Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Review

As the true flagship device each year, the Ultra version of the latest Galaxy S phones are designed to deliver the best - and that’s what you get with the S25 Ultra.

On the surface, you may not recognise many differences between it and its predecessor, but in reality it’s what’s inside that’s making the difference, with more AI capabilities and a setup that is more than capable of handling said functions and some.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Display

The display on the S25 Ultra has not differed greatly to that of the S24 Ultra except in one department, expanding the display size from 6.8 inches to 6.9 inches. A small difference but one nonetheless.

Other than that, the display panel remains unchanged, with a 1400 x 3120px resolution in a 19.5:9 aspect ration, a 120Hz maximum refresh rate, HDR10+ and 2600 nits peak brightness (over 1400 nits in adaptive brightness mode in testing).

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Camera

There is a whopping five camera lens on the S25 Ultra - four on the back and one on the front. This is the same from the S24 Ultra; however, one lens has been given an upgrade.

The ultrawide lens that was only 12MP on the S24 Ultra has been expanded to 50MP. The other lens remain as the 200MP wide, 10MP telephoto and 50MP periscope telephoto. The selfie camera also remains at 12MP. 

Image quality has been given a boost, though admittedly a small one. The processing has been given some minor tweaks, delivering images that are less sharp and have more natural details.

Video filming remains unchanged, with 8K at 24/30fps, 4K at 30/60/120fps, and 1080p at 30/60/120/240fps for the rear camera, 4K at 30/60fps and 1080p at 30fps for the selfie camera.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Design

Samsung accomplished a notable feat with the S25 Ultra, shaving 1.4mm from the width and 0.4mm from the thickness. It’s also been trimmed down from 232g for the S24 Ultra to 218g. It may not represent a big difference in how it feels, but this effort is not an easy accomplishment to do without big design changes, so kudos to Samsung for it.

The build is made of titanium and Gorilla Armor to make it a rigid and sturdy device. The glass features are more durable than ever, too, utilising Corning’s latest glass-ceramic formulation.

Unfortunately, for those that enjoy the use of the S Pen and its functions, you may be disappointed to learn that it has been somewhat downgraded in its use from the S24 Ultra. 

Its power and connectivity lacks a real oomph, it can no longer be used for air gestures, and possibly most disappointingly, it can no longer be used as a remote camera actuation.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Performance

As usual, the latest devices feature the newest chipsets, and that is no different in the S25 Ultra, with the device containing the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite.

You’ll also find 12GB of RAM as standard with all storage options, as opposed to 12GB being reserved for the bigger/biggest storage devices.

Putting these two together ultimately delivers a more powerful phone that offers ultimate performance, particularly for AI tasks.

Battery-wise, the S25 Ultra remains with a 5000mAh capacity, delivering almost 15 hours of consistent active use time. While the capacity isn’t upgraded on the S24 Ultra, the way the power is converted and used has been enhanced, now allowing for 11% longer gaming time and 14% longer video playback (battery tests conducted by GSMArena).

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Features

The biggest changes in the S25 range comes in the software and AI improvements. Running on the latest version of the One UI 7 (Android 15), it includes multiple new AI tools that help with automation and productivity.

The new tools are designed around helping users to perform tasks more efficiently, anticipating needs to find information needed ahead of time or perform multiple complex tasks.

Google’s Gemini assistant is constantly evolving and now has better uses on the S25, with the highlight being that it is now capable of interacting with information on the web and apps on the device to get things done without the need for the user to manually enter them, such as passwords or entering dates into the calendar.

This can all be done via text or voice commands, where you can now ask for more complex actions with the device better capable of completing them.

A new “Now” bar features at the bottom of the lock screen and can display timely information such as widgets, timers, media controls etc.

How much is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra?

Bearing in mind that the S25 Ultra is the flagship device for the company’s latest range - as is the way with all Ultra’s - that has all the bells and whistles, so it does come with a rather heavy price tag.

There are three storage options to choose from starting from 256GB and going up to 1TB.

• 256GB = £1249
• 512GB = £1349
• 1TB = £1549

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Our verdict

These days, it feels like the difference between two iterations of flagship devices from the same brand are marginal from year to year, but as long as those margins are noticeable, that’s what counts.

That’s very much the case for the S25 Ultra over the S24 Ultra. This latest devices is the clear option if you are looking for ultimate performance, especially with AI. It delivers in every category and does represent a solid step up from its predecessors. 

If you’re happy to fork out that much money for a phone, the S25 Ultra should definitely be the choice.