This is all we know so far about Samsung's high-end flagship before it launches in 2025.
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SAMSUNG GALAXY S25 ULTRA LATEST NEWS
Updated April 2
- 1. As with the Galaxy S24, Samsung reportedly plans to use a mix of Exynos and Snapdragon chipsets in the Galaxy S25.
- 2. Samsung is considering updating its Bixby assistant with generative AI features.
It's possible that you're not currently considering the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but Samsung definitely is. The next top Samsung smartphone, the Galaxy S24, is already under development, even if the January debut is still very much in the past.
Rumors about the Galaxy S25 Ultra are beginning to surface, so we know this. As of right now, we don't have nearly enough details to fully understand the next flagship phone of the year or how it stacks up against the greatest Samsung models. However, the information we do now have together with Samsung's history of providing updates for smartphones ought to satisfy our need for additional Galaxy S25 Ultra news. And in the upcoming months, we predict that the rumors will only gather more momentum.
Expect Samsung to continue putting its all into the Galaxy AI capabilities on this year's phones with the Galaxy S25 series, which includes the Ultra. Regarding Samsung's flagship phone, there have been rumors that the company is trying to prove to Apple that it can produce the greatest camera phone by prioritizing camera upgrades.
Here are the details we currently know about the Galaxy S25 Ultra, coupled with a few educated speculations about what Samsung may have in store. If you'd want more information on the top device of the upcoming year, check out our wish list of features for the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Release Date & Price Rumors
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It's way too early in the Galaxy S25 Ultra rumor cycle to make a firm announcement about the release date of the new phone. You can estimate as well as we can as long as it's not early in 2025.
Having said that, Samsung has been progressively pushing forward the release date of the Galaxy S series, which was previously scheduled for February or Mach. With a Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17 and the S24 models delivering two weeks later on January 31, this year's Galaxy S24 release was the earliest ever.
The launch ceremony of the Galaxy S25 Ultra might clash with CES 2025 if Samsung pushes the release date forward. Samsung usually concentrates on its TVs and smart home devices at this event. Therefore, we anticipate that, at the latest, a second Galaxy Unpacked event in the middle of January that will highlight Samsung's newest phones.
This year, Samsung increased the price of the Galaxy S24 Ultra to $1,299 from the $1,199 MSRP of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. That would seem to prohibit a price increase for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, while high-end phones are becoming more and more expensive. By the end of 2024, we should hear more about price intentions.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Design & Display Insights
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We doubt Samsung will alter the S25 model's chassis, having just moved to titanium for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung has also employed the same basic design for its latest Ultras, which include lenses that protrude slightly from the back of the phone and cameras arranged in vertical rows on the back. Although we don't think that will alter either, the story will be revealed via leaked CAD renderings that will undoubtedly start to surface in the upcoming months.
According to a report about the Galaxy S25, Samsung's entry-level model's display will grow to 6.36 inches from 6.2 inches for the Galaxy S24. We're not sure how much credence to give to a similar report that the Galaxy S25 Ultra screen would be closer to 6.9 inches, which would be a little improvement above the 6.8-inch display on the S24 Ultra.
Lately, phone manufacturers have been attempting to outdo one another by increasing the maximum brightness of the screens on their phones. In fact, Samsung has also entered this race, as the Galaxy S24 Ultra's peak brightness has been increased to 2,600 nits from the 1,750 nits of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It wouldn't be shocking if the Galaxy S25 Ultra upped the ante.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Camera Overview
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With a 200MP primary sensor and a 100MP Space Zoom function, the Ultra model's cameras are its key selling point. Samsung prefers this phone. Next year, we'd anticipate an improvement to that configuration, and early reports of the Galaxy S25 Ultra camera make us think we could be onto something.
According to a report, the Galaxy S25 Ultra's ultrawide lens will have a 50MP sensor instead of the S24 Ultra's 12MP one, while the wide-angle lens will receive an improvement that is not yet clear.
Additionally, it is anticipated that the S25 Ultra's telephoto lens will have "variable capabilities." Although we're not precisely sure what that entails, we'd assume it has to do with the capability of changing focal length while connected to a single sensor. Smoother zooms would be the ultimate outcome, especially in video footage.
If you're wondering how much credence to give that rumor—which came prior to the unveiling of the Galaxy S24 lineup—you should know that the leaker was accurate in predicting the release date of the enhanced 50MP telephoto lens on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Performance & Battery Insights
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The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor is what you would anticipate the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to operate on, considering the Galaxy S24 Ultra uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. As the ordinary Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus both employ the Exynos 2400 system-on-chip in models launched outside of North America, this year's Ultra is really the only S24 model to rely solely on Qualcomm hardware. The timeframe fits with an early 2025 release for Samsung's phone, since Qualcomm has already stated we'll be seeing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in October.
