Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: do we need a refresh?
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Intro
The Galaxy S25 series launched early in 2025, and to no surprise at all, it was a trio of phones with the Galaxy S25 Ultra sitting as the best of them. It’s a large, powerful device loaded with premium features, set to succeed the now slightly aged Galaxy S24 Ultra.
The standout upgrade is under the hood: the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy — a slightly overclocked 3 nm chip promising enhanced performance, and a 40% bigger vapor cooling chamber to support it.
While the camera specs remain largely unchanged on paper, Samsung seems to have fine-tuned its image processing algorithms — something we’ll explore further in the camera section.
So, how much of a leap is the Galaxy S25 Ultra compared to the S24 Ultra? Is it a worthy upgrade, or is now the ideal time to grab the S24 Ultra at a lower price? Let’s take a closer look.
The standout upgrade is under the hood: the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy — a slightly overclocked 3 nm chip promising enhanced performance, and a 40% bigger vapor cooling chamber to support it.
While the camera specs remain largely unchanged on paper, Samsung seems to have fine-tuned its image processing algorithms — something we’ll explore further in the camera section.
So, how much of a leap is the Galaxy S25 Ultra compared to the S24 Ultra? Is it a worthy upgrade, or is now the ideal time to grab the S24 Ultra at a lower price? Let’s take a closer look.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Ultra differences explained:
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra |
|---|---|
| A softer, rounded corner design | Stark rectangular design, with flat top and bottom |
| Slightly thinner, lighter (8.2 mm and 218 g) | 8.6 mm thin, 233 g |
| Titanium covered frame | Titanium covered frame |
| The fastest Qualcomm chip –– the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, 4 nm, still pretty good |
| Corning Gorilla Armor 2, excellent anti-reflective coating | Corning Gorilla Armor, excellent anti-reflective coating |
| Four rear cameras New is 50MP ultra-wide sensor | Four rear cameras Older 12MP ultra-wide sensor |
| 12 GB / 256 GB 12 GB / 512 GB 12 GB / 1 TB | 12 GB / 256 GB 12 GB / 512 GB 12 GB / 1 TB |
| Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 |
| 45 W wired, 15 W Qi2 wireless charging (no magnets) | 45 W wired, 15 W Qi wireless charging |
| S Pen but without Bluetooth | S Pen |
Table of Contents:
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Design and Size
Softening up
The Ultra models typically have a stark rectangular shape for that notebook-like, business look. However, the Galaxy S25 Ultra now comes with slightly rounded corners. We have to admit, we were expecting a much bigger slope when the S25 Ultra was first announced.
However, in person and in hand, the Galaxy S25 Ultra still has a very business-like, stark rectangular look. It's just that it doesn't jab in your palm as much. The sides are flat and matte, and of course—titanium coated.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has that older notebook-like look, with a clean rectangle outline, sharp corners, and flat top and bottom. Its side frames are slightly rounded, tumbling out a bit. In either case, both of these phones feel nice to hold and are pretty to look at.
But the Galaxy S25 Ultra still rocks the beloved S Pen stylus, IP68 protection, and the dual speakers, of course.
We are no fans of the "floating lens" design of the cameras on the back of the S25 Ultra. The lens rings are ever-so-slightly lifted off the back of the phone, leaving tiny gaps. Tiny enough to be super-hard (impossible?) to clean, but just right enough to accept all of the lint, hairs, and random gunk your pockets have to donate.
On paper, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is very slightly thinner and lighter than the S24 Ultra. We can definitely feel a tiny difference in weight, but when it comes to thickness perception, the S24 Ultra feels a bit thinner when held due to its rounded frame and tapered corners.
However, in person and in hand, the Galaxy S25 Ultra still has a very business-like, stark rectangular look. It's just that it doesn't jab in your palm as much. The sides are flat and matte, and of course—titanium coated.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has that older notebook-like look, with a clean rectangle outline, sharp corners, and flat top and bottom. Its side frames are slightly rounded, tumbling out a bit. In either case, both of these phones feel nice to hold and are pretty to look at.
