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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a familiar feeling but the AI goodness and more power make them capable flagships but is that enough?
The Galaxy S25 Ultra gets the new hardware, new One UI OS and some new AI capabilities.
Samsung’s new flagship is amongst us these days and we have been eager to see the new model in flesh and see if the AI features match up to its focus on hardware increments. Most premium brands are taking this route lately, emphasising their need to bring AI with the required hardware upgrades.
The launch event in January was indicative of its stance and that is understandable with how the AI battle is shaping up and will get intense this year. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has the right set of tools to make the best of these AI features and then you also have the S Pen doubling up its purpose. But does the new Galaxy Ultra model for Rs 1,29,999 give you the right push, we look for those answers.
The Design Continuity
Samsung has kept a universal design language over the last few years and that trend has continued with the Galaxy S25 Ultra as well. We have seen the flat edges become a regular sight these days and the new flagship is part of that growing clan. The frame is generally comfortable to hold but some people might find them offering a sharp grip. The back panel is also offering pretty much the same but we don’t mind this.
The camera rings have become more pronounced to the eyes but the overall dimensions have come down and the phone now weighs 218 grams with a thinner frame than before which helps with the comfort factor. You also get the IP68 rating like the S24 Ultra which is good but not matching up to the latest standards. Some might say they would like to see Samsung overhaul its design but we are hoping that does happen in 2026.
The Anti-Shine Display
The S25 Ultra sports a 6.9-inch AMOLED display which, going by numbers is marginally bigger but the in-hand feel and experience tells you a different story. The anti-glare coating is a big plus on the screen and we would like more brands to adopt the technology for their phones in the near future. The value of this panel becomes evident when you switch phones and the glare gets blatantly obvious.
The deep blacks of the AMOLED also see the benefit of this feature and the overall viewing experience with the crisp colours and high contrast (a Samsung speciality), you have got a package that is pleasing to the eyes.
The True Flagship Power
Samsung has launched the Galaxy S25 Ultra with 12GB and 16GB RAM this year and up to 1TB storage. We got the 12GB variant to test and having the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset in tow gives you the best possible performance in the Android space.
The benchmark scores put the Galaxy S25 Ultra at the top of the charts among the phones with the 8 Elite chipset that we have tested recently. The real experience of the hardware is also quite good even though we feel the thermal management could be slightly better in some cases. The gaming performance will keep you happy and that is expected from phones in this range. But the true flagship value also comes with the effectiveness of the software.
The One UI 7 version based on Android 15 offers fluidity and smoothness of a top-notch UI but we did not like some pre-loaded apps throwing unwanted notifications. Disabling that did help but people don’t want to see them in the first place when they are buying for the flagship value.
Samsung also bundles the Microsoft apps which can be deleted. The company also promises 7 years OS and security updates for the device which is one of the strong points about Samsung phones these days and this means you can keep the phone up-to-date till 2032 and more.
The Galaxy AI Push
Samsung had a lot to talk about the AI features on the new series and the Galaxy AI 2.0 version promises exciting things for the users. The Now Brief is Samsung’s version of the Dynamic Island but AI powered which makes it more functional and useful for people.
You can activate Gemini from the bottom bar and help you get tasks aligned, scheduled and even get queries answered. The version 2.0 has definitely gotten better and we are excited how it evolves in the near future. The object removal delivers clear results and better than what other premium phones have offered when we tested. The summary bit still feels undercooked but that will improve and we are eager to see how these evolve.
The S Pen Change
Samsung has offered the S Pen with the Ultra model for a few years, making it the logical successor to the popular Note lineup.
This year’s S Pen loses some functionalities which the company says few people were using, but we did feel that dropping these options could have been avoided unless Samsung had a very good way to compensate for it. Make no mistake, you can still take notes, scribble and create using AI but the purpose of the S Pen feels limiting.
The Camera Prowess
Samsung has preferred to play it safe with the main 200MP sensor and the 50MP periscope telephoto lens, but the new model gets a 50MP ultrawide lens instead of the 12MP sensor. The picture quality from the cameras is really good, the colours are punchy which is usual for Samsung, and the details are crisp.
But it is hard to deny that we would have liked more adventure from the brand and make it a strong challenger to the likes of Vivo and Xiaomi who have shown what versatility and quality deliver. We’re not trying to throw shade on the cameras of the Galaxy S25 Ultra because there is nothing wrong with them but there is nothing exceptional or different about them either.
Can It Run Long?
Samsung has also offered the same 5,000mAh battery unit on the Galaxy S25 Ultra like its predecessor. It also gets the same 45W wired, 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless charging speeds like the previous model. Do these numbers deliver better results, in some ways yes, and the tests also showed us the improvements.
You can easily get the phone to last through a day and back up and running in around 58 minutes but the market has evolved on this front. After all, we are seeing brands adopt new technology for the battery which is working to a good effect, and we would like to see giants like Samsung bring them to the big guns soon.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra gets the AI part going in a good way, the hardware allows these features to deliver and the OS does a fine job too. The cameras are good, the battery life is decent but for a flagship we feel Samsung can go the extra mile and we hope to see that in the near future.
- Location :
Delhi, India, India
