You both fall into the “it is only a telephone” camp, otherwise you’re somebody who meticulously pores over all the brand new options of a smartphone, stays updated on all the highest gadgets yearly, and feels a way of pleasure if you have a look at your shiny, expensive funding.
That is my tenth 12 months of reviewing smartphones for a dwelling, and I nonetheless get excited. I saved up money working at my school library to purchase my first telephone, and I am simply as delighted a decade later when a brand new telephone lands on my doorstep and I get to puzzle over its new capabilities, even when it solely has minor changes over its predecessor.
Besides, I did not get any tingly emotions when the Galaxy S25 series arrived. Samsung had one of the crucial lackluster smartphone launches I’ve seen of late—not as a result of these are unhealthy telephones, however as a result of there’s not much new. The {hardware} is barely completely different—it is all AI, AI, AI, a few of which is beneficial, a few of which isn’t. I additionally wrestle to seek out any character on this telephone’s design—the launch colours are boring.
All this to say the Galaxy S25 ($800), Galaxy S25+ ($1,000), and Galaxy S25 Ultra ($1,300) are highly effective, dependable, and well-equipped smartphones. They’re wonderful upgrades if you happen to’re coming from a 3 or four-year-old machine. They’re simply not in any other case fascinating or thrilling.
Static Shock
I’m going over spec details and the like here, however I wish to spotlight that I just like the tiny {hardware} adjustments within the Galaxy S25 Extremely. The perimeters have flat edges now, the corners are rounded, and even the S Pen stylus does not stick out a lot from the underside housing. The bezels (the black bars across the display) are slimmer, which makes the display larger with minimal adjustments to the telephone’s dimensions. The flatter edges make the telephone comfier to make use of one-handed, although nothing beats the compact design of the 6.2-inch Galaxy S25.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset delivers easy efficiency, however mobile gamers could admire the thermal enhancements in these telephones. Final 12 months, after I performed Genshin Affect for an prolonged time on the S24 collection, I encountered stutters and the telephone received sizzling in a particular space. I did not discover this after practically an hour of gameplay on the Galaxy S25 collection, and that is with maxed-out graphics at 60 Hz. The improved cooling options appear to work.
I continuously ended a day with round 40 to 30 p.c battery left on all three gadgets with roughly 5 to 6 hours of screen-on time. These outcomes are adequate however nothing extraordinary for a modern-day top-end telephone. The wi-fi charging story, nevertheless, is irritating.
