Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Deja Vu

Samsung’s compact flagship phone is back for another year, and it’s looking very, very familiar. If you thought the S25 Ultra was an underwhelming update, well, buckle in.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 has a new chip, more RAM and some minor aesthetic tweaks. Otherwise, it’s pretty much identical to the Galaxy S24. As with the rest of the lineup, the biggest developments are software-based, and Samsung is betting big on AI yet again.

So, it might not be a game-changing upgrade, but is this petite performer still worth considering? I popped my SIM inside for a week to try and find out.

Design & Build

• Redesigned camera bezels
• Armor Aluminium frame
• IP68 rated

The Samsung Galaxy S25 looks almost identical to the S24. The only major change to the styling is the addition of some thick black bezels around the cameras.

These look just like the bezels on the Z Fold 6, and they match the rest of the S25 lineup, too. They’re purely decorative, and for me, they mainly serve as a way to quickly differentiate this year’s phones from its predecessor.

Luke Baker

The S25 is available in different colours this year, too. I have the Silver Shadow model in for testing, which is a fairly reserved and professional-looking option, but if you want to stand out a little more, the Navy and Mint versions make a slightly bigger statement.

There’s also an option called Icyblue, which looks very similar to the Silver model, just lighter, with a very slight blueish tint to the rear panel.

If you order from Samsung.com, you’ll have access to three additional exclusive colours, including the liveliest of the bunch – Coralred. There’s also Blueblack and Pinkgold, which have a more muted palette. If you want to stand out, the vibrant Coralred is surely the way to go.

I wouldn’t normally spend this long talking about colour options, but to be honest, there’s not a lot else to mention here. The phone is slightly slimmer, but we’re only talking 0.4mm, which is about the same thickness as four sheets of paper. It’s also 6g lighter, but if you can feel that difference, you have more sensitive hands than I.

Luke Baker

Otherwise, it’s all the same as the previous model. It’s the only partially announced Galaxy S25 Edge (rumoured to be called the S25 Slim) which introduces a new design option.

The button layout is the same, the shape is the same, the finish feels the same and it’s still IP68 rated. Around the front, you get the same Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 coating as well.

I had my fingers crossed that the smaller phones would benefit from the same anti-reflective coating as the Ultra, but that’s not the case. Oh well, maybe next year.

While I wouldn’t call the S25 a small phone (they seem to be dead), it’s a lot smaller than most flagships and I found it refreshing after spending time with the comparatively bulky S25 Ultra.

You can barely feel it in your pocket, and if you have small hands, you’ll find it much more manageable than most flagship slabs.

Screen & Speakers

• 6.2-inch LTPO AMOLED display
• Full HD+ resolution
• 2600 nits peak brightness
• Stereo speakers

When it comes to the display, it’s a familiar story. The specifications are identical to last year’s model, so there’s not much to get excited about, but it was great last year and it’s still just as impressive.

Luke Baker

The bezel was already incredibly slim, and the 2600 nit output is more than enough to compete with direct sunlight.

It’s an LTPO panel, so it’ll dynamically shift from 1Hz to 120Hz as needed. Saving you some battery life while ensuring motion looks smooth and fluid.

The only real update is the addition of a software feature called ProScaler. This was developed in collaboration with Qualcomm and it uses AI to upscale on-screen content for a crisp high resolution look.

Luke Baker

As I noted in my S25 Ultra review, Samsung hasn’t been too clear about when or how this feature gets activated, and I’d be lying if I said I noticed a difference.

That said, the FHD+ panel looks crisp and clear in almost every scenario, so whether it can be attributed to the ProScaler or not, you’re in for a visual treat.

Luke Baker

The speakers are also unchanged, and again, that’s fine by me.

They’re still among the best, with great clarity and more bass than most. I actually prefer these speakers to the S25 Ultra speakers, as the positioning of the drivers makes them less prone to being muffled.

Specs & Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (in all regions)
• 12GB RAM
• 128GB / 256GB / 512GB storage

Finally, we reach an area with some meaningful upgrades.

The Galaxy S25 is powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. And it’s not just any chip, it’s a special ‘for Galaxy’ overclocked version made exclusively for Samsung.

Luke Baker

The RAM has also been upgraded to a generous 12GB, matching its S25-series siblings. Plus, there’s an additional storage option for this year, so you can now opt for 512GB on the most compact model.

I’m really pleased to see this, I always thought it was silly that you had to settle for lower specifications on the smallest S-series handset. After all, just because you prefer a smaller phone, that doesn’t mean you don’t want top performance or lots of storage.

Many will be happy to see the back of the Exynos chipset, too, as the whole lineup uses the same Qualcomm chip, no matter what region you’re in.

In benchmarks, the S25 performs just as well as you’d expect. This is a supremely powerful phone, and it has no trouble running the most demanding games and apps available on the Play Store.

Luke Baker

I found that the frame gets a little warmer than I’d like during longer gaming sessions, but I wouldn’t say it’s much worse than the S25 Ultra. Given that this phone has a significantly smaller vapour chamber, that’s quite an accomplishment.

