Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. S25+ vs. S25 Ultra: What's the Difference?

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Design: Look Close to Spot the Changes

Samsung has changed little when it comes to design. All three Galaxy S25 phones have rounded corners, though the Ultra's curves aren't as gentle as its siblings.

The Galaxy S25 remains the smallest member of the group. It measures 5.78 by 2.78 by 0.28 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.71 ounces, making it easy to hold and put in a pocket. The Galaxy S25+ sits in the middle of the lineup, measuring 6.24 by 2.98 by 0.29 inches and weighing 6.70 ounces. The S25 Ultra is the largest of the bunch at 6.41 by 3.06 by 0.32 inches and 7.69 ounces.

Get the Best Price on a Galaxy S25

You won't find expandable storage or a headphone jack on these phones, though the Ultra model carries over the embedded S Pen stylus. Of note, Samsung has removed the Bluetooth radio from the S Pen this year. This means you won't be able to use Air Actions or use the Pen to trigger the camera shutter.

The Galaxy S25 line is just as waterproof and safe from dust as the S24 line, thanks to its IP68 rating. The S25 and S25+ use Samsung's Armor Aluminum for their frames, while the Ultra sticks to titanium. The Ultra also features the new anti-reflective Corning Gorilla Armor 2 on the front, which resists fractures 29% better than the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Gorilla Armor. Gorilla Glass Victus 2 covers the back of the Ultra and the front and back of the S25 and S25+.

The S25 and S25+ are offered in Icyblue, Mint, Navy, or Silver Shadow. Exclusive colors via Samsung's website include Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold. The Ultra comes in Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Silverblue, or Titanium Whitesilver. Its online-exclusive colors are Titanium Jadegreen, TItanium Jetblack (the same as Titanium Black, but with a black frame), and Titanium Pinkgold.

Displays: Small, Medium, and Large

Like the Galaxy S24, the S25 line features a flat Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a variable 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. The screen feels responsive and remains easily visible in direct sunlight.

The displays on the base S25 and S25+ are the same as last year's models; the S25 has a 6.2-inch display with 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, and the S25+ features a 6.7-inch screen with 3,120 by 1,440 pixels. The Ultra now features a 6.9-inch display (up from 6.8) with 3,120 by 1,440 pixels. Samsung says it reduced the thickness of the bezels by 15% to fit the larger display in the S25 Ultra while keeping the phone's overall dimensions mostly unchanged.

Samsung also includes its Pro Scaler technology in the S25 series, which upscales source content to match your display's resolution. This effect is better seen on the larger S25+ and Ultra. You cannot turn this feature off.

Power: All Elite

Each Galaxy S25 is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor, with a 40% increase in NPU performance, a 37% increase in CPU performance, and a 30% increase in GPU compared with the previous generation chip. Samsung had Qualcomm create a customized application processor, which allows the Galaxy S25 series to perform more on-device AI functions.

To keep things cool, Samsung has increased the size of the vapor chambers across the S25 lineup. The S25 Ultra's vapor chamber is 40% larger than that of the S24 Ultra, while the S25 and S25+ vapor chambers see a 15% increase. Moreover, the SoC is covered in a new material to help transfer heat from the chip to the vapor chamber. These upgrades should maintain sustained high performance across all three phones.

Samsung says the Elite 8 is the processor across all S25s globally. In the past, Samsung has used Qualcomm processors for North America-bound Galaxy S phones and its in-house Exynos processors for the rest of the world.

The standard RAM for all three models is 12GB, but storage varies. The S25 is available with either 128GB or 256GB, while the S25+ offers 256GB or 512GB. The base model Ultra has 256GB of storage but can be configured with 512GB or 1TB if you prefer. All three phones support fast LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage, just like the S24 line.

In testing, we found all three models performed similarly and proved outstanding. In Geekbench 6, which measures raw CPU performance, the S25 hit a single-core score of 3,050 and a multi-core score of 9,559. The S25+ reached scores of 3,109 and 10,054, while the S25 Ultra scored 3,121 and 9,937. All three also improved their gaming performance in the GFXBench Aztec Ruins test with better frame rates than competitors like the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the OnePlus 13.

Connectivity: The Latest Radios

All three models feature nearly identical radio packages. Each Galaxy S25 supports 5G (sub-6GHz and mmWave), Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and Wi-Fi 7. Ultra-wideband radios are available on the S25+ and S25 Ultra models only. In testing, 5G and Wi-Fi speeds were similar across the board.

