It’s getting harder and harder to ignore the undeniable truth: smartphones as we currently know them are reaching a point of evolutionary stagnation. But as we’ve seen with the newly unveiled Samsung Galaxy S25, the wheel doesn’t have to be reinvented for there to be innovation.
That’s why this year, instead of any wildly substantial hardware or physical form upgrades — unless rounding square edges, slimming down a profile, shaving off 15g, and removing Bluetooth from a stylus genuinely excites you — the South Korean tech giant has teamed up with Google to deliver what is essentially a “human-like” personal concierge.
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“The greatest innovations are a reflection of their users, which is why we evolved Galaxy AI to help everyone interact with their devices more naturally and effortlessly while trusting that their privacy is secured,” explained TM Roh, Samsung President & Head of Mobile.
“The Galaxy S25 series opens the door to an AI-integrated OS that fundamentally shifts how we use technology and how we live our lives.”
Featuring One UI 7, which seamlessly integrates Google Gemini within its software architecture, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra — as well as the wider S25 series — will understand the “context of your needs and preferences” like never before; providing personalised AI-informed experiences with privacy controls at every turn. Think of it as a living, breathing assistant with discretion you could almost certainly never buy and overwhelmingly less prone to errors.
So what do these capabilities encompass?
Beyond the widely adopted bells and whistles of assisted text composition, organisation, and basic image recognition, the phone’s multimodal AI agents can interpret information beyond its previous confines (e.g. transcribe YouTube videos directly into Samsung Notes); offer an enhanced Circle To Search function that recognises contact details, dates, and events before acting accordingly (e.g. filing a reminder in your calendar); and toggle settings via voice command.
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The highlights in this update include:
- Now Brief & Now Bar
Now Brief leverages insights from the Personal Data Engine to anticipate needs (e.g. sleep summary and calendar appointments for the day in the morning, commute suggestions); while Now Bar intuitively tailors your display throughout the day based on what you might need to know (e.g. app and news preferences, sports scores, weather alerts, traffic reports). - Smart Call Transcription
Building upon the native two-way, real-time voice and text translations of phone calls introduced with the S24, Samsung Galaxy S25 models can now record calls (an alert will be given to all parties involved for legal reasons), transcribe the conversation, and even provide an AI summary of what was said. - Motion Photo
Similar to that of the iPhone; the only difference is that you can pick and choose elements from different frames to create the perfect picture (e.g. flawlessly replacing a moment you blinked with a moment your eyes were open while the rest of the image remains unchanged).
Powering all this is the advanced Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor, which delivers a 40% performance boost in the AI neural processing unit, an additional 37% for the CPU, as well as a very necessary 30% bump for the GPU.
Yes, the camera is better than last year’s (a new 50MP ultra-wide lens; you can even isolate audio levels for video recordings); the Gorilla Glass is tougher; and the display is more vibrant (whether you notice it, however, is another matter entirely). But let’s be real… the future of personal devices will be ruled by artificial intelligence. Everything else is just a cherry on top.
From the entry-level Samsung Galaxy S25 to the top-end Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, the entire series is now available to pre-order in Australia ahead of its February 14th, 2025 arrival — and will be priced as follows:
- Samsung Galaxy S25
$1,399 (256GB) to $1,599 (512GB)
Colours: Silver Shadow, Mint, Icyblue, Navy, Blueblack (online exclusive), Coralred (online exclusive), Pinkgold (online exclusive) - Samsung Galaxy S24+
$1,699 (256GB) to $1,899 (512GB)
Colours: Silver Shadow, Mint, Icyblue, Navy, Blueblack (online exclusive), Coralred (online exclusive), Pinkgold (online exclusive) - Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
$2,699 (256GB), $2,399 (512GB), $2,799 (1TB)
Colours: Titanium Black, Titanium Grey, Titanium Silverblue, Titanium Whitesilver, Titanium Jetblack (online exclusive), Titanium Jadegreen (online exclusive), Titanium Pinkgold (online exclusive)
