Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely evaluate: Not sufficient to justify an improve

Telephone firms are going to want to begin doing new releases each two or three years as a substitute of yearly if that is how issues are going to go any further.

Annual telephone upgrades began trying incremental to common folks years in the past, however the tech-savvy amongst us might at all times level to at the very least one or two modifications that had been truly significant. With the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely, we would have lastly handed the rubicon the place even I, knowledgeable tech author, cannot actually muster a motive why anybody with a considerably current Android telephone would wish to improve to this gadget. The variations between final yr’s mannequin and this one are so marginal as to nearly not exist.

Sure, the show could be very barely greater, and there is a new chip inside that places up good scores in benchmarks. However a lot of that new processing energy is dedicated to AI functions which are mildly helpful at finest, gimmicky on common, and outright hostile to human creativity at worst. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely isn’t a foul premium flagship by any means, but it surely’s actually tough to think about a motive why you can purchase one.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely: Worth and specs

Beginning at a staggering $1,299 (which, to be truthful, is similar value because the Extremely mannequin a yr in the past), the Galaxy S25 Extremely contains these specs:

• 6.9-inch AMOLED show with adaptive 120Hz refresh price and 3120×1440 decision

• Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor

• 256GB/512GB/1TB storage choices

• 12GB RAM

• 5,000mAh battery

For the sake of comparability, the show is a tenth of an inch greater than the S24 Extremely, whereas the brand new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is top-of-the-line telephone {hardware} in the intervening time. These are your two useful variations between the Galaxy S25 Extremely and its rapid predecessor. Show decision, storage and RAM choices, and even the scale of the battery are all equivalent between the 2024 and 2025 fashions.

Samsung truly has a comparability web page on its web site that highlights simply how related these two telephones are. In case you do not consider me, have a look for your self.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely: Design

One of many greater variations between S24 Extremely and S25 Extremely is in its bodily kind issue. To its credit score, Samsung has marginally slimmed down this yr’s mannequin, rising show measurement whereas truly making it a barely extra comfy telephone to carry.

Samsung deserves some flowers right here for ditching the laborious, 90-degree corners that framed the S24 Extremely and changing them with curved edges as a substitute. It makes the telephone considerably extra nice to carry, as does its new weight of 218g. That is 15g lighter than the S24 Extremely, which is not the largest distinction on this planet, but it surely’s actually price noting. Apart from that, these two telephones do not differ an excessive amount of from one another when it comes to design.

For posterity, the colour choices this yr are:

• Titanium Gray

• Titanium Whitesilver

• Titanium Silverblue

• Titanium Black

• Titanium Pinkgold

• Titanium Jadegreen

• Titanium Jetblack

I would even be remiss to not point out that the S Pen stylus accent is included with the S25 Extremely, because it has been in current Extremely fashions. There’s nonetheless slightly slot within the telephone the place the pen lives, and you may simply get via your day with out even remembering the pen is there should you’re not the kind of one that likes to make use of styluses. It is good in order for you it, however to be sincere, I by no means felt like I personally wanted it.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely: Efficiency

A brand new high-end cellular chipset means greater expectations for efficiency. I am glad to report that there are not any actual issues to be discovered with the way in which the S25 Extremely performs on a day-to-day foundation, although once more, the change from final yr may be fairly insignificant.

Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy does an admirable job of protecting issues shifting, as common telephone operations are satisfyingly clean and snappy. This contains the usage of AI options, that are intently tied to the brand new chip. I am going to go into extra element about what these are and the way they work later, however for now, it is price noting that each AI function I attempted labored in a short time and with out a lot trouble.

For the number-crunching heads on the market, I ran the S25 Extremely via the Geekbench 6 benchmarking software program. The outcomes listed below are pretty astonishing, as the brand new gadget’s multi-core rating is 10,049, in comparison with the Galaxy S24 Extremely’s rating of 6,675. That is a reasonably large numerical leap! I ought to observe, nevertheless, that for on a regular basis app utilization, you in all probability will not discover an enormous distinction between the 2 telephones. Each current premium flagship is quick and diminishing returns are inevitable.

Nonetheless, credit score the place it is due: This telephone is, in accordance with out there metrics, extra highly effective than the S24 Extremely.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely: Battery life

Samsung charges the 5,000mAh battery within the S25 Extremely for 31 hours of video playback. Whereas I could not fairly replicate that, I used to be happy with the outcomes I received in my testing.

In relation to common utilization, you possibly can go about 24 hours between prices with the Galaxy S25 Extremely. You may be sweating it out on the finish of that interval, relying on what you love to do along with your telephone, but it surely’s doable. After I had the telephone loop a 1080p video on its show from a one hundred pc cost till it died, I received 26 hours and 56 minutes of playback outing of the S25 Extremely.