But the Galaxy S25 Ultra still rocks the beloved S Pen stylus, IP68 protection, and the dual speakers, of course.
We are no fans of the "floating lens" design of the cameras on the back of the S25 Ultra. The lens rings are ever-so-slightly lifted off the back of the phone, leaving tiny gaps. Tiny enough to be super-hard (impossible?) to clean, but just right enough to accept all of the lint, hairs, and random gunk your pockets have to donate.
On paper, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is very slightly thinner and lighter than the S24 Ultra. We can definitely feel a tiny difference in weight, but when it comes to thickness perception, the S24 Ultra feels a bit thinner when held due to its rounded frame and tapered corners.
The locations for the power and volume buttons, speakers and S Pen slot, camera lenses and selfie punch-hole — they are quite similar and you should feel at home if you are coming from another Samsung phone. Finally, let's compare the color options for both phones.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra colors:
- Titanium Black
- Titanium Gray
- Titanium Violet
- Titanium Yellow
- Titanium Blue (Online exclusive)
- Titanium Green (Online exclusive)
- Titanium Orange (Online exclusive)
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra colors:
- Titanium Black
- Titanium Gray
- Titanium Silver Blue
- Titanium White Silver
- Titanium Jetblack (Online exclusive)
- Titanium Jadegreen (Online exclusive)
- Titanium Pinkgold (Online exclusive)
Display Differences
Samsung's AMOLED panels have peaked for a while now. The latest branding is Dynamic AMOLED 2X, signifying both the adaptive refresh rate (1-120 Hz) and the high peak brightness, now reaching 2,600 nits.
Nothing's changed on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, only the size. Since its bezels are slightly thinner, the screen diagonal of the S25 Ultra now measures 6.9 inches, up from the S24 Ultra's 6.8. Negligible difference really, if any.
Both phones come with a Gorilla Armor glass on the front—the collab that mixes Corning's hardened glass panels with Samsung's next-level anti-glare coating, which we first saw with last year's Galaxy S24 Ultra. It helps the screen pop easier, even when in a brightly lit environment, and is definitely one of the upgrades we appreciated most last year.
The panel on the Galaxy S25 Ultra is branded Gorilla Armor 2, so it should be slightly more shatter-resistant. However, checking side by side, we couldn't see a difference in glare. The screen reflections off the S25 Ultra are a bit more blue-tinted but not less bright in general.
Nothing's changed on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, only the size. Since its bezels are slightly thinner, the screen diagonal of the S25 Ultra now measures 6.9 inches, up from the S24 Ultra's 6.8. Negligible difference really, if any.
Both phones come with a Gorilla Armor glass on the front—the collab that mixes Corning's hardened glass panels with Samsung's next-level anti-glare coating, which we first saw with last year's Galaxy S24 Ultra. It helps the screen pop easier, even when in a brightly lit environment, and is definitely one of the upgrades we appreciated most last year.
The panel on the Galaxy S25 Ultra is branded Gorilla Armor 2, so it should be slightly more shatter-resistant. However, checking side by side, we couldn't see a difference in glare. The screen reflections off the S25 Ultra are a bit more blue-tinted but not less bright in general.
So, they are basically the same excellent panel, with infinite contrast, sharp resolution, vibrant colors, HDR support, and variable refresh rate up to 120 Hz. The S25 Ultra's minimum brightness does drop below 1 nit, which is excellent news for bedtime viewers who just can't let TikTok go at lights out.
Underneath that display glass we have the same ultrasonic fingerprint scanners. Samsung has been perfecting it over multiple generations and we have to say it's very fast and accurate — it merely requires you touch the signified screen area for a split second.
Face unlock is also available on Samsung phones, but it only uses the selfie camera, so it's not as secure or accepted in banking or payment apps, for example.
