Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: A Deep Dive into Samsung’s AI-Focused Flagship

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, launched in January 2025, marks a significant shift in Samsung’s approach to mobile technology. While sporting minimal hardware changes compared to its predecessors, the S25 Plus boasts a substantial upgrade in AI capabilities, making it a compelling option for those seeking a powerful and intelligent smartphone experience. This review delves into the phone’s features, performance, and overall value proposition.

Price and Availability

The Galaxy S25 Plus debuted alongside its siblings, the Galaxy S25 and S25 Ultra, at Samsung’s Unpacked event in San Jose, California. Pre-orders commenced on January 22nd, 2025, with the official release date set for February 7th.

The phone is readily available at major retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy, as well as through various mobile carriers. Pricing begins at $999 for the 12GB RAM, 256GB storage configuration, increasing to $1119 for the 512GB variant. Color options include Navy, Icy Blue, Mint, and Silver Shadow, with Samsung-exclusive Coralred, Blueblack, and Pinkgold shades also available.

Design and Display

At first glance, the Galaxy S25 Plus might be mistaken for its S23 or S24 Plus counterparts. Samsung’s design language has remained remarkably consistent across these generations, featuring subtle, iterative refinements instead of drastic overhauls.

The S25 Plus adopts a completely flat design aesthetic: a flat display, a flat rear glass panel, and a flat frame with gently rounded corners. While this uniformity offers a clean look, it also contributes to a somewhat uninspired and easily overlooked design compared to competitors like the OnePlus 13, which boasts a more distinctive and visually striking curved glass design and a prominent camera housing.

However, the Navy colorway deserves special mention. It’s a bold departure from the pastel shades Samsung has frequently utilized, offering a rich and deeper hue that has garnered positive feedback. Other colors, however, are relatively forgettable.

The phone’s durability is ensured by an Armor Aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on both the front and back. However, the glass back is prone to scratches, highlighting the need for a protective case or skin. The flat design, while visually minimalist, also results in sharp edges that can be uncomfortable to hold for extended periods.

The 6.7-inch QHD+ AMOLED 2X display, while slightly larger than its predecessor’s, retains the same resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Confusingly, the phone defaults to FHD+ resolution out of the box, requiring a manual adjustment in settings. Despite this initial inconvenience, the display delivers excellent quality, brightness, and minimal bezels.

While the display’s quality is undeniable, the reviewer expresses a wish for Samsung to experiment with even higher refresh rates (e.g., 165Hz, as seen in some gaming phones) to further enhance the overall user experience, particularly for gaming enthusiasts. The phone boasts an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, offering good protection against the elements, although the reviewer points out that the absence of an IP69 rating, increasingly common in competing models, is a slight drawback.

Hardware and Specifications

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, a customized, high-performance variant of the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. This chipset, alongside 12GB of RAM, enables exceptionally smooth and responsive performance, exceeding expectations even under demanding conditions such as high-settings gaming. The phone remains remarkably cool during extended gaming sessions, a testament to the efficient thermal management of the device.

However, it’s worth noting that besides the chipset upgrade, the overall hardware specifications remain largely consistent with the Galaxy S24 Plus.

Software: One UI 7

One UI 7, debuting on the Galaxy S25 series, receives significant praise for its improvements over previous iterations. The introduction of a vertical scrolling app drawer is particularly lauded, greatly enhancing usability, although its initial non-activation by default is noted as an odd design choice. Other positive changes include the segregation of the Quick Panel and notification settings and a new, more bubbly icon style.

The overall software experience is described as exceptionally smooth and optimized, with seamless scrolling and responsiveness. Samsung’s commitment to providing seven years of OS and security updates adds to the phone’s long-term value proposition.

However, some minor criticisms remain. Certain default settings, such as the initial FHD+ display resolution and the default power-button activation of the AI assistant, are deemed suboptimal and require manual adjustments by the user. Additionally, issues with lock screen notifications and Notification Categories, previously present in One UI 6, are noted as persisting despite Samsung’s claims of improvement.

Galaxy AI: Gemini and Beyond

The Galaxy S25 Plus heavily emphasizes its integration of Samsung’s Galaxy AI, particularly the Gemini AI assistant, which has undergone a visual refresh and functional enhancements. Gemini excels in performing cross-app tasks with minimal user input, though its effectiveness may fluctuate depending on task complexity and app compatibility. Its capability to integrate with various Samsung apps is still under development.

While Gemini’s capabilities are impressively improved, occasional limitations, such as inaccessibility to specific apps or data points, may result in task failures or incomplete actions.

Despite these minor limitations, Gemini represents a significant leap in AI integration and reflects Samsung’s dedication to placing AI at the forefront of its mobile offerings. Bixby continues to exist, but its presence is largely overshadowed by the more prominent Gemini integration.

Cameras

The Galaxy S25 Plus inherits the same camera hardware as its predecessor. While image quality is generally positive, generating sharp and vibrant images, it doesn’t reach groundbreaking levels. The main, ultrawide, and telephoto cameras deliver consistently high-quality results with minimal color discrepancies between lenses. However, images sometimes exhibit excessive contrast, and low-light performance, even with Night Mode, could be improved.

The phone supports 8K video recording at 30fps and features Galaxy Log, offering users more control over video editing by capturing footage with a flatter color profile and wider dynamic range. However, on-device editing capabilities remain somewhat limited. Comparison images included in the review show a comparison between the Galaxy S25 Plus and a Pixel 9 phone, highlighting the differences in contrast and color rendering. The Galaxy S25 Plus’s cameras are capable yet lack the diverse array of fun and creative features available on competitors like the Pixel.

Battery and Charging

Despite using a more powerful processor, the Galaxy S25 Plus’s 4,900mAh battery delivers commendable all-day battery life. The reviewer reports averaging seven to eight hours of screen-on time under typical usage.

Charging performance, however, falls short of expectations. While the phone supports 45W fast charging, actual charging speeds are slower than advertised, even with high-wattage third-party chargers. Wireless charging is also supported at 15W with Qi2 compatibility, utilizing MagSafe technology using a magnetic case.

Competition

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus faces stiff competition in the high-end smartphone market. The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a strong competitor, offering a comparable feature set, including a larger display, comparable camera capabilities, and a strong AI focus. The OnePlus 13, while notably cheaper, provides a superior camera experience and significantly faster charging, with a more unique hardware design. However, Samsung retains a stronger partnership with Google, leading to quicker access to new software features. Further, Samsung also has significantly more available carrier support compared to OnePlus.

Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus?

Reasons to Buy:

• Powerful performance and extended software support: The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor ensures smooth performance, and the 7-year software update promise greatly enhances the phone’s longevity.
• AI integration without the Pixel commitment: The S25 Plus offers a leading AI experience within Samsung’s ecosystem.
• One UI 7 enhancements: Samsung has made substantial improvements to One UI 7 making software fluid, intuitive, and easily customizable.

Reasons NOT to Buy:

• Minimal Hardware Upgrades: The lack of significant hardware changes since the S24 Plus might make the upgrade unnecessary for existing owners.
• Camera Deficiencies: The camera system and functions aren’t competitive to the current leading smartphone cameras.
• Charging Inconsistencies: Actual charging times are slower than advertised, a potential drawback for users.

In conclusion, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus offers a compelling blend of power, refined software, and advanced AI features. However, the minimal hardware upgrades compared to its predecessors might make it less enticing for those who already own a recent Galaxy S flagship model. The phone represents a strong shift towards AI in mobile, an increasingly important and appreciated function in the modern smartphone world. Potential buyers must weigh the AI enhancements against the moderate improvements in other areas before making a purchase decision.