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It seems like the Galaxy S25 will be as boring as the iPhone 16

By Abdullah Asim

Published: Jan 21, 2025, 4:42 PM

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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with iPhone 16 Pro Max

I think a lot of people would back me up and agree when I say that the iPhone 16 launch was very boring last year. It seemed like Apple was content with a very small upgrade — and no Apple Intelligence at release — for its newest flagship. Samsung was handed a golden opportunity on a silver platter to utterly thrash the iPhone 16 with the Galaxy S25 series.

And yet it looks like that’s not going to happen.

What happened to hardware upgrades?

Does losing the sharp edges count as an upgrade? | Image credit — PhoneArena

For what seems like forever Samsung has been handing us the same phone over and over again with barely any noticeable upgrades. The same battery capacity, same old slow charging speeds, the same few storage and RAM options and the same outdated cameras. I was really hoping that this would change with the Galaxy S25 phones but the only hardware upgrade of note seems to be the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra at least gave us one really cool thing: the anti-reflective display which looks brilliant under challenging lighting conditions. Thankfully Samsung is bringing it to its newest phones too (hopefully all three) but that’s about it. In fact we’re supposedly losing Bluetooth on the S Pen instead of getting new hardware improvements.

Not cool, Samsung. Not cool.

The same old AI tripe

Why are advertised AI features so underwhelming? | Image credit — Google

Multiple reports from inside the industry have come out recently stating that the biggest selling point for the Galaxy S25 lineup will be a revamped LLM-powered Bixby AI assistant. This, coupled with allegedly exclusive Google Gemini features, will set Galaxy AI apart from Apple Intelligence. At least that’s the plan.

Now, I admit, when I first heard this I was very excited. From the iPhone 16 to the Pixel 9, all AI ever seems to do is write mediocre emails or generate heavily restricted images. The thought of an AI assistant that actually acted like the ones I grew up seeing in science fiction movies was enough to make me foam at the mouth.

But that’s not what’s happening. Recently leaked Galaxy S25 marketing materials as well as a leaked Galaxy S25 promotional video both seem to confirm the same thing: Galaxy AI still isn’t any different from its peers.

Unless Samsung is planning on pulling a fast one on us by revealing hitherto unforeseen AI features at Galaxy Unpacked today I doubt there’s anything new here. Yes, the nighttime video clean-up tool as well as the audio eraser for recordings seem neat but neither of them are novel or revolutionary.

The main marketed AI features still seem to be an assistant that will write you things or let you know about “pet friendly Italian restaurants with outdoor seating”. Yeah, that’s in the leaked video that Samsung asked to be taken down.

To 16 GB or not to 16 GB

Now this is something that’s not completely confirmed but reports are coming in that the 16 GB Galaxy S25 variants will not be making it to the U.S. 16 GB of RAM hasn’t been seen on Samsung’s flagships for many years and the initial assumption was that the company was increasing RAM to facilitate Galaxy AI.

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But if 16 GB is restricted to certain Asian markets only — for some inexplicable reason — then the Galaxy S25 launch will be a fragmented event similar to the iPhone 16 launch. The iPhone 16 has different features in different regions due to local laws. It also still doesn’t have Apple Intelligence in certain places despite it being one of its biggest selling points.

If Samsung restricts the 16 GB variants to a select few countries then it will be going down the same route as Apple, kind of like when it did with the removal of the headphone jack.

Has Samsung blown it with the S25?

I will miss this iconic look. | Image credit — PhoneArena

As I said above Samsung was handed a brilliant opportunity to win this generation’s flagship battle. But the details about the Galaxy S25 phones that are all but official really make it seem like we’re in for another disappointing upgrade.

If all of the reports turn out to be true then the Galaxy S25 series may end up being just as boring as the iPhone 16 lineup. And if that happens then I think it’s time to finally start looking beyond Samsung and Apple.

We’ll know very soon whether the Galaxy S25 series is going to contain the best phones of 2025 or if it’s going to be a forgettable generation of phones.

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Abdullah loves smartphones, Virtual Reality, and audio gear. Though he covers a wide range of news his favorite is always when he gets to talk about the newest VR venture or when Apple sets the industry ablaze with another phenomenal release.