Updated January 1
• Leaked code suggests Galaxy S25 owners will get free access to Gemini Advanced
• Galaxy S25 Ultra benchmarks have leaked, and they're a little disappointing
• Samsung could add this life-saving feature to the Galaxy S25 Ultra
• A leaker has revealed what camera hardware we might see on Galaxy S25 Ultra
This could be the month where we finally get to see Samsung's next big phone — the Galaxy S25. The company is doubtlessly aiming to make sure its latest models land among the best phones, so we're eager to see if the three expected Galaxy S25 models can live up to those expectations.
Naturally, we expect the Galaxy S25 to make all the necessary iterative improvements to retain a seat amongst the best Android phones out there. And given how all the Galaxy AI features that accompany the Galaxy S24, it’s almost certain that Samsung will follow up with more compelling features powered by artificial intelligence with the Galaxy S25.
Leaks have been picking up as we get closer to the anticipated Galaxy S25 launch to the point where we can now even speculate about a Galaxy S25 vs. iPhone 16 comparison. Given what's emerged about Samsung's smartphone plans, here’s everything we know so far about the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Rumored release date and price
So far, Samsung confirmed there will be a Galaxy S25 series, and that it will arrive in the first half of 2025. Thanks to a new leak we may know exactly when the phone is going to surface, too: a Galaxy Unpacked event toward the end of January. Right now, multiple sources point to an event on January 22, though Samsung has yet to confirm anything.
If Samsung sticks to its usual timelines, then the official release date should follow two weeks after any launch event. The latest Galaxy S25 launch rumor claims that the phone could arrive on February 7, which is 2.5 weeks after the rumored event date for Galaxy Unpacked 2025.
It's also been rumored that a thinner Galaxy S25 Slim could also be on the way. One rumor has claimed it might not arrive until late spring, but that may not be the case after all. Sadly, we have no idea how much a slim phone might cost, but it seems to be coming in addition to the other three phones. Read our Galaxy S25 Slim hub for more on what we know so far about that possible addition to the lineup.
We're hoping that there's not much change to the Galaxy S25’s price. Samsung launched the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra for $799, $999, and $1,299 respectively — with the S24 Ultra being the only one to see its price increase from the prior year. Since Apple didn't increase the price of its iPhone 16 lineup, it's less likely for Samsung to increase its prices..
That said, leaks have suggested price of the Galaxy S25 is going up. Part of this is due to the cost of Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, while others believe it's due to increased manufacturing costs. Worryingly, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo echoes that sentiment, noting that the 3nm process to be used for the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a costly one. If that's not enough, reports further highlight that price hikes are on their way due to the political turmoil happening in South Korea — which will most certainly raise prices there, but it's not yet known if it'll be the same for the U.S.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Design and display
One immediate way Samsung could shake things up with the design of the Galaxy S25 by increasing the size of its display. Known leaker Yeux1122 reports the Galaxy S25’s screen will go from the Galaxy S24's 6.2 inches to a slightly larger 6.36 inches, which would effectively match the increased display size of the iPhone 16 Pro. We suspect that the phone itself would be a little larger than its predecessor, mainly to accommodate the larger screen because Samsung slimmed down the S24’s bezels over the S23. But to keep the phone easy to handle, Samsung may be making at least the Ultra model rounder on the back to help it sit in your hand.
Aside from the Galaxy S25 potentially getting a larger display, the rest of the design should be a familiar one. In other words, both the S25 and S25 Plus should be rocking the same armor aluminum frame — while the titanium frame should still be exclusive to the S25 Ultra.
We've seen a potential design for the Galaxy S25 Ultra thanks to a rumor-based render. It's familar-looking enough, and still appears to come with a built-in S Pen, but it shows, as we've heard before, that the corners are rounder than previous Ultra Galaxys, and its display wider, giving it quite a different look.
That rounded design has appeared a few times recently, in the form of case leaks, leaked photographs of the phone and what seems to be a hands-on video of a Galaxy S25 Ultra prototype. They all point toward the phone having a similar look to the iPhone 16 — complete with rounded corners and flat edges.
As for their displays, Samsung certainly made a point of detailing how all three versions of the Galaxy S24 offer 2,600-nit displays. Although, in our own benchmark testing, none of them came close to reaching those claims.
While we hope Samsung will improve this in the Galaxy S25, Ross Young claims that the phone will come with the same M13 OLED displays as the S24 series — rather than the brighter M14 OLED used by Pixel 9 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro. But recent rumors claim that the Ultra model will still be able to hit a Pixel 9 Pro-matching 3,000 nits in a special "high-brightness" mode.
More importantly, however, Samsung can’t afford to have another display issue — like the Mura effect on the Galaxy S24 that causes a clouding effect when the display’s brightness is set to a low setting. We tested this out ourselves with the Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 Ultra, verifying that both phones produced the Mura effect.
