Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review

30 January 2025


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  • 31 Jan 2025

There are more cons than pros and Gsmarena rate the S25 Ultra 4.5 out of 5?! Like come on make it make sense. If this was another brand surely they would've given a lower rating. Anyway, looks like I'm skipping the S25 Ultra completely. So many dealbreakers i.e. no 16GB RAM option, STILL using an 8-bit display, STILL stuck with a 5000 MAH battery, STILL painfully slow 15W wireless charging. All while retaining the S pen that Samsung have now made redundant. Aside from the design which I like, it's just not compelling enough given the competition (including mid-rangers) offer better features and value for money. I'm still using my brilliant S23 Ultra, but I will look elsewhere to upgrade i.e. the Oneplus 13 or Xiaomi 15 Ultra when it's released (It's a shame the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and Vivo X200 Ultra aren't available outside China).

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    • Davidsic
    • snx
    • 31 Jan 2025

    Your review scares me quite a bit because of a loss of sharpness in the corners with the main camera, the auto night mode seems less good than my S24 Ultra. I hope it only concerns your test unit or that it is due to a pre-production firmware. The rest is pretty cool like the battery life. I'm waiting for mine in a few days, if it has the same defects as in your review it will be returned the next day to the Samsung store! Thanks for the review

      [deleted post]Wrong, I'm disappointed with samsung, they're trying too little, this is more like pro level device, not an ultra where they give their best. Software tuning will screw up display and calls test skews the results in their favor. For cooling and camera hardware the problem can be seen easily. Then there's things that don't get tested extensively like speakers, they test loudness and not quality, they would be beaten by quite a bit, it's not close to the best. The storage they use also could be not the best. I use 14 ultra by the way.

        Remarkable how stagnant and boring it feels.

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          • Twski
          • J0@
          • 31 Jan 2025

          Ryan47, 31 Jan 2025There isn’t anything new with any brand,they have hit a wal... moreNo! Don't take away my 3x. 70mm is the best focal range. I'd rather hope they upgrade the 3x to a sensor with the same quality of the 5x (or better), remove and change the 5x for a 10x of lower quality. Even at 2x crop, the 200MP sensor already looks artificial in low light. For 3x crop it'd look like crap.

          Remember, it's 200MP but only 1/1.3. At 3x crop you'd still have a respectable 22MP, but with tiny 0.6um pixels and no bayer

            Anonymous, 31 Jan 2025People don't seem to understand that the score is base... moreWrong, most Chinese flagships use native 10bit displays, not 8+2

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              • Downgrades from Sam
              • EP%
              • 31 Jan 2025

              I am boycotting this downgrade from S24U, other than a small bump in camera from 12mp to 50mp thats it, bunch of promised AI garbage which I will hardly ever used; besides that everything else has taken a step backwards with Samsung'for the last few years under Mr Roh IMHO.
              Which genius @ samsung thought that they could continue to charge top dollar and save a few dollars by taking away the Bluetooth S-pen, limit ram to 12Gb instead of 16GB, use the same battery from 5 years ago, when most Chinese flagships in 2025 are charging faster with bigger capacity -6000Mah being the norm for flagship in 2025. Removed the 10x Optical zoom and replaced with 5x Zoom instead, each year they removed what customer wants and instead of improving it they went backwards.
              There is no reason to upgrade if you have the s23 or S24 at all, it seems Samsung is hellbent in trying to destroy itself going backwards and refusing to change for the better.
              Just look at the Z Fold series as an example it went from Pioneering large Foldable and global leader to the bottom of the ladder as the last 4 years were virtually the same iterative as they refused to change and kept the same thinking they were Apple, except Apple had full control and no competitors for IOS when they are tons tons for Android.
              They still have not learnt from their Z fold 6 mistakes that refusal to change for the better had cost them a massive declines in the large foldable market and all of a sudden they rush to try and play catch up after sitting on their laurels with Z Fold SE after years of customer complaint of the narrow front screen, tiny battery (same for last 4 years) when Honor Magoc V3, Pixel Fold and Oneplus open 2 hits the market next month.
              Makes my blood boil when they try so hard to copy whatever Apple does, even the S24U design is a copy (not that I mind it that much) but the same hardware over and over again with hardly any meaningful change over 4 years is just a joke and unforgivable excuse for a company who wants to dominate the mobile market.
              Long gone were the days when you buy A samsung Flagship it will have the best of everything in terms of hardwares, these days they are just pushing to sell the AI B.S. SO no more Samsung 25 Ultras Or Folds for me, I'm done.
              My next fone will be Oneplus Open 2 the Z fold 7 can eat the dust with its same 4400 battery when I will have 6000Mah battery without a worry it might not last the full day for power users like myself.

