Intro
While each model has its audience, the spotlight inevitably falls on the Ultra model, Samsung’s crown jewel, packed with cutting-edge tech and premium features. It surely has the upper hand in some aspects, but it’s also true that the Galaxy S25 Plus is just a smidgen less impressive, but also more affordable, making it excellent value.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S25 Plus differences explained:
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus |
|---|---|
| A new design with rounded instead of straight edges | The same design as before |
| Slightly larger and heavier | More compact due to its smaller screen |
| 6.9-inch display with anti-reflective coating | 6.7-inch with no anti-reflective capabilities |
| Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy | Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy |
| 12GB RAM, 256GB/512GB/1TB storage | 12GB RAM, 256GB/512GB storage |
| 50MP ultrawide camera | 12MP ultrawide camera |
| S Pen included | No S Pen supported |
| A 5,000mAh battery | Slightly smaller 4,900mAh once again |
| 45W wired, 15W wireless charging speeds | 45W wired, 15W wireless charging speeds |
Table of Contents:
Design and Display
A new look for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, thinner Galaxy S25 Plus
A cohesive design language (Image by PhoneArena)
The Galaxy S25 Ultra has scored a pretty substantial redesign. Gone are the straight edges at the bottom that form a nearly perfect right angle. In their stead, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has curved corners. As a result, both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Plus now utilize the same design language, which is delivering a level of aesthetic consistency unseen before in the Galaxy S lineup.
Aside from this change, things haven’t changed much: the Galaxy S25 Ultra still relies on titanium for the frame, just like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, while the front and rear plates use Corning’s Gorilla Glass Armor 2, with Samsung’s anti-reflective coating on.
Both are thinner than last year (Image by PhoneArena)
At the same time, the Galaxy S25 Plus still relies on Samsung’s Armor Aluminum for the frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for the glass panels. No anti-reflective coating here.
Size-wise, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is naturally the larger device, but it’s worth noting that both phones are significantly more compact than their predecessors. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has been slimmed down to 8.2mm and 218gr, while the Galaxy S25 Plus measures 7.3mm thin and 190gr. Extraordinary!
The ubiquitous S Pen is once again making the rounds on the Galaxy S25 Ultra as well, while the Galaxy S25 Plus naturally doesn’t get this extra.
Both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Plus employ the same flat design style with a single display punch hole for the camera. IP68 water and dust resistance are available on both the Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra. No extra buttons here, these are not iPhones!
In terms of colors, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will come in Black, Gray, Silver Blue, White Silver, while the Galaxy S25 Plus will sell in Navy, Ice Blue, Silver Shadow, and Mint colors. We expect some exclusive hues to be available on Samsung.com.
Gorgeous AMOLED displays on both phones (Image by PhoneArena)
Thanks to some pretty excessive bezel-slimming, we get a larger 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, with HDR support, super-smooth 1-120Hz refresh rate, as well as the useful anti-reflective coating which minimizes glare passively The peak brightness remains at 2,600 nits, just as much as the previous Galaxy S24 Ultra, so no bump in this vital area.
The Galaxy S25 Plus also get a 2,600-nit display, but the size remains consistent with last year’s phone, it’s a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display at the front with HDR support, QHD+ resolution, and super-smooth 1-120Hz refresh rate. Sadly, we get no anti-reflective coating here, as that remains a staple of the Ultra flagship. And the latter is probably one of the most significant differences between the two devices: you will definitely notice it if using the two side-by-side under very bright lighting.
Our in-house tests reveal that both have pretty identical screens in terms of properties. Both phones achieve similar maximum and minimum brightness levels, as well as nearly perfect color temperatures, contrast, and overall accuracy. As usual with Samsung screens, both displays are a joy to use and gawk at.
Samsung has partnered up with its TV division to bring a pretty decent new feature to all its flagships. There’s a new ProScaler feature that enables content upscaling and promises up to 40% less artifacts when viewing low-res videos on your phone.
We tested either display against the older model but didn’t really notice a major difference in terms of overall quality on the new screens, so don’t think this upscaling feature will magically fix your low-res content woes.
Biometrics-wise, both devices come with the standard ultrasonic fingerprint scanner built right into the display, and a picture-based face unlock. Both work pretty well, with accurate and quick readings and subsequent unlocking. No issues here.
Performance and Software
Qualcomm’s finest on board
Excellent performance! (Image by PhoneArena)
Both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Galaxy S25 Plus come with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, an overclocked and fine-tuned 3nm chipset, a first for Samsung. Fortunately, the company will be outfitting all Galaxy S25 devices in all regions with this Snapdragon chip, which will deliver uniformity in terms of performance and features across the board.
With the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, Samsung promises 37% CPU and 30% GPU performance increase, as well as 40% improvement in NPU performance for on-device AI calculations.
With the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Plus, we get truly superb performance, both in real-life and in synthetics benchmarks. In the CPU-tasking Geekbench 6 and the GPU-heavy 3DMark Extreme tests, both the Galaxy 25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Plus perform admirably, beating all of their closest current competitors, the iPhone included. Either of Samsung’s new phones feel extremely responsive, especially when compared with previous Galaxy S releases.
