The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a prime example of how mainstream brands are shifting their priorities in phone hardware upgrades. While the Galaxy S24 Ultra introduced AI with more personality, the new flagship takes it a step further. Samsung is betting big on AI-powered features to set the Galaxy S25 Ultra apart from the competition—though the upgrades feel more evolutionary than revolutionary.
I’ve used the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra for a week and here’s why I think it’s big, bold, and boring.
The Big – Refined Design And A Better Display
It’s no secret that Samsung’s Ultra devices are some of the biggest in their segments, but the subtle changes in the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s design make it feel even bigger in the hand. At 218 grams, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra (232 grams). You’ll be able to tell the weight difference, but Samsung made a design choice that negates the benefits of weight loss—at least for me.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra features rounded corners, so it doesn’t dig into your palm but they’re accompanied by flat sides and sharp edges.
I hold my phone with my palm and thumb on the left side, three fingers wrapped around the right side, and my pinky finger at the bottom. Due to the flat sides and sharp edges, I can’t get a good grip, which puts more weight on my pinky finger—resulting in pain in both the finger and wrist after 30 minutes of use. If you hold your phone like me, this is something to be mindful of. I suggest adding a case to solve this.
If you can get past the new design quirks, you’re greeted by the best display on a phone. It’s a 6.9-inch AMOLED screen with slimmer bezels and the same 1Hz-120Hz dynamic refresh rate, QHD+ resolution, and 2,600 nits of peak brightness. The only change is the presence of an upgraded Gorilla Armor 2.
I liked the anti-reflective coating of Gorilla Armor on the Galaxy S24 Ultra last year, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra takes it a step further. The Armor 2 is stronger and offers a better anti-reflective coating that doesn’t interfere with the popping colors on the screen. From browsing to doom-scrolling Reels to watching movies, I loved consuming content on this display.
Unlike the OnePlus 13 and Vivo X200 Pro, the Galaxy S25 Ultra doesn’t chase an IP69 rating. It offers only IP68 protection against dust and water submersion, which is more than enough for most people. It’s also Qi2-ready, which means the phone doesn’t sport magnets inside its body but you can add a magnetic case to take advantage of Qi2 wireless charging capabilities. I’m not a fan of adding accessories to make the most of my new device but Samsung says lack of magnets allowed it to make the phone lighter.
The Bold – Doubling Down On AI Over Hardware Upgrades
Samsung’s approach with the Galaxy S25 Ultra is bold because it relies heavily on AI features to stand out—both from the competition and its predecessor. It prioritizes software uniqueness over meaningful hardware upgrades, adding to the list of incremental upgrade pointers.
In my hands-on, I noted contextual AI as the big talking point of the Galaxy S25 series. After spending a week with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, I can confirm it improves the user experience with a couple of AI features, while others remain wonky.
Starting with the new feature that I’ve loved using: AI Select. It’s like Circle to Search, but instead of searching the web for selected on-screen information, it suggests on-device actions.
For instance, if I select a part of the screen that mentions the time, date, and location for an invite, it’ll suggest an Add to Calendar option. Tap on it, and this information is added to the Calendar app. I still double-check all info (because AI), but it has been one of the most accurate Galaxy AI features for me.
One UI 7 also brings a new way to interact with active apps on the lock screen through Now Bar. It’s like the Dynamic Island but located at the bottom of the screen. If you have music playing while navigating to a place, it’ll display that information in cards stacked on top of each other. You can take action on them from the lock screen. Like the Dynamic Island implementation on the iPhone 14 series at launch, Now Bar is in the early stages and limited to a handful of apps.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra includes a new way to consolidate information you might need in one place. It’s called Now Brief and it’s an app-widget hybrid that gathers details like your schedule, weather, and data from Samsung Health, providing insights into your sleeping patterns, exercises, and more. Now Brief can also suggest news, Spotify playlists, and YouTube Shorts.
But this feature has been underwhelming for me so far. One week into using the phone, I’m yet to receive any news, the suggested Spotify playlists aren’t based on my preferences, and Galaxy Health data is absent most of the time. At the time of writing this story, I’m only seeing the weather and my schedule for today. I’ll update this story if I notice any improvements as I continue using the device.
Other Galaxy AI features include transcription assist, the ability to remove distractions from photos, and party tricks like Sketch to Image and generating objects in a photo—all of which are quicker than before. However, I’ve run into problems where the phone refused to give me a result after taking about 15 seconds to process the request.
