Galaxy S25 Ultra review: where AI helps – and where it doesn’t
Samsung’s relying on AI even more with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. However, Galaxy AI isn’t yet at the level the manufacturer would like it to be.
The biggest change to the hardware is the new chipset. But even with the other adjustments and design tweaks, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is slightly better overall than its predecessor.
Galaxy AI: the new functions of the artificial intelligence
With the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung is adding further functions to its Galaxy AI. For now, these are exclusively available on the latest smartphones. The following observations I’ve made apply not only to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but also to the S25 and S25 Plus.
Galaxy AI: Samsung uses Gemini and adds its own services/Bixby Interpreters, image editing and style adaptations as well as summaries for texts are still available.
The new AI functions of the Galaxy S25 Ultra leave me somewhat undecided. I find some of them helpful and practical. Others are nice gimmicks, and then with some I still don’t understand what their purpose is.
Now Bar and briefings: when the AI prepares information
The Now Bar appears at the bottom of the lock screen. With the help of AI, various apps are supposed to keep me up to date. Visually, it reminds me of the iPhone’s «Dynamic Island». Functionally, it depends on the apps you use. If Spotify’s playing music, for example, a control window appears in the Now Bar. It also shows me the current scores of the magic FCSP. All well and practical, but I’ve already seen and used this on other smartphones without AI frills. The Now Bar is also designed to keep you up to date on other things such as food deliveries or the taxi you’ve ordered. However, this depends on the respective apps and is yet to prove its usefulness on a larger scale.
Source: Jan Johannsen
With the S25 Ultra, Samsung’s also introducing so-called morning, midday and evening briefings. The reference to them appears in the Now Bar and in other places. The AI compiles information that gives you an overview of the day ahead or the day that has just passed. On my phone, I can see the weather forecast for my current location and calendar entries. Since I treated myself to the Galaxy Watch 7 too, the briefing also lets me know how well I slept or how high my energy level is. The AI also makes use of various apps and recommends things to listen to from Spotify, for example.
What bothers me is that not all apps are integrated yet. So far, my work appointments in Outlook have been left out. It hasn’t notified me with any directions or information on when I should leave for an appointment with a location. Sometimes the AI introduces the briefings with sentences in English, which tells me it’s still being developed.
Source: Jan Johannsen
I don’t have a hard time finding the information from the briefings in the individual apps or in their widgets on my start page. However, I could imagine that other people who set up their smartphones in a less organised manner will really like the function. Even if what’s shown doesn’t have a wow factor for me in terms of AI.
AI Select: AI interacts with the screen
With «AI Select», Samsung has expanded Circle-to-Search. This part of Galaxy AI recognises what’s on the smartphone screen and can perform various actions with it. This includes a whole range of tasks, from screenshots of marked or recognised areas to translations and the creation of a calendar entry from a recognised appointment. I can even create GIFs with the tool, it couldn’t be easier.
Source: Jan Johannsen
I find the automated calendar entries and translations particularly practical. I’m also pleased I no longer have to crop screenshots myself, but automatically get the right image section when I tap on an area or circle it.
Find photos and settings more easily
Two search functions I’ve found really practical can be used with common language. In the Samsung Gallery app, I can describe in my own words which photos I’m looking for. I can say what I want to see, when and where they were taken. And it’s striking how well it works.
Source: Jan Johannsen
I’m also very impressed by the search function in the settings. I say what I want to change and the Galaxy AI takes me straight to the right menu. I no longer have to search for the hidden setting in a submenu. Gemini can also do this on the Pixel, but I have to click again in the search results to get to the menu I’m looking for.
AI Agents: the new hot trend in the AI sector
So-called AI agents are the next step in the field of AI. Put simply, they’re supposed to understand complex voice instructions and perform actions across multiple apps. A popular example is searching for a restaurant with certain characteristics and sending an invitation.
With the examples given by Samsung, Galaxy AI is already working well across apps. However, it only has access to Samsung and Google apps as well as Spotify and WhatsApp so far. Further apps are supposed to be added in the future.
Source: Jan Johannsen
So far, however, it’s not so easy to find other actions that the Galaxy AI app can perform across all apps. There’s still a lot of trial and error required, as well as hope that you’ll be understood correctly – especially when it comes to terms in a second language – and failed attempts. This is because the necessary app isn’t available or the AI doesn’t understand what you want it to do.
With more apps and further training, Galaxy AI has the possibility to become even more useful when working across apps. However, I wouldn’t choose the Galaxy S25 Ultra over another smartphone based on this function alone.
Improved AI eraser
Samsung’s been offering image editing via AI since the Galaxy S24. With the S25, the tools you can move and resize objects with, are said to have become even better. In my opinion, recognising objects or people (groups) has greatly improved. I just circle them and the AI draws the marker on the outline. It’s only with very delicate constructions or areas that are very close in colour where the AI doesn’t cope well.
