Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: do we need a refresh?
Intro
We are coming close to the end of the year, and it's been a fun time — top-tier phones solidified their positions with beautiful designs, camera hardware has evolved further, and Apple almost has AI on the iPhones now.
As the year rolls out, our sights turn towards what's to come in early 2025. And, of course, the biggest name to expect is the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung has been moving its flagship launches earlier and earlier — the Galaxy S24 series was released at the end of January, 2024. So, if everything is on schedule, we are a mere couple of months away from the S25's announcement!
What should we be excited about? Well, it will supposedly be powered by the brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite — the upcoming silicon is being lauded as a hyper performer that should finally step up to Apple's A18 Pro chip.
Of course, One UI 7 on top of Android 15 is a logical expectation to have, and yeah, probably a few new AI tricks.
How will the upcoming S25 Ultra compare to the current excellent Galaxy S24 Ultra? Here's what we know so far, and what we expect:
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Ultra differences explained:
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra |
|---|---|
| A softer, rounded corner design | Stark rectangular design, with flat top and bottom |
| Slightly thinner, lighter (8.2 mm and 219 g) | 8.6 mm thin, 233 g |
| Titanium covered frame | Titanium covered frame |
| The fastest Qualcomm chip –– the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, 4 nm, still pretty good |
| Possibly Corning Gorilla Armor 2, but definitely some form of anti-reflective coating | Corning Gorilla Armor, excellent anti-reflective coating |
| 12 GB / 256 GB 16 GB / 512 GB 16 GB / 1 TB | 12 GB / 256 GB 12 GB / 512 GB 12 GB / 1 TB |
| Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 |
| 45 W wired, 25 W Qi2 wireless charging | 45 W wired, 15 W Qi wireless charging |
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Design and Size
Softening up
The Ultra models typically have a stark rectangular shape for that notebook-like, business look. However, rumors state that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will soften up a bit, with rounded corners that will be easier on the palm. Of course, we still fully expect the frame to be titanium-coated, with that grippy porous finish that is excellent on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
This news has us a bit worried, we kind of like the S24 Ultra's look — it's unique from the rest of the lineup, and it "means business". But we'll see what Samsung has brewing.
But the Galaxy S25 Ultra will still rock the beloved S Pen stylus, IP68 protection, and the dual speakers, of course.
It's also expected to be ever-so-slightly thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. About 0.4 mm and 14 grams of difference. We assume it will be absolutely negligible and unniticeable in real life.
For colors, we hope to see another pleasant surprise. While Samsung does put more "muted" shades on its top-tier Ultra phones, they still have a tinge of fun to them. The S24 Ultra comes in yellow and violet, next to the more "boring" black and gray. It also has two exclusive options in the Samsung.com store — orange and light green. So, if the S25 Ultra doesn't have any exciting default colors, it may still have a fun, off-the-rails exclusive color from Samsung's website.
Display Differences
Samsung's AMOLED panels have peaked for a while now. The latest branding is Dynamic AMOLED 2X, signifying both the adaptive refresh rate (1-120 Hz) and the high peak brightness, now reaching 2,600 nits on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
We haven't heard anything special about developments in that area. Of course, the excellent panel is made even better by the new anti-glare coating that Samsung added first to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, then to the new Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. We expect and fully hope to see the same on the S25 Ultra (or not see... since there are no reflections. Harr-harr).
So, with no news about growing or changing in any way, we currently expect the Galaxy S25 Ultra to have the same huge a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a dynamic refresh rate of 1 to 120Hz. With great color accuracy and HDR support, of course. The bezels of the S24 Ultra are already razor-thin, so we can't imagine them getting any thinner with the next model.
And, as before, the biometrics will probably consist of an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner under the screen. Samsung has been perfecting it over multiple generations and we have to say it's very fast and accurate — it merely requires you touch the signified screen area for a split second. Face unlock is also available on Samsung phones, but it only uses the selfie camera, so it's not as secure or accepted in banking or payment apps, for example.
Performance and Software
Finally down to 3 nm?
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite is now official — it's the latest and fastest chip from the company, finally built on a 3 nm process (basically, more power yet more energy efficiency). And yes, this is the second time Qualcomm has changed the branding of its top-shelf chips over the last few years, but who's counting.
What's almost a certainty is that the Snapdragon 8 Elite will be the beating heart inside the Galaxy S25 Ultra. We don't know if it will be a special "Made for Galaxy" version, like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 inside the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but we do know that it's being lauded as a long-awaited performance jump for Android phones. Finally one to rival, and maybe beat, Apple's A-series chips.
Don't rush to celebrate, though — these powerhouses will surely require absolutely peak thermal management. So, we are still cautiously optimistic here. One thing is for sure, we can't wait to run the Galaxy S25 Ultra through a series of benchmarks and play sessions!
If all goes well, it should definitely hit a noticeably higher score than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. If it doesn't go... that well — it should have a higher peak performance, but quickly throttle down due to temperature. We'll have to wait and see!
Soft murmurs are also saying that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will now get the coveted 16 GB RAM upgrade. But supposedly only on its 512 GB and 1 TB storage options, and the 256 GB model will still come with 12 GB. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has 12 GB RAM across all its storage options, though we can't say we've noticed the phone "suffering" from that.
