Review Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung has been dominating the market of Android smartphones for many years, partly due to the success of the Premium Galaxy S series. At the beginning of 2025, Samsung came with the new Galaxy S25 series, consisting of the S25, the S25+ and the S25 Ultra of which I tested the last model. Since I have been the S24 Ultra test for months, a comparison between the two devices is quickly made.

Design and screen

The Galaxy S25 Ultra has bent corners and a flatter side

Immediately it is striking that all S25 smartphones now have rounded corners and flat sides, so also this ultra (just like the S24 Ultra) and personally I also like that. He can take a beating or ‘fall’ thanks to the titanium sides, the back is made of glass and with 218 grams it is not too heavy. It is nice in the hand and although an ultra device may be too large for some (7.76 x 16.28 x 0.82 cm), I find that no problem. As the only one from the S25 series, the Ultra has an S Pen with which you can write and draw on this smartphone.

Because the screen edges are now slightly thinner, it looks like you almost only see a screen. And that screen is a slightly larger and beautiful 6.9 inch Amoled screen that is equipped with Mat Gorilla Armor 2 glass. It is striking that if you install the S25 Ultra, the screen is set to 2340 x 1080 pixels, while can handle 3120 x 1440. However, that 2340×1080 is more than sufficient: the images and colors when watching films, series and games splash smoothly from your screen, just like with your photos and videos (in HDR). This is due to the high refresh rate of 120 Hz and high peak clearance of 2600 nits. Images in dark environments are also well displayed: the contrast is excellent on this screen.

Faster chip, ram and rom

A bigger difference is in the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip that is and really much faster (up to 40%) and more energy efficient; In addition, the S25 Ultra does not get hot due to the 40% larger cooling room (Vapor Chamber). Just like with the S24 Ultra you can choose from 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB in terms of storage memory (ROM). In addition, you naturally also need a lot of memory (RAM) and that is the same here as with the previous Ultra 12 GB.

Samsung AI and One onion 7 and software updates

You can’t get around it: Samsung is fully committed to Samsung Ai. Partly because of that, that new chip is there, because more and more the internal computing power is being used. Samsung reported at their introduction event that a lot was previously processed on their servers, but that generative AI (for example making texts and images) is done on the smartphone itself (on-device). Just like for the S24 series, Samsung works together with Google on AI on their smartphones via Gemini. In addition, I often use the S24 Circle to search and the app Speech Recorder During interviews and meetings. A new version is running on the S25s, which can be read more in the article ‘Rob about Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphones’ on Pcactive.nl. However, Samsung reported that music from a YouTube video is now recognized via Circle to Search.

On the S25, One UI 7, the own ‘shell’ of Samsung on top of Android 15. In addition to more colorful icons, the mainly falls the Now Bar On which you see at the bottom of your lock screen and with which you have quick access to, for example, your media player. Also useful is the now letter that gives you an overview of what the day can/will bring, such as your agenda and the weather.

Cameras

No review of a Samsung Galaxy (S25) smartphone without naming the excellent cameras. Unfortunately, there is not much news to say there: the 200MP head camera, the 10MP sensor with telephoto lens (3x optical zoom) and the 50MP counting camera with 5x optical zoom are the same as those of the S24 Ultra. On the one hand a pity, on the other hand, the excellent cameras for both photo and video are and remain. And the switch between those two telecomes goes smoothly and via cropping (cropping) and AI optimization you get better results, for example thanks to cartoons.

Samsung does bring a new ultra -wide angle camera to the S25 Ultra: instead of 12 MP it is now 50 Mp in size. As a result and because of the optical image stabilization you can now take better photos (and videos) of, for example, landscapes. At the front you make very nice selfies with the 12MP camera.

Battery (Duration) and Speakers

In terms of battery, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has the same battery as its predecessor with its 5000mAh battery. You can charge it quickly with 45 watts in about 75 minutes, wirelessly you spend twi2 twice as much time.

Fortunately, you don’t have to charge it often: I easily did the S25 Ultra all day.

Furthermore, the good sound of the speakers is striking, so nice with telephone calls, among other things.

Conclusion

With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung again releases a very strong device: beautiful design, great screen, super fast chip with a lot of memory, handy software, excellent cameras and good battery (expensive). However, as you can read in this review, it looks a lot like his predecessor. Only if you don’t have the S24 Ultra, do we recommend the S25 Ultra. Otherwise you are (almost) a thief of your own wallet, because his predecessor is hundreds of euros cheaper …

Product: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 1 TB

Suggested retail price:
€ 1,449 (256GB storage)
€ 1,569 (512GB)
€ 1,809 (1 TB)

Plus points:
+ fast hardware
* Great screen
* Good software
* Excellent cameras
* Good battery (expensive)

Cons:
* price
* Little difference with S24 Ultra