Samsung’s Galaxy lineup has reached its 25th generation with the launch of the Galaxy S25 series. I have the latest Galaxy S25+, the successor to last year’s S24+. While the design and display remain largely unchanged, Samsung has introduced significant under-the-hood upgrades that enhance performance. The most notable change is the switch to the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, ensuring a uniform chipset across all markets.
Additionally, AI-driven enhancements, improved camera processing, and a more power-efficient system promise a smoother user experience. But how much of a difference do these upgrades make compared to its predecessor? Let’s find out.
Samsung has opted to maintain its minimalist yet elegant design philosophy with the Galaxy S25+, ensuring continuity in aesthetics while making minor refinements. The phone retains the flat Armor Aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both the front and back, ensuring durability. The most noticeable change is in its dimensions, as the S25+ is slightly thinner, narrower, and lighter than the S24+, improving in-hand comfort without sacrificing hardware features.
The button and port placements remain familiar, with the power button and volume rockers on the right side and the USB Type-C port, SIM tray, and speaker grille positioned at the bottom. The phone continues to offer IP68 water and dust resistance, making it well-protected against the elements. While the overall aesthetic remains largely unchanged, the refinements in ergonomics make the Galaxy S25+ feel slightly more comfortable to hold and use, especially during extended usage.
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The 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the Galaxy S25+ offers the same Quad HD+ resolution (3120 x 1440) and 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate, providing vibrant colours and ultra-smooth scrolling. Samsung has retained the peak brightness of 2,600 nits, making outdoor visibility effortless, even under harsh sunlight. The panel continues to deliver excellent contrast, deep blacks, and accurate colour reproduction, making it one of the best displays in the market.
What’s new in the S25+ display is the ProScaler technology, a feature borrowed from Samsung’s premium TVs, which upscales low-resolution content to reduce artifacts and improve clarity. This means that even low-bitrate YouTube videos and older media files appear sharper and cleaner. Additionally, the Digital Natural Image Engine improves contrast and colour accuracy while optimising power efficiency. While the core display technology remains unchanged from the S24+, these software-driven enhancements make a noticeable difference in content consumption.
Samsung is making AI the central focus of its 2025 flagship lineup, and the Galaxy S25+ is fully equipped with smart AI-driven tools that enhance user experience. The phone comes with Circle to Search with Action Chips, which allows users to quickly access relevant shortcuts when circling content. For instance, circling a phone number will offer an option to call directly, while circling an address will instantly open Google Maps for navigation.
The Galaxy S25+ also integrates on-device AI for photo and video editing, including an improved Generative Eraser, which removes objects from images without leaving unwanted artifacts. The ProVisual Engine enhances image-processing algorithms, ensuring sharper, more natural-looking images. Samsung has also added AI-powered audio enhancements, allowing users to isolate or enhance specific sounds in recorded videos using the new Audio Eraser feature.
Beyond these AI-based tools, Samsung includes Google’s Gemini AI, offering six months of free Gemini Advanced, enabling users to take advantage of advanced smart replies, voice assistance, and document summarisation. The phone runs on One UI 7.0, which introduces smoother animations and a cleaner UI, with Samsung promising seven years of software updates, making the S25+ one of the most future-proof Android devices.
One of the most significant upgrades and what I liked personally in the Galaxy S25+ is the shift from Exynos to the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. Unlike previous years, where Samsung split its lineup between Snapdragon and Exynos, this time the company is offering a uniform chipset worldwide, ensuring consistent performance across all regions. This custom-tuned Snapdragon 8 Elite variant delivers a 37% increase in CPU performance, a 30% boost in GPU efficiency, and a 40% enhancement in AI processing compared to the Galaxy S24+.
Samsung has also addressed thermal management by increasing the vapour chamber size, ensuring sustained performance even during heavy gaming and multitasking. Benchmark scores further reinforce the power of this new chip, with the Galaxy S25+ scoring 3082 in single-core and 8738 in multi-core Geekbench tests, along with an impressive AnTuTu score of 2,102,302. These numbers put it in close competition with the OnePlus 13, which features the same chipset.
In real-world use, the Galaxy S25+ runs effortlessly smooth, whether handling multiple applications, editing high-resolution videos, or running demanding games like Genshin Impact and Call of Duty Mobile at max settings. Thanks to the improved cooling system, heat buildup remains minimal, making the device a reliable performer even under stress.
Samsung has chosen to keep the same triple-camera setup as the Galaxy S24+, featuring a 50 MP primary sensor with OIS, a 12 MP ultrawide sensor, and a 10 MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The selfie camera remains a 12 MP sensor with autofocus, delivering sharp and well-balanced shots.
Samsung Galaxy S25+ camera sample | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Although the hardware remains unchanged, Samsung has significantly improved its image-processing algorithms with the new ProVisual Engine, ensuring better noise reduction, reduced motion blur, and enhanced detail retention. The camera system captures natural, well-balanced colours that closely replicate real-world tones without excessive saturation or artificial enhancements. Portrait shots offer precise edge detection and excellent depth mapping, producing sharp and professional-looking results.
Samsung Galaxy S25+ camera sample | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Low-light photography has also seen a boost, thanks to Samsung’s AI-driven night mode enhancements, which produce well-lit, noise-free images with improved clarity. The virtual aperture feature in Expert RAW mode allows users to adjust background blur, adding a level of control that photography enthusiasts will appreciate.
Samsung Galaxy S25+ camera sample | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Video capabilities have also improved, with 10-bit HDR recording replacing the previous 8-bit standard, and Galaxy Log mode allowing advanced colour grading for professionals. The front-facing camera delivers crisp selfies, with HDR ensuring balanced exposure even in tricky lighting conditions. While the camera hardware remains the same as last year, Samsung’s software optimizations make a noticeable difference in image and video quality.
The Galaxy S25+ retains the 4,900 mAh battery, which continues to provide a full day of usage on a single charge, even with heavy tasks like gaming and photography. The Snapdragon 8 Elite’s improved power efficiency ensures better battery management, helping the device last longer despite the same capacity.
Charging speeds remain unchanged from the S24+, with 45 W wired charging that takes around 60 minutes for a full charge. Wireless charging is capped at 15 W, and the phone supports Wireless Power Sharing, allowing users to charge accessories like Galaxy Buds or another phone. While faster charging would have been appreciated, the improved efficiency of the chipset ensures solid battery life performance.
Starting at ₹99,999, the Samsung Galaxy S25+ offers a well-balanced flagship experience, with a powerful chipset, AI-driven software, and improved image processing. While the phone shares much with its predecessor, the switch to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, refined AI features, and better thermal efficiency make it a worthy upgrade for those coming from the S22 or S23 series.
The S25+ faces tough competition from the OnePlus 13 and Vivo X200 Pro in the Android space, while iOS users might be tempted by the iPhone 16 Plus. However, for those seeking Samsung’s best blend of power, software longevity, and AI advancements, the S25+ remains a top contender in the luxury Android segment.
Published - February 07, 2025 12:22 pm IST
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