Performance
Finally down to 3 nm
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite is now official — it's the latest and fastest chip from the company, finally built on a 3 nm process (basically, more power yet more energy efficiency). And yes, this is the second time Qualcomm has changed the branding of its top-shelf chips over the last few years, but who's counting.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is the beating heart inside the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and it comes with the special "for Galaxy" moniker. Meaning, it's slightly overclocked, over a "normal" Snapdragon 8 Elite. Just like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 inside the Galaxy S24 Ultra is "Made for Galaxy".
The newer chip has 30% faster CPU, 37% faster GPU, and 40% faster NPU speeds compared to last year's flagship, as per Samsung and Qualcomm's own words. Let's see if these numbers check out in our own performance tests.
CPU Performance
Geekbench 6: A high single-core score is what makes your phone feel snappy during everyday tasks like opening apps, typing and browsing. The multi-core score matters most when doing heavier work like video editing or gaming.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra does feel snappier and more responsive than the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and the synthetic benchmarks prove that. In the standardized Geekbench 6 CPU test, the Galaxy S25 Ultra edges past its predecessor with significantly higher single- and multi-core test results.
AI Quantized: This test measures how efficiently your phone’s 'brain' handles AI tasks, ensuring that features like live translation and smart photo editing feel instant and fluid without draining your battery.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is also much more future-proofed when it comes to AI performance thanks to a noticeably higher result of 4,800 points in the Geekbench AI, which edges past the Galaxy S24 Ultra's 3,800-result. This means that on-device Galaxy AI processing is that much snappier on the new model.
GPU Performance
Wild Life Extreme is a heavy graphics workload used to measure a device's sustained GPU performance and thermal throttling. It uses older mobile rendering techniques and is friendly to older or lower-end mobile devices.
In the 3DMark Extreme stress test, the Galaxy S25 Ultra beats the Galaxy S24 Ultra in peak performance, indicated in this test by the "High" result. The throttling and overall stability are indicated by the "Low" result, where the Galaxy S24 Ultra successfully holds its ground against the newer device.
Steel Nomad Light Stress Test: Measures your phone’s "gaming stamina" by comparing its peak speed (High) against its throttled speed after it heats up (Low), revealing whether your performance will stay smooth or start lagging during a long session. It loads heavier, more modern effects than Wild Life Extreme and is more in line with current games.
In the Steel Nomad stress test, which is a better representative of modern mobile gaming and is generally heavier, the Galaxy S25 Ultra fares much better than the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It achieves higher peak and sustained performance, which is great if you're an avid gamer.
This measures Ray Tracing performance because this advanced technology creates the hyper-realistic reflections and shadows found in next-gen titles like Arena Breakout. Even if you don't play games with ray tracing, a high score here means your phone has a "best-in-class" cooling system.
In our heaviest test, Solar Bay, the Galaxy S25 Ultra clearly shows its graphics mettle by achieving significantly higher results than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. This only goes to show that if heavy gaming and future-proofness are important to you, the newer phone is naturally better-equipped for the task at hand.
Storage speed
Storage tests measure how quickly your phone can move data. Random read and write show how fast your phone can find and move thousands of tiny, scattered files. This is the most important metric for an average user because it’s what happens when you open an app, check your notifications, or search through your photo gallery. Sequential read and write measure the speed of moving one giant, continuous file. You’ll notice this when you are saving a 4K video you just recorded or downloading a massive game update.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra comes in the same RAM and storage combos as the S24 Ultra—12 GB across the board in all 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB storage options.
In terms of overall storage speeds, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has scored some notable performance upgrades over the Galaxy S24 Ultra, achieving higher random read and write, as well as sequential write speeds. The only area in which the two are mostly identical is sequential read. All of this means that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will feel much snappier, especially when you work with a lot of data or take a large amount of photos in a short time.