The AI also refrains from the fad of wanting to fill an empty room with something. When I was first presented with the Galaxy S25, the tool wouldn’t allow me to have an empty floor after I removed a person. Instead, either a smaller person or a garbage can appeared. After a software update on the test device, this didn’t happen again. Nevertheless, I’m very impressed with how well the AI fills in areas that can’t be seen.
There was just one case it made the wrong assumption and planted a tree in the wrong place. Even half faces are enough for it to complete them. When I tried it on a photo of myself, I still looked strange because of the symmetry.
Audio Eraser: good idea, but hardly usable
The idea of an Audio Eraser sounds good: the AI recognises sounds in videos and I can make them louder or quieter as required. However, until now this has only worked really well for me on a few occasions.
Hardware still top
The changes compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra may be minor. Complaining about the few changes compared to its predecessor doesn’t change the fact that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s an excellently equipped smartphone. My colleague Michelle took a closer look at an important change with the new ultra-wide-angle camera:
Apart from the ultra-wide-angle camera and minor design changes, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is the most important new hardware feature of the S25 Ultra. Manufacturer Qualcomm promises more performance and more efficiency for its new chipset. Samsung also receives a special «for Galaxy» version in which two of the eight computing cores are clocked 0.15 gigahertz higher. And this is noticeable in the performance of the CPU in benchmarks.
Whether Geekbench or Antutu, single or multi-core test: the Galaxy S25 Ultra leaves the conventional Snapdragon 8 Elite and the Dimensity 9400 as the current competitor chipset behind. After all, both outperform their respective predecessors.
Things look a little different when you look at the graphic calculations performed by the GPU. The Snapdragon 8 Elite of the S25 Ultra also beats the previous year’s chipsets here. However, it lags behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite of the Honor Magic7 Pro and the Dimensity 9400 of the Oppo Find X8 Pro.
Surprisingly long battery life
The Mate X3’s battery has a 5,000 mAh capacity. The running time, on the other hand, has changed remarkably. With the PC Mark Work 3.0 battery test, I measured 16:10 hours at full display brightness. That’s about 5 hours more than the S24 Ultra managed. If you compare it to other top Android models, the gap’s even greater.
It can’t be down to the efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Elite alone. The Honor Magic7 Pro also has one of these, but it doesn’t even achieve half the battery life despite a slightly larger battery.
The charging speed of the S25 Ultra is more than fast enough at 45 watts. In 30 minutes, the battery’s already at about 65 per cent. It then slows down and isn’t quite full in 60 minutes, but reaches around 90 per cent. And since it’s rarely completely empty, after an hour it’s even higher or already at 100 per cent.
Source: Jan Johannsen
The Galaxy supports wireless charging with up to 15 watts. It’s Qi2 Ready – meaning it achieves the charging speed of the standard, but has no built-in magnets. To attach it to a charging station, you need a suitable case with magnets.
S Pen without Bluetooth
With the S Pen, the S25 Ultra remains the only relevant smartphone with a stylus. It can’t do anything new, but remains practical for writing and drawing. However, as of this year, it no longer supports Bluetooth. As a result, you can no longer use it as a remote shutter release for photos. Samsung says that only one per cent of people have used it, but there’s been quite an uproar about the loss.
Source: Jan Johannsen
In a nutshell
Subtle adjustments make a good smartphone even better
Complaining about the few changes compared to its predecessor doesn’t change the fact that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a very good smartphone. In my opinion, the biggest plus point is the significantly longer battery life. Not to forget the chipset performance has increased massively – although the S24 Ultra is already very well positioned here.
I like all the small design adjustments to the S25 Ultra. I’m a fan of the slightly more angular frame and the flat display – it still looks very nice and it’s grown a bit. Thanks to the narrower edges, however, the smartphone has remained the same size – and has actually even become a little thinner.
With its telephoto lenses, the camera system is still one of the best among smartphones. I don’t miss the lens selection of an SLR camera.
I’m not yet completely convinced by what Samsung’s focusing on with the S25 Ultra: Galaxy AI. The new AI functions sound helpful in theory. In practice, they still have to learn, need access to more apps and in some cases I’m still not entirely sure why they’re necessary. But there are also AI tools that I don’t want to go without.
The functions of Galaxy AI are also available on the cheaper S25 and S25 Plus. The main things you have to go without are the S Pen, some display size and the additional telephoto camera.
The question also remains as to when and which Galaxy AI functions previously exclusive to the S25 series will be available on older models. Once we know this, it’ll be easy to assess whether the cheaper S24 Ultra is an attractive alternative. Overall, it’s still a very good smartphone and will receive software updates for another six years.
Pro
- Super long battery life
- Plenty of power
- Excellent cameras
- Beautiful design customisations
Contra
- Galaxy AI still has a lot to learn in some areas
- S Pen without Bluetooth
Header image: Jan Johannsen
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As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
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