Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Review: The Titanium Standard For Flagships

In the current era of smartphones, where the objective isn’t so much redefine as it is to refine, Samsung’s Ultra line continues to set the benchmark for flagship devices across the board (not just Androids). And the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is no exception.

With an entire suite of utilitarian AI enhancements, battery life for days (literally), and a camera that won’t quit, the South Korean tech giant has produced another strong contender for phone of the year. Without having to take a dramatic leap forward like in past years.

Here’s what we discovered after a week of road-testing it.

Design

At a glance, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra looks near-identical to its predecessor – but that isn’t necessarily a detractor.

Maintaining that premium industrial look – now with rounded edges (perhaps my only design-related gripe; why sacrifice product distinctiveness?) – this titanium bad boy simultaneously feels rock-solid and lightweight (14g lighter than the S24, to be precise).

On the subject of sturdiness, the device is protected by Corning Gorilla Armour 2, which provides improved drop protection and scratch resistance.

Granted, screen real estate is always in demand, and I’ll be the first to admit my hands are probably more demure compared to your average bloke; though any wider and the S25 Ultra will be verging on bulky territory.

The Titanium Silverblue colourway is fuego.

Display

Samsung continues to make a name for itself in the display game with its 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, boasting a QHD+ resolution and a variable refresh rate that dynamically adjusts between 1Hz and 120Hz.

Despite the peak brightness being the same 2,600 nits as the S24 Ultra, the slight increase in actual colour vibrancy meant outdoor visibility wasn’t an issue (even in the glare of a bright Sydney weekend).

The headliner this time around is the new ProScaler feature that – as hinted by the name – upscales standard definition content for the QHD+ display’s resolution. Particularly handy if you enjoy streaming retro cinema (or blown-out memes) as much as I do.

Performance

Under the hood, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy faithfully toils away, offering a 37% boost in CPU performance, a 30% improvement in GPU efficiency, as well as a 40% jump in neural processing power for all that artificial intelligence.

Translation: it runs silky smooth, there’s zero lag, and flaunts an unbelievable refresh rate. Anything you throw at it, the Samsung S25 Ultra can handle without so much as a stutter.

While the battery is still the same 5,000mAh cell as before (and charging is still at 45W), battery efficiency has been tweaked to provide just under two days’ worth of juice on roughly eight hours of active use per day. Bravo.

Cameras

The 200MP main sensor returns with improved AI processing, which has translated to sharper details, heightened low-light performance, and faster shutter speeds. Samsung’s new ISP (Image Signal Processor) also reduces over-processing for more natural colours and better dynamic range.

The only notable hardware change is the new 50MP ultra-wide sensor, replacing the old 12MP lens, enabling superior detail and clarity, as well as greater macro shots. Apart from that, however, it’s the same cluster of 50MP 5x telephoto, 10MP 3x telephoto, and 12MP front camera.

As for software, you may get some decent mileage out of Motion Photo (similar to that of the iPhone). The only difference is that you can actually cherrypick 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.

Generative Edit and Portrait Studio have also been polished.

In terms of video, expect incremental improvements with the 8K recording at 30FPS and Super HDR at 4K/60FPS, both promising natural results. The key exception here is the audio – thanks to the power of AI, you can now toggle and mix recorded sound to your preference, e.g. background levels, dialogue levels, wind, etc.

Full disclosure on the imagery front: unless you work with visual content every single day like we do here at BH, you probably won’t notice a difference from a side-by-side comparison with the S24 Ultra (I struggled to discern for myself). Perhaps we’ve truly peaked with mobile photography development.

That said, it still kicks the competition’s ass.

Smart(ish)

This year, instead of any substantial hardware or physical form changes, Samsung teamed up with Google to deliver a “human-like” personal concierge.

Featuring One UI 7, which seamlessly integrates Google Gemini within its software architecture, the S25 Ultra essentially understands 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 an assistant that’s far less prone to errors).

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 outside of its previous confines (e.g. transcribe YouTube videos directly into Samsung Notes); and even let you toggle settings via voice command.

Other highlights include:

• Now Brief & Now Bar
  Now Brief leverages 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 a la iPhone’s Live Activities (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.
• Circle To Search 2.0
  A function that recognises contact details, dates, and events before acting accordingly (e.g. filing a reminder in your calendar);

By and large, this AI suite proved to be a wonderfully helpful addition, and is no doubt a crucial component in Samsung’s ongoing campaign to further personalise the user experience. Just don’t get swept up in the marketing novelty like I did – particularly with the Now Brief and the Now Bar which, while an achievement in their own right, still has room to grow.

In their current iteration, the former shows its limits after a few days with banal, often navel-gazing insights about the commute home and weather, as well as fairly questionable news suggestions (apparently being into mixed martial arts also means I’ll love far-right politics); while the latter could stand to introduce some more integration with apps such as Uber/Uber Eats.

It’ll streamline your day, it won’t change your life.

And Then There’s The S Pen

Much like the rest of the Samsung S25 Ultra, the hardware is mostly unchanged.

Handwriting recognition is even more precise, sure, and the new AI-assisted note-taking features that automatically structure and summarise notes make it a killer productivity tool (if you still dig scribbling by hand). Though it’s quite literally nothing to write home about.

Samsung has, regretfully, dropped the Bluetooth radio, citing a lack of usage from consumers. While we’re not going to question their data, we will question why being able to perform air gestures and taking pics from afar is a bad thing (along with whether that’s worth shaving a negligible 14g off the total device weight).

The Verdict?

New ground hasn’t exactly been broken, but the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra excels in almost every single department that made its predecessor a winner; with the added bonus of just enough shiny new toys to keep things interesting.

From the display to the artificial intelligence to the deadly efficient performance, this is definitely one of the most complete flagship experiences available in the current market.

Yes, if you’re already riding with an S24 Ultra, the upgrade might not feel essential (and rather pricey at a starting point of $2,699). For anyone holding an older device or working up an appetite for the best Android money can buy, however, the S25 Ultra gets our stamp of approval; and will serve you in outstanding fashion for the next several years.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Series Prices (Australia)

• 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)