Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ Review: Solid Foundation, Supercharged with AI

The Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ are Samsung’s all-new premium S-series smartphones in India. If you adopted the Unpacked 2025 launch, you already know the largest improve is underneath the hood. But does that imply the S25 and S25+ aren’t value upgrading for S24 and S23 customers? Well, that query does not have a simple reply!

The Galaxy S25 and S25+ are excellent examples of why it is best to by no means decide a guide by its cowl. That’s since you ought to take into account these due to how good the general bundle is. And this isn’t the conclusion, and this isn’t the top of the evaluate. You should keep tuned to this evaluate to know why I simply gave all of it away.

Before leaping into our evaluate, here is a breakdown of the costs. The Samsung Galaxy S25 begins at Rs. 80,999 for the 12+256GB mannequin, whereas the S25+ begins at Rs. 99,999 for the precise RAM and storage possibility. Both the fashions additionally get 512GB storage trim priced at Rs. 92,999 (S25) and Rs. 1,11,999 (S25+). Now that we’re finished with the costs let’s dive into design first.

Samsung Galaxy S25 and S25+ sport a smooth design

 

 

Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ Design: Familiar with some refinements

• Dimensions – 146.9×70.5×7.2mm (Galaxy S25), 158.4×75.8×7.3mm (Galaxy S25+)
• Weight – 162 grams (Galaxy S25), 190 grams (Galaxy S25+)
• Colours – Icyblue, Navy, Silver Shadow, Mint, Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold (S25), Navy, Silver Shadow, Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold (S25+)

The Samsung Galaxy S25 brings again the acquainted compact design. It sports activities a flat body design with rounded corners that work completely for aesthetics. On the opposite hand, the Galaxy S25+ sits between essentially the most compact and the largest mannequin (S25 Ultra). Like the little sibling, the S25+ additionally has flat panels. While Galaxy S25 is far more snug to make use of with only one hand and is light-weight at underneath 170 grams. The Galaxy S25+ sports activities an even bigger display however is usually outstanding for one-hand utilization, weighing underneath 200 grams. Both the telephones sport second-generation Armor Aluminum body.

The Galaxy S25 weighs 162 grams whereas S25+ weighs 190 grams

 

Samsung has saved the anti-reflective Gorilla Armor Glass unique for the Ultra mannequin, which is ok contemplating the Samsung Ultra remains to be the top-of-the-line mannequin. The Galaxy S25 and S25+ are thinner and weigh lower than their predecessors – one thing you won’t even discover instantly. Both fashions additionally get an IP68 score for mud and water resistance. Interesting to see Samsung not choosing the IP69 score, which recently has grow to be a part of the spec lists of most up-to-date Android flagships.

The Galaxy S25 sports activities Gorilla Glass Victus 2 at the back and front

 

This yr, Samsung has gone with somewhat muted color selections like Icyblue, Navy, Silver Shadow, Mint, Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold for the S25. For S25+, Navy, Silver Shadow, Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold colors can be found. It’s value noting that Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold colors can be found solely on Samsung.com. I obtained the S25 in Icyblue and the S25+ in Navy color for the evaluate.

The Galaxy S25+ sports activities an Armor aluminium 2 body

 

Overall, the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ really feel virtually an identical to the S24 and S24+ within the design division. Both telephones characteristic a matte design, which makes them fingerprint-resistant to lots of extent. Samsung’s transfer to not use an enormous digicam island to deal with rear cameras on the again helps make the Galaxy S25 collection much less flashy, and it really works for me. The flat design and minimalist strategy work properly. And there’s nothing unsuitable with that, contemplating the S-series telephones have a definite look and stand out within the sea of similar-looking telephones.

