I’ve been testing all three models of the Galaxy S25 series (except the Edge since that won’t be out for a few months), and the conclusion I’ve come to is, the Galaxy S25 Ultra isn’t the one to get for most people.
Now, yes this is going to be subjective, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra just doesn’t feel that comfortable in the hand to me. Even with a case on it, it’s still fairly uncomfortable for longer periods of time. However, the Galaxy S25 Plus and regular Galaxy S25 have about 90% of the same features of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, for a lower price.
I’m someone that loves smaller phones, after all my daily driver is the iPhone 16 Pro, not the Pro Max. I also used the Pixel 9 Pro for an extended amount of time, because I love that size for a phone. It’s easier to use with one hand, it also doesn’t feel like a brick in your pocket. And after a few days with the Galaxy S25, I’ve come away pretty impressed with its battery life, particularly for a 4,000mAh capacity battery. Currently, I’m sitting at 51% left on the and 13 hours and 50 minutes of screen off time. And this is while the battery is still learning my usage patterns. So I think the battery will be perfectly fine.
However, for those that do want a bigger phone, there’s the Galaxy S25 Plus. A model that I have often times said “why does this exist?” despite talking my parents into getting the Galaxy S22 Plus just a couple of years ago. If you don’t care about having the S Pen, or 100x zoom, then the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus are really good options. And they are far cheaper. The Galaxy S25 starts at $799, while the Galaxy S25 Plus starts at $999 and also double the storage at that price.
Galaxy S25 is less boxy than Galaxy S25 Ultra
As mentioned already, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is less square and boxy than it was in previous iterations, but it is still pretty boxy. Those corners are less sharp, but still dig into your palm. If you’ve been using a Galaxy S23 Ultra or Galaxy S24 Ultra, that is going to be pretty natural to you, as you’re used to the boxiness of the “Ultra”.
Obviously, the Galaxy S25 Ultra does have a titanium frame, which the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus are both missing, which makes the Galaxy S25 Plus about 14% lighter at 190 grams. It’s definitely noticeable, though it is also a noticeably smaller phone. Samsung did outfit the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus with Armor Aluminum 2, so it is still pretty strong, and so far, it seems to work very well.
However, one feature that would be hard to miss out on is, Gorilla Armor 2. If you’ve never used a phone with Gorilla Armor (essentially, Galaxy S24 Ultra or Galaxy S25 Ultra), then this won’t be a big deal for you. But Gorilla Armor 2 is an anti-reflective layer on the display, that is also very protective. In fact, Samsung told us in our briefing that the Galaxy S24 Ultra had 60% fewer screen repairs compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. If you’re someone who drops your phone a lot and doesn’t use a case, then the Galaxy S25 Ultra might be the best bet for you still.
All three Galaxy S25 models have the same processing power
Despite there being a $500 difference in starting prices among the three Galaxy S25 models, they all sport the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that is overclocked at 4.47GHz on its two Prime Cores. All three also come with 12GB of RAM – there’s no 16GB of RAM in most markets, Asia is rumored to be getting one, however. Meaning, you’re getting the same performance on the Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Now where things do differ a bit is in charging. The Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Plus do support 45W charging, however the Galaxy S25 is only 25W. This makes sense, given the smaller battery and smaller physical size of the Galaxy S25. As you need somewhere for that heat to go. And all three top out at 15W wireless charging, with Qi2 support only with a case.
There’s really only one thing that the Galaxy S25 Ultra has that its smaller brothers doesn’t have, and that’s the large vapor chamber. Samsung says that it is about 40% larger this year, which we were able to see during our hands-on time in San Jose. However, the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus had no mention of a vapor chamber. In our early testing, we’re finding that the Galaxy S25 Plus is a few degrees warmer in each thermal test we’ve performed.
But to be brutally honest here, the Galaxy S25 Plus has performed quite well, compared to other recent phones we’ve reviewed. It’s cooler then the OnePlus 13 and the HONOR Magic 7 Pro (both running the Snapdragon 8 Elite), a tad warmer than the Vivo X200 Pro, and actually cooler than the OPPO Find X8 Pro (both running MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400). We haven’t yet completed our thermal testing of the smaller Galaxy S25 yet, however.
Cameras and S Pen might be the only reason to go Ultra
If you like the S Pen, despite Samsung ditching Bluetooth this year, then you’ll still want the Galaxy S25 Ultra. And that’s perfectly fine. The S Pen is a great feature. It’s great for taking notes, drawing and even using some of the AI features like Generative Edit. Though, many are upset with the lack of Bluetooth on the S Pen this year.
Then there’s the cameras. That’s the major difference between the Ultra and regular S25 models this year. Samsung still has a 200-megapixel main sensor on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and it upgraded the ultrawide to 50-megapixels. Meanwhile, the base Galaxy S25 cameras are the same as the Galaxy S22, back in 2022. So we’re looking at the same 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 10-megapixel 3x optical telephoto sensor and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. The cameras are good, but no competition for some of the crazy camera phones coming out of China like the Vivo X200 Pro.
Which is why I believe that the regular Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus are better options for most people, than the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Currently, you can still pre-order all three models and save pretty handsomely.
On Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus you can still get up to $500 in instant trade-in credit, plus $100 in Samsung Credit (or $150 for S25 Plus). Don’t forget that Samsung.com also has three exclusive colors, including CoralRed, PinkGold, and BlueBlack. For Galaxy S25 Ultra, you can save up to $900 instantly with trade-in, plus get up to $350 in Samsung Credits, and a storage upgrade. So you could get a brand new Galaxy S25 Ultra for as low as $399, which isn’t too shabby.
2025-01-31 15:04:28