Samsung has gone all in with AI in its new Galaxy S25 flagship phones, integrating new features more tightly into the user interface and betting they will keep it ahead of rivals.
Unveiling the new series of phones hours ago, the Korean phone maker showcased designs that were lighter in the hand and a more powerful processor to drive the AI features.
Available for pre-orders in Singapore now, the Galaxy S25 comes in three sizes – the S$1,288 Galaxy S25 offers a 6.2-inch screen, the S$1,478 Galaxy S25+ sports a 6.7-inch screen and the top-end S$1,828 Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 6.9 incher.
Only the top-end model has got a slight increase in screen size – up from 6.8 inches in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. That said, the new phone is slightly lighter at 218g instead of 232g and this is noticeably so, going by a recent media preview of the new devices in Singapore.
With many similarities with last year’s models, some potential buyers would be forgiven for asking what’s new in the this year’s lineup.
Samsung would like you to take note of the even slimmer bezels around the Galaxy S25 Ultra, for example, plus the fact that it is the first mobile device to sport the Corning Gorilla Armor 2 protective surface next to the titanium finish introduced last year.
More practically, the new top-end model also comes with an improved ultra-wide camera. The megapixel count for this has been bumped up from 12 to 50 megapixels, which means you can crop your close-up, macro shots even more tightly.
This camera is part of a four-camera array in the back that includes:
- 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera
- 200-megapixel wide camera
- 50-megapixel telephoto camera
- 10-megapixel telephoto camera
Unfortunately, the other two smaller models in the new series do not enjoy the improvement on the ultra-wide camera.
The Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ retain a 50-megapixel wide camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera. Take note if mobile photography is a big thing for you.
Samsung, of course, would prefer that you focus on the new AI features that it has worked with Google to integrate even more closely on its new Android phones.
The promise is that users won’t have to switch between apps to find information and get something done, say, when looking for restaurants that are pet-friendly and have vegetarian menus. The idea is to have “AI agents” on the phone doing that work for you and simply presenting the output.
For now, that works across mostly Google-linked apps though you can expect more, such as Spotify, to come onboard. Very much a work in progress, this is something to watch with Samsung’s new One UI 7 interface that now ships with the Galaxy S25 series.
As a start, a Call Transcript feature lets you automatically record and get a read-out of a call you’ve just done – it looks promising for journalists, yes, and indeed anyone who makes business calls on their phones.
Meanwhile, the Writing Assist tool helps summarise content and format your notes so the text can be easily selected, without switching between various apps.
Another tightly integrated AI feature is the Now Bar that promises to give you customised, useful information to start your day. Think of reminders of appointments as well as news updates of your favourite sports teams to arrive here seamlessly.
Samsung says your personalised data will be kept private and encrypted by its Knox Vault feature. It even claims the new phone has post-quantum cryptography though you’d need a quantum computer test that out.
Other AI features packed into the Galaxy S25 series include expansions to last year’s tools.
The Circle to Search feature, which lets you look up just about anything on your phone screen, now recognises phone numbers, e-mail addresses and Web addresses on your screen. So, you can call, e-mail or visit a website with a single tap.
All these AI features have to be driven by a beefy processor, which is the other big thing for the new Galaxy S25 phones.
This new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip used by Samsung here – instead of its own Exynos chips – has already shown improvements over last year’s Snapdragon 8 in earlier tests.
The customised version of this Snapdragon chip in the Galaxy S25 series is reportedly overclocked to give it just a bit more of a boost. It’s likely enabled by Samsung’s vapour chamber design to dissipate the extra heat generated.
If you’re considering one of the new phones, take note of the various options available. All three models pack in a good 12GB of memory to run today’s apps easily but offer different storage capacities.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra comes in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB variants, while the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ offer either 256GB or 512GB.
Depending on how many videos or photos you’d be taking, you should consider whether to stump up more money for the higher-end options.
As before, do the new Samsung phones do enough to warrant spending top dollar on them? In particular, what’s the deal with the new AI features on the Galaxy S25?
Many Android rivals including Honor and Oppo have now rolled out AI features to match what Samsung unveiled a year ago. Google itself, which provides much of the smarts for the AI used on Android phones, also has its Pixel range.
Samsung would like to be the leader of the pack, as the premier Android phone maker, but it needs to find new ways for its version of AI to stand out.
The company’s One UI 7 interface, which will also be rolled out to its other Galaxy S phones, promises much. If it can streamline the experience for users so that they no longer have to launch various apps to get something done, then it could be an important unique selling point.
However, Samsung’s AI efforts in the past have been spotty. Think of Bixby – yes, it’s still around, according to the Korean firm – but it’s been shunted out of the limelight for the new Galaxy S25 series.
We’ll have more on the new Galaxy S25 in a hands-on review soon. Look out for it!
