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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: In the fast-paced world of smartphones, flagship models often aim to redefine technology. However, Samsung’s latest offering, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, seems to have taken a much safer approach, sticking with familiar designs and minimal updates. While it offers impressive specs and features, it raises the question: is it truly worth the premium price, or is it a case of a missed opportunity?
Let’s dive deep into what the S25 Ultra offers, and whether it lives up to the “Ultra” name.
1. Design: Subtle Changes, Familiar Feel
At first glance, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra doesn’t look drastically different from its predecessor, the S24 Ultra. However, there are a few minor tweaks that enhance the overall design:
- Boxier Edges: The edges are slightly boxier, giving it a more modern, angular look.
- Thinner Bezels: The bezels are thinner than before, making the screen feel even larger.
- Increased Screen Size: The display is now 6.9 inches, up from 6.8 inches, offering a marginal increase in screen real estate.
- Improved Durability: Samsung upgraded the Gorilla Glass, making it more durable, but it’s still glass. As always, glass is prone to cracking under the right conditions.
- Slightly Thicker, Yet Thinner: While it looks slightly thicker than the previous model, it is physically thinner due to refinements in design.
While these changes add to the overall aesthetics, they don’t significantly alter the usability or experience of the phone.
2. Performance: Powerhouse Under the Hood
The standout feature of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is its Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. This chip is the centerpiece of the device, and it’s what makes this phone stand out. Here’s what you can expect from it:
- Speed: The Snapdragon 8 Elite is one of the most powerful chips available in 2025. It’s incredibly fast, delivering smooth performance for daily tasks, gaming, and multitasking.
- Benchmarking: In benchmarking tests, it rivals Apple’s A18 Pro chip, with impressive multi-core performance and slightly lower single-core performance. This is more than enough for all your needs.
- Efficient Performance: Thanks to the larger vapor chamber cooling system (which is 40% bigger than the previous generation), the phone stays cool under load. During regular use, the phone never felt warm, even after heavy multitasking or gaming.
- Global Availability: Unlike previous models, which were powered by Exynos chips in certain regions, the S25 Ultra features the Snapdragon 8 Elite in all markets, ensuring a consistent experience worldwide.
Samsung’s attention to performance is clear, and this chip ensures that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra performs better than many other flagship devices on the market.
3. Software: A Familiar Experience with New Features
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra runs One UI 7, based on Android 15. This update brings several improvements, including:
- Now Bar: A new feature at the bottom of the screen that shows ongoing activities like timers, navigation, and media playback. It can be expanded for more details, making multitasking easier.
- Improved Notification System: Samsung has redesigned the notification system. Now, swiping down from the right shows quick controls, while swiping from the left reveals notifications. You can also customize this behavior to suit your preferences.
- Lock Screen Customization: You can now hold down on your lock screen to customize it, with more styles and font options than before. This is a more personalized approach to customization compared to previous iterations.
- AI Features: Samsung has introduced several AI-driven features, including:
- Object Eraser: This tool allows you to remove unwanted objects from your photos. It’s incredibly accurate and works well.
- AI Select: This feature lets you summarize text or create GIFs. While it’s useful, it doesn’t always react well to different contexts on the screen.
- Gemini: Samsung’s AI assistant is more advanced this year, allowing you to perform tasks across apps. For example, you can ask it to find the next Brooklyn Nets home game and add it to your calendar.
While One UI 7 offers a host of new features, some are inspired by iOS, and not all of them are as polished as we’d expect from a flagship device. The daily brief feature, for instance, feels redundant, offering a basic calendar, weather update, and news, which many users may find unnecessary.
4. Camera: Good, But Not Revolutionary
The camera system is where many users will expect major improvements, especially on a premium flagship. Here’s what the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra offers:
- 50 MP Ultra-Wide Camera: The new ultra-wide camera has been upgraded with a larger sensor that collects more light, leading to sharper corner-to-corner shots, especially in low light. This improvement is one of the standout upgrades in the camera system.
