Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs Galaxy S24 Plus preview: Main differences to expect
Intro
While 2024 still has a little life left in it, the tech world is already setting its sights on 2025. The new year is set to begin with a bang, as Samsung is expected to unveil its latest flagship lineup in January. According to the rumor mill, January 22 is the likely date for the big reveal.
Early whispers suggest the Galaxy S25 series won’t be a revolutionary leap forward but rather an iterative upgrade. Reports point to a slightly thinner design and some internal hardware refinements, leaving much of the core experience of the Galaxy S24 Plus intact. It seems Samsung is playing it safe this time around, focusing on subtle improvements rather than bold reinvention.
And honestly? That’s fine. If Apple can stick to a tried-and-true formula, why can’t Samsung? Incremental updates aren’t always a bad thing—sometimes, they’re precisely what a flagship series needs to stay consistent and reliable.
Early whispers suggest the Galaxy S25 series won’t be a revolutionary leap forward but rather an iterative upgrade. Reports point to a slightly thinner design and some internal hardware refinements, leaving much of the core experience of the Galaxy S24 Plus intact. It seems Samsung is playing it safe this time around, focusing on subtle improvements rather than bold reinvention.
Here's how the Galaxy S25 Plus will fare against its predecessor, according to all the rumors that have slipped through the grapevine.
Galaxy S25 Plus vs Galaxy S24 Plus differences explained:
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus | Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus |
|---|---|
| Possibly a "fresh" new design | Fairly compact Armor Aluminum body |
| Thinner 7.3mm body design than Galaxy S24 Plus | A slightly thicker 7.7mm body |
| Thicker camera lenses with a new button-like design | Regular camera lenses |
| Triple camera setup once again | A triple camera setup (50MP main+12MP ultra+10MP tele) |
| Likely a 4,900mAh once again | A 4,900mAh battery on board |
| Same 45W charging speed | 45W charging speed as well |
Table of Contents:
Read more:
- Samsung Galaxy S25 release date expectations, price estimates, and upgrades
- Galaxy S24 Plus Review: Skip the Ultra, buy the Plus
- Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Our expectations
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S25 Plus: The bigger, the better?
- Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Galaxy S25 Plus: Expectations
- Galaxy S25 Plus vs Galaxy S24 FE: Innovation vs. value
Design and Size
Not much going on in the land of Galaxy
Well, if you've been waiting for a major redesign with the Galaxy S25 Plus, you're too far out of touch with the state of the mobile phone market these days.
According to the circulating preliminary renders, rumors, and our expectations, it's perfectly safe to expect that the Galaxy S25 Plus will boast the same design language as the Galaxy S24 Plus. While the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 might employ slimmer bezels, the Galaxy S25 Plus might skip that design change and come with standard screen bezels.
One major change that might come our way is a thinner body. The rumor mill warns we should expect a 7.3mm-thin Armor Aluminum body on the Galaxy S25, which will be slightly slimmer than the 7.7mm body of the Galaxy S24. A more compact device is always welcome, especially when it doesn't come at the expense of battery downgrade (and it seems Samsung is keeping the battery size unchanged).
We also expect the Galaxy S25 Plus cameras to employ a ring design that reminds us of the Galaxy Z Fold 6. These could very well end up being lint-catchers, though.
Other than that, the Galaxy S25 Plus will employ the same flat design style with a single display punch hole for the camera, which is definitely the trend with Android phones these days. Both the Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S24 Plus will come with IP68 water and dust resistance. We don't expect any extra buttons to be added to the phone.
Display Differences
Currently, it doesn't seem Samsung will follow Apple into its display enlargement project, so the Galaxy S25 Plus will most certainly remain a phone with a 6.7-inch display at the front. It will absolutely be one of those Dynamic AMOLED 2X screens with HDR support, QHD+ resolution, and super-smooth 1-120Hz refresh rate.
We hope that the Galaxy S25 will score the same display anti-reflective coating that graced the Galaxy S24 Ultra, as it definitely boosts the screen legibility by a lot.
One area in which we might expect to see an upgrade could be the maximum brightness. With screen brightness increasing with every generation, it's now normal to expect a bump with every time a new phone gets unveiled.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 Plus is a phone with a pretty great 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, excellent sharpness, and pretty high peak brightness. Samsung displays are usually exceptional… except for when they are not. Samsung received lots of flak back when the Galaxy S24 series was released, as multiple users complained colors appear washed out in comparison with the previous generation. Sure, this was fixed later, but the bad aftertaste lingers still.
Biometrics-wise, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will surely come with an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner built right into the display.
