Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Unveiling the Future of Smartphones

The Galaxy S24 Ultra's debut in January is still fresh in our minds, but Samsung is already hard at work on its successor, the S25 Ultra. Rumors about the upcoming flagship have begun to circulate, and as the release date approaches, we can expect a steady stream of information

The Galaxy S24 Ultra's debut in January is still fresh in our minds, but Samsung is already hard at work on its successor, the S25 Ultra. Rumors about the upcoming flagship have begun to circulate, and as the release date approaches, we can expect a steady stream of information.

Release Date and Pricing

It's too early to predict the release date of the Samsung S25 Ultra with certainty. In recent years, Samsung has consistently moved the launch of its Galaxy S series earlier, with the devices typically hitting the market in February. This year's S24 series had the earliest launch ever, with the global Galaxy Unpacked event held on January 17th, followed by a January 25th release date for the US market.

If Samsung were to advance the release date of the S25 Ultra, it would clash with CES 2025, where the company traditionally focuses on showcasing its TV and smart home products. Speculation suggests that Samsung may opt for another Galaxy Unpacked event in mid-January, highlighting its new smartphones.

The Samsung S24 Ultra saw a price increase to $1299. For comparison, the S23 Ultra cost $1199. This could indicate that the S25 Ultra may be priced similarly, but the trend towards higher-priced smartphones continues. We'll likely hear more about pricing plans later in 2024.

Design and Display

The S24 Ultra's bezels were upgraded to use titanium, and it's unlikely that Samsung will deviate from this for the S25 series. Similarly, Samsung has used the same basic design for its recent Ultra models, with the cameras arranged vertically on the rear of the phone and slightly protruding lenses. This is unlikely to change either. CAD renders that emerge in the coming months will help confirm this.

Rumors hint at an increased display size for the entry-level model of the S25 series, with a 6.36-inch screen instead of the 6.2-inch S24. The S25 Ultra is expected to come close to 6.9 inches, a modest increase over the S24 Ultra's 6.8-inch display, but it's uncertain how reliable these claims are.

Recently, phone manufacturers have been locked in a competition to improve the peak brightness of their smartphone displays. Samsung has been no exception, boosting the S24 Ultra's peak brightness to 2600 nits after the 1750 nits achieved by the S23 Ultra. It wouldn't be surprising to see further increases in display brightness with the S25 Ultra.

Camera

The camera is the centerpiece of the Ultra model, and it's where Samsung is expected to focus its upgrade efforts next year, with the 200-megapixel main sensor and 10x optical zoom capabilities being particularly popular.

Early S25 Ultra rumors suggest that the wide-angle lens will receive unspecified upgrades, while the ultrawide lens is rumored to jump from the 12-megapixel sensor on the S24 Ultra to a 50-megapixel sensor on the new phone.

Furthermore, the telephoto lens on the S25 Ultra is said to gain "variable capabilities." It's unclear at this point what exactly this means, but it could involve a variable focal length, resulting in smoother zooming, especially when capturing videos. Regarding the credibility of the leak, it's worth noting that the same leaker correctly predicted the upgrade to a 50-megapixel telephoto lens on the S24 Ultra.

Performance and Battery

The Samsung S25 Ultra is expected to feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 mobile platform, given the S24 Ultra's use of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. (In fact, this year's Ultra model is the only S24 variant to rely entirely on Qualcomm's chip, as the standard S24 and S24 Plus use the Exynos 2400 processor in markets outside North America.) Qualcomm has confirmed that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be available in October.

Early Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 benchmarks have leaked, and while such unverified numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, they do paint a promising picture of the chipset's performance. According to leaked Geekbench results, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 matches the highest scores produced by the A18 Bionic-powered iPhones. (Yes, figures for the A18 have also been leaked.)

It has been rumored that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will feature a 4.3GHz prime core frequency, up from the 3.4GHz on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This is a significant power jump, and Samsung and Qualcomm will need to figure out how to pack such a powerful chipset into a mobile device without causing it to overheat.

However, there are also rumors that Qualcomm won't supply the chip at all. Instead, a tweet from @OreXda in December claims that Galaxy S phones will be exclusive to Exynos chips in 2025. However, @OreXda also states that this is "just what I heard...not from my sources."

More credible rumors suggest that the S25 series will use a mix of Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Exynos 2500 chipsets, just like the S24 series. If Samsung follows the pattern of the S24 series strictly, that means the S25 Ultra could exclusively use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 mobile platform, while the S25 and S25 Plus models would use the Exynos chip in some regions. This would be a notable distinction, as S24 benchmarks showed that the Exynos models of the S24 lagged slightly behind their Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 counterparts.

In terms of battery life, it's unclear how Samsung can implement a battery pack with higher capacity than the S24 Ultra's 5000mAh battery. With the Samsung S24 Ultra performing admirably in battery tests, achieving a time of 16 hours and 45 minutes, there's no immediate concern about the S25 Ultra's endurance. But hopefully, the phone will support faster wired charging speeds than the current 45W.

While it may seem premature to focus on the S25 Ultra this early, it's clear that Samsung is already putting considerable thought into its next-generation device. As we approach the S25 Ultra's projected 2025 release date, we'll learn more about the upcoming flagship throughout the year.