feeling : Samsung revealed its flagship Galaxy S25 range earlier this week , headed up by the new Galaxy S25 Ultra , possibly one of the most awaited phones of 2025 . However , I was n’t alone when I feel a little disappointed upon really see phone for the first clock time .
sure as shooting , theSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultralooks like the rest of theGalaxy S25 rangefor the first time in quite a few years , but in doing so , I thought it had lose its personality .
Those sharp edges and curvature were quintessentially Galaxy Ultra , with a distinct looking compare to most other flagship that help to give it its own identity .
Even though it ’s a feeling that ’s been adopted by the likes of theiPhone 16 Pro Max , OnePlus 13,Google Pixel 9 Pro XLand more , it still meant that you could ordinarily pick theGalaxy S24 Ultraout of a crowd . The S25 Ultra ? I ’m not so sure .
I was also a little snatch disappointed with the minimal hardware change on offer apart from the refresh look ; yes , it sports the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy and a Modern 50MP ultrawide camera , but in most other respect , it ’s essentially identical to last yr ’s Galaxy S24 Ultra .
It has almost monovular CRT screen specs , the other three rear genus Lens continue entirely unchanged , it gambol the same 5000mAh shelling and 45W charging in a yr where we ’re see quicker charge and 6000mAh+ cells in smartphones and , despite new features like Now Brief and Now Bar , the AI experience seems pretty standardized to what we saw with the Galaxy S24 range .
“ What ’s Samsung doing ? ” I thought – but it turn out that Samsung knows exactly what it ’s doing .
Yes , on paper , it ’s basically identical to the Galaxy S24 Ultra , but there ’s a surprising difference in the experience on offer that I was n’t really expecting out front of spending some time with the 2025 flagship after its launch on Wednesday evening .
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is surprisingly charming
In the space of just a few days , the Galaxy S25 Ultra has solidify itself as one of my favourite smartphones . allow me explain .
Let ’s first address the elephant in the room – the innovation . I remain firm by my initial opinion that the Galaxy S25 Ultra looks more generic this year , sporting a like pattern to practically every other flagship smartphone on the market , but I ca n’t deny that the experience of actually admit and using the speech sound is much courteous this year .
go are those pointed corners that dug into the palm of my hired hand , and even though the curved edge were a nice touch , I get far better hold when moderate onto a flat - sided phone – specially one with such a heavy screen door . It ’s almost like there ’s a rationality that most other flagship telephone utilise a similar design .
It ’s also noticeably light than last twelvemonth ’s theoretical account and big - screen challenger like Apple ’s iPhone 16 Pro Max , measuring in at 218 g. Combined , the Galaxy S25 Ultra is undoubtedly a nicer phone to wield in routine usance , and that was pretty much right away obtrusive upon begin the speech sound out of its ( fully recyclable ) corner .
Software plays a big role
The OneUI 7 update is more noticeable than I antecedently expected too . Yes , we get raw software program every year , but the center UI / UX tends to remain the same , with just a few newfangled lineament added for salutary measure .
Not this twelvemonth though ; OneUI 7 has undergo monolithic OS changes with Modern icons , a newfangled split notification substance , new animations , redesign widgets and novel graphics that make even mundane tasks like checking notifications and toggling controls in the quick command bill of fare feel raw and exciting for the first time in quite a few yr .
Then there ’s Galaxy AI ; while the overall experience is n’t that unalike to what you ’d get from the Galaxy S24 Ultra , OneUI 7 has AI baked forthwith into the OS , and that set aside the S25 Ultra ’s AI to do multi - app project like get football fixtures from Google and mechanically adding them to your calendar .
It also allows for the new Now Brief functionality , giving you an overview of information from various first- and third - political party apps in one handy CRT screen in the mornings and evening – though my experience of this thus far has essentially been a combination of atmospheric condition and calendar upshot .
Of course , OneUI 7 is n’t exclusive to the Galaxy S25 Ultra – it ’ll also be add up to the S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra , and it ’s entirely potential that the raw Galaxy AI features will also come in towage – but it certainly adds to the phone ’s ‘ fresh ’ feel for now .
There’s a noticeable difference in performance too
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is unsurprisingly quicker than last yr ’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 , but there ’s an uncharacteristically big difference in performance , with the newer chipset offering a 45 % cost increase in overall functioning while also being far more exponent efficient . It ’s largely down to the 8 Elite ’s architecture , which is base on Qualcomm ’s desktop - level Snapdragon X Elite .
Early bench mark testing express a difference of over 2600 detail in the CPU - focus Geekbench 6 multi - core examination and a 15fps uptick in GFXBench ’s top - goal Aztec Ruins ( High ) exam compared to last class ’s S24 Ultra , while boosted NPU performance allows previously cloud - based AI features like Generative Edit to bechance on - machine .
You might also be surprised to learn that , despite extend the same 45W excite as the S24 Ultra , I ’ve seen much fast veridical - world rush times in the retiring couple of twenty-four hours . I time my charge fourth dimension , and it reach 70 % in 30 minutes with a full care in 62 min , while the S24 Ultra achieved 57 % and 71 minutes , respectively .
So yes , I ’m happy to admit that I was unseasonable about the Galaxy S25 Ultra ; it ’s a wholly more refined smartphone than its specs suggest .
Is there enough here to justify an raise from the Galaxy S24 Ultra ? I ’m still on the fencing about that , but if you ’re moving from the two - year - old Galaxy S23 Ultra , or something even further back , I ’m confident you ’ll bump a lot to enjoy about the Galaxy S25 Ultra .