Both phones currently come with One UI 8.5 based on Android 16. It's the latest version of one of my favorite Android interfaces around, combining useful features with unmatched personalization. With the help of the Good Lock module suite, you can customize pretty much any aspect of your interface, and no other phone can offer the same levels of customization.
Software
Both phones currently come with One UI 8.5 based on Android 16. It's the latest version of one of my favorite Android interfaces around, combining useful features with unmatched personalization. With the help of the Good Lock module suite, you can customize pretty much any aspect of your interface, and no other phone can offer the same levels of customization.
In terms of AI, Samsung is spoiling us with choice. Aside from the native Gemini and Bixby assistants on board, you can also opt to engage with the Perplexity AI assistant by long-pressing the side button. There's also the complete Galaxy AI suite on board, which enables features like Call Assist with Call Screening, Writing Assist, Interpreter, Note Assist, Photo Assist, and many more.
Galaxy S26 Plus screenshots | Images by Screenshots by PhoneArena
One UI 8.5 screenshots
New AI features include Now Nudge, which will intelligently suggest contextual actions in relevant apps, very similar to the Pixel 10's Magic Cue. It's a bit unpredictable, though, and it might not recommend contextual information exactly when you need it.
The most intriguing ones to me here are Photo Assist, which lets you reimagine your photos with the help of AI and apply cool filters to them. Moreover, Audio Eraser does a good job of eliminating unwanted noises from the videos you record. Photo Assist is solid fun when it goes through and generates exactly what you've prompted it to, but occasionally a successful result requires too many consecutive prompts to fine-tune.
Of these, however, I mostly use Google's Gemini and Circle to Search. I'm just not that into AI features and don't really find them beneficial to my personal use case. More power to you if you love AI, though.
Assuming the Galaxy S25 Ultra will get the same seven-year support promise, it should be able to carry you up to 2032. Talk about "not changing your phone often".
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra end of support date:
- 24 Jan 2031
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra end of support date:
- Jan 2032
Camera
Nothing major on the hardware end
The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with a 200 MP main, 10 MP 3x zoom, 50 MP 5x zoom, and 12 MP ultra-wide camera. The module and the software behind it were excellent, and put the Galaxy S24 Ultra straight on the top of our PhoneArena Camera Benchmark test. It has since fallen beihing by a couple of points, but it's still among the best cameras you can get on a phone.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra uses the same hardware, the only difference is that the ultra-wide camera now has a 50 MP sensor. So, has anything changed, improved? Let's see:
Ultimately, the Galaxy S25 Ultra did score a couple of extra points in a few spots in our tests. So, what's different? Well, it's a surprise, really.
Samsung has decided to work on its little oversharpening problem. The Galaxy S25 Ultra does deliver slightly softer, yet clearer fine details in the photos. Though, mind you, that's only when pixel-peeping.
For a more big-picture difference, we have to discuss the colors. The S25 Ultra does veer away from dying the greens to toxic color, and the overall propensity of green-cast on the photos. Again, small differences, which you may not even come across, depending on the scenes you are taking a photo of.
For night photos, the S25 Ultra has a bit more contrast, a bit better details and sharpness. An upgrade is definitely visible, but not huge.
In general, it can be said that the Galaxy S25 Ultra's cameras are slightly better than the S24 Ultra. Slightly.
Strangely, the reverse results can be observed in video. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is a bit more greenish, its skies are a bit more neon blue where the S24 Ultra provides more balanced colors, contrast, and exposure. That's not to say that any of these recrdings are bad, but we do prefer the more natural look from the S24 Ultra right now. Update, maybe? As for details and stabilization, both are unsurprisingly excellent here.
Battery Life and Charging
5,000 mAh is now standard
Over the past few years, a 5,000 mAh battery in an Android flagship has become pretty much standard. Manufacturers seem to have hit a limit or a sweet-spot of what a 6.9-inch phone can hold. Yes, some competitors are pushing those limits, going up to 5,600 mAh or even 6,000 mAh in the new OnePlus 13.
