Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra preview: Two years worth of evolution
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Intro
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is coming our way January 22, when it will be announced alongside the Galaxy S25 Plus and the Galaxy S25. This flagship promises to push the boundaries once again, featuring a refreshed design, the cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, some AI camera upgrades, and a slew of new features introduced with One UI 7 running on Android 15. On paper, it’s shaping up to be a tech enthusiast’s dream.
For those holding on to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, there may be little reason to rush to upgrade—it remains a formidable device that could easily carry you through a few more years without missing a beat.
Occasionally, the latest and greatest doesn’t have to mean letting go of what still works exceptionally well. Could this be the case with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra?
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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra differences explained:
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra |
|---|---|
| A fresh new design with rounded instead of straight edges | Stainless-steel design with slightly curved edges |
| Possibly thinner and lighter (8.2mm and 219gr) | Slightly thicker and heavier (8.9mm, 234gr) |
| Possibly higher maximum brightness, anti-reflective coating | Lower peak brightness, no anti-reflective coating |
| The fastest Qualcomm chip –– the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, two generations older |
| 50MP ultrawide | 12MP ultrawide |
| Corning Gorilla Armor with anti-reflective coating protecting the screen | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 up front |
| 12GB RAM in the 256GB version, 16GB of RAM in the 512GB and 1TB versions | 8GB RAM in the entry-level version, 12GB RAM in the 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 6E |
| 45W wired, 25W Qi2 wireless charging | 45W wired, 15W Qi wireless charging |
Table of Contents:
Read more:
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra release date expectations, price estimates, and upgrades
- Samsung Galaxy S25 release date expectations, price estimates, and upgrades
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: do we need a refresh?
- Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Galaxy S23: Two generations apart
- Galaxy S25 colors: here are the expected hues so far
Design and Size
Galaxy enters the modern era
Some notable design tweaks are in store for the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
You know how all Galaxy S Ultra phones with an S Pen so far have boasted mostly flat and sharp edges at the bottom and top, giving it a business-like appearance that looked on point both in an office appointment and on a hike?
Well, that one might be no more with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is scoring slightly rounded edges, looking more and more like the regular Galaxy phones. This will make it look like the other two flagships in the lineup, the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus. The possibility of this change is making us feel all kinds of blue, as we aren't ready to part ways with the sharp and signature design lines of the true Galaxy S Ultra flagship.
Aside from that, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will still employ a titanium frame, boast IP68 water and dust resistance, as well as an S Pen stylus, the inseparable writing accessory that brings a lot of functionality in tow.
All those changes are pretty drastic when compared with the Galaxy S23 Ultra. That one still has the makings of a classic and a standard Galaxy S flagship, with sharp lines, a stainless-steel design, and the ubiquitous S Pen on deck once again.
From a pure size perspective, we expect the Galaxy S25 Ultra to be noticeably thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S23 Ultra: the upcoming phone might be just 8.2mm thick and weigh 218gr, while the older Galaxy measures 8.9mm thick and tips the scales at 234gr.
Colors-wise, we expect Samsung to offer a balanced selection of standard colors and a few 'fun' ones. The Galaxy S23 Ultra was available in Lavender, Cream, Phantom Black, and Green, as Lime, Sky Blue, Graphite, and Red. A little something for everyone!
Display Differences
In terms of display improvements and the core screen properties, there might be few differences between the two phones despite the age gap. That's not a testament to how Samsung is slow to adopt change, but the exactly opposite––proof that it did things pretty good in the first place.
Just like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will score a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a dynamic refresh rate that intelligently jumps between 1 and 120Hz. Top-notch HDR support as well as exceptionally accurate color calibration are also coming to the next Galaxy high-end flagship.
One area in which the new phone might significantly pull ahead is display brightness. On the Galaxy S23 Ultra, we got peak brightness levels of 1750 nits, which isn't too shabby at all, but pales in comparison with the 2,600 nits of maximum brightness achievable by the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The Galaxy S25 Ultra will likely be just as bright, but Samsung might boost this metric even higher.
And, just like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the upcoming flagship will also get an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner.
Performance and Software
A jump to the coveted 3nm frontier for the Galaxy lineup
By now, it's more than certain that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will come with the latest and greatest Qualcomm chipset, the fresh Snapdragon 8 Elite. Yep, no more "Gen X" branding, we are getting a new name for a potential game changer, which will finally bring the 3nm manufacturing process to Android. Currently, Apple has been enjoying the luxury of being the one phone manufacturer to have devices with 3nm chips, but no more, says Qualcomm.
With the Snapdragon 8 Elite, we expect big gains in both performance and efficiency that will translate to better battery life. However, thermal management could be a concern, especially with the heat generated by 3nm chips. That was a lesson learned the hard way for Apple, in particular, as the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro 3nm pioneers initially throttled a lot after even not-so-heavy tasks.
