The new Samsung Galaxy S25+ offers a more powerful processor and a bunch of software-based camera improvements, but are these enough to upgrade from the Galaxy S24+? Let’s find out.
Price and Availability
The Galaxy S25+ (256GB) costs $999.99. It is available on the official website for pre-orders and will start hitting retail stores on February 7, 2025. While the Galaxy S24+ (256GB) also debuted at a similar price, Best Buy is offering a $350 discount on the phone, selling it for $649.99 (if you’re willing to activate the phone with a carrier).
Galaxy S25+ Offers a Slimmer and Lighter Chassis
The new Galaxy S25+ follows a similar design language as its predecessor. It has rounded corners, thin bezels, and a triple camera setup arranged vertically toward the top left of the back panel. Even so, the S25+ is 0.1mm narrower and 0.4mm slimmer than the Galaxy S24+.
Even though Samsung retains the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front/back panels and ‘Armor Aluminum 2’ frames on the sides, the S25+ is about six grams lighter; nothing major but nothing to ignore either. Both phones share an official IP68 dust and water resistance rating.
You can choose from seven Galaxy S25 colors, including Icyblue, Mint, Navy, Silver Shadow, and three new online-exclusive colors: Blueablack, Coralred (the most vibrant shade in the lineup), and Pinkgold.
Both Phones Offer the Same Screen
Galaxy S24+
Since the Galaxy S25+ borrows its display from the previous generation model, there are no surprises there. Both phones offer the same Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen that supports a Super Smooth refresh rate (1-120Hz) and a peak brightness of 2,600 nits.
The number of pixels (3,120 x 1,440) remains identical, and so does the pixel density (513 ppi). You also get features like Adaptive color tone and always-on display.
Since competitors offer higher peak brightness on their handsets, Samsung could have included a brighter panel on the S25+.
Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Under its shiny exterior, the Galaxy S25+ features the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (3nm) chipset, which offers a 37% boost in CPU performance (with faster prime cores), a 30% faster GPU with support for Vulkan Engine and improved ray tracing, and an advanced NPU that can run features like Generative Edit without relying on cloud processing.
Regarding memory and storage, both phones feature 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. However, several reports claim that the RAM chips on the S25 series are built on Samsung’s 12nm fabrication technology (instead of 13mm on the S24 series); hence, they occupy less space and are more power efficient.
You Can Use Agentic AI on Galaxy S25+
Instead of adding a bunch of features to Galaxy AI, Samsung has decided to make it an integral part of One UI 7 (based on Android 15). The Galaxy S25+ (along with other models in the lineup) provides a multimodal agentic AI experience, wherein you can ask the AI assistant on the smartphone to perform multi-step tasks.
With a better understanding of natural language, the S25+ can perform complex tasks like accessing documents in Gmail (or other Google and Samsung apps) and sending them to a contact on WhatsApp, all via simple voice commands. Moreover, the S25+ can understand the context of your commands and provide tailored solutions.
Other improvements to the Galaxy AI experience include better Circle to Search (which can recognize the call-to-action details on the screen), on-screen awareness, and actionable searches with intelligent suggestions for the next steps.
Even though these are great additions, I think most of them could arrive on the Galaxy S24+ with a software update.
Similar Camera Hardware but New Software Features
Regarding optics, all the cameras on the Galaxy S25+ are taken from the Galaxy S24+.
You get a 50MP (f/1.8, OIS) primary sensor, a 12MP (f/2.2, 120°) ultrawide sensor, and a 10MP (f/2.4, OIS) sensor with a 3x telephoto zoom lens. The fourth camera on the handset is a 12MP (f/2.2) selfie shooter that supports autofocus. This is a versatile camera setup that provides the flexibility of shooting at different zoom levels.
However, Samsung could have improved it by including higher-resolution ultrawide and telephoto sensors. On the positive side, the Galaxy S25+ can record better low-light videos, has the Audio Eraser feature (borrowed from the Pixel 9), a Virtual Aperture button in Expert RAW mode, and an improved Portrait Studio.
In my opinion, the absence of a telephoto sensor on competitors like the iPhone 16+ and the Pixel 9 gives Samsung an advantage. It’s a good thing, but it shouldn’t keep the company from including new and better hardware on its devices.
Battery Capacity Remains the Same, but Battery Life Takes a Hit
Continuing the streak of shared parts is the 4,900 mAh battery on the S25+. One could argue that the new processor’s power-efficient nature should result in a longer battery life, but the official specifications page suggests something different. While the S24+ provides up to 31 hours of video playback, the S25+ takes that number down to 30 hours.
You’d think that Samsung would have increased the charging speed, but that’s not the case either. The S25+ is still stuck with 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. Even though the phone is “Qi2 ready,” it lacks the array of magnets in the phone’s casing.
Galaxy S25+ Offers Satellite Connectivity (But You Can’t Use It, Yet)
With the Galaxy S25+, you can connect to Wi-Fi 7 networks for a higher upload/download speed. Further, the phone has Bluetooth v5.4 for more stable connections. Other connectivity options like GPS, NFC, and the USB Type-C 3.2 port remain the same.
Interestingly, Samsung completely overlooked one of the key additions to the S25 series: the ability to communicate with satellites. After the Galaxy Unpacked event, Qualcomm officially confirmed that the S25 series consists of the “first commercial devices to feature Snapdragon Satellite,” allowing users to send/receive messages via narrowband satellite networks.
What’s odd is that the company hasn’t enabled satellite connectivity on the S25 series. Perhaps it is finalizing the satellite communication service provider for the same and will enable the feature via a One UI update? Only time will tell.
Which Phone Is Right for You?
Galaxy S24+
If I had the Galaxy S24+, I wouldn’t have upgraded to the Galaxy S25+; it’s simple. The one-year-old smartphone offers the same screen, the same camera setup, and a slightly better battery life. Further, it already has a bunch of Galaxy AI features. The ones that are limited to the Galaxy S25+ are most likely to arrive on the older phone as well, like the improved Gemini AI voice assistant.
If you’re in the market for a new phone, you might want to consider the price difference between the new S24+ and the S25+. As mentioned earlier, the former will cost you $350 less than the latter. However, if you need the absolute best performance and the new camera features on the S25+, consider trading in your old smartphone to bring down your effective cost.
