Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Ultra
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is out, bringing the usual set of small upgrades over the previous model. Alongside the mandatory chipset refresh and subtle design tweaks, we're getting a new camera (just one, and more of a sidestep than an obvious upgrade), plus what's looking like a downgrade to the S Pen. In the next few paragraphs, we'll be examining if the upgrades are worth it, or if the S24 Ultra is the better Galaxy Ultra to have - or at least the better value.
Table of Contents:
For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor's assessment in the following text.
Size comparison
You wouldn't mistake the S25 Ultra for a compact phone by any stretch of the imagination and it's every bit as Galaxy Note-like as you'd expect from the lineup - as is the S24 Ultra, of course. That said, on the new model, Samsung has managed to shave off 1.4mm from the width and 0.4mm from the thickness - it might sound negligible, but it's actually quite the feat.
The numbers are half the story, but there are also some principle changes too. The overall flattening of everything - the display, the rear panel, but also now especially the sides - makes the S25 Ultra somehow more manageable in hand, more comfortable and safer to operate. That's the general consensus in the office, at least - perhaps it's worth trying both out in person to get a sense of which handset you prefer, because they do handle a little differently.
When it comes to materials and build, both handsets are an ensemble of Gorilla Armor and titanium. The S24 Ultra uses the first version of Corning's glass-ceramic formulation under this name, while S25 Ultra has the second-gen product. The new model also replaces the grade 2 titanium with grade 5. Ultimately, the S25 Ultra should be more durable than the S24 Ultra, but how much of a difference that's going to make in the real world is anyone's guess. Both models have IP68 ratings, for what that's worth.
Just like in previous years, there are two types of colorways you can get the S25 Ultra in - there's one set that carriers and retailers get, and another, additional set that's exclusive to Samsung.com. 'Titanium' is always part of the name, and Black and Gray are shared between the two generations, the other options differing slightly from year to year.
Perhaps here we should mention one of the disappointments of the year - the S Pen's lack of power and connectivity. Sure, it still has the fine pressure sensing and remains an unrivaled proposition for scribbling things, drawing, and whatnot. But the stylus on the S25 Ultra can't be used for air gestures (which doesn't sound like too big of a deal) or for remote camera actuation (which is what is really going to be missed). So, in that sense, the S24 Ultra is the more feature-rich option.
Display comparison
Among the S25 Ultra's few changes compared to the previous model is the display - its diagonal now stands at 6.9 inches as opposed to the 6.8 inches on the S24 Ultra and it's a negligible difference in size.
Both panels have a 1,440x3,120px resolution in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and a 120Hz maximum refresh rate. There's no Dolby Vision video support on either (just the Samsung-backed competing HDR10+ standard) and Samsung only promises 16M colors on both (8-bit panels; other makers offer 10-bit or even 12-bit color). These are pretty good screens and there's not a lot of significant apparent differences - somehow it's other brands that have superior specced displays.
In our brightness testing, we got more or less the same results from both Ultras - over 1,400nits in adaptive brightness mode and in the 750-800nits ballpark when setting brightness manually (with Extra brightness enabled; otherwise - in the mid-400s).
Of course, both displays feature Gorilla Armor protection and while the newer model has gen 2 of Corning's super-special concoction (gen 1 on the S24 Ultra), both have anti-reflective properties that set them apart from the rest of the crowd. Again though - largely the same viewing experience on these two.