specification, I can't deny how hugely impressive Samsung's camera offering is in the S25 Ultra. It's partly down to its broad scope, from wide-angle through to long-distance capture, but also down to the consistency of results across all those lenses.

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I've already written about some of the new camera features – see I Tested Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra Cameras – and have been impressed right across the board. Improving the wide-angle may seem like a small addition, but it makes a major difference to the camera performance – and the macro, which works to around 5cm from the lens, delivers good results too.

That said, however, there are some aspects that I really think Samsung could pull off better – but that's down to integration rather than their function. The macro feature, for example, has no separate mode, doesn't alert you when it's in operation, and requires the 50MP setting to be selected to activate (by default it's 12MP). It's too hidden to make much sense to many people.

There are other great features also bizarrely tucked away too. Virtual aperture, for example, can apply a soft background effect – a bit like Portrait mode, frankly – with the ability to manually select an aperture (from f/1.8) for professional camera-like results. Thing is, it's tucked away in Expert Raw, has two menus to activate it, and if you didn't know about it might not even think to find it – I think it should be integrated into the Portrait mode, which sits pride of place in the Camera app.

But once you do get familiar with these options, as I have, they're clear beneficial additions to an already stellar camera. Samsung has long been high up the rankings in this department, and while competitors with their Zeiss and Hasselblad collaborations are certainly adding competitive pressure, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a truly brilliant camera to have in your pocket.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review: Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra may not appear hugely different from its S24 Ultra predecessor at first glance – but given that was T3's best premium phone of last year, and this one only improves on it from a design and software perspective, it's win upon win.

The S25 Ultra is an exercise in refinement, showcasing the best-of-best Android has to offer. The now iconic design is upgraded with more screen due to less bezel, the new rounded corners bring enhanced comfort, while the camera gets a much-needed boost in the wide-angle department to make for a super-impressive shooter.

However, while the handset’s new AI features are a promising start, a foot in the door if you will – especially with Gemini integration for voice – they aren’t yet as world-changing as proposed. But that's more of a developer hurdle than a Samsung one, and software updates will surely only continue to improve what's possible.

Overall, the S25 Ultra represents a highly accomplished flagship that, as the successor to last year's Android king, polishes its crown with yet more sheen. This is going to be one tough phone to beat in 2025 – and one handset I don't foresee straying far from my pocket anytime soon.

Also consider

Year upon year we see great Samsung updates, but that doesn't mean the previous S24 Ultra is to be overlooked – especially now it's priced so much lower. It's a very similar size and build, with almost as much power and ability – and with savings it might be the savvier buy for you.

If the S Pen stylus isn't to your fancy then Google's top-end flagship, the Pixel 9 Pro XL, has a lot to shout about too – especially when it comes to computational photography features. It's priced around the same as Samsung's flagship, though, so may come down to design preference as to which one most floats your boat.