You know we’re truly well into the year when Samsung drops its latest S series phones during its flagship Unpacked event.
That’s right, Samsung has announced the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25.
Said to offer Samsung’s “most natural and context-aware mobile experiences ever created,” the S25 series of phones once again has placed AI on the centre stage.
But let’s cut through the fluff—what exactly is new with the Galaxy S25 series?
A better UI: Android 14, One UI 6.1 → Android 15, One UI 7
In terms of software, the One UI is getting a facelift. Powered by the new One UI 7, the Galaxy S25 series is described as a “true AI companion that understands the context of your needs and preferences.”
The phones come with “AI agents with multimodal capabilities,” enabling them to interpret text, speech, images, and videos for interactions that feel natural.
Google’s Circle to Search feature has been upgraded to be more helpful, fast, and contextual. It now quickly recognises phone numbers, emails, and URLs on your screen, letting you call, email or visit a website easily.
Gemini can be activated by pressing and holding the side button, allowing seamless interaction across Samsung and Google apps, plus third-party apps such as Spotify.
These intuitive interactions are elevated by expansions to Galaxy AI’s popular tools for communication, productivity and creativity. This includes Call Transcript, Writing Assist, and Drawing Assist.
Camera upgrades for S25 Ultra: 12MP Ultra-Wide Camera → 50MP Ultra-Wide Camera
Of course, we can’t talk about flagship phones without talking about the camera capabilities.
In a press release, Samsung announced that the Galaxy S25 series “delivers ultra-detailed shots at every range with high resolution sensors and ProVisual Engine, setting a new standard for mobile photography.”
That said, most of the camera specs have remained the same for the S25 lineup. On the Ultra model, the Wide Camera (AKA the main camera) is still 200MP, there’s still a 50MP and 10MP Telephoto Camera (for 5x and 3x optical zoom respectively), and the selfie camera is still 12MP.
What has changed, though, is the Ultra-Wide Camera, which is now 50MP on the S25 Ultra.
With 0.5x pictures being the rage these days, this upgrade is definitely one I’m looking forward to testing out.
10-bit HDR recording is now applied by default, offering four times richer colour expression compared to 8-bit.
The Galaxy S25 also claims to do low-light videos better than before. Thanks to its powerful processor, the Galaxy S25 analyses movement and time to reduce noise more effectively. Detecting both moving and static objects with greater precision, this allows for sharper, cleaner footage.
More photography and videography tools
As for post-production tools, the Galaxy S25 series is introducing a range of photo and video tools once limited to specialised software.
There’s the Audio Eraser that easily removes unwanted noise in videos. It can isolate categories of sounds, including voices, music, wind, nature, crowd, and noise, letting users control what to tone down or eliminate entirely. We’re super excited to test this for our video content.
Offering a DSLR-like experience on mobile, the Galaxy S25 introduces depth-of-field control with Virtual Aperture. Galaxy S25 also elevates cinematic creativity with Galaxy Log that enables precise colour grading options.
New custom processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 → Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy
The Galaxy S25 series is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, which boasts unique customisations by Galaxy.
This is the most powerful processor ever on Galaxy S series, delivering a performance boost of 40% in NPU, 37% in CPU, and 30% in GPU compared to the previous generation.
Samsung and Qualcomm Technologies worked together to customise the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. The processor is also equipped with Vulkan Engine and improved Ray Tracing for smoother and more realistic mobile gaming.
Material facelift for S24 Ultra: Corning Gorilla Armor → Corning Gorilla Armor 2
Last generation’s S24 Ultra was protected by Corning Gorilla Armor on the front, while the back was protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 was also used for the front and back of S24+ and S24.
This year, the S25 Ultra is protected by the Corning Gorilla Armor 2, the industry’s first anti-reflective glass ceramic for mobile devices.
Applied to the front of the device, it offers enhanced durability especially for rough, challenging surfaces.
The anti-reflective properties also dramatically reduce surface reflections in both indoor and outdoor ambient settings.
In Corning lab tests, Gorilla Armor 2 survived drops of up to 2.2 metres on a surface replicating concrete.
The S25 and S25+ phones will still feature Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for the front and rear.
A lower starting price
Overall, starting prices seem to have been lowered slightly, except for the S25+ models. Specifically, the 256GB and 512GB phones fetch a lower price compared to the S24 models last year. The 256GB Galaxy S25 is also slightly more affordable than the Galaxy S24.
| Product | Storage | RRP | Product | Storage | RRP |
| Galaxy S25 Ultra | 1TB | RM7,799 | Galaxy S24 Ultra | 1TB | RM7,799 |
| 512GB | RM6,599 | 512GB | RM6,799 | ||
| 256GB | RM5,999 | 256GB | RM6,299 | ||
| Galaxy S25+ | 512GB | RM5,599 | Galaxy S24+ | 512GB | RM5,399 |
| 256GB | RM4,999 | 256GB | RM4,899 | ||
| Galaxy S25 | 512GB | RM4,599 | Galaxy S24 | 512GB | RM4,599 |
| 256GB | RM3,999 | 256GB | RM4,099 |
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Like before, the Galaxy S25 series offers seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates.
In terms of some additional frills, all Galaxy S25 devices will also come with six months of Gemini Advanced and 2TB of cloud storage at no extra cost.
From January 23 to February 13, 2025, customers will be able to enjoy offers worth up to RM1,600 when they pre-order the Galaxy S25 series.
Early birds can also get double storage upgrades worth up to RM600 for selected models and enjoy up to RM400 off when paying with a CIMB bank card.
We hope to get our hands on the S25 Ultra soon, so stay tuned for a review!
- Learn more about Samsung Galaxy S25 series here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Samsung here.
Featured Image Credit: Samsung