Galaxy S25 and S25+ run Android 15-based One UI 7 out of the field

 

Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ Display: Best on the market

• Display dimension: 6.2-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED (S25) and 6.7-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X (S25+)
• Highlights: (S25) 120Hz refresh price, 1080×2340 pixels display decision, HDR10+, 2600nits peak brightness, and 416PPI pixel density (S25+) 120Hz refresh price, 1440×3120 pixels display decision, HDR10+, 2600nits peak brightness, and 513PPI pixel density

The show specs are an identical to the predecessors – S24 and S24+. This consists of the utmost peak brightness of 2600nits, as properly. Samsung has well adopted the favored technique – if one thing is superb, why change it? And I’m not complaining. The show on each fashions is incredible. They are brilliant and crisp. The texts seem sharp and daylight legibility is incredible.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 encompasses a Dynamic LTPO AMOLED show

 

The adaptive refresh price works completely and drops to 1Hz when studying e-books or simply shopping the Internet. Both the S25 and S25+ miss out on Dolby Vision video assist. The panels are Widevine L1 compliant, which implies you possibly can get pleasure from HDR content material on the go. If you like binge-watching exhibits or films on the go, then you’ll love the S25 and S25+. Even for players, the S25 and S25+ can run appropriate video games at 120Hz; extra on that in a bit.

The Galaxy S25+ options 91.8 p.c screen-to-body ratio and sports activities 513PPI pixel density

 

Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ Performance: You get the best possible

• Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (customized)
• RAM and storage: 12GB + 256GB and 12GB + 512GB
• OS: One UI 7 based mostly on Android 15

The Galaxy S25 and S25+ are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, a customized chip designed for the all-new S25 collection. It is claimed to ship a efficiency enhance of 40 p.c in NPU, 37 p.c in CPU, and 30 p.c in GPU in comparison with its predecessor. Apart from on a regular basis duties, the largest function of utilizing this chip is to deal with on-device AI capabilities easily. Samsung claims the brand new Galaxy duo packs a 40 p.c bigger vapour chamber for higher thermal efficiency.

This yr, all Galaxy S25 fashions are powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy

 

Talking purely about on a regular basis efficiency, the Galaxy S25 and S25+ can simply deal with multitasking. Even gaming is handled as calmly as a millpond. AI options work easily, be it the eraser characteristic within the Gallery or the Note Assist characteristic for summarising notes or transcribing recordings. Long factor brief, the S25 and S25+ are quick and fluid relating to efficiency credentials.

The Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ rating some incredible ends in our artificial benchmark outcomes, and you may take a look at under:

 

Benchmark	Samsung Galaxy S25	Samsung Galaxy S24+	Pixel 9 Pro XL	Oppo Find X8 Pro
Chipset	Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm)	Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm)	Tensor G4 (4nm)	Dimensity 9400 (3nm)
AnTuTu v10	21,13,343	21,83,570	10,67,971	23,38,411
PCMark Work 3.0	20,833	19,978	12,922	12,868
Geekbench Single	3,034	3,141	1,944	2,787
Geekbench Multi	9,211	10,021	4,667	8,391
GFXB T-rex	120	120	120	60
GFXB Manhattan 3.1	120	120	105	60
GFXB Car Chase	113	108	54	60
3DM Slingshot Extreme OpenGL	Maxed Out	Maxed Out	FTR	Maxed Out
3DM Slingshot	Maxed Out	Maxed Out	FTR	Maxed Out
3DM Wild Life	Maxed Out	Maxed Out	8,902	Maxed Out
3DM Wild Life Unlimited	24,983	24,893	9,294	23,225

A variety of fluid response needs to be credited to One UI 7 based mostly on Android 15. The all-new One UI is visually extra interesting and feels cleaner than earlier variations. It packs tons of improved animations, new icons, higher widget integration, lock display structure, and new fast settings, which is kind of impressed by iOS as it’s now cut up into two methods – one for notifications and the opposite for fast toggles.

The One UI 7 brings a well-known UI look with tons of refinements, together with a restricted variety of pre-installed apps

 

Samsung packs some apps like My Files, Health, Calculator and others, whereas the suite of Google and Microsoft apps can be preinstalled on the Galaxy S25 and S25+. I’m not shocked that Google Gemini is baked deep into the primary scheme of issues. I can comfortably say that One UI 7 is my favorite Android UI now.

