None among the Android world (at least, in the West) compete with Apple’s iPhone on cachet, fervor, and sales numbers (you heard me, Google Pixel), except for Samsung’s long-running Galaxy series.
No doubt it’s the Apple grapefruit(?) of Samsung’s eye, then, when it had an entire event held its beloved device: Galaxy Unpacked 2025. Today on January 22, Samsung announced the three successors to its Galaxy S24 lineup.
Nothing too surprising or drastic, the Galaxy S25 is more of an evolution of a fantastic device than a revolutionary year of drastic redesign or killer new features.
pretty much what we expected
The screens carry over from the S24 across all three sub-types, except that the S25 Ultra gains 0.1″. Otherwise, the dimensions, resolution, brightness, and refresh rate are the same. All are 0.4mm slimmer than their S24 counterparts and a few grams lighter.
The cameras are all familiar from the S24 range, except the S25 Ultra’s ultra-wide lens is now f/1.9 with a 50-megapixel sensor, versus the S24 Ultra’s f/2.2 lens and 12-megapixel sensor. Batteries, too, remain the same, although the S25s seem to be more efficient and pick up an extra hour of expected battery life.
So let’s talk about what’s different. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is replaced by the faster Snapdragon 8 Elite, and while the S25+ and S25 Ultra have the same 12GB of RAM as their 24 predecessors, Samsung has also bestowed 12GB on the base-level S25, up from 8GB.
Except quicker performance from both. Samsung’s rollout of its AI assistant across its smartphone range means greater demands on the performance, and the littlest sibling of the Galaxy S25 lineup has to keep up.
We can breathe easily for another year that Samsung didn’t raise the price. The base-level S25 launches at the same $799 price that the S24 costs… for now. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the S24’s price receive a haircut once the S25s begin landing on the shelves.
hedging on the edge
Toward the end of the event, Samsung teased the particularly thin Galaxy S25 Edge, which we’d thought was going to be called the Galaxy S25 Slim. Honestly, I liked the latter better. The former makes me think of that part of Disney World done up like a Star Wars set, Galaxy’s Edge.
Meanwhile, PhoneArena featured a list of the 39 countries where the Galaxy Edge will be released, according to a “historically trusted source” that reached out to them. The U.S. isn’t on the list.
But then again, Bloomberg tech journalist and collector of smartphone leaks Mark Gurman says the Galaxy S25 Edge is coming to the U.S. in the first half of this year, priced below the $1,299 Ultra.
could it be your north star?
Choices, choices. If the standard Galaxy S25’s 7.2mm girth (0.4mm slimmer than the S24) is just too much for your pocket, you’ll have to watch and wait for the S25 Edge and its (rumored) 6.4mm thickness.
For the impatient, or those who don’t care about a millimeter here and there, pre-orders for the S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra are live now, and those orders will be filled when the Galaxy S25 range goes on sale on February 7.
My take? The Galaxy S25 is a fantastic device and among the very best Android has to offer. If you already have an S24, keep yours. The S25 isn’t that much of an upgrade, unless you’re going from S24 to S25+ or S25 Ultra.
But if your Galaxy is an S23 or earlier, or if you’re migrating from another smartphone family, the S25 appears to be another entry among the best in the galaxy.
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