Final 12 months Samsung embraced synthetic intelligence with its suite of Galaxy AI options. And whereas the brand new S25 Extremely is a bit sooner, somewhat curvier and has a barely greater show than earlier than, it’s clear the corporate’s main focus was upgrading the software program and machine studying capabilities of its top-spec flagship cellphone. However is that sufficient?
Design: A curvier titanium body with a handful of quirks
Just like its predecessor, the Galaxy S25 Extremely incorporates a titanium body. Nevertheless, for 2025, Samsung wished to buck custom by making the cellphone a bit much less boxy. So as an alternative of a very angular chassis, Samsung rounded off its corners. This offers the Extremely a bit extra of a familial resemblance to its inexpensive siblings (each the S25 and S25+). That stated, the Extremely nonetheless has flat edges which are a contact sharper than on final 12 months’s cellphone, so it is extra of a remix than a full revamp.
For its back and front glass, Samsung moved to Corning’s new Gorilla Armor 2, which incorporates a “next-gen” anti-reflective coating that helps remove extra glare than earlier than. However maybe one of the best new {hardware} improve is a bigger 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED show (up from 6.8 inches) with 15 p.c smaller bezels, permitting for extra display area with out rising the cellphone’s total dimensions (6.41 x 3.05 x 0.32 inches).
On the flip facet, the S25 Extremely’s included S Pen is definitely getting a tiny downgrade as Samsung is eradicating Bluetooth Low Power assist from the stylus. This would possibly look like a little bit of a headscratcher, however Samsung claims solely a tiny share of householders had been utilizing Air Actions (which was the one S Pen function that required BT LE) and that by eliminating it, the stylus is extra sturdy than earlier than as a result of there’s no want fear about equipping it with tiny radios. The corporate additionally says the one gesture that noticed vital use was the one for remotely triggering the cellphone’s digicam, which will be completed in quite a lot of different methods (e.g. holding up your palm or utilizing a Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring).
One other design quirk is that whereas the S25 household (together with the Extremely) helps wi-fi charging at as much as 15 watts, it’s not technically absolutely Qi2 compliant. As a substitute, Samsung says the cellphone is “Qi2 ready” which suggests it can work with appropriate chargers, however as a result of there aren’t any alignment magnets within the handset, customers might want to depend on aftermarket circumstances to offer a correct mounting level for magnetic equipment.
The ultimate noteworthy {hardware} addition is a brand new 50-megapixel sensor for the ultra-wide digicam, which joins the three that return from final 12 months’s cellphone: 200MP predominant, 10MP telephoto and 50MP telephoto cameras (with the latter two providing 3x and 5x optical zoom respectively). Samsung says there ought to be some basic picture and picture processing enhancements due to the S25 Extremely’s new chip, akin to improved noise discount and a greater spatial-temporal filter that may extra precisely inform the distinction between transferring and stationary objects. However we’re going to attend till we are able to overview the cellphone to say what these options can actually do.
Efficiency: Snapdragon 8 Elite in each nation
Inside, the S25 Extremely is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip together with 12GB of RAM and as much as 1TB of storage. For patrons outdoors North America, Samsung says it’s utilizing the identical SoC throughout the globe as an alternative of choosing its personal Exynos chips in sure areas because it has prior to now. The corporate claims basic CPU efficiency is up 37 p.c year-over-year. In the meantime, GPU speeds are up 30 p.c whereas the S25 Extremely’s NPU has gotten the largest enhance of round 40 p.c. And to assist present improved sustained efficiency for issues like gaming, Samsung claims the S25 Extremely’s vapor chamber is 40 p.c bigger than earlier than.
In actual life, the cellphone felt expectedly responsive, although it was laborious to inform if that was all due to the cellphone’s new chip or if it was due partly to the snappier animations in One UI 7, which can come pre-installed on the Galaxy S25 household. And as earlier than, Samsung is persevering with to supply seven years of OS updates and common safety patches.
AI brokers and extra
In fact, as with so many different current devices, the S25’s predominant focus is on expanded AI performance and after introducing its first set of options on the S24 line final 12 months, it seems like Samsung’s aim was to make the whole lot a bit extra highly effective and simpler to make use of. For instance, present instruments like Sensible Choose have been renamed to AI Choose and remodeled into what the corporate is asking AI brokers. Usually, this implies a single function will assist a wider vary of talents and improved contextual consciousness.