Although you should never fully believe untested statistics like that, early Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 benchmarks have already surfaced and they do provide a positive impression of the chipset's capabilities. The best score achieved by an iPhone with an A18 Bionic processor is matched by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 according to the leaked Geekbench findings. (Yes, those A18 figures have also been leaked, as that processor won't be available until the iPhone 16 is released in the autumn at the latest.)
After the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 peaked out at 3.4GHz, there has been rumors of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 having a 4.3GHz prime core. That's a significant increase in power, so Samsung and Qualcomm will need to find out how to fit a CPU like that inside a mobile device without making it overheat
One possible kink in the system-on-a-chip for the Galaxy S25 Ultra is that there are rumors that Qualcomm won't be supplying it. Rather, according to a rumor on X shared by @OreXda, Galaxy S phones won't employ Exynos chipset until 2025. But before you accept that claim as fact, be aware that @OreXda appeared to brush the story off right away, calling it "just a rumor I heard... not my source."
According to a more reliable report, the Galaxy S25 versions will include Exynos 2500 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipsets, just as the Galaxy S24. Should Samsung adhere closely to the Galaxy S24 blueprint, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is anticipated to maintain its sole reliance on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor, whilst the S25 and S25 Plus variants may occasionally employ the Exynos chipset. This is a noteworthy distinction, given that our Galaxy S24 benchmarks revealed the Exynos variants of the Galaxy S24 to be somewhat slower than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered handsets.
Regarding battery life, we're not sure how Samsung managed to include a larger battery than the Galaxy S24 Ultra's 5,000 mAh unit. We're not very concerned about the Galaxy S25 Ultra's battery life, as it made it onto our list of phones with the longest battery life, lasting 16 hours and 45 minutes during our battery test. We hope Samsung will increase the wired charging speed of the Ultra from the 45W it now has.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Software Overview
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The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor is what you would anticipate the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to operate on, considering the Galaxy S24 Ultra uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. As the ordinary Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus both employ the Exynos 2400 system-on-chip in models launched outside of North America, this year's Ultra is really the only S24 model to rely solely on Qualcomm hardware. The timeframe fits with an early 2025 release for Samsung's phone, since Qualcomm has already stated we'll be seeing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in October.
Although you should never fully believe untested statistics like that, early Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 benchmarks have already surfaced and they do provide a positive impression of the chipset's capabilities. The best score achieved by an iPhone with an A18 Bionic processor is matched by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 according to the leaked Geekbench findings. (Yes, those A18 figures have also been leaked, as that processor won't be available until the iPhone 16 is released in the autumn at the latest.)
After the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 peaked out at 3.4GHz, there has been rumors of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 having a 4.3GHz prime core. That's a significant increase in power, so Samsung and Qualcomm will need to find out how to fit a CPU like that inside a mobile device without making it overheat
One possible kink in the system-on-a-chip for the Galaxy S25 Ultra is that there are rumors that Qualcomm won't be supplying it. Rather, according to a rumor on X shared by @OreXda, Galaxy S phones won't employ Exynos chipset until 2025. But before you accept that claim as fact, be aware that @OreXda appeared to brush the story off right away, calling it "just a rumor I heard... not my source."
According to a more reliable report, the Galaxy S25 versions will include Exynos 2500 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipsets, just as the Galaxy S24. Should Samsung adhere closely to the Galaxy S24 blueprint, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is anticipated to maintain its sole reliance on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor, whilst the S25 and S25 Plus variants may occasionally employ the Exynos chipset. This is a noteworthy distinction, given that our Galaxy S24 benchmarks revealed the Exynos variants of the Galaxy S24 to be somewhat slower than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered handsets.
Regarding battery life, we're not sure how Samsung managed to include a larger battery than the Galaxy S24 Ultra's 5,000 mAh unit. We're not very concerned about the Galaxy S25 Ultra's battery life, as it made it onto our list of phones with the longest battery life, lasting 16 hours and 45 minutes during our battery test. We hope Samsung will increase the wired charging speed of the Ultra from the 45W it now has.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Software Overview
As we now have the second developer preview of Android 15, it will already be available when the Galaxy S25 Ultra launches. It seems likely that the Galaxy S25 phones will be covered by software for seven years, much as the Galaxy S24.
We also anticipate that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will include further Galaxy AI functions, such to those that were introduced with the S24 range. It's unclear what those features would include or if some will only be available on the more expensive Ultra. The entry-level S24 can perform the same duties as the more expensive Ultra since all three variants of the Galaxy S24 support the same Galaxy AI functions.
Executive vice president of Samsung's mobile division Won-joon Choi talked about potentially giving the Bixby personal assistant generative AI capabilities, thus Samsung execs have already alluded to the prospect of a prospective Galaxy AI update themselves.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Outlook Analysis
Even if it might be too soon for you and me to consider the Galaxy S25 Ultra, you can be sure that Samsung has given careful consideration to what will go into its upcoming product. And as the debut date of the S25 Ultra in 2025 approaches, we need to learn more about their endeavors throughout the year.