I like the Galaxy S25 Ultra far more than I expected to

Samsung ’s novel flagship has lastly landed in stores and it would be easy to look at theGalaxy S25 Ultraas nothing more than an reiterative upgrade that brings a few small upgrades to the table . However , as Andy cover in ourGalaxy S25 Ultra review , to do so would be to do a disservice to the overall experience .

While go over theGalaxy S25 Plus — which offers a mess but failed to meet my expectations — over the past two weeks , I ’ve also been using the Galaxy S25 Ultra . It turn out that while Samsung ’s middle - of - the - road flagship did n’t quite slay the mark , its flagship sibling has forget a St. Mark on me .

Why ? It would be easy to think it was due to the four-fold camera ’s big 200MP master sensor , new 50MP radical - wide angle lens system , and dual telephoto crystalline lens complete with 3x and 5x ocular rapid climb . It turns out that this is n’t the real reason .

Ultrawide photo captured on the Galaxy S25 Ultra

Galaxy S25 UltraImage used with permission by copyright holder

This is why I ’m enjoying the Galaxy S25 Ultra far more than I expected .

Subtle changes in all the right places

The Galaxy S25 Ultra epitomize several year of refinement , with Samsung incessantly tweaking the size of it to make it lean and light . former version have featured subtle changes , but Samsung has almost created the perfect - sized handsome phone .

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is just 0.4 millimetre thinner and 16 gram lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra , but this has a huge impact on the overall tone and bioengineering . Whereas previous versions have felt too heavy for daily use , specially when using one of thebest cases , the Galaxy S25 Ultra still feel lightweight and comfortable to expend .

Using theofficial Kindsuit vegan leather caseshows just how much well this year ’s build is , as it still feels lightweight and comfy to employ . It ’s still a considerably large headphone , and I favor the overall size of it and form factor of the Galaxy S25 Plus , but the Galaxy S25 Ultra is extremely easy in the handwriting .

1x photo captured on the Galaxy S25 Ultra

Galaxy S25 Ultra 1xImage used with permission by copyright holder

Built for endurance and speed

When looking for a raw smartphone , there are a few areas that are central to most people . The barrage fire sprightliness , overall performance , display quality and television camera be given to rank the highest , and the Galaxy S25 Ultra apprehend three out of four here .

One UI 7 delivers one of the fast experiences you ’ll find on a phoneThe battery life and performance are exceptional and two week in , the earpiece still shows no signs of slowing down . The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy mainframe turn in a mass of the big lifting , but many of these performance gains have also issue forth from the optimizations in the software . but put , One UI 7 is Samsung ’s best - ever software and one of the immobile experience you ’ll find on an Android phone .

These optimizations also go to exceptional battery spirit . For most of my metre with the Galaxy S25 Ultra , it has been a multi - mean solar day phone capable of hold out two days on a full bang . When pushed heavily , this does drop off substantially , but it ’s always made it to the end of the Clarence Day with battery to spare despite at least seven 60 minutes of screen time .

2x photo captured on the Galaxy S25 Ultra

Galaxy S25 Ultra 2xImage used with permission by copyright holder

The Galaxy S25 Ultra have the good battery spirit ever on a Samsung earpiece , and it ’s bind to fulfil even the most demanding users . When you involve to recharge from full , it take between 60 and 70 minutes , which is one of the fastest on a Samsung earpiece . It also supports Qi2 wireless charging , but I wish you did n’t need to buy themagnetic charging caseseparately and that it offered faster speeds .

A versatile camera, even if it no longer has the best zoom

regrettably , while the Galaxy S25 Ultra deport a marvelous show and execution experience , it falls a little short in the camera . This is less to do with the phone itself , but rather the timber of the competition . In finicky , the OnePlus 13 and Oppo Find X8 Pro have both prove to be sound than Samsung ’s flagship at thehighest rapid growth length .

That said , the Galaxy S25 Ultra does have an update 50MP ultrawide camera and the quad - tv camera array is an super various triggerman capable of taking large photo in most consideration . The updated ultrawide delivers more item than the 12MP before , whilst the 3x and 5x telephoto lenses still take good photograph overall .

The versatility of the camera is not just in the ironware , but also in the options that are present in the camera itself . In exceptional , Samsung has the skillful portrayal modality on any speech sound , as it proffer a range of different personal effects and option . I am still a huge fan of Color Point — which keeps the guinea pig in colour while making the backcloth grayscale — but the various other effect are also marvelous . Like previous Samsung phones , you may change the outcome , as well as the extent of it , after you take a pic .

3x photo captured on the Galaxy S25 Ultra

Galaxy S25 Ultra 3xImage used with permission by copyright holder

It’s a fantastic phone, but it isn’t perfect

It would be easy to just focus on the positive , but it ’s worth mention that there are a few other drawback that may prove to be a dealbreaker . The big drawback for me is the camera , and while it ’s a great photographic camera on its own , it ’s a surprise that Oppo and OnePlus have been able to pound it , despite Samsung ’s foreground 100X Space Zoom feature .

Then there ’s the S - Pen and while it ’s still extremely capable , Samsung has shot itself in the foot by get rid of Bluetooth from the S - Pen . This entail that features like Air Actions — which I specially enjoyed on former Ultra phone — and the ability to remotely control the camera are both missing . Samsung says that less than 1 % of users use these features , but I do miss them even though I barely use them .

Despite these drawbacks , I ’ve enjoy the Galaxy S25 Ultra far more than I expected . It ’s evidence that many years of civilization can result in an extremely dressed smartphone , but at the same time , I retrieve it ’s prison term for Samsung to evolve its entire smartphone card .

5x photo captured on the Galaxy S25 Ultra

Galaxy S25 Ultra 5xImage used with permission by copyright holder

The Galaxy S25 Ultra can still mostly contend with thebest sound , but I ’m not certain I will be able to say the same unless the experience has evolved considerably . For now , the Galaxy S25 Ultra is probably worth purchasing , as long as you ’re not expecting a vastly different experience .

10x photo captured on the Galaxy S25 Ultra