The Galaxy S25's launch commemorates 15 years since Samsung started making flagship Android phones. To help celebrate the anniversary, Galaxy Unpacked was hosted to a live and in-person audience while also being live-streamed for the world to see.
Leading up to the event, many of the details surrounding both hardware and software were either leaked or rumored. However, now that the cat's out of the bag, we'll take you through all of the key details that you need to know about the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra.
You can also read about our first hands-on impressions with the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus as well as the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Price and availability
Samsung officially announced the Galaxy S25 series of devices at Galaxy Unpacked on January 22, 2025, and will go on sale starting on February 7.
There are three models to choose from, with the Galaxy S25 starting at $799 with 128GB of storage. From there, the Galaxy S25 Plus with 256GB of storage starts at $999, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra comes in at $1,299.
All three models have a variety of different colors to choose from, some of which are only available when ordering directly from Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Design and displays
For the first time in a few years, all three Galaxy S25 models look like they belong to the same family of devices. This is largely due to Samsung bringing its flattened edges and rounded curves to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, a design choice that was made for the lower-end models with the Galaxy S24 launch.
With that, the smallest Galaxy S25 sports a 6.3-inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz Adaptive refresh rate. Stepping up a notch is the Galaxy S25 Plus with its 6.7-inch screen, offering a QHD+ resolution and the same 120Hz refresh rate. Rounding out the trio is the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is actually 0.1-inch larger than its predecessor, now featuring a 6.9-inch AMOLED screen.
Something worth noting is that with the Galaxy S25 series, the company has introduced its "ProScaler" technology. Originally found in Samsung TVs, this will upscale the resolution of whatever it is that you're watching in order to provide the best viewing experience possible.
In terms of durability, both the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus include an Armor Aluminum frame while utilizing Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for the screen. And just to cover all of the bases, an IP68 water and dust resistance rating is found across all three devices. As for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung is sticking with Titanium for the frame, while the glass is being upgraded to Corning's Gorilla Armor 2.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Cameras
In keeping with the trend, Samsung didn't introduce any changes to the camera hardware on either the S25 or S25 Plus. Instead, Samsung is leaning on the software to provide improvements, as these phones are equipped with "Galaxy's next-gen ProVisual Engine." Essentially, this aims to improve the quality of your pictures and videos, regardless of what time of the day you're capturing moments.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra retains its four-camera layout on the back of the phone, but there is one change that was made. Three of the four sensors remain the same, with the 200MP wide angle, 10MP 3x telephoto, and 50MP 5x telephoto lenses. With the Ultra, Samsung upgraded the ultrawide lens from a 12MP sensor to a new 50MP one.
In doing so, you can capture 50MP ultrawide or macro shots that are pixel-binned to 12MP, providing even more detail. At the same time, this new sensor should also provide better flexibility when taking pictures or recording video.
Samsung continues to attempt to push the limits of mobile photography, which was rather evident during the Galaxy Unpacked unveiling. In addition to the upgraded camera sensor, Samsung is also introducing a couple of new features starting with Virtual Aperture. This is available within the Expert RAW app, giving you more control over the depth-of-field in your images.
Keeping with the trend of professional camera tools, the Galaxy S25 also now offers the ability to record video in "Galaxy Log." Now you can really feel like a professional, as Log videos offer "precise color grading options," similar to taking photos in the RAW format.
At the same time, the Galaxy S25 is also now equipped with a variety of improvements for pictures, and you don't need to be a "pro" to use them. One particularly exciting addition is the ability to create your own filters for images, that can be saved and re-used on different pictures. Plus, Samsung is including an updated array of filters, giving you a starting point if you want to make any additional tweaks.
The last major camera-related feature debuting on the Galaxy S25 is Audio Eraser. It's similar to the Audio Magic Eraser feature that debuted on the Pixel 8, utilizing AI to analyze the audio from a video. Once complete, you can then adjust six different sliders, letting you clean up the audio so you can actually hear the person if you recorded the video and there was a bunch of extra background noise.
Samsung Galaxy S25: AI & Software
Seeing as there simply weren't very many changes made to the Galaxy S25 hardware, much of Galaxy Unpacked was focused on software. From the start, Galaxy AI was front and center, and Gemini is expected to play an impactful role in how you use AI on the S25 series.
Because Samsung worked with Qualcomm to develop the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, this allows for more AI features to be handled on-device. One example is with Generative Edit, which has been available on previous Galaxy devices, but relied on the cloud in order to be used.
Samsung is touting the Galaxy S25 series as being a "true AI companion," and it doesn't take long to understand why. Features that we've already had are being upgraded, such as Circle to Search, which can now recognize things like a URL, and taking you to the website with a tap.
We were also introduced to a brand new interface that appears whenever you interact with Google Gemini. In fact, you'll be able to long-press and activate Gemini using the Side Button right out of the box. Previously, this gesture was mapped to Bixby and used to require some rather annoying steps to get around.
In an effort to truly make the Galaxy S25 as personal as possible, a lot of focus was put on making it easy to use natural language when interacting with your phone. Not only that but with Gemini and Galaxy AI, you can make several related requests and let your phone do everything.
For example, you can ask Gemini something like, "Find the best pizza places near me, and send the list to Joe." The Galaxy S25 will understand the requests and perform each task before presenting a drafted text message for any potential edits.
That's not the only impressive new AI-powered feature to come with the Galaxy S25, as Now Brief is available. Updated throughout the day, Now Brief is basically an AI-powered dashboard, letting you know of upcoming calendar events, showing you the weather, and more. Plus, there's also the Now Bar, which appears at the bottom of your Lock Screen, showing you suggestions and live notifications.
