The Samsung Galaxy S25 is official. As expected, Samsung launched the handset – alongside its Plus and Ultra variants – at its Galaxy Unpacked event on 22nd January. And it looks like a doozy.
The new phones come with (slightly) refined designs, meaningful picture improvements and AI skills a-go-go. They're all available to pre-order now. There's even a mysterious 'Edge' variant coming soon which promises to rival the iPhone 17 Slim that's rumoured to launch later in the year.
Read on for everything you need to know. And check out our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on review for our first impressions.
- Available to pre-order now (out 4th February)
- Starts at £799 / $799 / AU$1399
- New ProScale feature upscales video and adds detail
- Maximum screen refresh rate of 120Hz
- All handsets are lighter than their S24 predecessors
- S25 Ultra has a slightly bigger screen than S24 Ultra, with slimmer bezels
- Mystery S25 Edge variant is coming soon, to be thinnest ever Galaxy phone
Samsung Galaxy S25: release date
Pre-orders are open now, following Samsung Unpacked on 22nd January. Delivers start on 4th February. This was in keeping with the rumours.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 went on sale on 31st January 2024, almost a year to the day before the S25 hits the shelves.
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: how do the flagship phones compare?
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S24 Ultra: what's new?
Samsung Galaxy S25: price
The S25 range is priced broadly in line with its predecessors. There's not much between it and the equivalent iPhone 16 model either. Here's the full pricing.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Samsung Galaxy S25 | Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus | Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
| 128GB | £799 / $799 / N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 256GB | £859 / $859 / AU$1399 | £999 / $999 / AU$1699 | £1249 / $1299 / AU$2149 |
| 512GB | £979 / N/A / AU$1599 | £1099 / $1119 / AU$1899 | £1349 / $1419 / AU$2349 |
| 1TB | N/A | N/A | £1549 / $1659 / AU$2749 |
Samsung currently has a sale on, with introductory prices that are significantly lower than the usual RRP. Check out the table below for the best prices.
Samsung Galaxy S25: design
It's rare we get a wholesale overhaul of a successful smartphone, and so it proved with the Galaxy S25. Samsung gave it a nip and a tuck rather than a full facelift.
Of the new range, the S25 Ultra has had the most work done. Its corners are more rounded now, compared to the boxy, shoulder-padded look of its predecessor. Its bezels are also 15 per cent narrower, making way for a slightly larger 6.9-inch screen (up from its predecessor's 6.8-inch panel).
Its again made from a mix of titanium and glass. It's tougher, thanks to Corning Gorilla Armour 2 coating which reportedly makes the S25 Ultra 29 per cent more durable against scratches and fractures. And despite these improvements, it manages to be 15g lighter than the S24 Ultra.
The other two handsets retain the same screens and styling as their predecessors. But they're both lighter than their S24 equivalents – the S25 by 6g, and the S25 Plus by 7g. Still, every bit helps.
Samsung also unveiled a new Edge variant of the S25, reanimating the Edge moniker. Whereas previously Edge referred to the curved screen spilling over the edge of the device, this time it means an ultra-thin design. Not much is known about the S25 Edge, but it drops one of the rear cameras and will be the slimmest Samsung Galaxy phone ever. Stay tuned...
Samsung Galaxy S25: features
Samsung's Galaxy S phones usually have pretty great screens, and the S25 range looks no different. Samsung has kitted the range out with Dynamic AMOLED displays with variable refresh rates of 1Hz to 120Hz. That means they can respond to what's on screen and adjust the refresh rate accordingly – high to keep up with fast-moving content and minimising blurring, low for static or slow-moving content to preserve battery life.
One of the most exciting upgrades is the introduction of a ProScaler feature to all models of S25. This upscales video and promises to increase detail levels of lower quality content by 43 per cent. This sounds similar to the AI Upscaler Pro feature found on certain Samsung TVs like the Award-winning QN900D. Considering most smartphones come with minimal – if any – improvements to picture quality, this is a real step in the right direction.
But on the audio front, not much has changed. All three devices feature stereo speakers (one downward-firing, one earpiece), Dolby Atmos support, and Bluetooth 5.3 for connecting wireless headphones.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor power all three phones. This is a customised version of its high-end chip, optimised for these specific handsets. There's a pleasing uniformity to this – some previous models of Galaxy S phones used Samsung's Exynos processor, depending on which country there were sold in. But not anymore.
Samsung has dropped the 8GB RAM variant too – all three models now have 12GB. Which simplifies things considerably.
Samsung's One UI 7 operating system comes as standard, running on top of Android 15. Samsung guarantees seven years of software updates, so you don't get left behind.
Samsung has gone all in on AI. Returning features include Circle to Search with Google, Live Translation, Generative Edit photo editing tools, Custom Wallpapers, and Chat Assist. They also have a new on-device large language model, which powers an improved Generative Edit photo editing system with more natural-looking generative fill sections when removing subjects from a photograph.
Speaking of photography, Samsung has kitted its S25 range out with some impressive-looking cameras, as ever. The S25 now has a new 50MP ultra-wide sensor, to go with the same 200MP main camera, 10MP telephoto and 50MP periscope arrangement as its predecessor. The S25 and S25 Plus have three rear cameras: a 50MP main lens, 12MP ultrawide and 10MP telephoto snapper. There are four times more dynamic colours courtesy of 10-bit HDR support, and an on-device Audio Eraser feature will let you cut unwanted background noise from videos with one tap.
The S Pen stylus is back again for the S25 Ultra, though this time it lacks Bluetooth. That means you can no longer use it to activate the camera shutter. Shame. But we assume not many people were using the feature for Samsung to drop it.
Samsung Galaxy S25: early verdict
So there you have it. The S25 range looks mighty impressive – we're particularly excited about the ProScaler feature that seems to have trickled down from Samsung's TVs. It's not often we get a smartphone with a real picture upgrade to get our teeth into, but this is one of those rare moments.
Our first impressions of the Galaxy S25 Ultra also bode well. It's "shaping up to be technical marvel", we noted in our hands-on review. But until we've put these phones through our exhaustive reviews process, we can't recommend any of them. Stay tuned for a full review or two...
MORE:
The likely competition: iPhone 17 rumours
Hot take: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on review
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