How much of a difference this performance boost will make, in practical terms, depends on how you use your phone. Last year’s S24 was already excellent for gaming, and unless you were running into limitations somewhere, the daily experience is likely to be quite similar.

That said, this phone feels extremely quick at all times, noticeably quicker than a lot of its Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered rivals. I think this is mainly thanks to the zippy animation style of One UI 7, but maybe that overclock is doing some work of its own, too.

Cameras

• 50Mp main sensor
• 12Mp ultrawide
• 10Mp 3x telephoto
• 12Mp selfie camera

The cameras still haven’t seen any hardware changes, and you get the exact same set of sensors and lenses that we’ve seen for the last few generations.

You would think that means the photos and videos look identical on this model, but that’s not the case. Just as I saw with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, there are subtle improvements across the board.

Luke Baker

I’m not sure if we have the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s ISP to thank for these improvements, or if it’s just software tweaks, or likely both but the photos and videos look slightly better on the S25 than they did on the S24. 

The main change is with colour reproduction, everything looks more natural and realistic, and I found that the biggest improvement was with skin tones. Finer details like textures seem to resolve better, too, without that oversharpened look that was prevalent on older Samsung flagships.

It’s not a big change, but it’s enough to be noticeable.

Otherwise, you can expect a very familiar experience, with the same benefits and drawbacks as the Galaxy S23 and S24. This phone might not get the new ultrawide that was added to the S25 Ultra, but in terms of quality, I don’t think there’s a huge difference.

The main thing to note is that this ultrawide unit doesn’t have autofocus, so it’s not suitable for close-ups, while the Ultra is very good in that regard.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the results from the S25. I particularly like the selfie camera, which I think outclasses a lot of its rivals such as the Google Pixel 9 when it comes to sharpness, detail and colour accuracy – despite the low megapixel count.

The rear trio give you plenty zoom range, and the main and 3x lenses can focus very close up for macro shots.

The main drawback to this camera system is the amount of noise in low light conditions (that’s true for the S25 Ultra as well). The main sensor isn’t affected too badly, but the ultrawide and 3x telephoto get very noisy when the light is low.

There’s only so much you can do with these relatively small sensors, after all.

When it comes to video shooting, the big change is the new Log recording format.

When activated, your videos have an extremely flat and low-contrast look, and it’s designed to give editors maximum flexibility when adjusting the colours in software like Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve. It’s the same feature that you’ll find on professional mirrorless cameras, and it has been present on the last few generations of iPhone, too.

For the most part, this feature works in the same way as it does on the S25 Ultra, and both can capture Log footage at up to 8K resolution – besting Apple. However, there’s one key difference.

The S25 can’t record Log footage at 4K 120fps, while the S25 Ultra can. It’s still capable of 4K 120fps capture, but only within the slow-motion mode, so it’s slightly less versatile.

Battery Life & Charging

• 4000mAh battery
• 25W wired charging
• 15W wireless charging
• No power adapter in the box

Care to take a guess what’s changed with the battery and charging this year? Yep. Absolutely nothing.

You still get a 4000mAh cell, and it charges at 25W with a wire and 15W without. As usual, there’s no charger in the box, just a USB-C cable.

Luke Baker

In fairness, the S25 does seem to last slightly longer than its predecessor, likely due to the efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and One UI 7. So while 4000mAh might sound ridiculously small, it actually lasts longer than you might expect.

On most days, I went to bed with about 20% capacity remaining, and the phone never failed to see me to the end of the day. It’s not astonishing battery life, but it’s adequate.

It’s a similar story with the charging. It’s not painful to live with, but it’s markedly slower than a lot of the competition. Still, for a lot of people, from flat to almost 60% charged in half an hour is livable.

I just don’t see why we can’t have at least 45W to match the S25’s larger siblings.

Luke Baker / Foundry

Samsung has upgraded the S25 will Qi2 wireless charging but it’s not implemented how we hoped. The firm will have an official clear case with Qi2-compatible magnets available soon, but there are no magnets built into the phone itself which is a shame.

I’m still happy to see it, as it likely means we’ll see some cool first-party magnetic accessories. However, third-party cases have offered similar abilities for years, so it’s not exactly game-changing.

Software & Apps

• Samsung One UI 7
• Based on Android 15
• New Galaxy AI features
• Seven years of support

As you’re well aware by now, Samsung hasn’t really changed much with the Galaxy S25 hardware, and that’s because it has been focusing on software features instead.

The brand already had the most advanced AI features in the business, and this year, it has doubled down to maintain that lead.

Luke Baker

One UI 7 has a fresh new look, and it’s feeling snappier than ever. I don’t think any other Android device comes close to matching the speedy animation style that Samsung provides, and it’s a delight to interact with.

You’ll now find AI-powered features integrated into just about every area of the OS. This includes the global search bar, which supports natural-language input.

