Samsung's highly anticipated Galaxy S25 series, featuring the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra, was officially unveiled on January 22, 2024, during the company's latest Unpacked event held in San Jose, California. The flagship phones showcase significant enhancements, particularly with regard to artificial intelligence and camera technology.
The Galaxy S25 series operates on Qualcomm's custom-tuned Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, ensuring top-notch performance and speed. Starting at $799.99 for the base model, the line includes the S25+ at $999.99 and the S25 Ultra at $1,299.99. Pre-orders began immediately following the launch event, with the devices set for release on February 7, 2024, available through major retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and all nationwide carriers including AT&T and Verizon.
One of the standout features is the S25 Ultra’s new 50MP ultrawide camera, which marks an upgrade from the previous 12MP sensor found on its predecessor, the S24 Ultra. This improvement is poised to offer enhanced macro photography capabilities and superior image quality, especially during low-light conditions.
“The Galaxy S25 Ultra brings significant upgrades to our users' mobile experience, particularly through the enhancements made to our camera technology,” said Kwangjin Bae, EVP and Head of Mechanical R&D Team at Samsung Electronics. “Our partnership with Corning also ensures the durability of our screens with the revolutionary Gorilla Armor 2 glass, pushing the boundaries of mobile device resilience.”
The Galaxy S25 Ultra also boasts Corning's Gorilla Armor 2, marking it as the first anti-reflective glass ceramic used on mobile devices, offering increased scratch resistance and clarity. According to Corning’s testing, devices equipped with this glass survived drops from heights of up to 2.2 meters, outperforming previous models.
The hardware refresh extends beyond camera advancements—every model now ships with 12GB of RAM, which aligns the baseline S25 with its higher-tier counterparts. The displays across the series retain familiar dimensions, with the S25 featuring a 6.2-inch screen, the S25+ at 6.7 inches, and the S25 Ultra showcasing the largest at 6.9 inches.
The most talked-about additions lie within Samsung’s new AI capabilities, primarily powered by Google’s Gemini assistant. The Gemini assistant can perform complex tasks across multiple applications, allowing users to execute commands like scheduling events and finding locations seamlessly. The S Pen stylus on the S25 Ultra, traditionally equipped with Bluetooth functionality for remote commands, has undergone changes as well, losing this feature to increase durability.
“Smart Select” has been rebranded to “AI Select,” reflecting the newly enhanced AI capabilities infused within all models. Samsung's upgraded AI suite introduces features such as “Now Brief,” which offers summaries of daily events, and call transcriptions presented like text conversations. Audio Eraser technology enables users to eliminate background noise from videos through on-device processing, adding to the appeal for content creators.
Samsung also expands its integration of generative AI to automate tasks and improve user interaction, capitalizing on AI's potential for everyday phone functions—such as searching through settings or finding images based on natural language queries. “The collaboration between Samsung and Qualcomm has led to the Snapdragon 8 Elite's fine-tuning, resulting in improved multitasking and productivity tools within the Galaxy S25 series,” added David Velasquez, Vice President and General Manager at Corning.
Battery life updates and charging capabilities also made headlines. While the devices offer substantial upgrades, the absence of native Qi2 wireless charging support surprised some consumers. The devices are labeled as “Qi2 Ready,” meaning they will support wireless charging through Samsung’s official Qi2-ready accessories, rather than integrating magnetic charging natively.
The Galaxy S25 series’ design retains familiar cues from the previous generation but now features rounded corners, making the devices more comfortable to hold. Alongside technical advancements, Samsung is committing to provide seven years of operating system updates and security patches, ensuring sustained performance and protection for users.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 series seems poised to draw both admirers and critics. While the AI-focused features and enhanced durability stand out, skepticism lingers over the incremental changes to hardware specs. Samsung’s approach appears to play on existing consumer satisfaction, aiming to maintain brand loyalty amid fierce competition.
Overall, the Galaxy S25 series encapsulates Samsung's emphasis on enhancing mobile experiences through AI integration and improved resilience, yet it remains to be seen whether these upgrades merit investment for current Galaxy S24 owners. The phones are gearing up for what Samsung hopes is another successful run, with pre-orders already under way.