We already knew this to be the case ahead of Unpacked, but the Galaxy S25 series will be the first Samsung devices with One UI 7 onboard. Older Galaxy devices are expected to receive the One UI update after the S25 is officially released.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Specs and performance
Another first for Samsung's Galaxy S25 lineup is that many of the same internals are being used across the board. It all starts with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, which Samsung claims provides a "performance boost of 40% in NPU, 37% in CPU, and 30% in GPU compared to the previous generation."
Samsung and Qualcomm also announced that they developed this specialized chip together, as opposed to the SoC simply being overclocked. This gives Samsung more control when it comes to introducing features that can take full advantage of the chip without compromise.
The improvements don't stop there, as the Galaxy S25 series features a larger vapor chamber, sometimes as much as 40% larger. This, paired with the custom-designed thermal interface material (TiM,) Samsung is hopeful that this will result in better-sustained performance without sacrificing battery life.
We expected the Galaxy S25 Ultra to be packed with plenty of RAM, and that's exactly what Samsung did. However, what we didn't expect was for the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus to match up, with all three phones now sporting the same 12GB of RAM.
Storage capacity is a different story, however, as the Galaxy S25 is only available with 128GB or 256GB of storage. The Galaxy S25 Plus offers either 256GB or 512GB, and the S25 Ultra can be configured with up to 1TB of storage.
One area where you find much of a change is battery life, as Samsung is utilizing the same sized batteries as the S24 series. This means that we have a 4,000mAh battery in the standard S25, the S25 Plus includes a 4,900mAh cell, and the S25 Ultra sports a 5,000mAh battery. That being said, Samsung did claim that we should expect up to 31 hours of video playback on the Ultra, the longest ever for a Galaxy phone.
When it comes to charging speeds, Samsung isn't changing anything, as both the S25 peaks at 25W, with the S25 Plus and Ultra maxing out at 45W. And if you were hoping that this would be the perfect time for Samsung to adopt Qi2, you might be disappointed.
| Category | Samsung Galaxy S25 | Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus | Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.2-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz | 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz | 6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy |
| Memory | 12GB | 12GB | 12GB |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB | 256GB, 512GB | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Front Camera | 12MP, f/2.2 | 12MP, f/2.2 | 12MP, f/2.2 |
| Rear Camera 1 | 50MP (wide), OIS F1.8, FOV 85˚ | 50MP (wide), OIS F1.8, FOV 85˚ | 200MP (wide), OIS, f/1.7, FOV 85˚ |
| Rear Camera 2 | 12MP (ultrawide), f/2.2, FOV 120˚ | 12MP (ultrawide), f/2.2, FOV 120˚ | 50MP (ultrawide) f/1.9, FOV 120˚ |
| Rear Camera 3 | 10MP (telephoto), 3x Optical Zoom, f/2.4 | 10MP (telephoto), 3x Optical Zoom, f/2.4 | 10MP (telephoto), OIS, f/2.4, 3x Optical Zoom, FOV 36˚ |
| Rear Camera 4 | — | — | 50MP (telephoto), OIS, f/3.4, 5x Optical Zoom, FOV 22˚ |
| Battery | 4,000 mAh | 4,900 mAh | 5,000 mAh |
| Charging | 25W (wired), 15W (Qi wireless), 4.5W (reverse wireless) | 45W (wired), 15W (Qi wireless), 4.5W (reverse wireless) | 45W (wired), 15W (Qi wireless), 4.5W (reverse wireless) |
| Connectivity | 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 5.4 | 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 5.4 | 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Biometrics | Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner, Face Recognition | Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner, Face Recognition | Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner, Face Recognition |
| Ingress Protection | IP68, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (front glass), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (rear glass), Aluminum | IP68, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (front glass), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (rear glass), Aluminum | IP68, Corning Gorilla Armor (front glass), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (rear glass), Titanium |
| Dimensions | 146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2mm | 158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3mm | 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2mm |
| Weight | 162 grams | 190 grams | 218 grams |
| Software | One UI 7 w/ Android 15 | One UI 7 w/ Android 15 | One UI 7 w/ Android 15 |
| Colors | Icyblue, Navy, Mint, Silver Shadow, Pink Gold, Coral Red, Blue Black | Icyblue, Navy, Mint, Silver Shadow, Pink Gold, Coral Red, Blue Black | Silver Blue, Black, White Silver, Gray, Jade Green, Jet Black, Pink Gold |
None of these phones officially support the Qi2 wireless charging standard, with no specific explanation being provided. However, if you were looking forward to enjoying the world of MagSafe accessories, Samsung has started selling magnetic cases. These don't add Qi2 to the phones, but they allow the phones to charge on Qi2 wireless chargers.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
It seems that Samsung might be taking another page out of Apple's old playbook, as the company had "one more thing" to show off during Unpacked. Leading up to the event, there were rumors and leaks suggesting that the Galaxy S25 'Slim' would soon be introduced.
As it turns out, this fourth device was officially teased as the "Galaxy S25 Edge," a moniker we haven't seen Samsung use since the Galaxy S7 Edge in 2016. Samsung provided very little information about the S25 Edge, with the teaser video saying it's "a culmination of our most innovative technology."
Recent reports suggest the Galaxy S25 Edge will largely be comprised of the same internals as the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Speaking to Bloomberg News, TM Roh, Samsung's president of Mobile Devices, stated that the company has "been trying to combine all the advantages of the S25 Ultra in a slimmer form factor."
Roh goes on to state that the S25 Edge will arrive "in the U.S. and other markets by the middle of the year." With rumors suggesting Apple is set to release an ultra-thin phone of its own at some point in 2025, this is likely Samsung's way of trying to stay ahead of the curve and to get people excited.