Both the Galaxy S25 and S25+ are available in 256GB and 512GB storage choices

 

The Galaxy S25 packs an honest speaker setup, which is loud for a small room. The S25+ packs a barely higher speaker setup that’s loud and may fill a medium-sized room simply. Both the telephones pack a wonderful haptic motor, and the typing suggestions is satisfying. Call high quality on each the Galaxy S25 and S25+ is superb and may latch on to the 5G community even in darkish zones the place different telephones battle.

Talking about biometrics, the Galaxy S25 and S25+ supply face and fingerprint unlocks. The fingerprint sensor was my go-to possibility for display lock because it was faster all through the day. That does not imply the face unlock does not work as supposed, however the fingerprint sensor is the extra dependable of the 2.

Samsung’s seven years of promise for software program and safety updates is at present a benchmark for different producers globally.

Both the Galaxy S25 and S25+ include seven years of software program and safety replace promise

 

Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ AI Features

With a voice command, you possibly can ask Gemini to dam your calendar and advocate locations to eat. Even higher is when you finalise a spot to hang around, Gemini can maintain it saved in your calendar. However, it is value noting that this performance is proscribed to Samsung and Google apps, with assist for extra third-party apps anticipated to be added quickly. The total bundle consists of options like Circle to Search that are actually improved additional and may do rather more than analyse content material on display. Samsung has two new options – Now Brief and Now Bar. The Now Brief stays on your own home display and recommends occasions saved in your calendar, together with climate alerts. The Now Bar, however, stays in your lock display and provides information from Google Maps, your favorite sports activities group through Google, Samsung Health, Clock, and Samsung Notes.

The unique picture (on the left) and picture reimagined (on the correct) utilizing the Eraser characteristic within the Gallery app

 

The most useful use of AI you possibly can attempt is within the Gallery app, the place you possibly can reimagine the photographs. Be it to maneuver, take away, and resize individuals or objects, you can even use AI to fill empty areas within the background, rework photographs of individuals into inventive types, draw on a picture after which use AI to make the drawing seem like a part of the image. Samsung will get brownie factors so as to add a small watermark in each picture edited or created with the assistance of AI that claims ‘AI-generated content material’.

The Galaxy AI has the standard lengthy record of options, together with Call Assist, Writing Assist, Interpreter, Note Assist, Transcript Assist, Browsing Assist, Photo Assist, Drawing Assist, Audio Eraser, Photo Ambient Wallpaper, Health Assist, and Now Brief.

Galaxy S25+ sports activities a triple-camera setup

 

Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ Camera: Same previous method

• Camera setup: (S25 and S25+) 50-megapixel main sensor, 10-megapixel telephoto sensor, and 12-megapixel ultrawide
• Selfie: (S25 and S25+) 12-megapixel sensor
• Video recording: 4320p@30fps and 2160p@60fps

Before leaping to real-world efficiency, let me level out that Samsung hasn’t modified the digicam setup on the S25, which signifies that it nonetheless packs the S24-like setup, the identical because the S23. I hope you get the purpose.

Out of the Galaxy S25 and S25+, I want that Samsung shipped the 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor on the S25+ this yr, which is now a part of the Ultra. But, this could possibly be an try to maintain the costs in test.

The Galaxy S25 sports activities a triple digicam setup that includes a 50-megapixel main sensor

 

Talking about digicam efficiency, the S25 and 25+ pack a succesful digicam setup, which implies you possibly can anticipate correct publicity and distinction in most of your photographs. After extensively testing the cameras on the Galaxy S25 and S25+, I came upon that the photographs are brilliant with correct particulars, and colors often pop – one thing Samsung is understood for. The noise is managed in low-light conditions, which is a power. Images come out sharp and

Samsung Galaxy S25 digicam samples (faucet picture to develop)

Samsung Galaxy S25+ digicam samples (faucet picture to develop)

Bokeh pictures come out properly with wonderful topic isolation and blur impact. In totally different gentle circumstances, the S25 and S25+ confirmed good depth processing on the objects within the background.