Performance and Software
Musical chairs between Qualcomm and MediaTek
For years now, we've become accustomed to expect high-end Galaxy phones to arrive with that top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. Aside from the occasional Exynos stint, this has been the case for years, and it appears that the Galaxy S25 series wouldn't be the odd one out.
Sure, we've heard the curious rumor that Samsung might turn to MediaTek for cost-cutting purposes (and we already have a precedent with the new Galaxy Tab S10 series), but so far, it looks that the Galaxy S25 range will continue its reliance on Qualcomm chips.
In fact, a Galaxy S25 with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy has already been benchmarked in the wild with pretty impressive performance that even beats the new iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max flagships.
The Galaxy S24 Plus, on the other hand, comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chip, which still delivers exceptional performance. In fact, we bet that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference in performance between the two phones in real-life scenarios.
One feature in which we expect major improvements is Galaxy AI. Samsung has been at the forefront of delivering sensible AI feature to a vast majority of its high-end phones, and Galaxy AI is out there, working both on-device and with cloud-processing. We are pretty sure that Samsung will expand the capabilities of Galaxy AI with the Galaxy 25 series.
One UI 7 is coming preinstalled on the Galaxy S25 series. The Galaxy S25 Plus will, of course, feature this new software update. We've already previewed the One UI 7 beta, so feel free to check it out.
The software update is packed with visual changes and customization additions. Not many new functionalities, especially AI ones, but we are likely getting new ones announced alongside the Galaxy S25 series.
Camera
No major changes… again
It appears that we will be getting the same triple camera setup as before with the Galaxy S25 Plus. Brace yourselves, as the familiar and surprisingly agile combo of a 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP 3X telephoto are making a comeback. That's right, it doesn't seem that Samsung will bring higher-megapixel cameras to either the Galaxy S25 Plus or the Galaxy S25, which means that we're not getting a solid hardware upgrade.
This doesn't mean we shouldn't expect upgrades at all, though! Most of the image quality enhancements these days are predominantly done on the software side, which means that even though the Galaxy S25 Plus might not come with substantially different hardware than the Galaxy S24 Plus, it might still capture superior photos and videos!
We will definitely run the new phone through the paces of our new Camera Test, where it will clash it its most prominent rivals.
Battery Life and Charging
As per the rumor mill, the Galaxy S25 Plus will come with a 4,900mAh battery once again. If that number doesn't ring a bell, it's the same battery capacity as the Galaxy S24 Plus.
However, it's good that we're getting the same battery. As mentioned many paragraphs back, the Galaxy S25 Plus will be thinner than the Galaxy S24 Plus, and the one major phone component that usually suffers in such scenarios is precisely the battery. It's just the pure physical aspect of it, so we're relieved Samsung has found a way to ditch some weight without hurting the battery capacity.
In terms of charging, the Galaxy S25 Plus is most certainly getting 45W wired charging once again, as well as Samsung's 15W Fast Wireless charging. No talk about a potential Qi2 upgrade, which will bring MagSafe-like properties to the Galaxy flagship, allowing you to snap charging accessories to the back thanks to the magic of magnets.
Specs Comparison
Here's how the Galaxy S25 Plus and the Galaxy S24 Plus specs will likely stack up:
| Galaxy S25 Plus | Galaxy S24 Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Size, weight | 158.5 x 75.9 x 7.3 mm | 158.5 x 75.9 x 7.7 mm |
| Screen | 6.7" Dynamic AMOLED 2600 nits peak brightness 1-120Hz | 6.7" Dynamic AMOLED 2600 nits peak brightness 1-120Hz |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
| RAM, Storage | 12/256GB 12/256GB LPDDR5 | 12/256GB 12/256GB LPDDR5 |
| Cameras | 50MP main 10MP ultra 12MP 3X zoom 12MP front | 50MP main 10MP ultra 12MP 3X zoom 12MP front |
| Battery | 4900mAh | 4900mAh |
| Charging | USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless | USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless |
All Galaxy S25+ specs are preliminary and subject to change
As evident by the table above, we can count the differences between the two devices. Sure, many of these can change, but seeing how conservative and coherent Samsung has been in the past few years, we don't expect major moves and changes in the Galaxy S25 Plus' specs sheet.
Summary
Overall, the Galaxy S25 Plus will be more of the same for seasoned Galaxy fans, giving us a slow and predictable evolution in some key areas.
This isn't an inherently "bad" move––change for the sake of change alone is probably a worse thing to see. Samsung's Galaxy Plus phones have evolved pretty slowly, true, but it has never felt that Samsung needs to do major reworks.
If you have a Galaxy S24 Plus, you most certainly shouldn't upgrade to the newer device. Even though there are many "unknowns" involved with the Galaxy S25 Plus, it will most probably not introduce a major reason to get it if you already have the previous phone.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: