Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra looks better than ever, but the biggest changes are in AI

It’s that time of year again – the time of year when Samsung announces its latest flagship phones and kick starts the race of devices hoping to be crowned best Android phone of 2025.

The Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 Ultra aren’t the first phones to land this year – that would be the difficult-to-criticise OnePlus 13 and the cheaper OnePlus 13R – but they are the first devices to come from Samsung, and the first to run an overclocked version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. 

I saw the Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra ahead of their announcement at Galaxy Unpacked, and while much of the design remains the same as their predecessors – the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 Ultra, the AI message is being pushed hard. Is it enough to upgrade?

Galaxy S25 Ultra 

As far as design changes go, it’s the Galaxy S25 Ultra that has the most to talk about. For this year, it moves to a design that’s more closely aligned with the rest of the family, offering rounder corners. It’s still squarer than you’ll find on the likes of the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, but the edges of the display are softer than they have been in the past. 

The display has increased in size too, jumping from 6.8-inches to 6.9-inches, which was achieved by slimming down the bezels rather than increasing the size of the device – much like Apple did with its most recent iPhone Pro models. It’s difficult to tell how much of a difference the size increase will make in real world use, but there is said to be better protection against scratches with Corning Gorilla Armor 2 claimed to result in 60 per cent less screen damage.

When it comes to build quality and internals, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is 15g lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra, though it retains titanium for the frame. Inside, I mentioned the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is called the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy and that will power all devices, rather than just those in the US.

The camera has seen some improvements too, with a bump in resolution for the ultra-wide lens. It moves to a 50-megapixel sensor over last year’s 12-megapixels, boosting its skills as a macro lens. The remaining two lenses are the same as previously, with a 200-megapixel main and 50-megapixel telephoto cameras.

Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+

When it comes to the Galaxy S25 and S25+, there’s a little less to say in terms of design differences. Both get the same hardware update as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, moving to the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, and there is a bump in RAM too, switching from 8GB to 12GB.

The two devices are 4mm slimmer than their predecessors and their frame’s include 20 per cent recycled aluminium too, which is a first for them. Otherwise, you will struggle to see distinct differences compared to last year’s models with the focus being on software changes this time around.

Galaxy AI and what’s next

Samsung – like many other companies – is continuing to put many of its eggs in AI’s basket. This comes in the form of Galaxy AI and when the Galaxy S24 series was announced, there were some good features that came under that Galaxy AI umbrella. 

For the Galaxy S25 series, new features are being introduced and others – like Circle to Search – are expanding. You’ll be able to use natural language to search for photos in the Gallery, Circle to Search a music track or audio in a video, as well as use it on any screen you are on. 

You’ll also be able to use AI to adjust settings, like tell your phone your eyes hurt and ask it to do something with the screen, and Samsung promises AI will work across apps too. In this instance, it is suggested you could ask for the schedule of Arsenal’s football matches and add them all to your calendar, or text them to a friend using a single voice prompt. Both WhatsApp and Spotify will be launch partners for these Cross App Actions I was told during my briefing. 

There’s also AI Select to give you access to AI features from whatever screen you’re on, and this you can get to by swiping from the side of the device, while a Now Brief is designed to give you a personalised briefing of your day in the morning, afternoon and evening.

This brief will include different things, like your sleep score if you wear a Galaxy Watch 7 or Galaxy Ring, the weather forecast, meetings, and suggestions for routines based on your habits. The evening one meanwhile, will show you photos you took that day, or memorable moments, as well as suggest things like changing an alarm clock if you have a meeting earlier than the alarm. 

There’s also the Now Bar, which is a lock screen feature that will appear between the camera and dialler shortcuts. It will let you manage apps without opening the full app and keep you in the loop with things like live sports scores. It’s a similar vibe to Live Activites and Dynamic Island on iPhone but in one feature rather than two. There are 14 options to customise the Now Bar and I suspect that will expand over time.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25+ and S25 price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25+ and S25 are available to pre-order from 22 January 2025. They will go on sale on 7 February 2025.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra starts at £1,249 in the UK and $1,299.99 in the US, and that’s for 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. It comes in Titanium Silverblue, Titanium Black, Titanium Whitesilver and Titanium Grey.

The Galaxy S25+ starts at £999 in the UK and $999.99 in the US for the 256GB storage model, while the Galaxy S25 starts at £799 in the UK and $799.99 for 128GB of storage. Both will come in Silver Shadow, Navy, Icy Blue and Mint.