- Main Cameras: The rest of the camera setup remains largely unchanged from last year, with solid performance across all lenses. The cameras offer great speed and autofocus, but they can sometimes be a bit overprocessed, resulting in bright images that feel unnatural.
- Video Recording: The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra supports high-quality video recording, with some new features like log mode for creators. While this feature may be niche, it’s great for YouTubers and video creators who want more control over their footage.
- Telephoto Lens: The absence of the 10x zoom feature, which was available in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, is a notable downgrade. While the zoom capabilities are still decent, they’re not on par with previous models.
Overall, while the camera performance is solid, it doesn’t deliver any huge improvements or groundbreaking new features. It’s good, but not revolutionary.
5. S Pen: A Downgrade that Strikes a Blow
The S Pen has long been a signature feature of the Ultra models, providing precision and functionality to a niche group of users. However, this year, Samsung made a controversial decision by removing the Bluetooth functionality from the pen. Here’s how it impacts the experience:
- No Remote Shutter: The S Pen can no longer be used as a remote control for taking photos or controlling media playback. This was a feature that, while underused by many, was a valuable addition for others.
- Compatibility Issues: The new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra doesn’t support the old S Pen, meaning that users with previous models can’t use their existing pens, forcing them to buy a new one.
- Why Samsung Removed It: Samsung claims that less than 1% of users ever actually activated the Bluetooth feature, so they removed it to save on costs. While this may be logical, it’s disappointing for those who appreciated the added functionality.
It’s a reminder that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra isn’t necessarily about adding new features—it’s about playing it safe and keeping things familiar.
6. Battery Life: Good, But Not Game-Changing
Battery life is always a major consideration when purchasing a flagship device. Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra fares:
- Improved Efficiency: The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is more efficient than its predecessor, which contributes to longer battery life.
- Larger Vapor Chamber: The larger cooling system keeps the device cooler, which also helps preserve battery life during heavy use.
- Battery Life: I consistently ended the day with 30-40% battery left, even after heavy use. This is an improvement over previous models, but it’s not revolutionary.
- Charging Speed: Charging is slightly faster than before, but it’s still not on the level of competitors like OnePlus, which offers significantly faster charging at a lower price point.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra offers solid battery performance, but it doesn’t blow the competition away.
7. The Bigger Picture: Why It’s a Safe Bet
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a solid flagship phone. However, it’s important to recognize that Samsung has played it safe with this release. It’s a phone that focuses on incremental improvements rather than groundbreaking innovations. Here’s why:
- No Major Risk: Samsung has recognized that they don’t have much competition in the US market, which means they can afford to play it safe. The S25 Ultra is a phone that offers solid performance and premium features without pushing the envelope too much.
- Incremental Updates: The design, camera, and software are all incremental upgrades over the previous generation. While this makes the phone feel familiar, it also means that Samsung didn’t introduce any game-changing features this year.
- Price Point: At $1,299, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is not cheap. For the price, you’d expect cutting-edge features and innovations. However, the phone’s conservative approach means that you’re paying for performance, not necessarily for revolutionary new tech.
If you’re looking for a reliable, high-performance device that will do everything you need, the S25 Ultra is a safe bet. But if you’re expecting something truly groundbreaking, you might be better off looking at the competition.
8. Conclusion: Is the S25 Ultra Worth It?
In the end, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a solid flagship, but it doesn’t live up to the name “Ultra.” While it offers great performance, a beautiful display, and a solid camera setup, it misses out on the major upgrades that many enthusiasts were hoping for. The S Pen downgrade, lack of IP69 certification, and missing features like silicon carbide batteries make it feel like Samsung is playing it too safe.
If you’re already entrenched in the Samsung ecosystem and need a reliable, high-performance device, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a great choice. But if you’re looking for a phone that pushes the boundaries and offers something truly innovative, you may want to explore other options in the market.
Final Thoughts: The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a good phone, but at a premium price, it’s fair to expect more than just a spec bump. With the competition catching up quickly, it’s clear that Samsung will need to step up their game in future iterations.