Now whenever you faucet the AI Choose icon after pulling up Samsung’s facet bar, the cellphone will analyze no matter you’re and supply an assortment of solutions like taking a screenshot, performing a visible search, summarizing an article and even capturing a video clip and turning it right into a GIF. It’s an analogous state of affairs for Samsung’s Sketch to Picture device which has been renamed to Drawing Help, which not solely offers extra real looking outcomes, it additionally lets you add AI-generated artwork to pictures by roughly sketching one thing with the S Pen or just utilizing textual content prompts. Even Google’s Circle to Search function has gotten a small improve because it now helps music identification both by listening to music or somebody buzzing a tune.
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Alternatively, with a view to floor info in a extra well timed method, Samsung has created a Now Temporary device and Now Bar. The Now Temporary is designed to offer a personalized feed that seems periodically all through the day (typically within the morning, afternoon and night) populated by information and occasions related to you. This contains the whole lot from appointments in your calendar to the climate and visitors. In the meantime, the Now Bar is an offshoot of this performance that can pop up in your lock display or in your notifications so you possibly can maintain tabs on apps you could have already got open or the rating to your favourite sports activities groups. It’s extremely comparable in spirit to Apple’s Dwell Actions. Samsung says it has additionally designed the cellphone to watch your habits and spot patterns so it will probably present useful shortcuts sooner or later. One instance can be for those who frequently activate Bluetooth earlier than getting in your automotive after which flip it off whenever you get residence, which is a course of the cellphone might be able to deal with routinely.
There’s additionally a brand new Audio Eraser device within the digicam app which capabilities lots like what we’ve seen in current Pixel telephones. It makes use of AI to determine six various kinds of noise like wind or speech after which creates a customized EQ permitting you to show down distracting ambient sounds or enhance the amount of whoever is speaking.
However, at the least for me, the S25 line’s strongest new AI-based capability is improved pure voice recognition, which permits the cellphone to carry out advanced duties which will contain a couple of app at a time. Throughout my temporary hands-on time, I requested the cellphone so as to add the subsequent Detroit Lions recreation to my calendar. Which may sound like a easy request, however for those who break it down, the AI first wants to determine which recreation I’m speaking about based mostly on an online search, when it’s being performed, after which create an appointment contained in the Samsung Calendar app. And the AI did add the related match to the calendar within the demo S25 Extremely I used to be utilizing.
Granted, we’ve type of seen this earlier than, however this implementation feels far more streamlined and cohesive. You too can seek for pictures within the Samsung Gallery app along with your voice, whereas the improved pure language recognition applies to typically controlling the system as properly. This implies you possibly can ask the cellphone to regulate particular settings like altering display decision, which is good for anybody who doesn’t really feel like scrolling by way of a seemingly countless record of choices.
Different options
Lastly, some extra area of interest enhancements embrace assist for logarithmic video seize (Galaxy Log) with unique look-up-tables. When watching films or clips, Samsung can also be borrowing some tech from its TV division to routinely upscale lower-res content material. And for its Pockets app, the corporate is including the flexibility to “Buy now, pay later” even when buying at brick-and-mortar retailers or wirelessly transferring cash to another person simply by tapping two gadgets collectively. Nevertheless, the brand new Pockets options gained’t be accessible at launch (they’re coming “sometime later”) and they’ll solely be accessible when utilizing debit playing cards from Visa and Mastercard.
After my quick time with the S25 UItra, I got here away with combined emotions. Samsung’s basic strategy to AI instruments feels far more cohesive and simpler to get into. However I nonetheless marvel how a lot worth they actually add and the way a lot of a profit they’ll present on a day-to-day foundation. The marginally curvier chassis makes the S25 Extremely match in additional with the remainder of the road’s design, however that seems like a minor change. I admire the brand new anti-reflective coating from Corning’s Gorilla Armor 2 and I’m pleased to see a brand new sensor for the cellphone’s ultra-wide digicam. Besides, I’m left feeling like there are a handful of options Samsung might have given somewhat extra consideration to.
How a couple of greater battery just like the 6,000mAh pack in OnePlus 13 as an alternative of the identical 5,000mAh cell we’ve seen for a number of generations? Or what about one thing for the S Pen? After which there’s Samsung’s half-baked answer for supporting Qi2, which simply appears a bit lazy. Don’t get me unsuitable, the S25 Extremely nonetheless appears like a very good cellphone and I like that Samsung hasn’t bumped up its value for 2025. However on the similar time, it looks as if the largest cellphone maker on the earth may very well be doing extra for its most costly non-folding cellphone.
Pre-orders for the Galaxy S25 Extremely are reside now beginning at $1,300 with official gross sales slated for February 7.