Bokeh shot: Samsung Galaxy S25 (on the left) and Samsung Galaxy S25+ (on the correct)

In my testing, I seen that 2x and 3x zoom photographs come out properly, although not so good as from the first sensor. The ultrawide cameras on each are wonderful and have good dynamic vary. However, the shortage of autofocus on the ultrawide digicam is a missed alternative, contemplating the S25 and S25+ are premium-priced units. The low-light photographs come out properly, and the automated processing on each the S25s is nice and never excessive.

Samsung Galaxy S25 low-light digicam samples (faucet picture to develop)

Samsung Galaxy S25+ evening digicam samples (faucet picture to develop)

Both telephones assist as much as 8K@60fps video recording, and the standard is top-notch. The selfie cameras on S25 and S25+ do an amazing job, and I had no complaints all through the evaluate interval. The pores and skin tones captured are pure, and the colors are correct, with a very good quantity of element.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S25 and S25+ cameras do not pack generational upgrades over the predecessor and as a substitute keep on with a tried and examined method. For your on a regular basis digicam utilization, the Galaxy S25 and S25+ are greater than adequate and will not allow you to down in essentially the most difficult conditions.

It’s value mentioning that on-device AI edits have grow to be rather more fluid and fast on the S25 and S25+. Of course, the characteristic debuted final yr, however because of the refinements, operations are virtually quicker than ever this yr.

Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ Battery: Meets expectations

• Battery dimension: 4000mAh (S25) and 4900mAh (S25+)
• Fast-charging assist: 25W wired and 45W (wired)
• S25 can cost as much as 50% in half-hour, and S25+ can cost as much as 65% in half-hour

Much just like the battery figures, not a lot has modified within the efficiency credentials in comparison with the S24 collection. The S25 can supply a full day’s battery life with a screen-on time of about 5 hours and half-hour. The battery output could drop when you combine extra gaming or on-line streaming. The S25+, however, can simply final over a day with a screen-on time of about 6 hours and 20 minutes based mostly on our inner assessments. Of course, this will differ relying on totally different utilization eventualities.

The Galaxy S25 packs a 4000mAh battery

One vital optimistic change I seen this time was that the battery drain was in test because of optimisations of One UI 7.0 and Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy SoC. Overnight battery drain was rather more improved on Galaxy S25 and S25+ than their predecessors.

With 25W quick charging, the Galaxy S25 nonetheless takes over 100 minutes to totally cost, which is gradual, in my view. But it is barely higher than what I noticed on the S24 final yr. Similarly, the Galaxy S25+ charged absolutely in underneath an hour with a Samsung 45W charger, which is approach higher than what the iPhone 16 Plus provides (which takes about two hours to cost absolutely).

Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ Verdict

The Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ are the most effective S-series flagships from Samsung. They are much better than their predecessors, and all the pieces appears to be an improve, particularly for individuals nonetheless holding on to their Galaxy S21, S22 and S23 fashions. The Galaxy S25 collection is a major improve and needs to be thought-about. For Galaxy S24 customers, the upgrades are usually not that nice, and so they can skip this yr.

The AI integrations on the Galaxy S25 are superior and higher than ever. I can comfortably say that the Galaxy AI is years forward of the competitors, which remains to be busy pushing updates for its gallery app and claiming AI can do it for you. Thankfully, Samsung has gone previous that period and with Gemini deep integrations, you may get rather more finished together with your voice than ever.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S25 fashions are a stable bundle supercharged with AI

However, that brings me to the purpose that AI remains to be not the characteristic that may flip the tables for corporations. Yes, the AI options maintain me up to date and assist me keep forward of the curve. But I nonetheless do not suppose that customers will prefer to spend upwards of Rs. 50,000 on units so as to add some AI tips.

Talking about fundamentals, the Galaxy S25 and S25+ have some stable basis and nail largely each facet of what makes a cellphone earn that ‘flagship’ title. At the identical time, the Samsung Galaxy S25 is my favorite compact cellphone and is a greater total bundle than the Google Pixel 9 (Review). The Galaxy S25+, however, is akin to the likes of Google Pixel 9 Pro (Review) and iPhone 16 Plus (Review). For options, there are telephones just like the Vivo X200 Pro (Review) and Find X8 Pro (Review).