Samsung Galaxy S25+ review

A familiar triple camera setup

The Galaxy S25 and S25+'s camera hardware appears unchanged and comes straight from last year's S24 and S24+. That's both a good and a bad thing since this particular rear camera setup has proven itself to be quite reliable and full-featured, even if a bit underwhelming by today's flagship standards.

It's worth pointing out that Samsung is continually refusing to fit an ultrawide camera with autofocusing capability on anything but the Ultra model, which we consider unacceptable at this price point.

On a more positive note, the selfie camera remains a highlight here with autofocus and better-than-average overall quality.

• Wide (main): 50MP Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)GN3, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, f/1.8, 24mm, dual pixel AF, OIS; 4320p@30fps, 2160p@60fps
• Telephoto: 10MP Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)3K1, 1/3.94", 1.0µm, f/2.4,67mm, AF, OIS; 2160p@60fps
• Ultrawide: 12MP Sony IMX564, 1/2.55", 1.4µm, f/2.2, 13mm, fixed focus; 2160p@60fps
• Front camera: 12MP Samsung S5K3LU, 1/3.2", 1.12µm, f/2.2, 26mm, PDAF; 2160p@60fps

Samsung has revamped the camera app with OneUI 7. The mode carousel is now placed under the shutter button instead of above and when you open the extra modes, they no longer hide your viewfinder. Pro mode options have been redesigned to keep the controls out of the way too.

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

The main camera produces clean 12MP stills with a good amount of detail, wide dynamic range and punchy, yet not over-the-top colors. The image quality is just like last year.

This also means the photos leave a bit more to be desired in terms of sharpness. They are not very optically sharp and when you shoot inside, they get even softer. We may have praised these photos 2-3 years ago, but the industry is moving at a rapid pace, and this sort of fine detail rendition is no longer class-leading.

Contrast is generally good, but sometimes photos can look a bit flat with more challenging lighting conditions, say when you have a backlit scene.

Sharpening has been toned down from the previous generation, but it's still visible here and there.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP main camera samples

You can force the main camera to capture in its full 50MP resolution, and the results are interesting. Sure, they are flat and look even softer without the extra processing (look at that mushy grass), but some parts of the image look better (the tiles on the facades).

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 50MP main camera samples

The 2x crop zoom photos are more than decent. Sure, you get a bit more grain, and stills are generally softer than their 1x counterparts, but Samsung achieved lossless-like quality.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP main camera 2x zoom samples

3x zoom camera

The 3x telephoto photos are fairly decent but definitely not a standout feature of the phone. The 3x telephoto unit matches the main camera's processing in terms of colors, contrast, color temperature, etc.

Detail is solid, perhaps better than you'd expect, given the 10MP to 12MP upscale action. The grain is there in the shadows if you go looking for it, but it's not getting in the way. Dynamic range and colors are great.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP telephoto camera samples

Portrait mode

There are portrait toggles at 1x, 2x and 3x zoom levels, so there is plenty of versatility to play around with.

The Portrait mode shots are quite alright in terms of subject separation and bokeh rendition; however, the definition of the facial features is softer than in the regular photos. The difference is especially prominent with the 3x camera, which produces outright soft faces.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: portrait samples

Ultrawide camera

We are glad to report that we had none of the S25 lens misalignment on our Galaxy S25+ unit. Even so, the photos by the ultrawide camera are not terribly sharp.

On the positive side, the dynamic range is surprisingly wide for this type of camera. The contrast is also solid. The colors are very well-matched to the other cameras.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP ultrawide camera samples

Selfies

As we said, the S25+ borrows its selfie camera from the S24 generation, and it, in turn, gets its hardware from the S23. However, that's not a reason to complain. Quite the contrary. The subject is always well-exposed, with natural skin tone, excellent colors, wide dynamic range and plenty of detail to go around.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP selfie camera samples

Low-light photo quality

Like many other phones, the S25+ has automatic night mode and a dedicated mode in the camera app. The automatic night mode does a pretty good job on its own, but it is a bit lax, and you can get a bit different results by using the manual night mode.

Main camera

The regular nighttime photos have a laidback processing and good highlight retention but not very bright shadows. There is plenty of noise too. The color rendition is nice.

While this approach might not be universally appreciated, we think it's a very mature way of handling low-light photography, even if it's not necessarily our cup of tea.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP main camera low-light samples

Forcing the Night mode produces much more likable results by clearing up the noise and boosting sharpness and contrast. In certain scenes, you can get dramatically improved results with the Night mode Forced On, so we suggest using it despite the aggressive microcontrast increase.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP main camera night mode samples

With the 2x photos, rendition is largely comparable to that of the standard 1x, but expect a slight drop in sharpness and a further increase in noise. Opting for the dedicated Night mode is once again advisable as it boosts colors, clears up the noise and adds micro-contrast.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP main camera 2x zoom low-light samples

3x zoom camera

The low-light photos from the dedicated 3x telephoto are much better. You get plenty of detail and great colors.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP telephoto camera low-light samples

Again, if you want less noise and sharper lines, be sure to go with the dedicated night mode.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP telephoto camera night mode samples

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide camera looks good in low light (for this sort of camera). The dynamic range is on point, and the overall processing seems to match the main camera's.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP ultrawide camera low-light samples

Again, you can get more aggressive processing via manual night mode, but that comes at the expense of the absolute sharpness so we can't exactly say that one approach is better than the other.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 12MP ultrawide camera night mode samples

Video capture quality

All four cameras on the Galaxy S25+ can record video at up to 4K60, with the rear main camera also capable of 8K30 recording. The Pro video mode adds 24fps options for both 4K and 8K. There is no 4K120 option like on the S25 Ultra.

The default video codec is h.265 (HEVC), offering you the choice between prioritizing high quality or reducing file size. Alternatively, you can select the older, less efficient h.264 codec.

Every camera mode includes video stabilization, which you can disable in settings if you prefer another method for maintaining stability and prioritizing the field of view.

The HDR video recording has been upgraded to 10-bit HDR video (up from 8-bit last year). There is also a new Galaxy Log video mode where you intend to do the color grading of the footage later yourself.

Another video-related feature in OneUI is the new AI audio eraser in the Gallery, which allows you to adjust the volume of certain type of sounds in your videos after they’ve been taken - you get a choice of speech, music, wind, nature, crowd and noise.

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.

It comes as no surprise that the main camera captures excellent 4K videos. These are sharp and detailed, with a wide dynamic range and pleasant colors. It holds up to the flagship standard with ease.

At 2x digital zoom, video quality remains great and it seems Samsung has nailed the 'lossless' part.

The 3x telephoto camera produces detailed and sharp videos, with good dynamic range and great colors. They are also very well matched to the main camera's.

The above is valid for the 4K videos from the ultrawide. They are very good (for this sort of camera), colors look nice and are well-matched to the other two cameras.

The main camera remains very competent in low light, even though we have seen better performance from competitors lately. Still, these clips have plenty of detail: good colors, low noise and nicely developed shadows. Highlights can be clipped at times, but it's nothing severe.

We are surprised by the 3x telephoto camera as well. Sure, it's a bit grainy, but the level of detail and sharpness are both quite impressive for a small telephoto unit like this one.

Videos from the ultrawide are quite soft and murky. There isn't any obvious noise, which is a good thing, but detail is still lacking. Plus, you get clipped highlights and crushed shadows.

We tried the stabilization with the main camera in 4K mode and are extremely happy with the result. The stabilization is very smooth and probably one of the best around.