When Samsung launched the Galaxy S25 Ultra at its Unpacked event earlier this month, you’d be forgiven if you forgot that there were two other phones introduced: the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus. The hype for the Ultra (and the Galaxy Ring) mostly overshadowed the other two. And that’s a shame because after using the S25 and S25 Plus for the past two days, I’m starting to think that the best Samsung phone to get in 2025 might not be the Ultra.
Most of my time has been spent testing the Galaxy S25 Plus which has been an absolute delight. If the S25 Plus were an illustration, it would basically be the Venn diagram overlap between the regular S25 and the S25 Ultra. But this year, the S25 Plus skews a bit more towards the Ultra, and the Ultra skews a bit more expensive, thanks to a $100 price increase. All of this has become a bit of a conundrum for me as I got to know the S25 Plus better. Is the $1,000 (£999, AU$1,699) Galaxy S25 Plus a poor man’s Ultra?
While its aluminum design, squared off sides and iPhone-like rounded corners are just a bigger version of the regular S25, the Galaxy S25 Plus has a new screen that has the same resolution as the S25 Ultra. In fact, since the S25 Plus has a smaller 6.7-inch display, compared to the 6.8-inch one on the Ultra, the Plus actually has a higher pixel density. It’s only an 8-pixel difference and I know most people can’t see it. I can’t see it myself, but in my heart I know it’s more and that’s something.
The Plus and Ultra have the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, screen brightness and resolution, RAM, Galaxy AI features and storage options (except 1TB is reserved only for the Ultra). The Ultra is made of titanium instead of aluminum, has an ever-so-slightly bigger battery, houses an S Pen and, of course, has better cameras (on paper).
But now that the Ultra is $1,300, it costs $300 more than the S25 Plus. While I need to test the S25 Plus more to see if that $300 gap is worth it or not, the Plus has already made an impression on me after just a couple of days.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum
During my testing, the S25 Plus lasted two days on a single charge, ending the second day at 11 p.m. with the battery at 11%. The S25 Plus has a larger 4,900-mAh battery than last year’s S24 Plus, which has a 4,700-mAh battery. The first day of use involved a lot of downloading, having the screen on at full brightness for a photoshoot in the morning and then keeping the screen at full brightness for a video shoot in the afternoon. And that was all while trying out new features like Circle to Search throughout the day. The Plus’ battery ended the first day at 38%.
The second day was a bit more normal in terms of my workflow. I tried more new AI features. The phone can expand a photo’s frame to show parts that were cut off, and it can erase an object from an image. I’m obsessed with keeping the horizons on my photos level (sorry, my dad was an architect) so being able to straighten a photo and then use the S25 Plus’ onboard AI, called Generative Edit, to create new edges seemed too good to be true. The results weren’t great, but they weren’t horrible either.
I had a similar experience using the same Generative Edit tool on photos. The untouched photo below is of my colleague Mariel Myers.
My original photo of Mariel.
Take a look below at another version of the photo. Using the edit tool, I moved the striped pillow, enlarged it and repositioned it above Mariel’s head. I also straightened the photo, then let the AI do its thing. The results? For better or worse, it’s obvious that something has been altered, but it’s still fun. The fill around the photo’s edges and the background fill where the couch pillow was look off. Note that the bottom left corner now has a tiny AI watermark to let you know that the photo was altered. The photo’s EXIF data also includes a “Modified with Generative edit” label.
Can you tell something is different? And I’m not talking about the giant floating pillow.
I did one more version, which you can see below. This time I moved the coffee cup from the table, enlarged it and placed it above Mariel’s head. The S25 Plus did a better job filling things in here. The part of the table the phone’s AI generated to fill in where the coffee cup was looks decent on a first glance. If you look closer though, you can tell something was altered on that corner.
More AI photo-editing fun.
Let’s come back to the Circle To Search feature. It should really be called Circle To Buy — it’s like having Google Lens built right into the screen. If there’s an image being shown on a website, app or social feed you can circle it, or a part of it, to start an instant Google search.
I came across a photo of a dog wearing sunglasses while on Instagram (which I immediately liked of course). I pressed and held the home button for a second, then circled the dog in the image. Search results for bulldogs populated the bottom of the screen. I tried the feature again on the same photo, this time circling the dog’s sunglasses. The search results showed that the glasses were from Prada (this was clearly a fancy dog) and included several different options to buy them. And no, though I was tempted, I did not.
The S25 Plus has the same cameras on the back as the S24 Plus: a trio of wide, ultrawide and telephoto lenses. The main camera has a 50-megapixel sensor. Below are a few photos I took with the main camera and as you can see in good lighting, images look great. No surprise there.
Shot on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus main camera.
Shot on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus main camera.
Shot on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus main camera.
So after two days, I can only come to one conclusion about the Galaxy S25 Plus: I have a lot more testing to do. My full impressions will be coming soon in a future review. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to solve my Ultra vs. Plus conundrum, too.
Watch this: Samsung Reveals Its New S25 Series Phones and Their AI Chops
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra specs vs. Galaxy S25 Plus, Galaxy S25
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus | Samsung Galaxy S25 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate | 6.8-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate | 6.7-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate | 6.2-inch AMOLED; 2,340×1,080 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate |
| Pixel density | 501 ppi | 509 ppi | 416 ppi |
| Dimensions (inches) | 6.40 x 3.11 x 0.34 in. | 6.25 x 3 x 0.3 in. | 5.79 x 2.78 x 0.3 in. |
| Dimensions (millimeters) | 163 x 79 x 8.6 mm | 158 x 76 x 7.6 mm | 147 x 71 x 7.6 mm |
| Weight (grams, ounces) | 243 g (8.22 oz.) | 197 g (6.95 oz.) | 168 g (5.93 oz.) |
| Mobile software | Android 14 | Android 14 | Android 14 |
| Camera | 200-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 50-megapixel (5x telephoto) | 50-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (telephoto) | 50-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (telephoto) |
| Front-facing camera | 12-megapixel | 12-megapixel | 12-megapixel |
| Video capture | 8K | 8K | 8K |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
| RAM/storage | 12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB | 8GB RAM + 128GB, 256GB |
| Expandable storage | None | None | None |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh | 4,900 mAh | 4,000 mAh |
| Fingerprint sensor | Under display | Under display | Under display |
| Connector | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
| Headphone jack | None | None | None |
| Special features | Titanium frame, 2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; integrated S Pen; UWB for finding other devices; 45W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Armor cover glass | 2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; 45W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 6E | 2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; 25W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 6E |
| US price starts at | $1,300 (256GB) | $1,000 (256GB) | $800 (128GB) |
| UK price starts at | £1,259 (256GB) | £999 (256GB) | £799 (128GB) |
| Australia price starts at | AU$2,199 (256GB) | AU$1,699 (256GB) | AU$1,399 (256GB) |