The Galaxy S24 phones (left) are replaced by the Galaxy S25 phones (right).
Credit: Samsung / Lifehacker
The Samsung Galaxy S25 series is here: Specifically, the Galaxy S25, the Galaxy S25+, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra. These three handsets replace the equivalent Galaxy S24 models that launched all the way back in January 2024, and you can check out our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review to remind yourself of what we thought of them.
Of course, one of the first questions that gets asked when new phones appear is: How do these compare to last year’s models? The information collected below will tell you exactly that, with the Galaxy S25 trio compared to the Galaxy S24 trio in all the key categories that matter, from battery capacities to screen sizes.
Screen and dimensions
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Starting with the sizes and screens of these phones, the Galaxy S25 sports a 6.2-inch, 2340 x 1080 resolution, Dynamic AMOLED screen, with an overall size of 146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2 mm, and a weight of 162 grams. That screen matches the Galaxy S24 exactly, but last year’s model is slightly thicker (7.6 mm) and slightly heavier (167 grams).
With the Galaxy S25+, we’ve got a 6.7-inch, 3120 x 1440 resolution, Dynamic AMOLED screen, dimensions of 158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm, and a weight of 190 grams. Again, the screen specs are an exact match to last year, and again, the older S24 Plus is a little thicker (7.7 mm) and a little heavier (196 grams).
As for the top-tier Galaxy S25 Ultra, it boasts a 6.9-inch, 3120 x 1440 resolution, Dynamic AMOLED screen, plus an overall size of 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2 mm and a weight of 218 grams. The Galaxy S24 Ultra, by comparison, has a smaller 6.8-inch screen with the same resolution—it’s also a bit taller (79 mm), a bit thicker (8.6 mm), and a bit heavier (232 grams) than the newest model.
Colors and design
You can pick up the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ in Silver Shadow, Navy, Icy Blue, and Mint—which are a bit less inspiring than the Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, Amber Yellow, Jade Green, Sandstone Orange, and Sapphire Blue options of their predecessors (though Samsung may well announce additional colors further down the line).
When it comes to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, your options are Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Whitesilver, and Titanium Silverblue. On the Galaxy S24 Ultra we get Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow, Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, and Titanium Orange, though again stay tuned for more options at a later date.
Design-wise, everything is mostly as it was before, though the phones get a bit of a camera lens border revamp that seems to be inspired by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. The S25 Ultra is sporting a slightly new look, as its corners are more rounded than the S24 Ultra, making it less Note-esque and more like the other phones in the series.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series.
Credit: Samsung
Key internal specs
All the new Galaxy S25 phones use the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which should be a step up from the Galaxy S24 series: The 2024 phones use a mixture of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and Samsung’s own Exynos 2400, depending on which part of the world they’re being sold in.
There’s a standard 12GB of RAM in every Galaxy S25 model, with 128GB and 256GB storage options on the standard S25, and 256GB and 512GB available on the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra. The only difference in this regard with last year’s phones is with the Galaxy S24, which comes with 8GB of RAM rather than 12GB.
Battery capacities for the Galaxy S25 phones match the Galaxy S24 phones—4,000 mAh for the standard, 4,900 mAh for the Plus, and 5,000 mAh for the Ultra—and the charging speeds haven’t changed either. You’ll still get 25W wired charging speeds on the standard model, and 45W wired charging speeds on the Plus and Ultra phones.
Cameras
With a 50MP primary camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera (3x optical zoom) on the back, the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus match up exactly with the 2024 phones they’re following on from—at least in hardware terms, before any extra software processing is taken into account.
As for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it has a rear camera setup consisting of a 200MP primary camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, a 10MP telephoto camera (3x optical zoom), and a 50MP telephoto camera (5x optical zoom). The one change here from the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the ultra-wide camera, which is 12MP on the older model.
When it comes to the front-facing selfie camera, all three Galaxy S25 phones go with a single 12MP snapper, which matches up with the Galaxy S24 series across the board. (The S25 Ultra, however, gets auto-focus here.) There’s very little to choose between the 2024 and 2025 models in terms of cameras, and it’s the same for the rest of the hardware specs—save for the upgraded Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset running everything.