Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Review: A Refinement, Not a Revolution
The S25 Ultra brings a new ultrawide sensor, thinner bezels and Snapdragon 8 Elite to Samsung's flagship formula. Read our full verdict on whether the polish is enough.
Samsung didn't reinvent the Ultra line this year, and it didn't need to. The S25 Ultra takes last year's winning formula and files off the rough edges: a faster chip, a genuinely upgraded ultrawide sensor, and a marginally slimmer body. If you were hoping for a dramatic redesign, this isn't it. If you wanted the existing formula tightened up, it delivers exactly that.
At £1,249 for the base 256GB model, it costs the same as the S24 Ultra did at launch — a rare instance of a flagship not getting more expensive year over year.
Design and Build
The titanium frame carries over from the S24 Ultra, with Samsung shaving the bezels down slightly for a marginally larger screen-to-body ratio. At 218g it's a touch lighter than its predecessor — not enough to notice blind, but a welcome direction of travel. The new Gorilla Armor 2 glass on the front is genuinely better at resisting fingerprints and reflections than last year's panel.
Four colours are available at launch — Titanium Black, Gray, Silverblue, and Whitesilver — all suitably restrained. IP68 remains the water and dust resistance standard.
Display
The 6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel is essentially unchanged in size and resolution from last year, but peak brightness climbs to 2,600 nits, which is noticeable in direct sunlight. The 1–120Hz adaptive refresh rate remains seamless, and colour accuracy in Natural mode continues to be excellent. This is still one of the best screens on any phone, even if it isn't meaningfully different from the S24 Ultra's.
Performance
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is a genuine step up — Qualcomm's move to custom Oryon cores shows up clearly in sustained workloads, not just peak benchmark numbers. Everything about day-to-day use feels instantaneous: app launches, camera processing, multitasking. Thermal management is excellent; the phone gets warm under extended gaming sessions but doesn't throttle noticeably.
Camera System
The headline change is the ultrawide sensor, which jumps from 12MP without autofocus to 50MP with proper autofocus. That sounds like a spec-sheet bump, but it has a real practical effect: macro shots, previously a weak point, are now genuinely usable, and low-light ultrawide shots hold detail far better than the S24 Ultra's panel ever could.
The 200MP main sensor and 50MP 5× periscope telephoto carry over unchanged, and remain excellent — pixel-level detail in daylight, strong dynamic range, and a periscope zoom that few rivals can match for reach without a noticeable quality drop. Video tops out at 8K/30fps on the main sensor, with 4K/120fps also available.
Battery Life
The 5,000mAh cell is identical in capacity to the S24 Ultra, but the more efficient chip translates into a modest real-world improvement — around half an hour of extra screen-on time in my mixed-use testing, landing at roughly 7 hours. 45W wired charging fills the phone from flat in around 60 minutes; Samsung still hasn't matched the 65-100W speeds offered by Chinese rivals.
S Pen
The S Pen is still built in and still free, which alone sets the Ultra apart from every other mainstream flagship. But this generation quietly drops Bluetooth connectivity from the stylus itself — no more remote-shutter button presses or air-gesture navigation. Writing and sketching performance is unaffected and remains excellent, but power users who relied on the wireless features will notice the loss.
Verdict
GSMTechTok Verdict
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is a genuinely better phone than the S24 Ultra, just not a dramatically different one. The new ultrawide sensor is the standout practical upgrade, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip makes everything feel that bit snappier. If you own an S24 Ultra, there's little urgency to upgrade. If you're coming from anything older, or want the single best Android phone money can buy right now, this remains the answer — with the caveat that Samsung's own S26 Ultra has since taken the crown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra worth £1,249?
Yes, if you already value what the Ultra line offers — the S Pen, the periscope zoom, the biggest display. It's a smaller step up from the S24 Ultra than that phone was from the S23 Ultra, so existing S24 Ultra owners can comfortably skip a generation.
What actually changed from the Galaxy S24 Ultra?
The main upgrades are the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, a new 50MP ultrawide sensor with autofocus (up from 12MP), thinner bezels, and Gorilla Armor 2 glass. The core design, camera hardware elsewhere, and battery capacity are unchanged.
Does the S25 Ultra still come with the S Pen?
Yes, built in as always, but this generation drops Bluetooth connectivity from the S Pen — no more remote shutter or air gestures. It's now purely a passive stylus, which some reviewers see as a step backward.
Price history · 90 days · GBP
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Current
£1,099
Saving
12% off launch
90d Low
£1,040
18 Aug
90d High
£1,265
3 Jun
Launch price
£1,249
All-time low ↓
Price tracking from major UK retailers. Updated daily. Prices may vary.
How it compares: S25 Ultra vs S26 Ultra
Samsung
Galaxy S25 Ultra
From £1,249
Samsung
Galaxy S26 Ultra
From £1,299
6.9" QHD+ 120Hz AMOLED
Display
6.9" QHD+ 120Hz AMOLED
200MP f/1.7 OIS
Main cam
200MP f/1.7 OIS
Snapdragon 8 Elite
Chip
Snapdragon 8 Elite 2
5,000mAh · 45W
Battery
5,500mAh · 65W
From £1,249
Price
From £1,299
Related Reviews
87Samsung Galaxy S26+ Review: A Genuinely Good Phone With a Genuinely Awkward Job
From £999
91iPhone 17 Pro Max Review: The Best Battery Life on Any iPhone, Wrapped in a Design That Divides Opinion
From £1,040
84iQOO Neo 11 Review: Full Flagship Silicon at a Mid-Range Price, If You Can Live Without the Camera Bragging Rights
From £520