Now that the dust has settled around the new Galaxy S25 Ultra, it's a good time to look a bit deeper and in this article, we have summarized five little known details about Samsung's new flagship.
Some are curious tid-bits and others will be useful for those still wondering whether or not to buy the new S25 Ultra.
So what are the five little secrets the Galaxy S25 Ultra still holds?
1. Some markets get a more powerful phone with 16 GB of RAM
Notice how the S25 Ultra models with more storage get 16 GB RAM (Image from Samsung Korea website)
All Galaxy S25 models come with 12 GB of RAM, which is a good amount and, if you look at the smaller vanilla S25 model, that's actually an upgrade from previous years.
However, the tech geeks among you probably know that many other flagship phones, like the Google Pixel 9 Pro series or the cheaper OnePlus 13 have 16 GB of RAM.
Well, it turns out that some Galaxy S25 Ultra also have 16 GB of RAM, but not the ones you can purchase in the US or other Western markets. Samsung has apparently decided that 12 GB of RAM is fine for users in the West, but buyers in China and Korea get a model with 16 GB of RAM.
Apparently, the more fierce competition there and the bigger focus of buyers on the specs in those markets has convinced Samsung to sell a higher-specced phone. While this is not a deal-breaker on its own, it's a bit disappointing to see this disparity and reminds us of the recent past when Samsung sold models with a slower Exynos processor in some markets..
2. The speaker is MUCH better
Notice the bigger speaker grill on the S25 Ultra (on the bottom) vs S24 Ultra (on the top)
While the RAM situation is a bit strange, you will be happy to learn about this next one.
The loudspeakers on the Galaxy S25 Ultra sound much better than before! And Samsung never even mentioned that in their presentation, so that was definitely a pleasant surprise.
The speakers on the previous S24 Ultra model were fine, but the quality was just not great, especially when compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which has really boomy sound for a phone.
Thankfully, the S25 Ultra speakers bring more oomph and definition in the lower frequencies, making listening to music on podcasts on your phone much more enjoyable.
3. Bixby is effectively dead
Hey Google!
Bixby gets the back seat in the Galaxy S25 Ultra and it is instead replaced by Gemini, which is much more powerful.
Previously, a long press on the power button would bring up the Bixby assistant, which is known for being able to tweak system settings, but is not great with general world knowledge.
Well, we are super happy about this move, and Samsung has even mentioned the possibility of integrating some system access into Gemini in the future.
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Currently, though, tweaking system settings on the S25 Ultra is a bit cumbersome: you have to go into the settings app, and start a voice search from there, and even then a command like "turn down the brightness" will not turn down the brightness, but it will only point you to the brightness slider. That's a bit disappointing!
4. The floating camera rings are just decor!
The S25 Ultra (on the left) does not have bigger cameras than the S24 Ultra (right), despite looking that way
When you look at the S25 Ultra and the S24 Ultra side by side you might think that the newer phone has bigger and more powerful cameras because of the larger camera rings around the lenses.
But it turns out that those camera rings are merely decor!
Phone surgeon JerryRigEverything has discovered that the floating camera rings are just plastic attachments and serve no real purpose except to create the illusion of bigger cameras on the S25 Ultra.
We are okay with the styling aspect of this, as it kind of looks cool, but just don't be fooled into thinking the S25 Ultra comes with bigger cameras!
5. Bundled with subscriptions
You probably already know about the trade-ins and all the offers available if you decide to purchase a Galaxy S25 Ultra, but did you know that you also get a few subscription services for free with it?
Now this might depend on where you purchase the phone, but in most places in the US, you should get the following:
3 months of Peacock Premium ($23.97 value). Available only for new accounts.
2 months of Adobe Lightroom ($19.98 value). Available for new accounts only.
3 months of SiriusXM Streaming ($29.98). Available to all Galaxy S25 buyers, old and new.
6 months of free Gemini Advanced ($120 value).
We could also talk about the S Pen lacking Bluetooth, but we guess you already learned about that.
What are some curious tid-bits you have found about the Galaxy S25 Ultra that surprised you? Let us know in the comments.
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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