The Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus were incremental improvements over previous generations, but those small improvements resulted in a bigger overall improvement than it first seemed. Fast-forward a year, and Samsung has followed the same mold again, but with fewer changes than I can remember in recent history.
The Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus look and feel just like the Galaxy S24 series did. Still, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a welcome upgrade in the camera department, its smaller siblings feature nearly identical specs to the previous generation.
Is a sprinkling of new AI features and two hardware changes enough? At first glance, it may not seem so, but look beneath the surface and you’ll find something more polished than ever before. In turn, they aren’t worth the upgrade from the Galaxy S24 series but if you’re coming to the end of a contract with a Galaxy S23 or older, these are probably the upgrade you’re looking for.
Galaxy S25 / S25 Plus specs, price and availability
The Galaxy S25 series is available to order today in the U.S. and launches on Feb 7. The Galaxy S25 starts at $800, while the Galaxy S25 Plus starts at $1,000. The base Galaxy S25 comes with 12GB of RAM like the rest of the range, but otherwise, the specs are very similar to last year.
Both are available in the same set of colors; Navy, Icy Blue, Mint, and Silver Shadow available through all channels and three colors exclusive to Samsung.com. The three Samsung online exclusive colors are Blueblack, Pinkgold, and Coralred, and while the names suggest one thing, these are much more like the latter part of each name. Having spent time with all the colors, my favorites are navy, coralred, and mint in that order.
Virtually identical hardware
Put the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus next to last year’s phones and there’s a strong chance you won’t be able to tell the difference. For many people, this is a problem but it epitomizes Samsung’s current mobile strategy; small improvements that offer just enough for those upgrading their phones every two to three years. If you have a Galaxy S24, there’s no reason to upgrade to the Galaxy S25, but if you have a Galaxy S23 or older — like my mother and my sister — these phones will be very familiar, yet offer enough improvements to be considered worthwhile.
As the adage goes, never judge a book by its cover, and nowhere is this more apparent than the design and hardware. There are two key hardware changes and they make a bigger difference than I expected. First, Samsung has made both phones more ergonomically friendly, by rounding the corners but retaining a square-ish design. As a result, the phones no longer dig into the palm of your hand as they did in previous years, but instead feel more premium and friendly.
This is further enhanced by the lighter feel. The Galaxy S25 weighs six grams less than the Galaxy S24, while the Galaxy S25 Plus weighs seven grams less. This may seem like a small number, but it makes a difference, especially considering that many people will also use a case. It’s worth noting that the difference is less marked than the Galaxy S25 Ultra — which is a whopping 18 grams lighter than its predecessor — but it makes a difference in the hands nonetheless. Both phones also measure 0.4mm thinner, which is arguably the more important improvement and they feel markedly more premium as a result.
Beyond these changes, you get the same extremely familiar design that we’ve come to expect from Samsung. The triple camera setup is identical to last year; even though the Galaxy S25 Ultra received an upgraded ultrawide camera, there are no changes to the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus cameras. The back features a matt glass finish which is very similar to the iPhone 16 series, and the cameras feature a bevelled design that is nearly identical to the one featured on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 last year.
On the front, the displays are identical to last year as well, and while the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a narrower bezel, there are no visual differences between the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus and the Galaxy S24 series.
Under the hood is where you’ll find the only other notable difference. Unlike previous years where different regions used different processors, this year’s models all feature a Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset which Samsung claims features customizations designed specifically for the Galaxy S25 series. This chipset is also paired with 12GB of RAM across all devices in the Galaxy S25 range, with the base Galaxy S25 getting a bump from 8GB of RAM in the base Galaxy S24 last year.
The battery is identical to last year, which isn’t overly surprising given the slimmer and lighter build. The Galaxy S25 has a 4,000 mAh battery, while the Galaxy S25 Plus has a 4,900 mAh battery. While the Galaxy S24 had questionable all-day battery life, the Galaxy S24 Plus certainly delivered, and I’d expect that the improvements in the Snapdragon 8 Elite will deliver better all-around battery life for all three models this year.
Unfortunately, there is also no improvement in the charging speeds with the Galaxy S25 featuring the same 25W charging as the Galaxy S24 series (and many generations before it). It’s paired with 15W wireless charging, but if you were hoping for rapid charging like the 80W wired and 50W wireless charging from the OnePlus 13, you’ll be disappointed.
As mentioned, the Galaxy S25 cameras haven’t changed from the previous generation (or several before that). This means you get the same triple camera setup featuring a 50MP wide camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera that offers 3x optical zoom. The Galaxy S24 cameras proved to be perfectly capable and I expect the Galaxy S25 to continue in this vein, with some improvements delivered from the new ISP in the upgraded 3nm chipset.
A sprinkling of AI
Near identical hardware may have you wondering why you should buy the Galaxy S25 series, and the answer depends on whether you want a whole lot of AI, or not. The name of the game is Galaxy AI, and the Galaxy S25 series is loaded with a bunch of new AI features as part of One UI 7, although many of these will be available on other devices as well.
Like the Galaxy S24 series last year, the Galaxy S25 comes equipped with circle-to-search, although this has been improved with additional multimodal features like being able to search via audio. This means if you can’t get a tune out of your head or you are watching something on social and want to know what song that is, Circle to Search can help you find it. Circle to Search also recognizes phone numbers, emails and URLs on your screen, making it even easier to call, message, or email with just a single tap.
All three Galaxy S25 models come with a new personalized on-device LLM, which is designed to learn from your usage and improve the results you get from Galaxy AI. Crucially, while this is stored in the Knox Vault on your phone, you can transfer this LLM to your next Galaxy device using Smart Switch, but you can’t transfer this to non-Galaxy smartphones.
One of the best new Galaxy AI features allows you to perform multiple actions with one command. Dubbed Cross App Actions, this allows you to perform multiple tasks with one command, which saves you considerable time over the current method. One example that Samsung gave is finding multiple videos on YouTube and summarizing them in Samsung Notes.
Much of Galaxy AI involves integrating with the rest of your Samsung devices, and one particularly interesting feature is the ability for Galaxy AI to use your Galaxy Ring or Galaxy Watch to understand when you’ve fallen asleep, and then turn off your SmartThings-enabled TV. If you’re like me and use a TV to help you fall asleep, this should help ensure that it not only helps you fall asleep but also get a good night’s sleep.
The last notable Galaxy AI feature is Now Brief, which proactively offers suggestions via the Now Bar on the lock screen. This helps surface any information that Galaxy AI considers pertinent and will change throughout the day. Like the Pixel Watch 3 series, you can also get a Morning Brief, as well as a briefing summarizing your day at the end of the day.
A familiar feeling
There’s no denying that the Galaxy S25 series is nearly identical to the Galaxy S24 series, but with a few key tweaks. Crucially, the thinner and lighter build makes for a much better in-hand experience, which is a welcome improvement, especially if you’re upgrading from a Galaxy S23 or older. If you have the Galaxy S24 series, none of these changes would be worth upgrading from, especially as they ultimately offer the same experience and many of the AI features will be available as part of the future One UI 7 upgrade.
The Galaxy S25 series is nicer than I expected, thanks to the thinner and lighter hardware. It’s hard to appreciate how improved this makes the phone feel until you use them, but having spent 90 minutes with Samsung’s new phones, I’m far more excited and interested than I first was. Whether this is a lasting feeling is yet to be determined, but stay tuned for our full reviews of each of the Galaxy S25 series to find out.
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