Oh, and Bixby is out of the picture. It makes way for Gemini, which works across apps now. For example, I asked it to give me a list of the top 10 places to visit in Barcelona with one-line explanations and add that list to my Google Keep. It did.
Then, I asked it to send that list to my contacts on WhatsApp, and the wonky nature kicked in. It couldn’t detect my contacts in that app, despite them being present as pinned chats. Gemini kept asking me to repeat myself and failed each time. It was easier and more efficient to share that note with a few taps.
I can see the Galaxy AI progress from last year, but Gemini’s process sums up the experience of interacting with AI features—they work sometimes, fail most of the time, and you always have to recheck the information. It’s being positioned as an easier and more efficient way to interact with your phone, but it isn’t. At least, not yet.
I’ve found Galaxy AI to be better than Apple Intelligence, but it’s still a work in progress. And a WiP ideally shouldn’t be a headline feature of a new launch—especially since these features aren’t exclusive. All of the Galaxy AI and Gemini software smarts will likely make their way to other phones, including the Galaxy S24 series (with the One UI 7 update), which could diminish the appeal of Samsung’s latest flagship.
The Boring – Relies Heavily on Chipset Optimizations
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra features the same storage and RAM variants, the same primary and telephoto cameras, and the same battery capacity and charging speeds as its predecessor. It relies on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC to deliver better results in camera quality and battery—and it does, for the most part.
Despite the presence of AI overlays, multitasking, and Edge Panel, I haven’t noticed any lags or stutters while using the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It’s a smooth experience. The phone gets warm (not hot) to the touch when shooting photos and videos for an extended period.
My typical smartphone use involves 75% Wi-Fi and 25% mobile data for browsing, researching articles, getting lost on social media (X, Threads, and Instagram), communicating with people (WhatsApp, Slack, and Teams), and capturing photos. The Galaxy S25 Ultra lasted me at least an hour longer in screen on time than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. You can expect it to deliver all-day battery life.
The S Pen is great for productivity and signing documents on the go. But Samsung has downgraded its feature set. You no longer get Bluetooth functions like a remote shutter because, according to Samsung, less than 1% of users were using it, which led to the removal. It’s a bummer for me since it was my most-used S Pen feature as a solo traveler on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and S24 Ultra.
As for optics, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra sports an upgraded 50MP ultrawide-angle camera. It is accompanied by the same 200MP primary sensor with optical image stabilization, a 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom, and a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom.
The results are what you’d expect from a Samsung flagship – bright reds and blues, great dynamic range, and blurry photos of moving subjects. You can click clear photos of moving subjects by adjusting the shutter speed in Expert RAW app but it’s not used by many. I shouldn’t need to go to a new app and adjust settings if I want to capture my niece’s cute moments.
As for the new ultrawide camera, it captures more details than before and it’s better around the edges. I’ve noticed improvements in skin tones (they aren’t warm but more natural), better processing, and more detailed selfies. The improvement in photo quality is visible when you compare the photos clicked on Galaxy S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra side by side.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra also appeals to creators with the ability to shoot log videos, better low-light video processing, and an Audio Eraser feature. Like the iPhones and Google Pixels, Samsung’s new phone can detect background noise and bring the subject’s voice to the forefront.
Samsung’s Audio Eraser can detect six different categories of noises like Voices, Wind, Nature, Crowd, Background, and Speaker. You can select, single out, and edit the ones you’d like to keep in your video. I sounded a little unnatural and robotic when I slid down the Wind and Crowd sliders to focus on my voice by increasing the Speaker slider.
Who is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra for?
At $1,300 / INR 1,30,000, the Galaxy S25 Ultra isn’t the most affordable flagship. It’s also less of an “Ultra” in 2025, considering Samsung’s high benchmarks in the past. For years, Galaxy Ultra phones were packed with features and extra capabilities—like 10x optical zoom, an S Pen that was more than just a stylus, and designs that stood out in their respective eras.
In 2025, Samsung’s flagship is no longer pushing the boundaries. It’s well within them.
That said, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra offers the best display on a phone, fast performance, all-day battery life, and an S Pen for more precise touch. It delivers quality-of-life improvements like an even better screen and improved battery life. It’s still the phone to buy for business professionals who need productivity on the go.
Thanks to One UI and S Pen, it’s the best slab phone for productivity.