These figures will probably range for folks relying on how they use their units, however on the entire, it is laborious to complain concerning the battery right here.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely: AI options

Samsung, Apple, and Google are all going laborious on AI options nowadays, and the Galaxy S25 Extremely isn’t any totally different. It sports activities a handful of recent AI methods which are theoretically imagined to be promoting factors for folks. I can not converse for everybody, but when I used to be a Samsung man with a flagship launched within the final three years or so, none of these things would get me to improve.

A part of that’s as a result of a few of the most closely marketed AI options on S25 Extremely aren’t actually new. Google’s Circle to Search performance is right here, however that is additionally out there on Pixel telephones and even the final 4 generations of Galaxy S-series telephones. The identical goes for Audio Eraser, a function that permits you to isolate and take away sure sounds from movies you have filmed. It is a neat trick, however Google already had it earlier than.

By way of issues which are truly new, Now Temporary might be probably the most helpful function of the bunch. It is slightly widget that lives on your own home display screen and, when tapped, opens up a single, scrollable web page that features information concerning the day’s climate, occasions in your calendar, and information tales you may discover attention-grabbing. Now Temporary is mainly only a strategy to repackage your morning routine, so that you’re solely checking one app as a substitute of two or three to search out all of that data. It isn’t large, however within the realm of AI options, it is laborious to complain about it.

Cross-app actions are additionally new and value speaking about. Now you can long-press the ability button on an S25 Extremely to carry up Gemini, and command it to carry out a number of actions throughout a number of apps for you. For instance, if you wish to know when the Tremendous Bowl is, you possibly can inform Gemini to “find the Super Bowl schedule and add it to my calendar” or one thing like that. If all goes properly, it could create calendar occasions, retailer on-line recipes in your notes, or share restaurant suggestions with associates, all based mostly on a conversational voice command.

Now Temporary and cross-app actions are nifty, however probably not important. I am totally able to trying up the day’s climate and information, or discovering out when a soccer recreation is going on in only a few seconds alone. That is actually one of the best factor I can say concerning the suite of AI options on S25 Extremely.

Lots of the different ones, that are largely made up of already-existing generative modifying options for pictures and movies, are affronts to my sensibilities. Eradicating undesirable audio from movies is good in concept, however filming in a much less noisy surroundings or discovering one other inventive answer are higher methods out of that drawback. I really feel equally about options that “clean up” pictures you have taken by utilizing AI to take away folks or objects; simply take a greater picture as a substitute of utilizing AI to create a pretend model of actuality.

Do you really need your entire pictures of your kids to have the creepy sheen of generative AI throughout them? Would you prefer it should you discovered somebody was texting or emailing you messages that had been closely edited by AI? I do not and I would not. To every their very own, however so long as these items is the crux of each new telephone launch, I will complain about it.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely: Cameras

The rear digital camera array represents the one different notable {hardware} distinction between S25 Extremely and S24 Extremely. Specifically, the ultrawide lens has been upgraded from 12MP a yr in the past to 50MP this yr. Apart from that, every part else is similar: a 200MP large lens, 50MP telephoto lens, and 12MP selfie digital camera.

I did not have an S24 Extremely readily available for direct comparisons, however the brand new ultrawide lens does produce good, colourful, sharp pictures.

Common pictures at default settings look equally crisp and vibrant.

Portrait mode’s bokeh impact is as pleasing to the attention as ever.

Whereas the telephoto zoom hasn’t been considerably altered this yr, I nonetheless had a enjoyable time enjoying with it. You may digitally zoom as much as 100x, however I discovered that protecting issues round 30x produced pictures that had been each impressively clear and did not have that smudgy “the phone made up details to fill in the blanks” look that digitally zoomed pictures usually have.

The one actual challenge I had with the S25 Extremely’s cameras got here once I tried to take pictures at night time. Nighttime pictures can rely quite a bit in your surroundings, and NYC is unquestionably too mild polluted to get one of the best leads to my expertise. That stated, the pictures I did get appeared slightly too heat and synthetic in nighttime mode. The model with none software program correction was usually nearer to what my eyes noticed, even when it wasn’t essentially one thing you’d wish to publish on social media.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely: Remaining ideas

The one motive I can actually consider to improve to a Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely is should you’re rocking a very previous handset and simply have to meet up with the occasions.

Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is certainly an influence increase over earlier generations, and high quality on a regular basis efficiency backs that up. An extended-lasting battery may also take away undesirable stress out of your life, and the digital camera array is mostly fairly good at what it does. That is, in most ways in which matter, a positive premium flagship telephone.

It is simply tough to discover a motive to suggest the S25 Extremely to anybody else for every other motive. Its {hardware} modifications are so iterative as to nearly not exist, and no matter new AI options are listed below are extra neat than life-changing. We would significantly have to rethink the entire annual launch cycle if that is going to develop into the established order.