Memory-wise, we expect up to 16GB of RAM in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, as well as 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB UFS 4.0 storage versions. The Galaxy S23 Ultra also comes with similar storage options, but has only 12GB of RAM.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra will come with One UI 7 out of the box. The beta version of the software has already rolled out, available for download in certain regions. Here's our preview of the One UI 7 beta.
The next major software skin will be based on Android 15 and will introduce a visual redesign and functionality enhancements. There could be new AI features, but these aren't live in the beta yet.
Speaking of AI features, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has all the modern Galaxy AI features, making it as capable as the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Unless Samsung introduces some exclusive Galaxy AI features that will require the new Snapdragon 8 Elite, we might expect to get the new AI features on the Galaxy S23 Ultra as well.
In terms of software support, we can expect the next Galaxy S25 Ultra to receive seven years of major Android updates and security updates, which is a superb and very user-friendly feature.
Camera
New ultrawide and software changes inbound
As per the latest rumors, we only expect Samsung to upgrade a single Galaxy S25 Ultra camera: the ultrawide one. Apple pundit IceUniverse has it that Samsung will finally substitute the 12MP ultrawide with a 50MP camera. It will still probably output ~12MP photos, but will utilize quad pixel-binning for improved low-light image sensitivity in challenging lighting conditions.
The other three rear cameras will remain the same: a 200MP wide, a 10MP short telephoto with 3X optical zoom, and a 50MP periscope with 5X optical zoom. We expect a major upgrade to 50MP on the ultrawide front, which is shaping up to be a major upgrade over the 12MP on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. At the front, it's unlikely we are getting anything apart from the 12MP front-facing camera.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is currently near the top of the PhoneArena Camera Score test, holding its own against both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro XL rivals, which makes us pretty happy with Samsung's overall camera prowess at the moment. This makes us pretty hopeful that simple algorithm improvements and changes will allow the Galaxy S25 Ultra to reiterate that success.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23 Ultra came with a 200MP wide camera, a 10MP 3X telephoto, a 10MP periscope with a 10X optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide camera. Pretty decent setup by all means, and also the last Galaxy to have a proper long periscope.
Some new features coming to the Galaxy S25 Ultra might be an AI-powered object eraser in video, as well as better low-light and macro video. One rumor claims that we are getting an audio-isolation feature that will let you choose exactly which part of the audio is being heard. Finally, without the help of AI, Samsung might have finally fixed the lag when switching between the cameras during video-recording.
Battery Life and Charging
5,000mAh for the win
Well, Samsung's top flagships have been using 5,000mAh batteries for years now, and sadly, it doesn't look like the Galaxy S25 Ultra will break this tradition. Don't get us wrong, nothing wrong with a 5,000mAh battery, but some of Samsung's rivals on the Android scene are already pushing further than that. For example, rumors put a 6,000mAh silicone battery inside the upcoming OnePlus 13.
One way or another, we expect the Galaxy S25 Ultra to last longer than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The reason for that could be the potential power-saving gains brought by the 3nm Snapdragon chip.
On the charging front, we don't expect Samsung to move past the now standard 45W wired charging, which could be a common feature of both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
However, we do expect the new flagship to feature Qi2 wireless charging, which charges at 25W and also has magnets that let you attach a wireless charger or other accessories to the back of the phone, similar to Apple's MagSafe.
Specs Comparison
Here's how the Galaxy S25 Ultra versus Galaxy S23 Ultra specs will compare:
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra* | Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| Size, weight | 162.8 × 77.6 × 8.25mm, 218gr | 163.3 x 78 x 8.9 mm, 234gr |
| Screen | 6.8" Dynamic 2X AMOLED >2600 nits peak brightness 1-120Hz Anti-reflective coating | 6.8" Dynamic 2X AMOLED 1-120Hz dynamic 1,750 nits |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, 3nm | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, 4nm |
| RAM, Storage | 12GB/256GB 12GB/256GB 12GB/1TB LPDDR5 | 8GB/256GB 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB 12GB/1TB LPDDR5 |
| Cameras | 200MP main 50MP ultrawide 10MP 3X telephoto 50MP 5X periscope 12MP front | 200MP main 12MP ultra 10MP 3X telephoto 10MP 10X periscope 12MP front |
| Battery | 5,000mAh | 5,000mAh |
| Charging | USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless | USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless |
* - All Galaxy S25 Ultra specs are preliminary and subject to change
Summary
With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it appears that Samsung will be improving the formula by improving all the key aspects that make a phone great: performance, battery life, and camera.
Of course, all of this is based on assumptions and leaks, so have in mind that things might turn out different from expected, but we all know how Samsung is: what leaks out is usually what we get.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra, on the other hand, looks like it has stood the test of time just perfectly. It still performs admirably, has all the latest Galaxy AI features, and has what's possibly the most versatile camera setup in a smartphone from that generation.
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