Discover Why the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Is Among the Best Android Phones Available: Hands-On Review

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is Samsung’s most powerful and feature-packed smartphone to date, and arguably one of the best Android phones ever released. It’s jam-packed with cutting-edge technology and features, offers a stunning 6.9-inch display, and comes with an expansive assortment of preinstalled apps. And of course, you get full access to the Google Play Store where you can find, download, and install your choice of more than 3.3 million optional apps to add even more functionality to the smartphone.

The folks at AT&T Wireless provided me with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with a Titanium Black housing and 256GB of storage so I could try all of the phone’s latest features and experience the power of Galaxy AI integration for myself. Keep reading to discover if this smartphone is worth the $1,300+ investment, or if would you’d be better off with the lower priced Galaxy S25 or Galaxy S25+.

Specifications

Pros

• Integrated Galaxy AI across all apps.
• Powerful camera system.
• Included stylus allows you to handwrite, annotate, or draw on the screen.
• Durable titanium housing available in seven colors.
• Long battery life.

Cons

• It’s an expensive smartphone.
• Three of seven casing colors are only available from Samsung.com (Titanium Jet Black, Titanium Jet Green, and Titanium Pink Gold).
• Some AI features can get overwhelming without practice using them.
• Due to the smoothness of the display, the stylus slides around a bit too much.

Who the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Smartphone Will Appeal To

Designed for power users, the Galaxy S25 is one of the few smartphones that comes with a stylus, so you can hand write and draw directly on the screen. The latest Galaxy AI and Google Gemini AI features have also been integrated into almost every application and phone feature. This provides new ways to interact with the phone and be more productive using it. 

Meanwhile, the phone’s built in camera system delivers incredibly robust photo and video capabilities, so it’s perfect for someone who wants maximum creative control when taking photos or shooting video, without investing years to become a pro photographer. In fact, I quickly discovered the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s camera setup, along with the Camera and Gallery apps, are far more advanced than what’s offered by the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max or most other Android phones.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra has a slim design and it’s lightweight, yet it’s loaded with advanced hardware from the processor and screen to the integrated speakers and stylus. This makes it an extremely versatile tool that’s ideal for people who rely heavily on their smartphone and need that extra boost in performance and battery life. 

This Smartphone Integrates Powerful Galaxy AI Functionality

Google has taken the adoption of AI into its Android mobile devices very seriously. Not only do you get access to some cutting-edge tools that work exactly as described, but updates are released several times per year that add new features and improve the overall performance of the AI. Samsung has adapted AI tools developed by Google and incorporated them into Galaxy AI, while also providing access to Google Gemini. As a result, you can now talk to your phone to accomplish tasks, ask it questions, or issue commands. But as I found out, that’s just the beginning.

The AI tools built into the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra can help you compose, edit, and proofread text related to documents, emails, or text messages. It can even translate content between languages. Even better, if you record a meeting, class, or in-person conversation, the AI can create a text-based transcript, along with a bulleted summary of the recording. This summary tool also works with documents, emails, and voicemail messages, for example. Of course, I tried each of these features and was pleasantly surprised at the responsiveness and accuracy of the AI.

Advanced AI is also integrated into the Camera and Gallery apps, which provides many new and cutting-edge photo and video enhancement and editing tools, some of which work automatically while others are manually controlled but very simple to implement. 

With the goal of using AI to make someone’s life easier and more productive, you’ll find this phone can now auto-create appointments in your calendar based on incoming text messages or emails. In addition, AI can make your daily planning more efficient using the Now Brief feature, which gathers content from numerous apps and showcases important tasks and meetings in one centralized place.

And if you already use Google Health to track health and fitness-related data collected by your smartphone, Galaxy Ring, and Galaxy Watch, AI is now used to provide personalized insights and guidance based on the data that’s collected from these and other compatible devices. 

I’ve also become a huge fan of the Browsing Assist feature that can be used to quickly summarize web pages, provide highlights from articles, and streamline a web surfing experience. 

Because so many new and updated AI tools and features have been incorporated into the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, I found there’s a learning curve for getting acquainted with what’s possible, and also when it comes to getting the most out of these new and evolving tools. 

What exactly is Galaxy AI?

In a nutshell, Galaxy AI is a collection of tools and AI-driven features that are now integrated into almost every function and app people typically use their Samsung Galaxy smartphone for. The goal of this technology is to streamline everyday tasks and make users more productive, while providing a more personalized experience. In some cases, the AI is used to anticipate your wants and needs, allowing the phone to provide the right information exactly when and where you need it. 

I found these tools work exceptionally well when it comes to composing, proofreading, summarizing, or translating text-based content, or transcribing and summarizing audio-based content. 