Young also claims that the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus will be available in Moon Night Blue, Silver Shadow, Sparking Blue and Sparkling Green. Young reiterated that the S25 Ultra could come in titanium, black, green and blue. Subsequent leaks based on colors of the SIM card trays for the phones suggest that the new S25 Ultra colors will be Titanium Black, Titanium Blue, Titanium Gold, and Titanium Silver
Samsung Galaxy S25: Performance
One of the earliest Galaxy S25 leaks hinted at a bigger speed boost, courtesy of Qualcomm’s next chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The new silicon promises big performance gains for both the CPU and GPU. Even better, multiple reports claim the Galaxy S25 models will all feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite exclusively, though we have seen alleged benchmarks for some models featuring Exynos chips.
That's not how Samsung handled things with the Galaxy S24. The Galaxy S24 Ultra did feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 exclusively, but that chip only appeared in the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus models that shipped in North America. Elsewhere, those two phones featured the Exynos 2400 chipset.
While one report claimed Samsung would turn to the Exynos 2500 as its system-on-chip exclusively, it sounds more likely that Samsung is going with the Snapdragon 8 Elite — not just in its Ultra model, but in the S25 and S25 Plus, too. Leaker Ice Universe reiterated that claim in November, after Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
We can certainly understand why Samsung would turn to Qualcomm's new chip. We had a chance to benchmark the Snapdragon 8 Elite on a Qualcomm reference device, and its graphics numbers blew away the iPhone 16 Pro running on Apple's A18 Pro chipset. The Snapdragon 8 Elite device also bested the iPhone in the multicore test for Geekbench 6, while coming close to the iPhone 16 Pro's pace-setting result in the single-core test.
Leaked benchmarks for the Galaxy S25 Ultra have offered up similar numbers, but sadly that isn't the case for the standard Galaxy S25. In fact the leak suggests Geekbench 6 scores of 2,481 in single-core testing and 8,658 in multi-core. Which is quite a bit lower than the Ultra's alleged 3,148 and 10,236 scores. More recent S25 Ultra benchmark leaks are also a little disappointing, though it is still a step up from the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Meanwhile, leaked benchmark scores for the Europe-bound Galaxy S25 Plus with the Exynos 2500 don't seem quite as formidable. In the GeekBench 6 single-core test, the Exynos chip scores lower at 2,358 — while its multi-core score also underperforms at a score of 8,211.
Beyond the chipset we could see the minimum amount of RAM on Galaxy S25 phones jump from 8GB to 12GB — likely to aid on-device AI processing. Another performance boost could be coming to the Galaxy S25 Ultra specifically, with that phone tipped to get UFS 4.1. Most Galaxy S24 models use UFS 4.0, so the improvement would be incremental, but still result in a performance uplift that would help any AI features included with the new phone.
It's also been claimed that Samsung will add a new Game Assist feature with some kind of upscaling — similar to how Game Boost prioritizes performance.
From a connectivity perspective, another big upgrade to come to the Galaxy S25 series — satellite connectivity. This would help users send messages, particularly to emergency services, while off-grid.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Cameras
Samsung has been nearly untouchable in the camera department with its phones, proven by the Galaxy S23 Ultra dominating all other phones throughout 2023 in our best camera phones list. Well, that changed with the release of the Galaxy S24 because of the controversial move of downgrading to a 5x optical zoom camera with the S24 Ultra.
We saw a noticeable difference with our zoom test between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra, so Samsung has its work cut out in redeeming itself with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. So far, rumors paint an enticing picture — an upgraded main camera, 50MP ultra-wide angle camera (up from the 12MP one on the S24 Ultra), and a new telephoto camera with “variable capabilities.”
Details about the ultrawide camera on the Galaxy S25 Ultra that have emerged seemingly confirm the upgrade to a 50MP sensor that will use 4-in-1 pixel binning to capture 12.5MP shots. That same rumor suggests the ultrawide lens will have an f/1.7 aperture, which would certainly let in more light, presumably improving details in low-light settings.
As for the telephoto camera's "variable capabilities," a similar feature had been originally rumored for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but it didn't happen. With the rumor resurfacing for the S25 Ultra, it could mean that we would have a variable telephoto camera that seamlessly adjusts between different zoom levels, but it could also be something different. Take for example the variable aperture of the recent Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which can dial down the aperture to different levels. Zooming has always been a specialty with the Ultra, so we’re really hoping Samsung delivers in this area to redeem itself.
However, another report claims that Samsung might be ditching the 3x telephoto zoom for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This would result in a triple camera setup as opposed to the quadruple one the series is known for. Leaker @ISAQUES81 makes this claim based on a prototype that Samsung is testing. However, leaker Ice Universe says the opposite and claims that the S25 ultra still have four camera lenses. The leaker has gone on to say that both the ultrawide and secondary telephoto lenses on the Galaxy S25 Ultra are due an upgrade, with both cameras using 50MP sensors instead of the 12MP and 10MP sensors found on the S24 Ultra. That claim has been echoed by other leakers.
