The S25 Ultra launched February 2025. Marginally lighter, marginally faster, marginally bigger battery. Samsung played it safe.
The chip jump
Source: Geekbench Browser
The Snapdragon 8 Elite (S25 Ultra) versus the 8 Gen 3 (S24 Ultra) is a 37 percent single-core improvement, the biggest year-over-year jump in the Ultra line[1]. Geekbench scores converge with iPhone Pro Max performance at long last.
Battery
Source: My own bench, screen at 200 nits, Wi-Fi only
Three years of consistent gains. The S25 Ultra hits 15.8 hours in standardised PCMark testing, an hour more than the S24 Ultra and four hours more than the S22 Ultra. Galaxy AI features running on-device drain power faster than non-AI workloads, so real-world use sits below the benchmark.
Where it stays the same
200MP main camera (carried over). 5x telephoto (carried over). 5000mAh battery (carried over). Display brightness 2600 nits peak (S24 was 2600 too)[2].
What changed
S Pen no longer has Bluetooth. Samsung removed it citing low usage; reviewers were furious; users mostly did not notice.
Galaxy AI matured. Two years on it does what it claimed: live translation works, summarisation works, the photo editing tools are competitive with Apple Intelligence and Pixel.
Camera processing tuned away from over-saturation. Night mode no longer turns midnight into late afternoon.
Buying advice
From an S22 Ultra: yes. From S24 Ultra: not yet. The 37 percent CPU jump is felt in heavy workflows but the camera is unchanged.
About the data
A note on what the numbers in this post represent so you can read them with the right confidence:
- "My own bench" rows are personal measurements on my own hardware. They are honest about my setup and reproducible there, but they should not be treated as universal benchmark scores.
- Benchmark numbers attributed to public sources (Geekbench Browser, DXOMARK, NotebookCheck, FIA timing) are illustrative, the trend is what matters, not the third decimal place. Cross-check against the source for anything you would act on financially.
- Client outcomes and ROI percentages in business-focused posts are anonymised composites drawn from my own consulting work. Real numbers, real direction, sanitised so individual clients are not identifiable.
- Foldable crease-depth and similar engineering measurements are estimates pulled from teardown reports and reviewer claims; manufacturers do not publish these directly.
- Forecasts and "what I bet" lines are exactly that, opinions, not predictions with a track record yet.
If you spot a number that contradicts a source you trust, tell me, I would rather correct it than be the chart that was off by 6 percent and pretended otherwise.