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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on: Snapdragon-powered perfection

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Last updated: January 22nd, 2025 at 19:42 UTC+01:00

The Galaxy S25 Ultra will undoubtedly be what the majority of customers who want to buy Samsung's latest flagships are going to consider. The Ultra model guarantees the best hardware and camera experience of any Samsung smartphone, and it's no different this year with the latest addition to Samsung's lineup.

For people to shell out over $1,000 for this device, it must offer features that make it worth the price tag. The device must also look good, be very durable, and provide best-in-class software support. It checks all of those boxes, and as we found out during our brief Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on, it does all that and more spectacularly.

As soon as you pick up the Galaxy S25 Ultra in your hand for the first time you notice just how beautiful it really is. Samsung has made subtle design changes and by opting for rounded corners and camera rings, it has masterfully married the hardware design with the new design language in its One UI 7.0 software.

These design changes also bring back the Galaxy S series heritage to the device. The Ultra has largely been modeled after the Galaxy Note series after it was discontinued. Samsung has moved away from that slightly by reimagining the Ultra with design elements that are characteristically S series. The subtly softer curves along the edges not only look nice but also provide a more comfortable in-hand feel.

The dimensions have also been trimmed up as the Galaxy S25 Ultra is both thinner and narrow than its predecessor. It's also noticeably lighter at 218g compared to 232g. The 6.9-inch QHD+ 
Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display is encased with slimmer bezels while the panel's quality is nothing short of exceptional.

There's no hiding the fact that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a performance beast. It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, promising a 37% CPU, 30% GPU, and 40% NPU performance bump over last year's model.

We tested video rendering during our Galaxy S25 hands-on side-by-side with the Galaxy S24 Ultra and you can see in our video hands-on that the newest model just leaps ahead without breaking a sweat.

Samsung has equipped the device with a 200-megapixel primary sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide, a 10-megapixel telephoto with 3x and a 50-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom. The 50-megapixel ultra-wide is a new addition to the setup and it's not just a resolution bump, it's also an aperture improvement at f/1.9.

This results in a noticeable improvement for low-light photography. We found a lot less noise in those shots coupled with an overall better visual aesthetic with the images being better detailed. Another great improvement is the ability to record 8K video with the ultra-wide sensor.

A major change has been made to the S Pen. Samsung has dropped the Bluetooth-enabled gestures and remote functionality. So while it still tucks up nicely inside the device and allows for a buttery smooth drawing and writing experience, you won't be able to use any of those features anymore.

Another change worth pointing out is the massive improvement in the quality of the speakers. They're louder and punchier than ever before, perfect for those who like blaring their music.

There are other improvements to the camera software that you can learn more about by checking out our full Galaxy S25 Ultra video hands-on. It also contains more details about the various new Galaxy AI features that Samsung has introduced with this device.

Perfection is difficult to achieve, but Samsung has swung pretty close to it with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The design changes are refreshing while being true to the very essence of what makes a great Galaxy S flagship.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is a powerhouse that delivers incredible performance, particularly for AI features. Everything else, from the cameras to the battery and build quality ties it all up in a package that's hard to beat at this price.

Pre-orders for the Galaxy S25 Ultra are open now with prices starting at $1,299. The release has been set for February 7, 2025.

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