The Galaxy S25 Ultra Continues Samsung’s Apple-fication

January 22, 2025 MMOOP

A person with a beard holds up a smartphone, smiling and facing the device. They stand against a blue backdrop. A sign next to them reads "Galaxy S25 Galaxy AI" and "PetaPixel Hands-On.

The PetaPixel team is in San Jose, California for the Samsung Unpacked event and is working hard on our review of the latest Galaxy S25 Ultra for photographers. However, we did get an early briefing and first look at the latest high-end phone from Samsung and we have some thoughts about the most exciting features.

The new S25 Ultra is made of titanium and is both thinner and lighter than its predecessor.

The S25 Ultra sheds a little bit of weight dropping it down to 7.69 ounces (218 grams) and is 15% thinner than the S24 Ultra, too. I definitely appreciate the stronger Gorilla Glass 2 Victus found on the S25 Ultra as I have found the iPhone 16 Pro with its similar glass to stand up much better to abuse. Battery life is the same as far as capacity goes but the new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor should prove to be more power efficient than before. Overall, the S25 Ultra is a little sleeker, a little lighter, and a lot faster.

Several smartphones with triple-camera setups are displayed in a row, featuring different colors such as silver, gray, and black. The focus is on the back of the phones, showcasing the camera designs. — The latest lineup of Ultra phones come in fairly understated colors.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Look: New Hardware

The cameras are largely unchanged on the S25 Ultra with one important distinction: the new model has a new 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera that allows for some close-up macro shots as well. This is a pretty big difference from the previous 12-megapixel camera in the S24 series. I will be testing this new camera fully to see if we get a larger sensor and noticeable improvements to image quality.

Before seeing the new phone, I hoped and dared to dream that Samsung might return to a 10x telephoto camera but it has taken the more conservative approach and we instead see the return of the 5x camera. The 3x camera and 200-megapixel main camera also make a return from the S24 Ultra.

Close-up of a smartphone's rear camera module featuring multiple lenses and a flash. A blurred plant in a white pot is visible in the background. — We get a very similar array of cameras to the previous S24 Ultra.

Samsung S25 Ultra First Look: Out of the Clouds

Generative AI was one of the most dramatic changes on the S24 Ultra but let’s not conflate “dramatic” with good. Although you could erase unwanted subjects or move people around in the frame the results were often unrealistic and the time it took to connect with the cloud servers and download the result was an arduous process at best.

I’m going to reserve judgment on the quality of the results until I get more time with the phone, but the generative changes are all done on device now and this drastically speeds up the waiting times. What was once an annoying process that sapped all the fun out of the experience is now a convenient and usable tool.

Close-up of a smartphone camera module against a pink background. The text points to the wide-angle lens, stating "0.6x Camera, 14mm Equivalent, 50MP Quad Bayer. — The ultra-wide camera has been updated from the previous 12-megapixel camera to a quad bayer 50-megapixel camera.

Samsung S25 Ultra First Look: Wait, That Doesn’t Look Like Me

We see the return of Samsung’s Sketch to Image feature which converts a basic doodle into an AI-generated image. I admit that I don’t often use this feature and it still does require cloud access to work but the wait time is not very long. However, there is a new feature that brought immense joy to the people trying it out right before we did.

A smartphone on display shows a photo editing app with a stylized portrait of a smiling man. The device is in a vertical position, with various filter options at the bottom of the screen. The background is blurred. — I don’t think that the Samsung Photo Studio captured my true essence.

Samsung debuted a new Photo Studio feature that can apply a stylized AI-generated effect to a portrait. This cloud-dependant feature can transform your image into an adorable cartoon, a stylish pencil sketch, or even an impressionistic watercolor painting. I must say that although some people’s results captured a very recognizable aspect of their appearance, mine looked more like an eyewitness sketch that only showed a passable likeness. I’m definitely going to play with this feature more though because the results can be entertaining and the speed with which the S25 Ultra connects to the cloud and processes the result is drastically better than before.

A person is holding a smartphone, capturing a photo of a man in the background. The phone screen displays the camera interface, showing a black-and-white image of the man, who is wearing a lanyard and a beard. The word "Galaxy" is partially visible. — Samsung adding a proper log recording mode might be the best thing about the S25.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Look: Video Gets a Big Boost

Samsung may have just surpassed the Google Pixel 9 Pro when it comes to video flexibility with one very big change. The S25 Ultra now has log recording in all its modes. As long as you’re shooting 10-bit H265 video you can get a very flat profile with plenty of room to grade the footage. There are flat profiles available on Android phones via third-party apps but we often find that when a manufacturer makes a log profile, the results are far more useful.

A Samsung smartphone is displayed next to a large screen showing a side-by-side comparison of two photographs labeled "S24 Ultra" and "S25 Ultra," illustrating differences in photo quality. — The Galaxy S25 Ultra now features low-light noise reduction that works in real-time.

Samsung has also improved its low-light game by adding AI-based noise reduction to both photos and video recording in real-time. Google uses a video noise reduction feature which is a cloud-based affair, with very long wait times to receive the footage back. Being able to have a better low-light video with the convenience of real-time processing and a proper log profile to grade with is a great step in the right direction.

A person in a brown coat walks toward another person sitting on a bench wearing red shoes and dark clothing. It's a street scene with plants in the background. — The S24 Ultra had generative AI but the results were often horrific.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Look: Mimicry Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

I’m excited to try out some of the new features on the Galaxy S25 Ultra but I’m left with some lingering thoughts and concerns. The hardware is largely the same as before so I expect the image quality to follow suit and give us a similar experience to the S24 Ultra.

Close-up of a smartphone screen displaying video resolution settings. Options are 8K, UHD, FHD, and HD. Frame rates available are 30 and 24 FPS. The text below reads: "Highest resolution with cinematic frame rate. — The recording modes of the S25 Ultra are the same as its predecessor.

However, the experience of using the dramatically faster AI tools was way more pleasurable than before and the video features look to be markedly improved. I’m eager to test the S25 Ultra in the coming days and see how far it has come but I can’t help but feel like Samsung is still playing a game of catch-up, in particular to the iPhone 16 Pro.

Samsung seems to be trying to at least match the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max in most arenas but I don’t think it will surpass it in any major ways. Hopefully, I’ll be proven wrong because innovation is what drives the smartphone market more than almost any other industry. At $1,299 the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra carries a premium price and I find myself wondering if it will feel like it’s worth the cost but I worry that it might instead fail to impress.

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