For 15 years we’ve been fans of the Samsung Galaxy S phones, ever since the series began in 2010. The Galaxy S25 family is hands down Samsung’s best generation yet, and not just because the core tech gets a bit better each year.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 series gets a big injection of brand new Galaxy AI* features. And they provide everything from features you might expect, like voice translation and image generation, to improvements you might not expect, like longer battery life.
In this family, we have the Samsung Galaxy S25, the Galaxy S25+, the Galaxy S25 Edge and what might be the most desirable Android phone in the world right now, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Which might be right for you? Let’s dig in.
Which Galaxy S25’s design and features are right for me?
- Galaxy S25 Ultra brings S Pen to the party
- Galaxy S25 Edge takes us to all-new slim territory
- A base Galaxy S25 is easy on smaller hands and great for everyday use
The entire Samsung Galaxy S25 family has at least one design element in common. They all have incredibly slim screen borders, as their displays push into the extreme corners of the casing. It’s a strong look.
New for this year, Samsung has introduced the Galaxy S25 Edge, the slimmest phone ever in this series. It’s just 5.8mm thick, and is incredibly light for its screen size at 163g, making it one of the lightest premium smartphones on the market.
Only the Edge and the series royalty Galaxy S25 Ultra get the upgrade to a titanium frame, which is tougher and lighter than the other phones’ aluminium sidewalls.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a not-so-secret power rarely found in top-of-the-line phones: A powerful stylus. The Samsung S Pen lets you draw, handwrite and paint.
Which Galaxy S25 screen is right for me?
- You can’t beat a Galaxy S25 Ultra for media
- Cinematic HDR10+ AMOLED is standard across the board
- Go for the Galaxy S25+ or the larger S25 Ultra if you love YouTube and movies
A screen comparison of the Samsung Galaxy S25 models tells us a lot about the USPs of these phones. It’s hard not to love the 6.2-inch base Galaxy S25 for its sheer pocketability. At only 70.5mm wide, it’s ideal for those who wish there were more small phones out there in 2025. This is one of them.
Samsung’s Galaxy S25+ jumps to a 6.7-inch screen, a size much better for watching YouTube and movies — bolstered by the ultra-high contrast and deep colour of Samsung’s AMOLED 2x displays. You get cinematic image quality on the go.
In one sense at least, the Galaxy Edge combines elements of those two, sporting the large 6.7-inch screen of the Galaxy S25+ series with an even trimmer body.
But right at the top of the leaderboard we have the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. It has an even larger 6.9-inch screen, with incredible 2600-nit peak brightness. It’s a more expansive canvas that is just about unbeatable for gaming and watching YouTube.
Larger phones may not be for everyone, but if you like chowing down on content, the Galaxy S25 Ultra should be your top pick. It also has a highly unusual anti-reflective top-most layer, making your videos and games clear even if you play and watch out in direct sunlight.
Which Galaxy S25 camera is right for me?
- AI-enhanced zoom photography is a Galaxy S25 Ultra game-changer
- Standard Galaxy S25 models are top all-rounders
- You need S25 Galaxy AI help when shooting at night
For this camera category, let’s start with the best and work our way down. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra represents about as much fun as you can have with a phone camera, anywhere. And a lot of that is thanks to its amazing dual zoom cameras enhanced by AI Zoom with Super Resolution.
This combines the power of optical 3x and 5x zoom lenses with machine learning multi-frame capture to dramatically enhance the final photos. It’s incredibly useful for gig and concert photography, and wonderful for travel. Wherever you point your Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, you have almost endless photographic options at your fingertips.
One step down, the Samsung Galaxy S25 and S25+ lose the super-extended 5x zoom camera. But we still get a quality 3X zoom, ultra-detailed 50MP wide camera and 12MP ultra-wide.
You can shoot video at up to 8K resolution, the motion smoothing is superb and the overall experience of shooting with this duo is just top-notch.
