introduction
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is easily one of the most tempting flagship phones Samsung has ever put out. It feels premium, works amazingly well, and is the closest the brand has been in years to really rival the iPhone as an easy-to-use, work-in-ready device. And yet, despite its many successes, choosing whether to buy it in 2026 remains shockingly difficult – this just got complicated.In this in-depth review, we tell you what makes the S25 Ultra such a pleasure to use, and the main reasons why a lot of people might want to pass it up and instead go for the cheaper Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Build Quality and Design: Tougher and More Refined
Samsung has noticeably upgraded the materials on the S25 Ultra. It has much tougher titanium on the frame and high-end glass on both screens. It makes for a very tough device that is very solid feeling. Reviewer Arun from Mrwhosetheboss used it without a case for several days and it lived through every day use it endured in phones in pockets and backpacks. Also, even a terrible 1.5 meter drop onto concrete caused only small scratches. It is a little more prone to picking up dust, but otherwise very tough.
Display: Borderless, Vibrant, and Eye-Friendly
The S25 Ultra features an nearly borderless screen which looks gorgeous; colors are vibrant, sharpness is excellent, and image quality onscreen is amazing outdoors, due to its anti-reflective screen – you don ‘t even need to increase the brightness levels very often. One of the best must be the fact that its minimum brightness is very low, making it much more eye friendly at night than many other flagships.
Software Experience: One UI 7 Is a Game Changer
One UI 7 by Samsung could be the most significant feature of the S25 Ultra. It seems more refined and easier than ever.
Even after just a few minutes, I find many long-term iPhone users are amazed. The icons, widgets, multitasking view, Control Center (pulls down from the right), are familiar but refined. Lock screen is also great.
Additional software wins include:
- Natural language search in Settings (just type what you want in plain English)
- A much more intuitive and intelligent Gallery app compared to Apple’s Photos
- Faster, smoother animations that can even make the iPhone feel slower in comparison
Battery Life: Excellent Real-World Performance
Battery life is obviously better than the S24 Ultra. On average you will get just under 9 hours of screen on time on the default screen settings, which usually leaves 30-40% of the battery left by the end of the day, making it one of the best flagships for a beastly daily driver!
Performance and Power: Impressive on Paper, But…
The S25 Ultra has a much faster chipset. When performing stress tests, its slowest sustained performance is still roughly 25% faster than the S24 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The additional raw power is in fact hardly perceivable in our everyday use. It’s by the software optimization that you feel the speed rush.
The gaming performance is very good; however, a lot of current, more popular games are optimized for lower-end specs so the real power isn’t being utilized. If using some apps (like various games, amazon or zoom) you may still notice lag here and there, but this is due to software optimization issues.
AI Features: The Biggest Selling Point (With a Catch)
A large part of the S25 Ultra’s appeal revolves around its advanced Galaxy AI features. Highlights include:
- AI Select — Easily copy specific text from paragraphs or quickly bring chat screenshots back to the top
- Improved Gemini integration that finally handles basic assistant tasks better while offering more advanced capabilities
- Excellent AI wallpaper generation with high-quality results
- Powerful object eraser in photos that removes people and objects cleanly
The big question mark? A lot of these gadgets were free only until the end of 2025. Now in 2026 it’s anyone’s guess what Samsung or Google will charge them for ongoing use, and that’s a risk for consumers.
Camera Performance
Samsung has made solid improvements to the camera system:
- Better zoom quality
- Improved ultrawide shots
- More accurate skin tones
- Sharper images overall
- Cleaner video with less noise
While not revolutionary, the upgrades make the S25 Ultra one of the best camera phones available, especially for photography enthusiasts.
Should You Buy the Samsung S25 Ultra in 2026?
Pros:
- Addictively delightful daily experience
- Premium build and stunning display
- Best One UI version yet (very iPhone-like but often better executed)
- Excellent battery life
- Strong cameras with useful AI tools
- Highly durable
Cons:
- Very expensive ($1,300 price point) compared to the S24 Ultra now available around $800
- Most One UI 7 features are coming to the previous model
- Extra performance is hard to feel in everyday tasks
- AI features may become paid soon
- Some app optimization issues persist on Android