Last year Samsung embraced artificial intelligence with its suite of Galaxy AI features. And while the new S25 Ultra is a bit faster, a little curvier and has a slightly bigger display than before, it’s clear the company’s primary focus was upgrading the software and machine learning capabilities of its top-spec flagship phone. But is that enough?
Design: A curvier titanium frame with a handful of quirks
Similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy S25 Ultra features a titanium frame. However, for 2025, Samsung wanted to buck tradition by making the phone a bit less boxy. So instead of a totally angular chassis, Samsung rounded off its corners. This gives the Ultra a bit more of a familial resemblance to its less expensive siblings (both the S25 and S25+). That said, the Ultra still has flat edges that are a touch sharper than on last year’s phone, so it’s more of a remix than a full revamp.
For its front and back glass, Samsung moved to Corning’s new Gorilla Armor 2, which features a “next-gen” anti-reflective coating that helps eliminate more glare than before. But perhaps the best new hardware upgrade is a larger 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED display (up from 6.8 inches) with 15 percent smaller bezels, allowing for more screen space without increasing the phone’s overall dimensions (6.41 x 3.05 x 0.32 inches).
On the flip side, the S25 Ultra’s included S Pen is actually getting a tiny downgrade as Samsung is removing Bluetooth Low Energy support from the stylus. This might seem like a bit of a headscratcher, but Samsung claims only a tiny percentage of owners were using Air Actions (which was the only S Pen feature that required BT LE) and that by getting rid of it, the stylus is more durable than before because there’s no need worry about equipping it with tiny radios. The company also says the only gesture that saw significant use was the one for remotely triggering the phone’s camera, which can be accomplished in a variety of other ways (e.g. holding up your palm or using a Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring).
Another design quirk is that while the S25 family (including the Ultra) supports wireless charging at up to 15 watts, it’s not technically fully Qi2 compliant. Instead, Samsung says…