All of the latest Samsung Galaxy smartphones now utilize Galaxy AI, but if you want the fastest performance from these tools, using them with the Galaxy S25 Ultra (Samsung’s most powerful phone) gives you several advantages when it comes to speed and the way data is shared between apps. 

What Makes the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra a Superior Smartphone

The Galaxy S25 Ultra combines a superior display, with an impressively fast processor, the capabilities of Android 15 (or later), and the added tools of Galaxy AI, all bundled into a durable and slim smartphone that doesn’t just offer advanced hardware, but also an impressive collection of preinstalled apps. In fact, right out of the box, all of the popular Google apps and services, like Gmail, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Pay, Google Photos, Google Meet, Google Wallet, YouTube, and Gemini are available, along with many other useful apps designed to meet the needs of most users. 

For me, one standout feature is the number of ways you can customize the phone, from the appearance of the Lock Screen and Home Screen, to the level of security and how you unlock the phone, and how AI is used when working with your favorite apps. 

I quickly discovered that without making the phone difficult to use, Samsung has done an excellent job giving users powerful communications, productivity, photography/videography, web searching, entertainment, and health/fitness tools.

And to set this smartphone apart even further, it’s one of the few that comes with a pen-shaped stylus. Plus, like all of the latest smartphones, it takes full advantage of the latest 5G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth wireless capabilities. Finally, the battery life offered by the Galaxy S25 Ultra is also impressive. You can expect at least 14 hours of usage during a typical day, but if you’re just streaming video, for example, battery life can be extended up to 31 hours.

After several weeks using the phone in a wide range of situations, I found it to be highly capable and fun to use. And I don’t just mean when playing games, streaming video, or scrolling through my social media feeds. The ability to personalize many aspects of the phone and the numerous ways users can now interact with it make it a pleasure to use.

Handwrite Directly on the Screen Using the Included S Pen Stylus

As you’d expect, the S Pen stylus that’s included with the Galaxy S25 Ultra fits snuggly into the handset when it’s not being used. However, it’s easily accessible whenever it’s needed. While you can use the stylus to help you navigate around on the screen, what it works particularly well for is note taking. 

Whether you’re using the Notes app that comes preinstalled on the phone, or any other app that accepts handwriting, it’s possible to write, annotate, or draw directly on the screen. When using the Notes app, you can handwrite your notes, to-do lists, journal entries, or ideas and leave them in handwritten form, or use the integrated AI tool to convert your handwriting into text.

Writing directly on the display using the stylus works, but the experience does not realistically replicate using a pen on paper. The screen is slick and the stylus is thinner and smaller than a traditional pen or pencil, so don’t expect your handwriting to appear too neat. For me, it took some practice to achieve handwriting that was legible. You can also choose a virtual writing instrument. Options include two fountain pen styles, a pen, pencil, and marker. 

After selecting a virtual writing instrument, you can select the thickness of the virtual ink, as well as the ink color. And if you make a mistake, press the button on the side of the stylus to transform it into an eraser or tap on the erase icon. There is an alignment tool to improve the appearance of handwriting. I found the Convert to Text feature is extremely accurate. 

What’s nice about the S Pen and its integration with the Galaxy S25 Ultra is that you can use it if you want, or you can rely exclusively on the virtual keyboard and your fingers to create text and navigate around on the screen. This is yet another way the phone adapts to your personal habits and preferences.

Discover New Things Using the Circle to Search Feature

Whether you’re surfing the web, looking through photos, using social media. or performing other everyday tasks, one AI-driven feature that’s extremely useful and rather impressive is called Circle to Search. 

Simply by pressing and holding the Home button for a second or two, and then drawing a circle around any object displayed on the screen, you can quickly learn more about that object. I discovered this tool has many uses. 

For example, if you’re looking at an outfit someone is wearing and you want to know who designed it or where to purchase it, simply circle that article of clothing and let Google find it for you in seconds. Or, if you’re looking at an image of an animal, such as a turtle (shown below), the Circle to Search feature can identify that turtle and share all sorts of details about it.

What I like best about this feature is that it works from within almost any app, such as Gallery, the Chrome web browser, Mail, or when using the app for a popular social media service, like Instagram.

Experience Cutting-Edge Photography and Videography Features

One of the biggest reasons to upgrade to the Galaxy S25 Ultra is to take full advantage of the camera system for capturing high-resolution photos and video content. You can also take advantage of easy-to-use, but very advanced tools for viewing, organizing, editing, enhancing, printing, and sharing your content. The Camera app that comes preinstalled with Android 15 (or later) offers some really impressive tools that provide a lot of creative control and allow the cameras to quickly adapt to virtually any shooting situation.

While the front-facing camera offers just 12MP resolution and can be used for taking selfies or participating in video calls, it’s the five rear-facing cameras, combined with the features built into the Camera app that I believe set new standards for smartphone photography and videography. On the back of the phone, you’ll find cameras with a 50MP (ultra wide), 50MP (telephoto), 200MP (wide-angle with 2x optical zoom), and a 10MP telephoto (with 3x optical zoom) lens. 

