Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has nearly every spec and feature you could hope for in a phone, even a good bundle of artificial intelligence features. I have been using the phone for three weeks and here are some thoughts.
The South Korean company’s launch of the Galaxy S25 Ultra mainly focused on AI features. All that AI overshadowed the most impressive parts of the phone — the new processor, the high-resolution ultra-wide camera and some sweet professional video tools that rival the iPhone 16 Pro. Samsung kept most of the best parts of last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra and there is more.
Display coating makes a difference
Since the ultra-wide camera gets a higher resolution sensor, macro photos have even more detail and textures
Samsung increased the Ultra screen real estate by an extra tenth of an inch to 6.9 inches by making the bezels thinner and has given an anti-reflective coating. The coating on the screen makes it my favourite display on any phone. Content looks immersive, even something as mundane as a news or social feed. Using it outdoors for photos is fantastic because it’s bright and the lack of glare doesn’t interfere between me lining up a photo and taking it.
Ultra-wide delivery
The new 50MP ultra-wide camera is among the best money can buy. It hits a sweet spot between distorting things in the frame to looking dramatic without going all warped around the edges. The higher-resolution sensor captures a lot of detail. The dynamic range is great even though it’s a slight step down from the 200MP main camera of the phone. The S25 Ultra’s ultra-wide doubles as a macro lens, allowing it to get very close to a subject while keeping things in focus. It even crops the image’s frame to match that of the main camera.
The new ultra-wide — helped by a wider f/1.9 aperture — allows the system to use lower ISOs to offer a high level of brightness in a shot, which helps keep noise down. It’s a meaningful upgrade.
Monster of a processor
At the heart of the S25 Ultra is a custom version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12GB of RAM. In everyday use, animations look smooth, video games play without stutters and AI runs quickly. You won’t necessarily take advantage of all this power right now but as more AI features roll out or as new versions of One UI and Android are released, the phone should be able to handle it all.
The camera system can take better pictures under low light
Audio Eraser
The tool can be used to minimise background noise, like music or wind, and helps emphasise the subject’s voice on camera to make it stand out. This doesn’t remove everything but it does improve audio where it can. Say you are at a coffee shop where there are a lot of people and it’s a loud atmosphere. There’s some music playing. The feature can make the voice sound better if you are recording a person talking or make the music sound brighter (in case you need that).
Magic moments at night
Samsung has improved nighttime video capture, especially when I compare shots against the Galaxy S24 Ultra. And this has been extended over to phone video recorded in low light. The phone can record video in LOG now. This is aimed at filmmakers and content creators; most people will likely never even try this out LOG video. When you shoot in this format, videos look flat and desaturated but they retain more image information for highlights and shadows, allowing greater flexibility when you’re editing colours and exposure after the shoot. The iPhone has been offering this for a couple of generations, so it’s good to see Samsung bring the feature.
AI that you need
The Ultra’s cross-app functionality through Gemini AI has potential. I can ask Gemini to search for upcoming cricket matches and add them to a note… all in one prompt and it works. I have had Gemini search my email for a list of upcoming events and add each one to my calendar. It managed to do it flawlessly. Sure, there’s a bit of a learning curve with AI because most of us are still used to using our phones to do things one step at a time.
The phone also offers the opportunity to compare AI marketing versus reality. There will come a time — and it’s not a very long way out — when you will ask AI to plan a trip, complete with the hotels you will stay at, restaurants where you will eat and places to visit. At the moment, if AI generates a holiday list, you may want to give it a dekko. That’s fair enough. But Samsung is also showing what’s possible. If any phone has got it “more” right than the others, it’s the Galaxy S device. The phone can do complicated tasks like looking up the next cricket match between India and Pakistan and adding it to the calendar. There are many more AI features on the phone and we have discussed them in past articles.
The camera system can take better pictures under low light
Make the call
Should you upgrade to S25 Ultra? If you are using the Galaxy S23 Ultra or anything older, the S25 Ultra will be a significant upgrade.
The Ultra is the only phone that comes with a stylus or what the company calls S Pen. It’s a precise stylus that has a silo. The feature has been handed down from the Note series. Samsung has added capabilities over the years. What’s different this year is the absence of Bluetooth functionality. So don’t expect it to work as a remote control shutter for the camera or media playback controls. And the old S Pen from S24 doesn’t fit in the new phone.
Not many people use these features that involve Bluetooth. But the Ultra is for people who like the stylus, so Samsung should think of bringing back Bluetooth connectivity, even if it’s for a small bunch of users.
Battery life has improved vis a vis Galaxy S24 Ultra. I usually got through an average day with 50 per cent battery left. For a flagship phone, that’s quite good. The S25 series is Qi2 ready, meaning it supports the latest wireless charging standard but only with a special magnetic case.
Without a doubt, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is one of the best phones you can buy. It comes with the best screen, top-notch cameras and an excellent suite of AI features. In terms of absolute power, the S25 Ultra with its custom chip and larger cooling system lead to a memorable performance. If you like technology, Samsung rewards you with a device that’s truly a powerhouse. Its name is Galaxy S25 Ultra.
At a glance
Device: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Price: Upwards of ₹129,999 (256GB/12GB)
High notes
Excellent screen
Outstanding ultra-wide camera
Rounded corners are comfortable
Great set of AI features
Powerful phone
Muffled note
The S25 series is Qi2 Ready but only with a special magnetic case — it doesn’t have magnets built into the phone