Samsung announced its new Ultra phone at Unpacked 2025 earlier this week, and it's looking like a decent upgrade over the previous models.
If you're rocking the Galaxy S22 Ultra from 2022 and want to upgrade to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, you're in for a treat. There are lots of improvements to look forward to, but also one potential downgrade, depending on where you stand regarding the S Pen.
More on that later. For now, here are all the upgrades you'll get if you replace the Galaxy S22 Ultra with the new Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: A better display
- Anti-reflective Corning Gorilla Armor 2 display protection is fantastic. It makes the screen more readable in direct sunlight and more resistant to drops.
- The new Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X screen for the Galaxy S25 Ultra is brighter, as it peaks at 2600 nits, up from 1750 nits on the S22 Ultra.
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra has a slightly larger display at 6.9 inches versus S22 Ultra's 6.8 inches.
- There's no more annoying edge display on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It has a flat display with very thin bezels. The flat screen works better with the S Pen and is more resilient.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: A modern design
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra features a titanium (grade 5) build instead of Armor Aluminum.
- The new phone looks modern and more in line with the Galaxy S heritage.
- The frame is flat and the corners are more rounded, making it more comfortable to hold.
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra is thinner at 8.2mm versus 8.9mm.
- If you prefer a lighter device, the Galaxy S25 Ultra sheds a few grams. It weighs 218 grams, down from 228g.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: More power and memory
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra features the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which is vastly superior to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip used by the S22 Ultra.
- The new Qualcomm chip has a huge vapor chamber that should help all that extra performance.
- Samsung's 2025 flagship has 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM minimum. The Galaxy S22 Ultra started at 128GB + 8GB.
- While the S22 Ultra has UFS 3.1 storage, the Galaxy S25 Ultra boasts UFS 4.0.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: A superior camera experience
- Samsung's newer Galaxy S25 Ultra is equipped with a 200MP primary camera, whereas the S22 Ultra uses a 108MP primary module.
- The new model boasts a 50MP periscope telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. The S22 Ultra has a 10MP 10x sensor.
- In the ultrawide camera department, the Galaxy S25 Ultra features a 50MP sensor, up from 12MP.
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra camera supports HDR10+ and LOG video recording, the latter of which is ideal for video editors.
- Samsung's new flagship takes advantage of the latest camera software processing techniques and delivers better results.
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra's new ProVisual Engine uses multi-frame capture and merge to improve dynamic.
- The new Double Analysis Noise Removal engine makes photos look better, with less noise.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: Improved connectivity
- Wi-Fi 7 is available for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, whereas the Galaxy S22 Ultra tops out at Wi-Fi 6E.
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra supports Bluetooth 5.4, up from the S22 Ultra's Bluetooth 5.2 version.
- Samsung's new Galaxy S25 Ultra is the first with Qualcomm-powered satellite messaging capabilities. The S22 Ultra lacks this clever feature.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: One UI and software support
- One UI 7 is available on the Galaxy S25 Ultra from day one. Galaxy S22 Ultra users will have to wait for the update to eventually drop. When it does, it may not be as complete or optimized as One UI 7 on the S25 Ultra.
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra offers the latest and most complete Galaxy AI suite and advanced features like Audio Eraser for video recordings, Now Brief, Now Bar (with live Google Sports feed), and more.
- Samsung will offer seven OS upgrades for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. On the other hand, the S22 Ultra offers support for only four (total) and already received two.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: Other quality-of-life improvements
- Samsung's new flagship offers faster 25W wireless charging, up from 15W.
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra is compatible with new Qi2 accessories and Samsung's new 3-in-1 wireless charger.
- You'll get much better audio from the Galaxy S25 Ultra's onboard speakers.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: The S Pen downgrade
- Although the Galaxy S25 Ultra is massively upgraded over the S22 Ultra, the new S Pen lacks Bluetooth capabilities.
- Without Bluetooth, the S25 Ultra S Pen doesn't support Air Actions.
All in all, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a vastly superior phone to the Galaxy S22 Ultra but does miss out on a couple of S Pen features that were based on Bluetooth.
If you want to upgrade from the 2022 model, Samsung values the Galaxy S22 Ultra at $600 when you trade it in for the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
This means you can technically buy the new Ultra flagship for $699. Hit the pre-order button after our Galaxy S25 Ultra video for more details.