The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra provides me optimism regarding AI, but only temporarily
There's a lot riding on the latest Galaxy AI capabilities, which headline the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but after only a short time with the phone, I'm significantly more optimistic than I've been about mobile AI in general so far. It's a good thing, because the rest of the Galaxy S25 Ultra isn't really innovative. However, it will take some time before we can determine whether Galaxy AI on the S25 series is as transformative as Samsung says.
The more you utilize it.
Before we proceed any farther, I'd want to discuss certain Galaxy AI characteristics. My favorable interest is based on what I've been told it can achieve, rather than seeing it in action. Normally, this would be a cardinal offense, but since this is a hands-on rather than a review, I believe it is permissible. The reason for this is that Galaxy AI's tailored insights—the most exciting aspect—take time to learn about you, and they don't operate till you've been using the phone for a while.
Samsung's Personalized AI powers the Now Brief, a proactive "AI agent" that delivers informative summaries multiple times a day, including details on the weather, your daily activities, photos taken, your upcoming schedule, the number of steps taken, and a variety of other things based on your interests. This may be new content from your favorite artists, podcasts, or sports scores and fixtures. The longer you use the phone, the more information it will provide you.
The Daily Brief is displayed on a separate website or in the Now Bar at the bottom of the lock screen. The Now Bar works similarly to the iPhone's Dynamic Island, displaying clocks, music, and other real-time information. It's a pretty nice approach, and because it's software-driven and doesn't partially obscure a camera cutout, it's completely concealed when not in use. The Now Brief, as described to me, appears to be actually useful. Because it is completely customized, I won't be harassed by topics I don't care about, which reduces information overload and unwanted noise. Additionally, all of my data is end-to-end secured.
I don't believe Galaxy AI's "personalized" approach is very novel, but Samsung is emphasizing its intelligence and ease, and the overall design and implementation are excellent. Mobile AI should add value, seem smooth and well-crafted, and consistently save me time and effort. The Daily Brief system appears to be capable of handling most of these tasks, but only time will tell. However, Samsung did an excellent job of selling the promise to me, and I am more optimistic about Samsung's tailored AI capabilities than I have been about any other mobile AI feature thus far.
Using the Hardware
Will you utilize the Galaxy S25 Ultra for the appropriate amount of time so that Galaxy AI may get to know you? There are some significant hardware modifications compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and I'm not sure how I feel about them yet. Samsung claims that rounding the frame helps grip, but throughout my time holding and testing the phone, it did not seem very comfortable. The flat edges have a greater taper than the S25 or S25 Plus, and it feels less pleasant to grip than the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Samsung has lowered the weight to 215 grams, and the bigger 6.9-inch screen has 15% smaller bezels, resulting in a pleasingly light phone with all screen on the front. The body is now a few millimeters narrower, which is noticeable, especially because the S Pen pen holder is now located directly at the edge of the phone's base. Just like the minor variations in proportions between the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung has attempted to make its non-folding flagship less of a handful, even after increasing the screen size. It works, but the phone is less impressive than previously because it no longer looks or feels like a giant.
On the rear, the camera configuration remains unchanged, but the general design of the phone is "new" enough that I doubt you'll confuse the S25 Ultra with the S24 Ultra. However, after holding all three S25 phones, I concluded that the S25 and S25 Plus had a more comfortable in-hand feel. The titanium frame is somewhat improved over the S24 Ultra, while the Gorilla Armor 2 glass's anti-reflection surface treatment is significantly more effective and resistant to fractures and damage.
New specifications.
The S25 Ultra (and all other S25 variants) are powered by an overclocked, better-optimized Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy CPU, which has a bigger vapor chamber for cooling, 12GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. The camera keeps the S24 Ultra's 200-megapixel primary unit and 50MP telephoto, but there is a new 50MP wide-angle lens. I was amazed by the new smooth zoom function and saw the quick color-correcting option in action when recording video in Log mode. A demo of the Audio Eraser tool, which removes unwanted noise from videos, demonstrated its effectiveness in loud conditions.
I received the feeling that there are many minor modifications to the camera's software and feature set, such as 10-bit HDR, a virtual aperture mode when using the Expert RAW app, new generative edit capabilities, and improved noise reduction algorithms. It was the same process for the rest of Galaxy AI, such as Circle to Search, which is now able to identify music using sound from video and voice requests in the Settings menu. Some of them will stand out and be used, while others will work in the background and may never be used at all.
As in past years, the reason to pick the S25 Ultra above the other two versions is primarily the large screen, high-quality camera, and S Pen stylus. All three new S25 phones have the same chipset. The screen is large, but when I briefly used the Galaxy S25 Plus, it didn't feel tiny or cramped, and if you're not a big camera fan and don't intend to use the S Pen, it's definitely a better choice. The S25 and S25 Plus are also more shapely, and when compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the Galaxy S25 Ultra's squared-off corners stand out even more.
An intriguing future.
If the Daily Brief and other tailored parts of Galaxy AI perform as described by Samsung, it might become the first significant smartphone AI feature poised to have widespread appeal. The S25 Ultra's hardware is also more appealing, with rounded corners, a lower weight, and a smaller design. Combined, it makes the Galaxy S24 Ultra less appealing to power users and more appealing to discerning purchasers seeking the finest Samsung has to offer.
However, there are two major "ifs" in all of this. If Galaxy AI's tailored features do not provide value, and if the S25 Ultra's new design is unpleasant or tiring to use for extended periods of time, your focus should shift to the Galaxy S25 or S25 Plus, or to the Google Pixel 9 series. We'll know for sure when we review the S25 Ultra, but for the time being, I'm really enthused about its potential as the first smartphone with actual, mainstream appeal AI built in.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will be available on February 7th, starting at $1,299 or £1,249.