Android gaming greatness but few other improvements

Samsung’s flagship telephones have arrived for 2025, and as soon as once more, the model has educated its deal with AI smarts fairly than {hardware} upgrades. The brand new Extremely mannequin obtained the most important adjustments, together with a contemporary new look and a brand-new digicam, however at a look, the usual Samsung Galaxy S25 appears an identical to its predecessor, and the one earlier than that, for that matter.

Fortunately, that’s not totally true. The state-of-the-art Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite now powers the Samsung Galaxy S25. The RAM has been upgraded to 12GB, and there’s an extra 512GB storage choice. It’s all excellent news for avid gamers. The query is, is the Galaxy S25 price your hard-earned money? Or may you save just a little and seize one of many older picks from our information to the perfect gaming telephones? I needed to seek out out, and after dwelling with it for the previous week, listed here are my ideas.

Worth and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is now out there to order in most areas globally. There are three variants to select from, all include 12GB of RAM, however you may select between 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB of storage.

The bottom mannequin with 128GB storage retails for $799.99 / £799 / €900, and the 256GB model goes for $859.99 / £859 / €960. The 512GB doesn’t appear to have made its strategy to the States but, however within the UK and Europe, you may count on to pay £959 / €1080. There are many pre-order reductions and contract offers to maintain a watch out for, and so they fluctuate considerably between areas, so it’s price trying round to make sure you get the perfect deal.

Specs

Listed below are the Samsung Galaxy S25’s specs:

Efficiency and gaming

The Samsung Galaxy S25 makes use of Qualcomm’s finest chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and that’s the case globally, with no Exynos variations in sight. It additionally comes with 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB, which ought to assist with multitasking and gaming efficiency.

One other huge change is with the storage choices. Final yr, you could possibly solely get the S24 with both 128GB or 256GB of storage, not less than in Europe. Now, there’s an extra 512GB choice for the S25, which is nice to see, as that’s greater than sufficient area for all the perfect Android video games. It appears Samsung has lastly realized that liking a smaller cellphone doesn’t imply you need any much less storage.

As you would possibly count on, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite at its core, the Galaxy S25 is a critical performer. It’ll deal with any title you may throw at it with ease, and it had no hassle with my regular check, working Genshin Impression at 60fps with most graphical settings for hours. That’s a fairly large deal, as efficiency of this high quality is often reserved for specialist gaming telephones, not all-rounders just like the S25.

The body bought hotter than I’d like throughout longer periods, however the efficiency didn’t appear to drop off an excessive amount of, which is spectacular contemplating the compact dimension of this handset. I possible solely seen as a result of I used to be utilizing it with out a case; it’ll be far more snug to carry with these aluminum aspect rails hid.

There’s a sport overlay constructed into One UI 7, nevertheless it’s about as fundamental as they arrive. You may entry issues like efficiency modes, contact sensitivity, and brightness locking, and you may as well open different apps as floating home windows. It’s helpful stuff, nevertheless it’s a good distance behind the likes of OnePlus, Honor, and Vivo.

Options and software program

Booting up the S25, the software program adjustments are instantly noticeable. Samsung has been arduous at work refining the design of One UI, and its seventh iteration appears to be like extra polished than ever. In my expertise, it’s essentially the most responsive and speedy-feeling Android-based OS by some margin. Swiping round this OS feels lightning fast.

As we noticed final yr, Samsung is all-in on Galaxy AI, and also you’ll now discover AI-powered components in nearly each space of One UI. The worldwide search bar now helps natural-language enter, so fairly than having to know a selected time period or key phrase, you may simply sort a query. For instance, you may sort “it’s too dim,” and the brightness settings will come up. It’s the sort of factor that might be very helpful for much less tech-savvy customers.

Circle to Search debuted on final yr’s S24 fashions, and this yr, it’s again with further capabilities. It may possibly now seek for audio, identical to Shazam, so you may determine a music that’s enjoying and even simply hum a tune you’re looking for the title of. It’s actually helpful to have this multi function place. Nevertheless, this replace isn’t unique to Samsung units, and it has already appeared on my Vivo, too.

There’s additionally a brand new software known as AI Choose, which is unique to Samsung. This works equally in that you choose issues by circling them in your display screen, nevertheless it’s extra for creation than net search. You need to use it for easy issues, like making a GIF or a screenshot, however you may as well take away objects from these screenshots, add to them utilizing Sketch to Picture, or reimagine them totally with Drawing Help. It’s a enjoyable novelty, however truthfully, I can’t think about utilizing all of them that a lot; Circle to Search will stay my go-to.

Now Temporary is one other huge addition. It makes use of AI to summarize your day and provide you with key info at a look. By default, Now Temporary delivers updates to the notifications shade all through the day, and there’s additionally a house display screen widget for fast entry.

