I'm just not excited about the Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra at its annual event, and AI dominated the presentation. There's agentic AI, a feature akin to Google Now called Now Brief, and better integration with Gemini out of the box among many others Samsung highlighted, but what you don't get this year is much in the way of upgraded hardware.

This isn't new either; last year's Galaxy S24 Ultra wasn't markedly different to its predecessor, and I didn't use the device that much as a result. I was holding out for Samsung to make considerable changes with this generation, but that isn't the case, and the S25 Ultra misses out on innovations that are now standard on its rivals.

The key omission is silicon-carbide battery tech. The Vivo X200 Pro, Find X8 Pro, OnePlus 13, and Honor Magic 7 Pro all utilize silicon batteries to deliver better density, so you get much bigger batteries without any difference in size; the OnePlus 13 is actually thinner and lighter than the OnePlus 12 while offering a battery that's 500mAh larger than last year.

Silicon batteries also hold up better in extreme cold weather, and come with better durability. The ability to slot in a bigger battery with increased durability is a game-changer, and most other manufacturers are taking full advantage of the tech — Xiaomi even offers it on the mid-range Redmi Note 14 Pro+. But the S25 Ultra misses out on the feature, with the device featuring the same 5000mAh battery as last year.

Then there's the charging situation. The S25 Ultra still uses the same 45W standard, and we don't get any upgrades this time. I started using Qi2 chargers recently, and I figured they might be a good alternative with Samsung's latest phones, but the S25 Ultra is just Qi2 ready, and doesn't have the magnets in the chassis itself — you'll need to buy a case to be able to use the feature.

Samsung switched out the wide-angle lens on the device, and there's now a 50MP module that should take better photos. But the main and telephoto cameras are unchanged, and I can't help but feel that Samsung will lose even more ground in this area against devices like the X200 Pro and Find X8 Pro.

Chinese manufacturers are doing incredible things with phone cameras, rolling out massive sensors and delivering generational upgrades on a consistent basis. The X200 Pro gets a 200MP telephoto camera that takes phenomenal portraits at 3x, and Samsung just doesn't have an answer to that.

Even the main camera on most Chinese phones is markedly better than what I used last year, and while the S25 Ultra should take better photos thanks to the changes to the ISP, I'm not sure it will dethrone Vivo, OPPO, and Honor anytime soon — I'll be putting that to the test once I get my hands on the device.

Similar to last year, most of the new features on the device center around AI. Every other phone manufacturer is getting on the AI bandwagon, and all phones I used in the last 18 months had some version of an AI utility. In each of these cases, I got the sense that the brands are shoehorning dubious AI features onto their devices just because it is the buzzword de jour. Samsung, however, is positioning Galaxy AI as the cornerstone of the S25 Ultra, and I'm not sure that's a winning strategy.

Don't get me wrong; I like the design changes Samsung introduced this year. The S25 Ultra has flatter sides with rounded edges, and it is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, which is good to see. Samsung also shrunk the bezels, accommodating a bigger 6.9-inch AMOLED panel without increasing the height. As a result, the S25 Ultra is easier to hold and use, and thanks to Gorilla Armor 2 protection at the front and back, it should have much better resistance against tumbles.

With the switch to Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite, the phone should be faster as well. Samsung once again worked closely with Qualcomm to customize the platform, and the overclocked chipset has decent gains over last year. But it wasn't like the S24 Ultra was short on power anyway, and whether you get any noticeable difference is something I'll need to wait and see until I get the phone.

Look, I'm not saying that the S25 Ultra is a bad phone — far from it. It's just disappointing that Samsung played it safe yet again, and the S25 Ultra isn't the best version of the phone it could make if it really wanted to do so. Samsung doesn't have any meaningful rivalry in North America, so it can get away without offering tangible upgrades to the camera or battery life.

While the OnePlus 13 is a much better showing this year, it doesn't have anywhere close to the same level of carrier backing as the S25 Ultra, making it a nonstarter in the region. Combine that with Samsung's generous trade-in incentives, and the S25 Ultra inevitably ends up being the default option if you want a high-end Android phone.