If we had to name the biggest upgrade in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, we would say it's the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset inside it, with no hesitation.
This is the first time we see a 3nm chip on the Android flagship, and the expectations are sky high.
But with all this increased power, Samsung is facing a challenge: it has to be able to cool down the processor well, so that it does not overheat.
In order to do this, Samsung says it has a 40% larger vapor chamber for cooling in the S25 Ultra compared to the S24 Ultra. Is that enough? Let's find out.
GPU stress test
We use the popular 3D Mark benchmark (specifically, the Wildlife Extreme Stress Test).
While other gaming benchmarks give you just the initial performance, this one runs for 20 minutes and you can see how the performance changes as the chip heats up. So this kind of usage is more true to life and gives you the full picture.
While the S25 Ultra starts on a high note reaching some 6,200 points on the test and beating rivals like the iPhone 16 Pro Max, you notice that just after three or four minutes, the performance drops significantly because of thermal throttling.
In fact, the performance line flattens out at around 3,000 points, half the initial score. This is definitely disappointing.
Rival OnePlus 13 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and it has a similar initial score, but its line flattens at a much higher score of nearly 4,500 points. This is 50% higher prolonged performance compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra!
Galaxy S25 Ultra: 3D Mark lowest score shows problems with throttling
We don't know what is happening here, but there are two possibilities. The first one is that the vapor chamber cooling system on the Galaxy is not enough, and the second is that Samsung goes with much more aggressive software limits in order to prevent the chip from overheating.
However, at this current state, the S25 Ultra barely beats the previous generation S24 Ultra in prolonged performance.
As you can see, it also has the lowest number for "stability", meaning that it drops the most from the very first run to the lowest scoring one.
OnePlus is winning the performance competition
The OnePlus 13 is the current leader in sustained gaming performance
Interestingly, the conclusion here is that so far, the OnePlus 13 is winning the performance race.
Despite the OnePlus 13 having the same processor as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it is far ahead in sustained gaming performance. That's even more impressive considering that technically, the OnePlus is using a slower version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, since the Galaxy is advertized to have a special overclocked model of this chip.
We will keep on investigating about this and running further tests.
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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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