I used to be on this characteristic, however the actuality was barely disappointing. My Temporary would virtually at all times simply embody climate data and no matter is in my calendar. It’s helpful data, however nothing significantly new or thrilling. Sometimes, there was a random Spotify playlist in there, nevertheless it wasn’t precisely customized to my style. For instance, I at all times bought issues like ‘Sunday Afternoon Combine’ simply because it was a Sunday afternoon. This characteristic has potential, however in its present state, it’s very underwhelming.

The cellphone has all the identical AI-powered picture modifying instruments as final yr, and so they appear to have improved over time, too. They’re positively extra dependable than Apple’s options. This yr’s huge addition is Audio Eraser, which, because the identify suggests, is similar to the equal characteristic on iPhones and Pixel units.

This characteristic makes use of AI to determine totally different sound sources in your movies after which offers you digital sliders to regulate the amount of every one. When you’ve got a video clip with an excessive amount of site visitors noise within the background, you may improve the amount of your voice and switch down the extent of site visitors. It’s intelligent stuff, however the consequence sounds just a little too synthetic for my liking, so I’d solely advocate utilizing it in excessive circumstances.

Design

It’s simple to mistake the Galaxy S25 for the S24, and even the S23, for that matter. The design has barely modified, and the one main distinction is the addition of some thicker black rings across the rear cameras. These rings don’t do something; they’re simply an aesthetic selection, however I believe they give the impression of being fairly good. They’re similar to those on the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and so they match the remainder of the S25 lineup, too.

The S25 is slimmer than its predecessor, nevertheless it’s not one thing you’ll discover in the true world. Samsung has solely managed to shave off 0.4 mm, which is lower than the thickness of the typical fingernail. It’s additionally lighter, however once more, we’re solely taking 6 grams, which isn’t sufficient to make a lot of an influence.

In fact, we additionally get some new colour choices. I’ve the Silver Shadow model for testing, however you may as well select from Navy, Mint, and Icyblue. I really feel like these colours have just a little extra persona than the monochromatic S25 Extremely choices, however they’re nonetheless on the fashionable aspect.

If you need one thing just a little extra vibrant, you’ll want to purchase from Samsung.com and decide up the unique Coralred choice. It’s positively the standout choice for many who like to show heads. Additionally unique to Samsung.com are the Blueblack and Pinkgold choices. They’re not fairly as loud, however each look fairly fetching in their very own proper.

The Galaxy S25 remains to be IP68 rated for mud and water resistance, and it has the identical Gorilla Glass Victus 2 coating on the entrance. Neither the titanium-infused body nor the anti-reflective glass of the Extremely has made an look on the smaller fashions, sadly, so we’d advocate nonetheless selecting up a case.

Show and audio system

The show additionally has the very same specs as final yr’s S24. It’s actually not thrilling, nevertheless it was already a really good show, and it appears to be like simply as spectacular a yr later.

It has slim, symmetrical bezels on all sides, and it’s fully flat, which makes it feel and appear a bit like an iPhone. The brightness peaks at 2,600 nits, which doesn’t sound like a lot, nevertheless it’s really a really brilliant show. Producers have all types of wacky methods to measure brightness, and I really feel like Samsung is being just a little extra conservative with its figures. In any case, it’s greater than brilliant sufficient to permit for enjoying any of the perfect cell video games in direct daylight.

The one factor that’s new here’s a software program characteristic developed with Qualcomm known as ProScaler. This characteristic makes use of AI to upscale content material for a extra crisp and high-resolution look. My solely subject is that I can’t work out when or the way you activate this characteristic, and if I’m being fully trustworthy, I haven’t seen a lot of a distinction.

The Galaxy S25 show at all times appears to be like nice, and whether or not we will attribute that to the ProScaler or not, count on beautiful HDR content material, slick and easy gaming, and vibrant, correct colour replica. Samsung is aware of what it’s doing within the show division, and the S25 is as spectacular as ever.

It’s the identical story with the audio system. I’m not conscious of any upgrades, however they have been already nice, and so they sound simply pretty much as good this time round. The truth is, I believe they’re higher than the audio system on the S25 Extremely merely on account of their positioning. I’m at all times muffling the audio system on the Extremely after I maintain the cellphone in panorama, and fortunately, that doesn’t occur on the S25.

Samsung Galaxy S25’s cameras

The digicam array can also be unchanged on this mannequin. This implies you get a 50MP f/1.8 foremost snapper, a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide, and a 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto. Across the entrance, there’s a 12MP f/2.2 selfie digicam.

These are fairly underwhelming specs in 2025; even mid-rangers are managing triple 50MP setups, if not greater. However, as we’ve seen many instances earlier than, the megapixel rely isn’t the whole lot, and low-resolution cameras can ship some astonishingly good outcomes.