The good news is that early adopters may be able to score a "free storage upgrade" during the pre-order period, as Samsung often likes to celebrate new device launches with free upgrades and more money back if you trade in your old phone.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra should also run Android 15 with One UI 7 on top out of the box. That'll mean a UI redesign to some extent, and more new AI features — some by Google, but possibly some more Galaxy AI tricks as well. The Galaxy S24 series was the original platform where Galaxy AI launched and its being kept up to date. Even the new Sketch to Image feature that came with the Galaxy Note 6 also became available for the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
With a software support commitment of 7 years, we do expect the still-relatively-new Galaxy S24 phones to continue to get such new features. So, unless the Galaxy S25 Ultra gets something that specifically needs the power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite to work, there shouldn't be much of a difference in One UI 7 on the S24 vs the S25.
Assuming the Galaxy S25 Ultra will get the same 7 year support promise, it should be able to carry you up to 2032. Talk about "not changing your phone often".
Camera
Nothing major on the hardware end
The Galaxy S24 Ultra came with a 200 MP main, 10 MP 3x zoom, 50 MP 5x zoom, and 12 MP ultra-wide camera. The module and the software behind it were excellent, and put the Galaxy S24 Ultra straight on the top of our PhoneArena Camera Benchmark test. It has since fallen beihing by a couple of points, but it's still among the best cameras you can get on a phone.
Unsurprisingly, Samsung won't be changing much about it — if it works, don't tinker with it! But the ultra-wide camera will get a bump, with rumors saying the S25 Ultra will sport a 50 MP sensor under there.
But a new processor does have a new image processing pipeline, and it's also possible that Samsung may further tune up the software side of things. Maybe it will introduce something to rival Apple's new and refreshed Photographic Styles? Or, at the very least, better post-processing of the photos. We'll see, and we will most definitely test!
The 12 MP camera on the front of the device also seems like a low priority upgrade. It works just fine, it gives us great selfies with sharp details and balanced dynamics. And it's plenty good for video calls. So, we don't expect an upgrade here, nor has the rumor mill suggested anything.
Battery Life and Charging
5,000 mAh is now standard
Over the past few years, a 5,000 mAh battery in an Android flagship has become pretty much standard. Manufacturers seem to have hit a limit or a sweet-spot of what a 6.7-inch phone can hold. Yes, some competitors are pushing those limits, going up to 5,600 mAh or even — supposedly — 6,000 mAh in the next OnePlus 13.
But the information we have so far is that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will stick to that comfortable 5,000 mAh.
No complaints there, it's good enough. The Galaxy S24 Ultra can last us more than a day with casual use, so as long as the Galaxy S25 Ultra can maintain that endurance, it will be fine. The chip will be the big make-it-or-break-it here — will the 3 nm build give us energy efficiency gains, or will it be offset by how power-hungry it is?
We also haven't heard anything about charging power upgrade, so we are left assuming the Galaxy S25 Ultra will have 45W wired charging, just like before. The new Qi2 wireless charging standard may give us 25 W pucks, which is cool. But don't hold your breath for magnetic accessory compatibility for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Magnets on the back of the phone seriously hamper the S Pen's digitizer functionality, so we can't imagine that problem will be magically fixed on the S25. Instead, Samsung just opts to not put magnets in the phone.
Specs Comparison
Here's how the Galaxy S25 Ultra versus Galaxy S24 Ultra specs will compare:
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra* | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| Size, weight | 162.3 × 79 × 8.2 mm, 219 g | 162.3 x 79 x 8.6 mm, 233 g |
| Screen | 6.8" Dynamic 2X AMOLED >2600 nits peak brightness 1-120 Hz dynamic Anti-reflective coating | 6.8" Dynamic 2X AMOLED 2,600 nits peak brightness 1-120 Hz dynamic Anti-reflective coating |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, 3nm | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, 4nm |
| RAM, Storage | 12 GB / 256 GB 16 GB / 512 GB 16 GB / 1 TB LPDDR5X | 12 GB / 256 GB 12 GB / 512 GB 12 GB / 1 TB LPDDR5X |
| Cameras | 200 MP main 50 MP ultrawide 10 MP 3X telephoto 50 MP 5X periscope 12 MP front | 200 MP main 12 MP ultrawide 10 MP 3X telephoto 50 MP 5X periscope 12 MP front |
| Battery | 5,000mAh | 5,000mAh |
| Charging | USB-C 45W wired 25W wireless | USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless |
* - All Galaxy S25 Ultra specs are speculation or rumors
Summary
So yes, as you can see, we do expect the Galaxy S25 Ultra to be a minor upgrade over the S24 Ultra. Yeah, that chip is exciting, but we can't really complain from the performance of the Galaxy S24 Ultra currently. So, should you be getting blue with envy? Hard to tell, hold your horses.
The Galaxy series is quite mature yet and we can't say upgrading a year-old-phone is a necessity. It'll definitely be fun to observe how the S25 has evolved after the S24, but right now, we believe you will be just fine holding on to your old Galaxy S24 Ultra throughout 2025.
Even better, if you can score one at a deal after the launch of the new one — it may be worth considering!
Of course, more to come, and final verdict when the device is actually official and we get to test it and push it to its limits!
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