Samsung is kicking off 2025 with its latest trio of Galaxy S smartphones, and we have the new flagship model from the range here before us today. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is the new top-of-the-range device, succeeding the impressive Galaxy S24 Ultra from 2024. Samsung certainly prioritised AI over AV last year, which led to us praising the S24's immense feature set, even though picture and sound were sidelined as a result.
So, you can imagine our surprise when Samsung took a few precious moments of its launch event to talk in considerable detail about a new feature that enhances picture quality and, even better, was developed alongside its TV division. Considering many of these smartphone keynotes are centred around megapixels and app loading times, we were delighted to see picture performance get a shoutout.
Shortly after having an introduction to the device, we were let loose on the Galaxy S25 Ultra at a behind-closed-doors hands-on event, where we gathered a few initial impressions of this shiny new Android handset. As is the case with all of our hands-on reports, this is not our conclusive review of the device, but rather a roundup of features, key information and first impressions.
Price
Samsung has revealed pricing for the Galaxy S25 Ultra and, while it's still a premium phone with an understandably expensive price tag attached, we are pleased to report that it will cost exactly the same as the S24 Ultra – at least here in the UK.
While we are still waiting on US and Australian pricing, we do know that the S25 Ultra will cost £1249 in the UK for the 256GB model, whereas the 512GB and 1TB versions will cost £1349 and £1549 respectively. Pre-orders for the handset have officially gone live and, as usual, Samsung is running an offer to double your storage at no extra cost if you pre-order the device ahead of release.
Putting that price into perspective, it sits slap-bang in between its two biggest rivals. It is more expensive than the iPhone 16 Pro Max (£1199 / $1199 / AU$2149) and slightly cheaper than the Sony Xperia 1 VI (£1299 / $1700 approx / AU$2500).
Build
Samsung is mostly sticking to the tried and tested with the design of the S25 Ultra, though there are a handful of meaningful improvements to the device's build. It is made once again using a combination of titanium and glass for a premium and durable build, while the display now features a tougher Corning Gorilla Armour 2 coating which reportedly makes the S25 Ultra 29 per cent more durable against scratches and fractures.
Despite the extra ruggedness, this phone is 15 grams lighter than its predecessor – a notable change, as the device feels more nimble in hand. What's more, the smoother and more rounded corners make for a much more comfortable-feeling device than the pointy S24 Ultra, which tended to dig into our hands. Much like its predecessor, the S25 Ultra features a flat display, though Samsung has shrunk the bezels by 15 per cent leading to this phone gaining 0.1 inches of extra display area, resulting in a 6.9-inch screen.
There are a couple of new styling cues to show off that this is the latest generation device, such as contrasting rings around the cameras and a handful of new finishes including Titanium Black, Titanium Grey, Titanium Silver Blue and Titanium Silver White. While the resemblance to the S24 Ultra is strong, then, there is enough new here to make it feel like a new handset.
Features
Here's what we had to say about last year's model: "If you want a phone that’s paramount in the features department, you’d be hard-pressed to find something better equipped than the S24 Ultra". And, unsurprisingly, that sentiment rolls over to the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung's kitchen-sink approach is admirable, as it has crammed this phone full of hardware and software features; and AI is playing a key role once again.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite for Galaxy processor backed by 12GB of RAM powers this phone, and in our hands-on experience with the device, it absolutely flies through the One UI 7 operating system, which is running on top of Android 15. It's worth noting that Samsung is promising seven years of software and security upgrades, so this phone should (theoretically) continue to receive updates through to 2032. That "for Galaxy" suffix attached to it hints towards the processor being an exclusive variant made by Qualcomm for Samsung, with a slightly higher clock speed.
A major part of this device's software is the Galaxy AI system, which encompasses a wide array of AI tools and features. All the favourites from the S24 Ultra return, including the incredibly useful Circle to Search with Google, Generative Edit photo editing suite, Live Translation tools and Chat Assist feature which can tweak the tone of your messages and emails for different scenarios. Samsung has upgraded this feature, however, by including a new on-device large language model (LLM) which will reportedly make the generative fill tools in the photo editor more reliable and accurate.