Yes, the optical zoom capabilities are a bit limited, but using digital zoom (combined with automatic AI enhancements), you can take advantage of up to 100x digital zoom. When you tap the power of this high-level zoom, the phone must be held very still to avoid unwanted blurriness. It’s also possible to use the macro photography feature to take extreme close-ups, as you’ll see shortly. 

I was impressed by the assortment of shooting modes built into the Camera app, but beyond what’s possible when shooting photos or video, it’s the editing and enhancement tools offered by the Gallery app that put the latest Apple iPhones to shame. 

These features also give you more powerful options than what’s been possible using earlier versions of the Galaxy smartphones or other Android phones. Each of these tools can be adjusted manually as needed, or you can tap the Auto button to use AI to suggest the optimal setting for each tool. 

In just one to two minutes each, I was able to dramatically enhance the visual quality and composition of photos – and that’s without taking advantage of the Generative Edit tools, which among other things, make it super easy to select an object within an image to erase or move with the help of AI. Again, the Generative Edit tools are among the most powerful and precise I’ve seen on any mobile device.

Sample Photos Taken Using the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

To experience the capabilities of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s cameras, I took it to Borderland State Park for an afternoon. Here are some sample images shot using the cameras’ various photo shooting modes.

The Galaxy S25’s Generative Edit Tool Is Remarkable 

When it comes to photo editing using the Gallery app, one of the best features, in my opinion, is Generative Edit. It allows you to quickly and seamlessly move or remove objects from within an image. When viewing a photo, simply tap on the AI icon. and then using your finger or the stylus, draw a circle around the object(s) you want to move or delete. 

For the following example, I selected the random branches on the top and lower-right portion of the image. I then tapped on the delete icon, followed by the Generate button. Seconds later, the selected branches were gone and the AI nicely filled in the background so it appears as if they were never there.

This is just one of the sleek and useful ways AI has been integrated into the Gallery app to make it easy to edit, enhance, organize, view, print, and share your favorite images. The Galaxy S25 Ultra version of the Gallery app includes editing tools not found on even the top-of-the-line Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’s these tools that make it easy to capture and edit images and videos in a way that consistently generates visually impressive results with just a little bit of practice. 

The Photos AI-Enhanced Style Feature Instantly Transforms an Image

Another one of my favorite photo editing tools is the Style tool. It allows you to transform a photo into what looks like artwork from a comic book, watercolor painting, or oil painting, for example. 

As you’re viewing an image, tap on the Edit icon. Access the Style menu, and then choose one of 10 unique styles that can be added to a photo with a single on-screen tap. Each style dramatically alters the entire image. Once this tool has been used, all of the Gallery app’s other editing and image enhancement tools are still available and can be used on that image to quickly create a one-of-a-kind piece of art you’ll be proud to showcase and share.

Is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Worth It? 

In a word, yes. Having used previous versions of the Galaxy S smartphones, as well as the lower-cost Galaxy S25 and mid-priced S25+, I recommend this phone to anyone who wants easy access to a powerful camera system that can shoot high-resolution and extremely detailed, up to 200MP still images, or smooth video content at up to 8K (30fps) resolution. 

Thanks to the phone’s higher-end processor, you get fast and reliable performance, especially when using Galaxy AI functionality and more complex apps. I’m also a huge fan of the S Pen stylus integration. And while the phone is thin and lightweight, its titanium housing provides a high level of durability and water resistance.

This phone is a true communications, productivity, entertainment, and health/fitness device that makes excellent use of the phone’s display, fast processor, and wireless connectivity capabilities. 

My Final Thoughts

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is certainly a more powerful phone than the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as almost all of the Android smartphones on the market. So, if you’re a power user, in my opinion, investing in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a no-brainer. However, I’d recommend investing in the 512GB or 1TB configuration so you have plenty of storage space, especially if you plan to take full advantage of the phone’s advanced photography and videography capabilities.

The AI capabilities offered by the phone are evolving quickly and are now integrated into almost every feature, function, and app the phone offers. The implementation of artificial intelligence changes the way people can interact with the phone, so working with it can take some getting accustomed to. 

I also really like that the phone works seamlessly with other devices in the Galaxy product lineup, including the Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch, Galaxy Ring, and Galaxy Buds3 Pro wireless earbuds. It also runs the Samsung SmartThings app, so you can use the phone to remotely control and monitor Samsung appliances and other smart equipment. 

In addition to the everyday uses of a smartphone, I found the Galaxy S25 Ultra is excellent for gaming, streaming video, surfing the web, creating video-based social media content, and taking still images. It also does everything else you’d expect a smartphone to do, and it handles these tasks very well.