Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra: What’s new?

Samsung’s latest Galaxy S25 series has arrived, and while the hardware updates might appear subtle, these new flagship smartphones pack a powerful punch in the software and AI departments. The Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra maintain Samsung’s signature design language with refined touches, like a slimmer profile, lower weight, and slightly larger screens. The smartphones are powered by an exclusive For Galaxy version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and run on the new One UI 7.0 user interface based on Android 15. They showcase Samsung’s ambitious push into AI-driven features, from advanced image and video processing and editing to useful daily assistants. After spending a bit of time using these devices, it’s clear that Samsung is betting on artificial intelligence to transform how we interact with our smartphones. If you’re wondering whether these phones are worth upgrading to, or you’re just curious about the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, here’s what I found during my hands-on experience:

Minor design and hardware changes

People who were expecting a new design or important changes to the hardware of the Samsung Galaxy S25 series are going to be disappointed. Unfortunately, Samsung was rather restrained and brought on only a couple of minor improvements.

Changes to design and materials

The general design is similar to previous generations, with minor differences. First, the new Samsung Galaxy S25 series is slightly thinner and lighter than the previous S24 generation, making these smartphones even more comfortable to hold and use. For comparison, the new Galaxy S25 Ultra weighs just 218 grams instead of 233 grams, and its size has changed from 79 x 162.3 x 8.6 mm (on the S24 Ultra) to just 77.6 x 162.8 x 8.2 mm. With a smaller width yet a longer body, the screen size increases a bit, going from 6.8 inches to 6.9.

Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra

The weight of the Samsung Galaxy S25+ lowered to 190 grams (compared to 197 grams on the Galaxy S24+), while the Galaxy S25 weighs just 162 grams (instead of 167 grams on the Galaxy S24). There are no screen diagonal changes on the Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25, only minor size differences.

The new Galaxy S25 series features prominent black rings around the camera lenses on the back. According to Samsung, the company uses Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the lenses, making the camera system more durable. The camera layout, however, remains the same.

The back of these smartphones features black rings around camera lenses

Another change is that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s display is protected by Corning Gorilla Armor 2, while the back remains protected by Corning Gorilla Victus 2, like last year’s model. The other two models, the Galaxy S25 and the S25+ have not improved in this regard.

The display on the Galaxy S25 Ultra is protected by Corning Gorilla Armor 2

During my hands-on experience with these smartphones, I appreciated that the build quality remains as strong as ever. As expected, the new generation maintains the IP68 certification for water and dust protection from previous years.

Hardware improvements

The Samsung Galaxy S25 series introduces the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset on all three smartphones. As in previous years, these phones get an exclusive overclocked For Galaxy version that should provide slightly more performance than the chipsets found on competing flagships from other vendors. Graphics performance has also improved thanks to the new Adreno 830 graphics chip. At the same time, the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU delivers even better performance for AI-related tools and calculations, an area that is highly important to the entire Samsung Galaxy S25 series. Another small but important benefit is that the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset also provides Wi-Fi 7 connectivity on all three smartphones.

Snapdragon 8 Elite For Galaxy is found on all three Galaxy S25 phones

Besides getting the latest chipset from Qualcomm, the Galaxy S25 and S25+ haven’t changed hardware-wise from last year’s models. They use the same cameras, the same displays, and the same batteries. Unfortunately, we don’t see any improvements in battery capacity or fast charging, which is a significant disappointment for me. The competition has drastically outmatched Samsung in this regard, and even mid-range smartphones from other brands tend to offer better battery life than the Samsung Galaxy S25, along with charging that’s a lot faster than what you get on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Fortunately, there’s one important difference on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra camera system: the ultrawide lens now has 50 Megapixels instead of twelve, an f1.9 aperture, and a pixel size of just 0.7 µm, allowing the lens to capture more details and more light. The new lens should also improve the quality of the macro pictures people take. I’m curious how this new lens will fare in upcoming reviews.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a new 50 MP ultrawide lens

One UI 7 and AI everywhere

This year, Samsung has focused more than ever on artificial intelligence (AI). Therefore, the important changes are not on the hardware side but rather on the software. The Galaxy S25 series comes with One UI 7.0 preinstalled. Based on Android 15, the new operating system is infused with AI-based apps, tools, and features. A new widget found on the Home Screen of all new devices is Now brief, which can be customized to show you a morning report and provide up-to-date weather alerts, reminders about your appointments, and other daily updates and suggestions. There’s also a Now brief feature that can show you useful contextual information on the Lock screen and controls for apps running in the background while you perform certain activities.

Galaxy AI introduces a Now brief feature

The Galaxy AI suite has been improved and updated to work in more languages, and it can do more than before, with better results. There are also new features like Browsing Assist, which can read out loud the daily news or the summaries of lengthy web pages you’re interested in.

You can also use AI to generate images and wallpapers, as well as transform your creations into stickers that can be added to your conversations in WhatsApp, Messages, and any app you use for communicating with others.

Galaxy AI is everywhere in One UI 7.0

Samsung has also worked closely with Google to provide users with the best possible Gemini integration. People who buy any of these new smartphones also get six months of Gemini Advanced to integrate it into their work and daily routines. This subscription gives users access to Google’s latest and most advanced language models, including experimental previews that can be tried before anyone else.

You get a 6 months Gemini Advanced subscription

AI has also been integrated into the post-processing of images and videos recorded with the Samsung Galaxy S25 series. The company promises that this helps users get better night video recordings, more natural selfies, and improved image quality, including when zooming in to 30x or 100x. Image and video editing are also enhanced by AI, allowing users to remove unwanted noise from their videos or generate new videos from existing ones with a feature named Auto Trim. Group pictures are also improved by AI, allowing users to take multiple images of a group and then generate the ideal picture in which the AI uses the perfect face for each member. The hands-on demos shown by Samsung were relatively impressive, and I’m curious to try out all these features myself once the Galaxy S25 series becomes available for testing.

What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra?

These are the main changes, improvements, and features I’ve summarized based on my brief hands-on experience with these smartphones. I hope you found them useful. Before closing this article, I’m curious what you think: Do you like the new smartphones? Do they bring enough improvements and new features to convince you to switch? Which of the three most appeals to you: the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the S25+, or the Galaxy S25? Comment using the options below and share your perspective.