Hands-On Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25 Plus And S25, LIVE At Unpacked 2025

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25+ And S25: Familiar Hardware, Upgraded Processors, Updated Software And Intriguing AI

It’s late January, CES is behind us, and like clockwork, new Samsung flagship smartphones are here. In San Jose, California today, the company unveiled the Galaxy S25 Ultra ($1299), S25+ ($999). and S25 ($799). The good news is that the price of these new handsets remains unchanged versus last year’s S24 series. However, these new phones are similar to their predecessors in some respects, with some major updates in other areas. Here’s everything you need to know.

But first, don't miss our hands-on video live from the event in San Jose... 

Galaxy S25 Series Brings Familiar Design Language

Design-wise, the Galaxy S25 series inherits the S24 series’ general look and feel. You get virtually the same iPhone-like slab sides, thin bezels, camera pod, and button / port layout. The most noticeable difference is with the lens surrounds, which are now thicker and finished in black – matching those of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold6. Another change is with the four corners of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which have been rounded off.

Overall, though, dimensions and weights remain mostly the same – the Galaxy S25 series handsets are slightly thinner and lighter than their predecessors. The S25 and S25+ displays are identical to the S24 and S24+’s (6.2-inch 1080p and 6.7-inch 1440p 120Hz LTPO AMOLED, respectively). You’ll note however, that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s screen grows to 6.9 inches (still 1440p 120Hz LTPO AMOLED) thanks to thinner bezels.

The S25 and S25+ shooters are exactly the same as last year’s, and consist of a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 50MP f/1.8 main with OIS, 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto with OIS, and 12MP f/2.2 selfie with AF). Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25 Ultra receives a 50MP f/1.9 ultrawide (vs. 12MP on the S24 Ultra), but otherwise retains last year’s cameras (200MP f/1.7 main with OIS, 10MP f/2.4 3x tele with OIS, 50MP f/3.4 5x tele with OIS, and 12MP f/2.2 selfie with AF).

Under the hood, the biggest update to the Galaxy S25 series is the switch to Qualcomm’s 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy SoC across the board, the addition of WiFi 7 support to the S25 and S25+, and the inclusion of 12GB of RAM on the S25. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy SoC differs somewhat from standard Snapdragon 8 Elite chips found onboard phones like the OnePlus 13, and Samsung claims it’s more than just a bump in clock speed this time around.

Snapdragon 8 Elite For Samsung Galaxy Collaboration Details Emerge

In fact, in a recent press release statement, Qualcomm noted, "...the Galaxy S25 series are the first commercial devices to feature Snapdragon Satellite, which allows consumers to send and receive messages via satellite (narrowband NTN) natively supported in Android OS. Qualcomm Technologies and Samsung worked closely together to customize the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy to deliver premium image quality and power consumption on a Galaxy smartphone display. Designed to set new standards of innovation, Samsung also partnered with Qualcomm Technologies to integrate Spatio-Temporal Filter (STF) support into the Qualcomm Spectra™ ISP of this series, unlocking sharper-than-ever low light video capture capabilities, even at 8K 30fps, while maintaining world-class power consumption efficiency. Additionally, Qualcomm Technologies and Samsung collaborated closely to tailor the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy for the latest Gemini experiences. Whether it’s managing tasks between apps, livestreaming from the Gemini app, or using Gemini as a writing assistant, these experiences will run seamlessly and efficiently on Snapdragon."

In addition, now packing 12GB of RAM across all phones, the Galaxy S25 series is still on par with the S24 series in terms of storage options, with 128/256GB (S25), 256/512GB (S25+), and 256/512GB or 1TB (S25 Ultra). Ditto battery capacities and wired charging speeds, which remain 4000mAh/25W (S25), 4900mAh/45W (S25+) and 5000mAh/45W (S25 Ultra). Wireless charging tops out at 15W and 4.5W (reverse) like before as well.

Samsung also increased the size of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s vapor chamber by 40% and improved the thermal interface material for better cooling under sustained heavy workloads. One area where the Galaxy S25 Ultra is getting downgraded is with the S Pen, which no longer includes a capacitor or Bluetooth radio. As such, you can’t use the S Pen as a camera or presentation remote anymore, which is unfortunate.

Updated Samsung Software And Intriguing AI

On the software front, the Galaxy S25 series phones run One UI 7 on top of Android 15, which integrates AI deeply within the OS. This enables highly-personalized, context-aware user experiences powered by multimodal AI agents. Samsung worked closely with Google to make this possible. As a result, Gemini can now change settings on your handset and interact directly with Google, Samsung, and third party apps like Spotify.

For example, you can ask Gemini to summarize reviews for a specific product on Youtube and save the result as a note in Samsung Notes. In addition, the Galaxy S25 series boast a “Personal Data Engine” – your own secure, on-device LLM (large language model) – that analyses your data and learns how you use your phone over time to offer helpful suggestions and make finding specific content (like photos) easier.

With the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung’s AI photo editing tools now run completely on-device. These new flagships also support LOG and 10-bit HDR video recording, and Samsung’s Expert RAW camera app now features a Virtual Aperture setting. Audio Eraser – which is similar to Google’s implementation on Pixel phones – lets you remove voices, music, wind, nature, crowds, and noise from videos in the Gallery app.

Our Key Takeaways From Samsung Unpacked 2025

At first glance, we had mixed feelings about Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series. While the hardware is solid as always, it doesn’t really push the envelope in terms of specs, which is somewhat disappointing. That said, Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform that's powering these devices should deliver a nice boost in overall performance, along with that improved thermal solution on the Ultra that should help to maintain it over extended use.

And again, some of the new AI features and functionality – like Gemini being able to interact directly with apps, and the “Personal Data Engine” secure, on-device LLM – is very intriguing. We’re looking forward to testing this in our forthcoming review.

Pre-orders for the Galaxy S25 series start today and general sales begin February 7. The Galaxy S25 Ultra ($1299+) is available in Titanium Silverblue, Titanium Whitesilver, Titanium Gray, and Titanium Black – plus Titanium Pinkgold, Titanium Jetblack, and Titanium Jadegreen (Samsung website) – while the Galaxy S25+ ($999+) and Galaxy S25 ($799+) come in Navy, Icyblue, Mint, and Silver Shadow – plus Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold (Samsung website).