Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25+ and S25 hands-on review

Camera features and samples

Once again, the hardware changes to the S25 Ultra's camera setup are minimal. The old 12MP ultrawide unit is replaced by a 50MP shooter with a wider f/1.9 aperture, up from f/2.2.

The other two phones are stuck with the same old camera hardware from the last few generations - we really wish Samsung fitted them with autofocusing ultrawide.

At least all three get a camera app redesign, with the most notable change being the positioning of the camera modes - the carousel is now placed under the shutter button instead of above and the extra modes don't hide your viewfinder.

All the improvements boil down to software tricks. For instance, the next-gen ProVisual Engine is based on the Snapdragon 8 Elite's powerful ISP, ensuring better computational capabilities for high-demand scenarios such as low-light video. The algorithm now does two passes on low-light videos to reduce the noise in moving and still subjects separately.

You can also record 10-bit HDR videos (up from 8-bit), while a new Galaxy Log mode offers a higher-grade video recording format, which allows you to do the color grading by yourself if you are into this sort of things.

The Expert RAW mode gets virtual aperture control for cool portrait videos and Samsung optimized its dedicated Portrait Studio mode for stills using AI.

Perhaps the most interesting feature, however, is the AI Audio Eraser. It's a Gallery functionality that allows you to adjust the volume or completely mute certain sounds in a video. For example, you can easily remove ambient sounds like wind and crowd noises.

Camera samples

Can't go without some camera samples, so here are some taken with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra. Starting with the main camera.

Main camera: S25 Ultra • S24 Ultra

Here are side by side photos with the 3x telephoto unit.

3x telephoto: S25 Ultra • S24 Ultra

And some 5x samples.

5x telephoto: S25 Ultra • S24 Ultra

Can you spot the difference between the new and the old ultrawide cameras?

Ultrawide camera: S24 Ultra • S25 Ultra

Can't go without selfies.

Selfies: S25 Ultra • S24 Ultra

Early verdict

The good news is that the rumors about price hikes weren't true, so the starting price of the entry-level configurations remains the same - €1,450/£1,250 for the S25 Ultra, €1,150/£1,000 for the S25+ and the vanilla asks €900/£800. The bad news is that all three offer modest upgrades over their predecessors, especially the S25 and the S25+. They both feel kind of neglected this time around.

And while the S25 Ultra's new, more pocketable design is certainly exciting, the S Pen has lost its wireless connectivity features, which were the sole reason many of us here at GSMArena HQ took the stylus out to begin with. Samsung might as well do a full circle and offer a version without the stylus altogether.

Anyway, one thing is clear - Samsung is betting big on AI and software polish and improvements, but it's early to say how this move will pan out regarding sales. We will refrain from a proper verdict until we get to test these devices and see if the minor changes have had a big impact on quality, efficiency and performance.