So, for example, if you want to get to your Bluetooth settings you can search “I want to connect my headphones” and the phone will understand what you’re looking for. It’s not the kind of change that will have much impact on power users, but for the less technically inclined, it’s sure to be very handy.

The voice assistant is now powered by Google Gemini, and its capabilities have been expanded to allow it to interact with other applications. So, rather than just answering questions, Gemini can add things to your calendar and send messages – if you grant it the required permissions.

I found that the supported functions are still quite limited, but it’s a glimpse of things to come, and I have a feeling it’ll be very impressive in the coming months.

Luke Baker

Circle to Search which debuted with the S24-series, is back and better than ever. It now supports video search, and it can also act like Shazam, searching for music that’s playing or even trying to find a tune that you’re humming.

I love this feature, but as we saw last year, it won’t stay exclusive to Samsung, and we’ll see this appear on other Android phones in the near future, if it hasn’t already.

What is exclusive to Samsung is the new AI-powered select tool. I was a bit puzzled by this at first, as it functions very similarly to Circle to Search. Both can search the web for content on your screen, select text from images and even translate content. Where AI Select differs, though, is its ability to create things.

There are generative AI-powered features available directly from the Select tool, so you can reimagine your screenshot in numerous artistic styles, remove objects with the AI eraser or even sketch an AI-enhanced creation on top.

To be honest, I can’t see myself using any of these features regularly, but they’re available if you want them.

Another big addition is a feature called Now Brief. This feature uses AI to give you a quick summary of your day ahead, including things like weather information, calendar events, travel notices and more.

It’s delivered to your notifications automatically throughout the day, and can also be found via a home screen widget and lock screen icon.

Luke Baker

I thought this feature looked quite cool, but as I noted in my S25 Ultra review, my actual experience was quite underwhelming. I suspect this is because I’m not fully invested in the Samsung ecosystem.

I got the weather and my calendar events for the day, whereas I’ve seen other reviewers get health insights, news stories, sports scores and more. There’s potential here, but I think it needs better integration with third-party apps for it to be useful.

You still get all the same AI-powered image editing tools that we saw last year, but there’s a new feature to enhance your videos called Audio Eraser. It’s very similar to the Audio Magic Eraser on Google Pixel phones, as well as the equivalent feature on the iPhone 16 series.

Essentially, if you’ve taken a video with too much wind noise or loud traffic in the background, this feature uses AI to filter it out.

Luke Baker

It works fairly well, and I was impressed with how well the software could separate different types of sounds. You’re given fine control over the volume of each sound, so you can tune it to your liking. However, the audio still sounds a little processed and unnatural after applying this filter, so I’d only use it in extreme circumstances.

As previously, Samsung promises seven years of OS and security updates which is market-leading along with Google.

Price & Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is available to order now in most regions around the world. The base model, with 128GB of storage, will cost you £799 in the UK and $799.99 Stateside. The 256GB model retails for £859/$859.99.

Bizarrely, the largest capacity 512GB model doesn’t seem to be available in the US, but it’ll cost you £959 in the UK.

If you’re not looking to buy outright, there are plenty of contract details that can spread the cost. Have a look at our guide to the best Samsung Galaxy S25 deals to see what’s available.

Check out our rankings for the best phones to see our top recommendations.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S25?

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is the smallest generational upgrade in recent memory. In terms of hardware, there’s the new Qualcomm chip, some more RAM and an additional 512GB storage option. There are also new colours to choose from, but otherwise, the phone is pretty much identical to its predecessor.

This means the biggest changes are found in the software, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but with Samsung’s dedication to long-term software support, most of the new stuff will likely appear on the S24 and earlier models, too.

The Galaxy S25 is still the best compact flagship that Samsung has ever made, but if you already own an S24, or an S23 for that matter, there’s not really much reason to upgrade. It’s become a very similar situation to the iPhone upgrade conundrum.

I’d only recommend doing so if you’re running into a limitation with your current phone, like if it’s slowing down during multitasking or if you need more storage. Or perhaps, it’s broken from a fall.

If you’re coming from another device, then the Samsung Galaxy S25 is unlikely to disappoint. It may not have the most impressive spec sheet on the market, but the overall experience using the phone is second to none. It’s lightning-quick, takes great photos and videos, and it feels quality through and through.

If you’re into AI features, this is undoubtedly the small-ish flagship of choice.

Specs

• One UI 7, based on Android 15
• 6.2in, 2340×1080, AMOLED, 120Hz
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
• 12GB RAM
• 128GB / 256GB / 512GB storage
• Cameras:
  • 50Mp, f/1.8 main camera
  • 12Mp f/2.2 ultra-wide camera
  • 10Mp f/2.4 3x telephoto
  • Up to 8K @ 30fps rear video
  • 12Mp front-facing camera
• Stereo speakers
• Dual-SIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 4000mAh battery
• 25W charging (no charger in box)
• 15W wireless charging
• 147.0 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm
• IP68 certified
• 162g
• Colours: Navy, Icyblue, Silver Shadow, Mint
• Samsung.com exclusive colours: Blueblack, Coralred, Pinkgold