Has AI gone from being a buzzword to a real game-changer? We’ve seen AI features come from flagships to mainstream, but how many of us use them on a daily basis. How will AI affect our lives in the future? These are all important questions that continue to arise as we advance in the technology landscape. Meanwhile, Samsung continues in its quest, adding to its list of AI goodies in its smartphones… and the premium S series is the torch bearer as ever. The latest trio comes in the form of the Galaxy S25 series, and I got a chance to check out these phones at the global Unpacked event in San Jose. read on.
design
As far as the design is concerned, the focus has been on improvements, with Samsung sticking to the same design language as before. Basically no mold has been broken in creating these smartphones. That said, the changes are noticeable, and help add to the overall appeal and usefulness, especially for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Tipping the scales at 218 grams, it’s a few grams lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra (which weighs 233 grams). Samsung has shaved a few millimeters each off the thickness and width, making the Galaxy S25 Ultra slightly smaller than its predecessor. The difference may not be much in terms of statistics, but it seems to make a lot of difference while handling the phone. I think the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a solid phone in terms of capabilities, but its size and weight make it a bit cumbersome. From that perspective, I think the reduction in size and weight is welcome.
Additionally, the rounded edges of the Galaxy S24 Ultra have been replaced with flat edges on the new phone, and the sharp corners have been made more rounded. The bezels around the screen also look extremely thin. The placement of ports and controls, and the design and layout of the rear camera deco haven’t changed much, so you’ll find things the same as their predecessor… including the S Pen silo hidden in the corner. And the size of the front screen. Samsung lists the screen size for the S25 Ultra as 6.9mm, and also notes that the display measures 6.8-inches when taking into account the rounded corners. Subtle, yet sophisticated…that’s how I would describe the design overall.
The story also continues with the Galaxy S25+ and the compact Galaxy S25. The S25+ weighs 190 grams compared to its predecessor’s 196 grams, while the S25’s weight has also dropped by 6 grams.
specification
Among the highlights of this year’s offering, the key aspect is the inclusion of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. The flagship chipset makes its way into not only the S25 Ultra, but also both of its siblings. This is a departure from last year. While the S24 Ultra was powered by Qualcomm silicon (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), the S24+ and S24 used the Exynos 2400 in India and other regions with the exception of the US. Choosing Qualcomm over Exynos not only highlights the popularity of Snapdragon SoCs, but also confirms Samsung’s confidence in the capabilities of these chips to be able to deliver a premium experience to users.
Samsung says it worked with Qualcomm to customize the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, incorporating Samsung’s Mobile Digital Natural Image Engine to increase display power efficiency. Specifically on the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S25+, Samsung is promising up to 40 percent improvement in display image scaling quality, which basically helps with AI image processing.
All-round improvements in performance are being promised, with the main emphasis being on the S25 series’ ability to process AI tasks directly on the device in a better and more intuitive way than before. During my brief hands-on time checking out these devices, I certainly did not face any issues and the usage experience with the smartphone was quite seamless.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra also features a new 50MP ultra-wide camera, which is an upgrade from its predecessor’s 12MP sensor. Many improvements are proposed in the camera department. With 10-bit HDR recording now on by default, videos shot in low light are supposed to be much better, while footage of moving objects should also be significantly improved. Pros should appreciate the Virtual Aperture feature that’s now included as part of Expert RAW, and the ability to shoot video in log.
AI and software features
Of course, AI is a big part of the story. Samsung’s new One UI 7, a ton of AI-based features and Google-contributed smarts come together to make the S25 series quite loaded. In addition to adding a lot of new ones, Samsung has also expanded and improved some of the ones we’ve seen before, making them more capable in the process. There’s the Now Bar, which looks a lot like Samsung’s Live Activities, and appears at the bottom of the lockscreen. It can show real-time information from multiple apps, allowing the user to flick through them as needed. For example, the Now Bar can also display a running timer and navigation information from Google Maps. Twice a day, another feature called Now Brief provides a personalized summary of what your day looks like based on your usage patterns and daily routine. On the other hand, Samsung is also promising peace of mind and saying that personalized data is stored on the device and secured by Knox Vault. With the S25 series, Samsung has also introduced post-quantum cryptography to protect personal data. Advanced theft protection and a new Knox Matrix dashboard that monitors security across connected devices have also been added.
Then there’s AI Select, which is a new and improved version of what’s called Smart Select. It understands the content on the screen and allows it to take action based on what you select. For example, selecting a portion of text containing a date in an online article gives you the option to add it to that day’s calendar, while selecting a portion of a screen playing a YouTube video lets you convert the selected portion into an animated GIF. Allow sending as. very nice. Samsung also showed off new features for Google’s Gemini Live. Advances in natural language understanding allow it to have seamless conversations across different apps. If you find a restaurant’s menu in a language you don’t understand, Gemini can not only translate it for you, but also filter out dishes up to a certain amount total and help you order. Similarly, it can message a friend about nearby restaurants that are vegetarian and also pet-friendly.
Next, there is the Audio Eraser feature which has got a big boost. This feature can detect and isolate different types of sounds in recorded videos, including noise, voices, crowd, wind, and music, and allows you to reduce or eliminate them as per your preference. I saw this in action during the demo and it seemed to make a noticeable difference to the final output.
Based on the above, I think it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that the use cases for AI have evolved to the point where they are truly making a difference, helping people save time and increase their productivity. . Of course, this is still the beginning, and there will be even more fascinating use cases of AI along the way.
to sum it up
With the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung is focusing more on providing an engaging user experience rather than pure niche disruptions, with AI and convenience at the core. It remains to be seen how well it can deliver on these promises though, and these new flagships face a tough task ahead, especially considering how strong the competition has become in recent times. While the devices come across as evolutionary upgrades over the previous generation, the promise of an unmatched user experience with everything from performance to cameras, productivity and entertainment, efficiency and security and other core aspects is stronger than ever. To be stronger than ever.
Disclosure: This author attended the Unpacked event in San Jose at the invitation of Samsung India
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