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                • Anonymous
                • swP
                • 31 Jan 2025

                Slow charging = caring about battery! 😊
                I love my S24 Ultra and it is a very nice upgrade from S21U for me!
                I would wait till S25U if 3x telephoto got 50mp 1/2.52 but after (september?) news about only ultrawide being upgraded i got my S24U, because i don's care about ultrawide... and here we can see that the old one is not that bad)))

                  Anonymous, 31 Jan 2025People don't seem to understand that the score is base... moreNo, not really: others do frc better and are calibrated better and I'm pretty sure there is at least one that is 10+2, also better viewing stability on others. Calls test is what pulled it up, in web browsing it's behind and other two only slightly ahead at best. For camera well you see how noisy for 1/1,3" sensor picture on main cam is, yet alone telephoto module dwarves. It throttles to lower level than oppo find x8 pro while running hotter in gpu test.

                    Except soc ( which can't utilize full performance cause of throttling ), not a single upgrade.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • n5A
                      • 31 Jan 2025

                      People don't seem to understand that the score is based on the phone's own merits, not comparative to the previous model. The only real criticism I would agree with is the low charging speed. IP69 is a gimmick. Battery life is on par with other flagships even with a smaller battery capacity. No one really used the S-Pen's bluetooth. The display argument is weak because Chinese rivals aren't 10-bit anyway, they're 8-bit plus FRC. Overall, this is still a quality phone with supreme build quality, display, camera, battery and performance.

                        "The S25 Ultra is powered by a 5,000mAh battery - a relatively low capacity for 2025, when we're routinely seeing 6,000mAh in high-end phones, sometimes more."

                        "Routinely" seeing 6,000mAh in flagships? Maybe a couple of Chinese phones, but many are well under 5,000mAh.

                          • m
                          • miromen
                          • 8jn
                          • 31 Jan 2025

                          2025 = 8 bit panel lol

                            • k
                            • kha
                            • JQn
                            • 31 Jan 2025

                            All those cons and still a 4.5 rating? haha something is definitely wrong with this website

                              vik457, 31 Jan 2025And not oppo find x8 ultra?Only phones without spyware are Worthy of being the best!

                                There isn’t anything new with any brand,they have hit a wall and the a.i bandwagon isn’t exciting people like it should.What this S25 ultra does bring is a nicer more comfortable design with a slightly larger screen but smaller body and better battery life while been lighter and faster and more durable.Now to me that is a decent improvement for a mature product and with the Samsung discounts I’ve managed to get a 512gb model for 800 pound.I do wish they had increased the screen size to a full seven inch and increased the battery size to 5500mah and dropped the 3x camera and added a 10x camera with the 5x camera.A 200mp sensor should give fantastic zoom range up to 4x so no need for the 3x.

                                  [deleted post]They are not paid 🙄 they give the whole phone an overall score not just based on cameras

                                    Note7 owner, 30 Jan 2025OnePlus 13 is the clear winner this year! And not oppo find x8 ultra?

                                      OnePlus 13 is the clear winner this year!

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • LkB
                                        • 30 Jan 2025

                                        " Basic' IP68 rating - other Androids get IP69, iPhones can go deeper."

                                        69 is against high pressure water jets. Useless.
                                        No, that is just Apple marketing. The 8 means exactly 1.5m + 30 min.
                                        That is standard.

                                        No, this phone looks even cheaper than previous that already did not have premium design.

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