Cameras: Familiar Arrays

The camera modules of the S25 and S25+ are the same as those of their S24 counterparts. They feature a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and 30x hybrid Space Zoom.

The S25 Ultra carries over the 200MP f/1.7 main shooter from the S24 Ultra, the 10MP telephoto camera with 3x zoom, and the 50MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and 100x Space Zoom. New for this year is a 50MP ultrawide camera, up from the 12MP sensor of the S24 Ultra. All three Galaxy S25 phones rely on the same 12MP f/2.2 front-facing camera.

As for video capture, all three models can record in 8K resolution at up to 30fps and allow you to record with stabilization at lower resolutions and framerates. The front-facing camera maxes out at 4K resolution at 60fps.

New this year is Samsung's ProVisual Engine with support for HDR portraits, Log video capture, false color correction, and Zebra pattern correction. The Ultra gains high-resolution macro photography using the 50MP ultra-wide camera.

Batteries: No Compromises

Battery capacities are unchanged from the Galaxy S24 devices. The S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra have 4,000mAh, 4,900mAh, and 5,000mAh batteries, respectively. Despite carrying over the batteries year over year, Samsung says the Snapdragon Elite 8, together with its redesigned One UI 7 software, helps to increase battery life dramatically.

We did not see huge gains compared with the S24 lineup, but every Galaxy S25 model lasted more than 14 hours in our tests. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Ultra both ran for 14 hours and 15 minutes, while the S25+ kept running for 14 hours and 40 minutes. In other words, you get about the same battery life no matter which one you pick.

Wired and wireless charging rates also stay the same as the S24 series. The S25 can charge at up to 25W wired, while the S25+ and S25 Ultra can charge at 45W. Wireless charging is supported at up to 15W, while Wireless Power Share (aka reverse wireless charging) remains at 4.5W. The phones don't support Qi2 wireless charging but are "Qi2 ready." This means using a magnetized case will get you magnetized Qi2 charging when used with a compatible charger.

Software: Galaxy AI for All

All three phones run Android 15 with Samsung's One UI 7 atop it. The devices will receive seven generations of OS updates and seven years of security updates.

The Galaxy S25 series builds on the AI features of last year's models. Long-pressing the side button brings up Google Gemini by default, though you can change that to Bixby or a Power Off menu. Samsung is introducing cross-app functionality so you can get more done with a single request. For example, you can ask, "Add the next Boston Celtics game to my calendar." Gemini will get the game data and then create an event in your calendar (Google or Samsung) with that one request.

AI Select is smarter than before. This feature can see what's on your screen and offer context-aware suggestions. If a video is playing on screen, calling up AI Select gives you the option to create a GIF. You can also extract text from within videos. Circle to Search can already search by image and text, but it now supports audio search to find out what's playing.

Natural language search is now available in Samsung Gallery and Settings, so you can find what you need without knowing particular phrases or syntax. Saying, "My eyes hurt" in Settings brings up display settings like Eye Comfort Shield.

Samsung has improved Generative Image Editing, which can be done completely on the device (if you download an LLM packet). However, if you don't want to download the LLM, you can make the same edits as long as you are online.

These features are available across the S25 line. In our tests, we found all three phones performed AI tasks at the same speed and generated the same results.

Which Galaxy S25 Is Right for You?

Samsung's Galaxy S25 lineup is available now. Consider the following points before buying:

• If you want Snapdragon 8 Elite power with cutting-edge Samsung Galaxy AI in the smallest package, the base Galaxy S25 is the phone for you (as long as you don't mind the slower charging speeds).

• If you want all that power plus a higher-resolution screen and increased storage options, the Galaxy S25+ is the way to go at a still reasonable price.

• If you're looking for 1TB of storage, a high-resolution ultrawide camera with macro features and strong telephoto performance, and you like taking notes with a stylus, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is your best bet.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra earned our Editors' Choice award because it adds an S Pen and an extra camera with additional zoom power. However, it could be overkill for many, particularly at its $1,299.99 price. The cameras of the S25 and S25+ are identical and produce beautiful images. Considering their similar performance and battery lives, your decision could boil down to how large a phone you'd like or how much. you want to spend.