To be trustworthy, I used to be anticipating the Galaxy S25 images to look an identical to the S24 images. It’s the identical {hardware}, in spite of everything. Fortunately, although, there are delicate enhancements throughout the board. The principle factor I seen is that the colour accuracy appears higher, and pores and skin tones appear far more lifelike than on earlier Samsung flagships. The extent of sharpening appears to be like far more pure, too. It’s a small change, nevertheless it makes an influence.

I’m unsure if this can be a software program change (which might imply it may additionally apply to the S24) or if it’s right down to the brand new ISP on the Snapdragon 8 Elite. In any case, images and movies look far more spectacular on this machine. In fact, there’s solely a lot that picture processing can do, and the drawbacks of the earlier mannequin are nonetheless current right here. This cellphone didn’t get the upgraded ultrawide digicam, which suggests there’s nonetheless no autofocus, and that makes it a a lot much less versatile lens.

Aside from the principle digicam, these comparatively small sensors endure in low mild. You may count on very noisy and grainy pictures when the lighting state of affairs isn’t perfect. Though switching to the devoted night time mode does an honest job of cleansing issues up.

There’s an enormous improve for budding filmmakers this yr, and that’s the addition of a correct LOG recording mode. This implies you may seize video that’s extra appropriate for colour grading, identical to you’ll on knowledgeable cinema digicam. It even works at 8K decision, which even the iPhone 16 Professional Max can’t match.

Battery

The battery and charging specs stay unchanged on the Galaxy S25. This implies you solely get a 4000 mAh cell and a sluggish 25W wired charging fee. These aren’t precisely flagship-grade figures in 2025, however regardless of that, I discovered the S25 simple to reside with.

A mix of {hardware} and software program optimization implies that the battery lasts greater than lengthy sufficient for most individuals. I’m a comparatively heavy consumer, and I nonetheless managed to get to bedtime with round 20% capability remaining most days.

The identical is true of the charging; 25W would possibly sound woefully gradual, nevertheless it was sufficient to take me from full-flat to 60% charged in about half an hour. It’s not a lot of a trouble. Simply remember that the ultimate 30% takes for much longer, and it’ll take properly over an hour to get you from flat to 100% charged.

Samsung now provides official instances with Qi2-compatible magnets in-built, however there are not any magnets within the cellphone itself. This bought my hopes up, as I anticipated quicker wi-fi charging speeds to return together with it. Alas, we nonetheless solely get 15W wi-fi charging, nevertheless it’s nonetheless higher than nothing.

Must you purchase the Samsung Galaxy S25?

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is without doubt one of the most boring product launches in current reminiscence. It’s mainly the identical cellphone we noticed final yr, simply with the brand new Qualcomm chip inside. There are just a few further goodies, just like the elevated RAM capability and the 512GB choice (in some areas), however in any other case, the {hardware} is precisely the identical.

That mentioned, for those who’re on the lookout for a flagship machine with a smaller display screen, you’re not precisely swimming in choices. The S25 is without doubt one of the strongest units on this dimension vary, and avid gamers with smaller fingers are certain to adore it.

It’s spectacular elsewhere, too. The cameras appear to carry out barely higher than final yr, the software program is stuffed with novel AI options, and it’s only a delight to reside with. It might not have a head-turning spec sheet, however the day by day expertise of utilizing it’s arduous to fault.

The most important subject is its similarity to final yr’s mannequin. If you’ll find an S24 at a great value, it is likely to be the extra wise choice. Each the Exynos and Snapdragon variations are nice for gaming, and a lot of the new AI options will arrive on the older mannequin by way of firmware updates.

Alternate options

For those who’re unsure that the Samsung Galaxy S25 is best for you, listed here are a few different compact flagships price contemplating

Samsung Galaxy S24

As talked about, the S24 has primarily the identical {hardware} because the S25; the one actual distinction is that it has an Exynos 2400 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 fairly than the brand new 8 Elite. These chips are nonetheless greater than quick sufficient for most individuals, and you’ll nonetheless discover the 2024 flagship by way of most retailers. So, you would possibly think about saving some money and grabbing the older model. For extra info, learn our Samsung Galaxy S24 overview.

iPhone 16 Professional

For those who’re not married to the concept of an Android cellphone, it’s price contemplating Apple’s iPhone 16 Professional. It’s virtually precisely the identical dimension because the S25, nevertheless it has extra spectacular cameras and sure benefits for gaming, together with the power to run Genshin Impression at 120Hz. Nevertheless, it’s additionally costlier, and Apple Intelligence remains to be a good distance behind Samsung’s AI options.

That’s our Samsung Galaxy S25 overview. For extra on the most recent telephones, be sure you try our RedMagic 10 Professional overview and Asus ROG Cellphone 9 Professional overview. Or, if you wish to see what fellow tech big Apple has to supply, take a look at our information to the perfect gaming iPhones.