With all of Samsung’s 2024 flagship launches now behind us, my attention has shifted to the next generation—starting with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. While we won’t see it until early 2025, plenty of details have already surfaced. Here’s why I’m looking forward to the S25 Ultra.
1 Refined Design With Better Ergonomics
While the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a performance powerhouse, one of its biggest drawbacks, as mentioned in our S24 Ultra review, is its bulky design. The device is huge, and despite its slightly curved edges, it’s hard to hold. It often digs into your palm, causing discomfort, especially during prolonged use. Thankfully, Samsung is allegedly addressing this issue with the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra.
According to reliable leaker Ice Universe and CAD renders shared by OnLeaks, Samsung is refining the design by giving the S25 Ultra subtly rounded corners, similar to the non-Ultra models. Additionally, Ice Universe says the flagship will be thinner, measuring 8.4mm compared to the S24 Ultra’s 8.6mm thickness. It may also see a slight weight reduction to 219 grams. These tweaks should result in a much better in-hand feel overall.
While the overall design isn’t undergoing a complete overhaul, it’s clear that Samsung is listening to feedback and ironing out the small design issues from the previous generation.
While we’re on the topic of design, Ice Universe expects the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to sport a slightly larger 6.86-inch display, up from 6.79 inches on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. What’s impressive is that Samsung is reportedly achieving this without increasing the overall size of the device. By shrinking the bezels even further, the S25 Ultra will fit a larger display into the same body, offering more screen real estate.
According to another X (formerly Twitter) post, the S25 Ultra will have slimmer bezels than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, resulting in a higher screen-to-body ratio and an even sleeker front design. While the S24 Ultra’s display was already top-notch, having a bigger screen with minimal bezels will provide an even more immersive viewing experience.
3 Sharper Ultra-Wide and Telephoto Lenses
Despite having a four-camera setup, one of the main drawbacks of the Galaxy S24 Ultra has been its underwhelming ultra-wide shots. While the images look sharp in daylight, many users on Reddit have complained that the sensor struggles in low-light conditions, producing noisy and grainy results. Thankfully, it seems like Samsung is addressing this issue with the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra.
According to a leak on X (formerly Twitter), the Galaxy S25 Ultra will sport a new 50MP ultra-wide lens, up from the 12MP sensor on the previous generation. Additionally, as per a Weibo post, the 3x telephoto lens will receive a major upgrade to 50MP (up from 10MP), marking the first time Samsung has improved this sensor since the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
These improvements on the Galaxy S25 Ultra should result in much sharper and clearer shots.
4 More AI Features and One UI 7
Galaxy AI was one of the major focuses for the Galaxy S24 series, and Samsung isn’t slowing down with the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra.
According to a report from Korea’s Daum Herald Economy, the S25 Ultra will be one of the few flagships to run Google’s on-device LLM model, Gemini Nano; it will even support the newer Gemini Nano 2. While details on Gemini Nano 2 are scarce, it’s expected to deliver improved AI performance and introduce new features.
Additionally, the S25 Ultra will be the first Samsung device to debut with One UI 7, based on Android 15. According to Samsung’s press release, One UI 7 will focus on a simpler, more “emotive design.”
Overall, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is shaping up to be a solid upgrade over its predecessor. Samsung appears to be addressing not just the big issues but also the minor user complaints. I’m particularly excited to see how the design tweaks and updated camera sensors will impact the real-world experience.