We can’t say that the Galaxy S25 Ultra feels faster than the Galaxy S25 Plus, but the effect of the larger vapor chamber on the Galaxy S25 Ultra can be felt. In the “low” 3DMark Extreme graphics test, which shows what the overall graphics performance is when the phone throttles after a lengthier gaming session, it’s the Galaxy S25 Ultra that scores a higher total score. This essentially makes it a better buy for avid mobile gamers.
While it may sound that the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Plus will have similar performance, the reality is that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will certainly come up on top due to a much larger vapor chamber inside, which will dissipate heat more efficiently than the Galaxy S25 Plus and theoretically deliver better performance.
Both phones arrive with 12GB of RAM in all storage variants, which are 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, while the Galaxy S25 Plus comes with 256GB and 512GB variants.
Software
The Now Bar, located at the bottom of the lock screen, can show different live activities, the charging status of your phone, a small music playback widget, and so on.
It’s Google’s Gemini that is at the core of these enhancements, along with the improved Circle to Search feature which now has “Action Chips”. Those are smart and interactive shortcuts to relevant phone functions. For example, circling a phone number allows you to call it instantly, while circling an address lets you navigate to it via Google Maps—making these interactions faster and more intuitive.
Camera
The Ultra is making moves
Only the Galaxy S25 Ultra can pride itself with a major camera hardware change (Image by PhoneArena)
With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, we get few changes in hardware. The same 200MP main camera, 50MP telephoto with 5X zoom, and 10MP 3X telephoto cameras are making the rounds; new here is a 50MP ultrawide camera, an upgrade from the 12MP on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Despite the specs bump, we still expect the camera to output pixel-binned 12MP photos with superior sharpness and low-light performance. Sadly, this upgrade isn’t slated for the Galaxy S25 Plus.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25 Plus once again comes with the same setup as most of its immediate predecessors: a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 10MP 3X telephoto. It’s definitely starting to be a little stale, and judging from the results of our in-house camera tests, it’s the
A common new feature on both new phones is actually embedded into the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, which comes with a new ProVisual Engine, the backbone of the software image-processing that’s largely responsible for how photos and videos turn out. The new engine brings updated image-processing algorithms, which reportedly produce photos with less noise and motion blur, as well as better details. Cool!
Video recording has also seen notable improvements. Both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Plus score upgrades from 8-bit HDR to 10-bit HDR video capture, delivering richer colors and enhanced dynamic range. Additionally, the introduction of Galaxy Log video capture allows for greater flexibility in color grading during post-processing.
On-device AI has been harnessed for the new Audio Eraser tool, which lets you control six different types of sounds in your videos. This makes it possible to isolate or enhance specific sounds while minimizing unwanted background noise.
Generative edits and the object eraser have also been refined to ensure cleaner results, eliminating the creation of unwanted artifacts during edits.
Battery Life and Charging
Once again… no changes
… but the battery life will be better, right? Right? (Image by PhoneArena)
PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:
The difference between the two phones lies mostly in the browsing and gaming tests, where the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a notable lead.
When it comes to charging, both phones score 45W wired charging and 15W fast wireless charging. Yes, those are the same charging speeds as the past few generations; take that as you will.
Specs Comparison
| Galaxy S25 Ultra | Galaxy S25 Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Size, weight | 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2mm, 218gr | 158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm, 190gr |
| Screen | 6.9″ 1440p Dynamic AMOLED 2600 nits peak brightness 1-120Hz Anti-reflective coating |
6.7″ 1440p Dynamic AMOLED 2600 nits peak brightness 1-120Hz |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy 3nm | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy 3nm |
| RAM, Storage | 12/256GB 12/256GB 12/1TB |
12/256GB 12/256GB |
| Cameras | 200MP main 50MP ultrawide 50MP 5X telephoto 10MP 3X telephoto 12MP front |
50MP main 10MP ultrawide 12MP 3X zoom 12MP front |
| Battery | 5,000mAh | 4,900mAh |
| Charging | USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless |
USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless |
Summary
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is the best one around, but the Galaxy S25 Plus is also a smart choice (Image by PhoneArena)
Samsung gives us “more of the same” with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Galaxy S25 Plus, while simultaneously improving some of the key areas that usually matter… and that’s not bad, not bad at all!
After all, Samsung has been figuratively killing it with its flagship in the past few years and seemingly feels quite comfortable releasing consistently great phones, arguably the best Android ones you can get your hands on. Sure, one might argue that the company is no longer bold and its flagships are nowadays boring, yet we can’t argue that Samsung has been continuously perfecting the formula.
As to which one should you get, that’s entirely up to your size and feature needs: the Galaxy S25 Ultra is definitely the upper-tier and more feature-rich phone, with more head-turning aspects to it that will make it that much more premium than the Galaxy S25 Plus.