The next iteration of the Samsung Galaxy S family, the S25, may be a good few months away still, but that doesn’t stop experts and analysts from finding out what they can about upcoming devices.
With that said, let's get straight into the latest reports coming out about the Samsung Galaxy S25, including camera setup news and new contradicting information.
Qualcomm or Exynos?
Qualcomm will likely be the sole SoC supplier for the Samsung Galaxy S25 (vs. 40% for the S24), as the Exynos 2500 may not ship due to Samsung's lower-than-expected 3nm yield.
In addition to the significant increase in supply share, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will see a price…— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) June 17, 2024
Reports from a few months ago claimed that the upcoming S25 series would feature Samsung’s latest Exynos chipset in all their phones in every region.
Now newer information from trusted and popular analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states the complete opposite, claiming that the S25 may not ship with the Exynos 2500, the expected new chipset, due to “Samsung’s lower-than-expected 3nm yield,” meaning Qualcomm will be the sole supplier of the SoC (System on Chip) for the S25 lineup.
In simpler terms, while Samsung would like to power its full lineup in all regions with its own latest chipset, currently the 3nm node for the Exynos 2500 has had a disappointing yield, which means that the percentage of functional devices on the chips silicone wafer is lower than expected.
This will be disappointing for Samsung as they likely will want to be fully self-supporting in their device's chipsets to save from costs, especially with Kuo also stating that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which is predicted to be released in October, will see a price increase of 25-30%.
A price increase in the chipset will also likely see the S25 range take a higher price point than its predecessors.
The latest Galaxy S lineup, the S24, uses both Exynos and Qualcomm chipsets in their S24 and S24+ devices, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 featuring in the devices in the US, Canada and China, while the Exynos 2400 is used in the devices sold in every other region. The S24 Ultra features Qualcomm in all regions, however.
For now, if the report remains true, the S25 range will mirror the S23 range in featuring the latest Snapdragon chipset for the full lineup and in all regions.
Same, but different
Moving to the S25’s camera setup brings more unfortunate news as GalaxyClub has claimed to reveal the camera specs for the upcoming lineup, and it seems like there will be nothing new once again.
Strictly speaking, that’s not entirely true, as the S25 Ultra is expected to be getting a notable camera upgrade, as it usually does each year, while the S25 and S25+ will be remaining the same.
If the reports reign true, it will mean that the S25 and S25+ will be the fourth consecutive generation to feature the same camera hardware, with no improvements seen to either device's camera since they got an upgrade in the S22 lineup.
The current setup sees a 50MP wide, 10MP telephoto and 12MP ultrawide camera setup. The 12MP selfie/front unit is also said to remain the same
As for the S25 Ultra, it is claimed that it will be boosted once again, which wouldn’t be a surprise as that has been the norm every year.
The current S24 Ultra features a 200MP wide, 10MP telephoto, 50MP periscope telephoto and 12MP ultrawide setup. Improvements to that may see the telephoto and ultrawide camera match the periscope telephoto with 50MP, but this is yet to be seen.
As well as camera improvements, – or non-improvements – the leak states that the battery will be getting an upgrade too in the S25 lineup, although it doesn’t go into further detail.
Of course, it should go without saying, but with the S25 range not set to be released for another few months, these reports could turn out not to tell the entire story.