Samsung Galaxy S25 Series Review: Great Cameras And Pervasive AI

Samsung's new phones all fast charge via USB Power Delivery 3.0, but there are some caveats. The S25 Ultra and S25+ top out at 45W, which is better than Google's Pixel phones but far short of OnePlus, Asus, and others. The batteries aren't the largest, so charging times aren't too bad. However, the baby S25 only charges at 25 Watts with a cable. That's not fast enough in 2025.

The phones all have wireless charging, and they support speeds as high as 15W via the Qi2 standard. However, these devices are missing one key part of Qi2—the magnets. These phones are "Qi2 Ready," not Qi2 Certified. While the Samsung Galaxy S25 series will be able to fast charge on Qi2 pads, you'll have to get a case with a magnetic ring if you want to use that aspect of the Qi2 standard.


There were no surprises in our battery life rundown test, which showed the Galaxy S25 family delivering acceptable uptime with around 14 hours of continuous usage. The Galaxy S25 Ultra and Plus actually just slip past Google's Pixel 9 Pro here as well, with the Galaxy S25 standard right on top of it and ahead of the Pixel 9. Interestingly, the 100mAh increase in capacity for the Galaxy S25 Ultra didn't help it pull ahead of the Plus, which has a slightly smaller display. These phones should all last you a day without much range anxiety, but eking out two days will be difficult, unless you leverage battery saver mode. In short, however, none of Samsung's new phones threaten the battery life supremacy of OnePlus, Motorola, or Asus.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Review Conclusion: Refining The Galaxy Formula

Samsung knows how to build a phone. The fit and finish of its latest flagship handsets are impressive, whether aluminum or titanium. The feel of the glass, the metal finish, and side button tactility are all best-in-class. Samsung's OLED displays are also above reproach, offering high brightness, excellent contrast even in low light, great saturation and amazingly low reflectivity, in the case of the Ultra.

Last year's Samsung flagships were fast, but Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite sets a new standard for flagship performance. The thermal performance could be better, but the 8 Elite is so fast you should still see good performance even when the phones heat up. And if you care about AI, the Galaxy S25 series will really wow you. It's got a ton of generative AI capabilities, from writing tools to call transcription, and we like the option to limit AI to on-device processing. But how much actual use you'll get out of the Google Gemini and Galaxy AI is debatable, though regardless it should only improve as on-device AI technologies evolve. 

Samsung's cameras aren't quite as good for quick snapshots as Google's Pixels, but they have great hardware. The quartet of focal lengths on the Ultra help you zero in on your subject, and even the cheaper Galaxy S25 phones hold their own. Samsung's images can sometimes look a bit over-processed, but they're bright and punchy and perfect for social sharing. The advantages and shortcomings of Samsung's image processing are the same on the Galaxy S25 and S25+. You don't have as much resolution or optical reach with these phones, but they still do a better job than most competing devices.


The Galaxy S25 doesn't make any serious missteps—we can be irked about foibles like the cap of 12GB on RAM or the downgraded S Pen and still recognize these are fast, well-made devices with stellar support. So, why aren't they more exciting? Samsung may be counting on AI to make it's new phones cool, and it's not paying off just yet. Samsung does have good instincts here, however, making cloud processing optional and running sensitive workloads on the Snapdragon chip. That said, some of the new AI features are hit and miss. Now Brief, Samsung's most prominent new AI whatsit, has done little more than show us the weather and calendar appointments. Though again, we're hopeful this will improve with time.

The new Samsung Galaxy S25 series is expensive as well, particularly the $1,300 Ultra model. If you're going to spend that much on a phone, it should be one you find very exciting. Of course, upgrading from a 4-5 year-old phone to the Galaxy S25 Ultra could be exciting. If you have a newer flagship phone, the Galaxy S25 Ultra might not be a worthwhile upgrade. The Galaxy S25 and S25+ are more palatable, but the OnePlus 13 and Google Pixel 9 make for compelling alternatives at $600 and $800, respectively. Ideally, you should wait for a sale or take advantage of Samsung's very generous trade-in deals if you're thinking of getting a member of the new Galaxy S25 series.