But the Galaxy S25 Ultra still sticks to that comfortable 5,000 mAh.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra can last us more than a day with casual use, so as long as the Galaxy S25 Ultra can maintain that endurance, it will be fine. The chip will be the big make-it-or-break-it here — will the 3 nm build give us energy efficiency gains, or will it be offset by how power-hungry it is?
It's time to put the new phone to a real-life battery test. Bear in mind that we don't use special software to extrapolate battery life but a carefully designed testing procedure that mimics real-life battery usage as close as possible.
PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:
Well, it seems that 3 nm chip is, indeed, making better use of that battery. With the same capacity, the S25 Ultra can lasta bit longer in every category in our tests. It's nothing groundbreaking — about half an hour of YouTube streaming or gaming, but it's still better to go up than go down.
The good news is that charging speeds are the same across both phones, at 45 W on the wire. So that's 68% of charge for 30 minutes on the charger. The new Qi2 wireless charging standard may give us 15 W pucks, which is cool.
But don't expect to use magnetic accessories with the S25 Ultra. It's "Qi2-ready", not entirely Qi2 compatible. Meaning, it doesn't have the magnetic ring needed for the standard. You'll need to slap a case on for that.
Specs Comparison
Here's how the Galaxy S25 Ultra versus Galaxy S24 Ultra specs compare:
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| Size, weight | 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2 mm, 218 g | 162.3 x 79 x 8.6 mm, 233 g |
| Screen | 6.9" Dynamic 2X AMOLED >2600 nits peak brightness 1-120 Hz dynamic Anti-reflective coating | 6.8" Dynamic 2X AMOLED 2,600 nits peak brightness 1-120 Hz dynamic Anti-reflective coating |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, 3nm | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, 4nm |
| RAM, Storage | 12 GB / 256 GB 12 GB / 512 GB 12 GB / 1 TB LPDDR5X | 12 GB / 256 GB 12 GB / 512 GB 12 GB / 1 TB LPDDR5X |
| Cameras | 200 MP main 50 MP ultrawide 10 MP 3X telephoto 50 MP 5X periscope 12 MP front | 200 MP main 12 MP ultrawide 10 MP 3X telephoto 50 MP 5X periscope 12 MP front |
| Battery | 5,000mAh | 5,000mAh |
| Charging | USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless | USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless |
Summary
So, when the chips are all down, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is only a minor upgrade over the S24 Ultra. Sure, the new processor is exciting, but let’s be real — the S24 Ultra already delivers excellent performance, so there’s no reason to feel Titan Jade Green with envy.
At this point, the Galaxy series is a well-established flagship, and upgrading from a one-year-old phone isn’t exactly necessary. It’s interesting to see how the S25 Ultra builds on the S24 Ultra, but for most users, sticking with last year’s model through 2025 should be perfectly fine.
But what if you’re coming from an older phone? Is the S24 Ultra the better deal? If you can snag one at a big discount, then yes. It’s nearly identical to the S25 Ultra in terms of display, camera performance, battery life, and software features.
The S25 Ultra will be a bit faster and might get an extra AI feature or two, but for now, the differences seem minimal. If those upgrades aren’t a top priority, a discounted S24 Ultra is definitely worth considering.
At this point, the Galaxy series is a well-established flagship, and upgrading from a one-year-old phone isn’t exactly necessary. It’s interesting to see how the S25 Ultra builds on the S24 Ultra, but for most users, sticking with last year’s model through 2025 should be perfectly fine.
But what if you’re coming from an older phone? Is the S24 Ultra the better deal? If you can snag one at a big discount, then yes. It’s nearly identical to the S25 Ultra in terms of display, camera performance, battery life, and software features.
The S25 Ultra will be a bit faster and might get an extra AI feature or two, but for now, the differences seem minimal. If those upgrades aren’t a top priority, a discounted S24 Ultra is definitely worth considering.
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