Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Review: Snapdragon 8 Elite and Galaxy AI 2.0

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has arrived, and it's Samsung's most refined flagship yet. Released in January 2025, it brings significant improvements in processing power, AI capabilities, and everyday usability.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite (the marketing name for Snapdragon 8 Gen 4) is a powerhouse. Built on TSMC's 3nm process, it delivers 35% better CPU performance and 40% better GPU performance than the 8 Gen 3. Gaming performance is exceptional, with support for ray tracing at higher frame rates than ever before.

Galaxy AI 2.0 is the star of the show. The new Sketch to Image feature lets you draw rough sketches and have AI transform them into photorealistic images. Live Translate now works in video calls across more apps including FaceTime. The Browsing Assist can summarize entire web pages and extract key information automatically.

The 6.9-inch display is slightly larger than last year but in a more compact body thanks to slimmer bezels. Peak brightness hits 3,000 nits, and the anti-reflective coating is more effective than ever.

Camera improvements are evolutionary but meaningful. The 200MP main sensor has improved HDR processing. The ultra-wide is now 50MP. Most notably, the new 50MP periscope offers both 5x optical zoom and a 3x portrait mode. Video recording now supports 8K at 60fps.

The S Pen experience has been enhanced with lower latency and new AI-powered handwriting recognition that works even with messy handwriting. Samsung Notes now offers real-time translation while you write.

Battery life is excellent at 5,000mAh, easily lasting a full day of heavy use. 45W wired charging reaches 65% in 30 minutes, while 25W wireless charging is also available.

At $1,299 for 256GB, it's priced competitively against the iPhone 17 Pro Max and delivers a compelling Android flagship experience.