The Samsung Galaxy Edge loses the zoom. But it does have the same incredible 200MP main camera as the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
We think one of the aspects you’ll notice most, though, is something all the members of this family share, AI-based Nightography powered by Samsung’s ProVisal Engine. Remember we mentioned the use of multi-frame capture when shooting zoom images with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra? That tech is also a key part of how the Galaxy S25 phones can capture such amazing low-light and night photos even when you shoot handheld in a casual way.
Finally, you can take late-night party pictures that don’t make everyone look washed out through a flash, or flat-out blurry.
What are the coolest software and AI features of the Samsung Galaxy series?
- Portrait Studio lets you transform your photos
- AI translation helps you on holidays
- OneUI has Galaxy AI baked-in throughout
Galaxy AI plays a big part in the skillset of the Samsung Galaxy S25 family, and it’s embedded in the phones’ OneUI software. Stepping back into the work of photography, Galaxy AI Photo Assist** and Edit Suggestion*** offer recommended tweaks for your images.
As well as simple stuff like altering contrast and brightness, this can help you remove reflections and shadows to help your pics pop that bit more.
Outside of photography but still using the camera, text translation built into the phone's UI can help you decipher what menus say on holiday, should you not have put quite enough time into your Duolingo study. Just point the camera at the menu and order like a native.
The powerful Portrait Studio lets you go further with your pics too. Far beyond a simple retouch, the Samsung Galaxy S25’s generative AI powers let you transform your photos into completely different styles. For example, it can turn a selfie of you into a cartoon character. Who wouldn’t want to try that one out?
These Galaxy AI features, and more, are common to the entire core Galaxy S25 family.
What about battery life?
- Galaxy S25 Ultra tops the chart with 5,000mAh battery
- Up to 45W fast charging
- 15W wireless charging and reverse charging for your accessories
Galaxy AI comes to the fore in battery life too. These phones’ AI-powered Battery and Performance Optimisation help to max out your real-world battery life without any compromise to how fast and smooth your Galaxy S25 phone feels.
This is because Galaxy AI learns how you use your phone, preparing the apps and managing power to suit your routine. It’s there to make sure your Samsung Galaxy S25 won’t give up on you unexpectedly at a crucial moment.
However, when we look back into the raw specs, it’s pretty clear that — once again — the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is top-dog. Not only does it have the highest battery capacity, at 5,000mAh, it has the fastest charging too, hitting peaks of 45W with a compatible charger.
The Samsung Galaxy S25+ gets close, with 4,900mAh capacity and 45W charging. But the numbers don’t lie.
Samsung’s Galaxy S25 family supports 15W wireless charging, which is ideal for use at your work desk. And the base Galaxy S25 right up to the Galaxy S25 Ultra also offer reverse wireless charging, which can be a lifesaver if you own a pair of earphones like the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. They have a wireless charging case that can be topped up just by resting on a Samsung Galaxy S25 series phone.
Early verdict
There’s almost no chance of anyone having a bad time with a Samsung Galaxy S25 phone. However, if you want to see the best the series has to offer, save up for a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
It has the most versatile camera and a tough, part-titanium shell. And it’s the only member of the Samsung Galaxy S25 family to have the legendary S Pen stylus, ideal for productivity and creativity.
However, if you’d like something a little smaller you have great other options. The new-for-2025 Galaxy S25 Edge is one of the thinnest phones we’ve ever seen, while we’ll always have love for a classic pocket rocket like the base Samsung Galaxy S25.
Find out more about what the Samsung Galaxy S25 can do on the Samsung website - and keep your eyes peeled for the next instalment in the Galaxy Z series coming very soon!
* Samsung account login is required for certain AI features.
** Requires network connection and Samsung account login. A visible watermark is overlaid on the saved image to indicate it was generated by Galaxy AI. Accuracy of output not guaranteed.
*** Edit Suggestion is compatible with JPG, PNG, GIF and MP4 formats. Edit results and quality may vary depending on the photography or filming condition.