As for the AV features, the S25 Ultra sports a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a variable refresh rate of 1Hz to 120Hz and a Quad HD+ resolution. This expansive and vivid screen is a joy to interact with thanks to the high refresh rate, and the claimed 2600 nits brightness – the same as last year's model – is plenty for indoor and outdoor visibility. Samsung has also included its impressive glare-reducing screen coating on this device, and it is reportedly even more effective than last year. We had no perceivable issues with glare or reflections in the very well-lit location where we saw the Galaxy S25 Ultra, so we're willing to take Samsung's word here.
The biggest new AV upgrade is Samsung's new ProScaler feature, which is inspired by the company's flagship 4K and 8K TVs. It can reportedly improve image scaling quality by 40 per cent, meaning lower-resolution content streamed from the device will appear sharper and more detailed. We were thrilled to discover that Samsung had implemented a new AV-specific feature, and we can't wait to try it on a variety of streaming services in our full review. We did manage to briefly try the feature on a selection of film trailers on YouTube, and 1080p content did appear noticeably crisp.
As for the other AV features on this device, it supports HDR10 and HDR10+; the latter has had a recent boost as Disney Plus has agreed to support the format on a selection of its content, while the likes of Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Paramount Plus already support it. Dolby Atmos audio is also on board via the speakers and headphones, though Samsung's new Eclipsa Audio immersive format is unfortunately not supported. As expected, there is no headphone jack, so you will need to rely on a USB-C DAC or wireless audio peripherals; the 25 Ultra features Bluetooth 5.3 with the LE and A2DP codecs supported.
Finally, this latest Ultra device carries forth many of the staple features of past Galaxy phones. The S Pen returns for scribbling down notes, and the quadruple-stack camera system is back too. Samsung has carried three of the lenses over from the S24 Ultra – the 200MP main sensor, 50MP telephoto lens, and 10MP secondary telephoto camera – but has upgraded the ultrawide lens up to 50MP from 12MP. Finally, the S25 Ultra has the same 5000mAh battery as its predecessor; considering we commended the S24 Ultra's ability to withstand a full day of heavy use, we have no concerns regarding battery life on this new handset.
Picture
Conditions for testing picture quality were not exactly ideal at Samsung's hands-on event. We had to rely on a selection of film trailers on YouTube, so take these impressions with a grain of salt, and keep a look out for our full review of the device when we can dig into this section in more detail.
We watched the trailers for Superman, Captain America: Brave New World and Top Gun: Maverick on the Ultra, and a few characteristics of this display stood out. It appeared rich and colourful, with the striking blues, reds and yellows on the suit donned by the latest Man of Steel popping on this display. Samsung tends to lean towards punchy colours, so we are intrigued to see if it has managed to strike a balance between vibrancy and authenticity on this display.
It also appeared sharp and crisp, which we suspect is down to the ProScaler feature adding that extra dash of detail. Heroic shots of the new Captain America striking a pose had tangible depth, with sharp outlines and texture to his armoured suit.
It's too early to call a verdict or assess this phone's full picture performance capabilities, but we look forward to seeing what is truly capable of in our full review.
Sound
We'll keep this short and sweet: the noisy room in which we had hands-on time with the phone was not an ideal space to test sound performance. Furthermore, we couldn't connect headphones, and there were no music streaming services downloaded on the device. Aside from a quick test of the built-in speakers – which sounded spacious and decently dynamic when we held the phone up to our ear – we can't really comment on this phone's sound performance quite yet.
Early verdict
Samsung's latest feature-packed flagship smartphone is shaping up to be a technical marvel, but we need to assess it further to see if it can rival its Sony and Apple adversaries. As we judge primarily on picture and sound, we will be putting the phone through its paces using various streaming apps in the coming days to see if Samsung can score the full five stars.
MORE:
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review
Check out our picks for the best smartphones
And read our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review