A report from NotebookCheck claims that the Ultra will offer a 200MP main camera, 50MP 5x telephoto lens, a new 50MP ultrawide camera and a second telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and 12MP resolution. Meanwhile the selfie camera is reportedly staying at 12MP for another generation
Meanwhile, there are fewer rumors about the cameras for the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus. One of the few hints to Samsung switching to a Sony camera sensor, instead of the ISOCELL sensor used previously. However, a leaker named The Galox says neither the S25 nor the S25 Plus will benefit from a megapixel or layout change to its cameras.
Samsung has announced new camera sensors, and we'd imagine that one — the 50MP ISOCELL GNJ — might find its way into the S25 models as the sensor is approximately the same size as the one in the S24 and S24 Plus. The lens promises both an anti-refractive layer and pixel isolation, which should improve light capture, reduce reflections, deliver more accurate shadows and improve color reproduction.
Whatever ends up coming to fruition, Samsung can’t afford to come up short against the reigning king in our best camera phones list — the iPhone 16 Pro. That's because in our iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra photo shoot out, Apple's new flagship tops Samsung.
As for the Galaxy S25 Slim, it's been claimed by Ice Universe that it will come with an "Ultra" camera. They didn't elaborate on what this means exactly, but it's likely that the 200MP main lens is a shoo-in. Whether we'll see upgrades like the rumored 50MP ultrawide or variable telephoto lenses isn't clear yet.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Battery & charging
The Galaxy S25 has the potential of breaking records, especially if the promised power efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Elite pans out when we get a chance to test the battery life of Samsung's new models. All three models of the Galaxy S24 easily boast substantially better battery life than their predecessor; with the Snapdragon 8 Elite promising a 44% improvement to the CPU's power efficiency and a GPU that consumes 40% less power, you'd expect phones powered by that chipset to last a very long time.
Speaking of expectations, it looks like the Galaxy S25 could feature the same battery capacity as the S24. There have been rumors for a while now about Samsung adopting stacked batteries in its flagship series, but there’s no strong evidence we’ll get them yet with the S25. Meanwhile, multiple leaks indicate that Samsung will still go with a 5,000 mAh battery for the S25 Ultra.
One area that certainly needs upgrading would be the charging capabilities of the phone. Samsung has kept the same 25W wired charging speed with the Galaxy S24, so it would be a tremendous boost if the Galaxy S25 could get an upgrade. That’s because both the S24 Plus and S24 Ultra feature 45W wired charging speeds. But there’s even more opportunity to improve charging as a whole with the entire S25 series because the OnePlus 12 is proof that you can get a fully charged phone with 30 minutes of charging.
Those of you hoping to get magnetic wireless charging on an Android phone will be happy to hear rumors that Qi2 could come to Galaxy S25. Essentially an open version of Apple's MagSafe, Qi2 holds wireless chargers and other accessories in place with a ring of magnets. It also offers faster wireless charging speed, upping the basic speed from 7.5W to 15W.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Software and Galaxy AI features
After introducing a handful of Galaxy AI features with the S24, Samsung will have to come up with even more for the Galaxy S25. We’ve tested out many of the Galaxy AI features, like Instant Slow-mo, Generative Edit, and Voice Recorder Summaries, proving that many of them have practical applications. Others, however, still hover that fine line of being novel.
Some of these features, including generative AI photo editing, may be done on-device with Galaxy S25 as well. According to one report, the power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset means that Samsung won't have to farm off the processing for this feature, and possibly more, to cloud servers.
There haven’t been any leaks on what new Galaxy AI features we could see introduced with the Galaxy S25, although Samsung has confirmed AI will be a priority for the phone, and a Samsung executive did raise the possibility of infusing the Bixby personal assistant with generative AI capabilities. However, the question in everyone’s mind is how long they’ll remain exclusive to the Galaxy S25 — or passed down to older models. That’s because many of the once exclusive Galaxy AI features of the Galaxy S24 have arrived on older Samsung phones through a software upgrade.
Galaxy AI capabilities may get a boost from Google in the form of free access to Gemini Advanced for Galaxy S25 owners. That was spotted in some code, with additional information suggesting that different S25 models will enjoy different free trial period lengths.
Leaked firmware code also suggests that Samsung may also offer Car Crash Detection on Galaxy S25 Ultra, which will rely on a virtual composite sensor. However we don't know many more details about it right now.
As for the S25's overall operating system, that will be One UI 7, an Android 15-based OS that Samsung announced in October 2024 and released as a beta in December. It's already confirmed that One UI 7 will be used on "the new Galaxy." The software update counts a new design among its changes.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Outlook
Samsung has a huge challenge ahead of itself with the Galaxy S25. There’s certainly more pressure for its flagship phones because if you remove the processing performance and battery life of the Galaxy S24 out of the equation, the improvements are minor at best — more so when the same Galaxy AI features have been trickled down to the S23. There’s even greater importance to have bigger upgrades with the Galaxy S25 cameras and charging speeds.
Now that a new year is here, we're even closer to the rumored Galaxy S25 launch, especially if the expected January 22 event date proves to be accurate. That means we should know what the Galaxy S25 can deliver in just a few weeks.
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