Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Samsung’s latest flagship is here! The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is undoubtedly a stunning phone, with the largest display of any Samsung Galaxy device to date, the latest Snapdragon processor, and an impressive spec sheet. The S24 Ultra was released at the end of January 2024, meaning it’s not even a year old yet. It remains a solid option, packing many of the same specs as the S25 Ultra, for a great price.

How do these two devices compare to one another, and if you’re already the proud owner of a Galaxy S24 Ultra, is it worth upgrading to the S25 Ultra? We pitted both devices against one another to find out which one comes out on top — and which you should spend your hard-earned cash on.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: specs

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: design and display

These two devices look pretty identical, though there are some minor differences. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s profile is 0.4mm thinner than the S24 Ultra, and it’s 15 grams lighter, too. Both devices have the same Titanium frame, with a selection of standard colors and online-exclusive colors you’ll only find on Samsung’s website. The corners of the S25 Ultra are softer and more rounded than the S24’s angular, notebook-like corners, too, however Samsung has flattened the side, bottom, and top of the frame. The result? Sharp edges that make the device feel quite uncomfortable in-hand.

Onto the displays: The S25 Ultra sports a larger 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display compared to its predecessor’s 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X offering. It’s the largest display on any Galaxy smartphone to date and has 15% smaller bezels that help it to feel like less of a behemoth; otherwise, its specs are pretty similar to the S24 Ultra. Both displays pack a 3,120 x 1,440 pixel resolution, up to 2,600 nits of peak brightness, and an adaptive 1 to 120Hz refresh rate, with support for HDR10+. The S25 Ultra also features ProScaler which Samsung says provides clearer, more vivid viewing.

When it comes to durability, both devices have Gorilla Armor glass protecting the display. The Gorilla Armor 2 on the S25 Ultra is marginally more resistant to damage than the original Gorilla Armor on the S24 Ultra, while its anti-reflection surface treatment makes it even easier to see the display in bright sunlight. In our review, we noted no issues viewing the display in most environments. Both devices also pack an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.

We’ve awarded this round to the Galaxy S25 Ultra for its larger display, slimmer, lighter body, and slightly tougher Gorilla Armor glass — but there’s not much to set the two devices apart.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: performance

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip. This chip is built on a 3nm process and is the fastest processor available to date from Qualcomm. The “for Galaxy” part of the moniker means the chip is slightly overclocked, compared to the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, though, in our review, we noted that it doesn’t seem more powerful day-to-day than the Snapdragon 8 Elite in the OnePlus 13 or the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro.

According to Qualcomm and Samsung, it boasts a 37% faster GPU, 40% faster NPU, and 30% faster CPU than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy that powers the S24 Ultra. Both devices have 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage space, while the S25 Ultra packs a larger vapor chamber and new thermal interface material (TIM) for improved cooling — great news for gamers. Our reviewer played Asphalt Legends: Unite at max settings and experienced no overheating issues, even in performance mode.

Though the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is powered by the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, performance is still no slouch. In our review, we noted no significant issues making calls, using apps, or carrying out basic tasks on the phone. When it comes to gaming, our reviewer spent over 30 minutes playing demanding titles like Asphalt 9: Legends and the phone barely got warm — in fact, it never got too hot to handle, even during benchmarking stress tests. One minor annoyance we noted was that holding the phone in landscape mode while gaming or viewing videos made it too easy to accidentally cover the speakers. Overall, though, we deemed the S24 Ultra’s performance to be excellent all around, even while gaming.

The S25 Ultra just takes the crown here thanks to its more powerful chip, but in daily usage, most people probably won’t see too much difference between the two devices.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: cameras

Both the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the S24 Ultra boast the same camera array with one exception: the 12MP ultrawide lens on the S24 Ultra has been replaced with a 50MP sensor on the S25 Ultra. Other than that, you get a 200MP main sensor with OIS, 50MP periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and 100x Space Zoom, with a 12MP front-facing camera, across both devices.

Though Samsung made great promises and the S25 Ultra’s cameras impressed on paper, we were left underwhelmed in our review. There’s not much difference here from the S24 Ultra, bar the 50MP wide-angle upgrade, which provides excellent colors, dynamic range, and detail. While the main lens takes solid snaps and exposure is great in most environments, there’s a haziness and blurriness to finer details that wasn’t apparent on the S24 Ultra. However, Samsung has resolved issues with exposure and over-saturation that plagued its earlier cameras, even if shots don’t have as much detail as you’d expect.

We also noted that although telephoto shots at 3x and 5x look great, 10x hybrid photos look pixelated and zoomed out when cropped.

Our reviewer enjoyed using Samsung’s editing suite, its take on Apple’s Photographic Style, and found features like Automatic Slow-Motion mode easy to use and fun. However, we were disappointed that the S Pen no longer operates as a remote shutter release, and found the Audio Eraser feature hit-or-miss, depending on the situation.

The S24 Ultra’s cameras impressed us in our review, with the main and ultrawide cameras taking punchy, colorful photos that not only look great on social media, but also contain plenty of depth and detail for editing. Low-light images are bright and detailed, but in ambient light, there’s quite a bit of noise, resulting in photos looking bright but lacking atmosphere and realism, an issue that also plagued the S23 Ultra. Another S24 Ultra camera feature our reviewer didn’t like was “focus enhancer” mode, which is automatically activated during close-up shots and makes it impossible to achieve images with any discernible depth of field.

On the video side, there’s UHD resolution, 8K at 30 frames-per-second (fps) and UHD slow motion video capture at 120fps, as well as the AI-assisted auto slow-motion mode which lets you tap and hold on video shot at normal speed to slow it down, with the missing frames filled in by AI.

Despite being unimpressed overall by the upgraded camera array on the S25 Ultra, the 50MP wide-angle shooter, plus Samsung’s efforts to resolve over-saturation and exposure gripes, make this a win for the latest flagship

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: battery and charging

Both devices are identical across the board on paper when it comes to their respective batteries and charging credentials. Both pack a beefy 5,000mAh battery, 45W fast charging, and 15W wireless charging, plus reverse wireless charging for your earbuds and other accessories. Samsung claims the S25 Ultra offers up to 31 hours of video playback time compared to the 30 hours on offer from the S24 Ultra.

The S25 Ultra is also “Qi2 Ready,” which means it supports the standard but needs a compatible case with the magnets built into it to operate. A full charge takes around 1 hour and 5 minutes, with a 50% top-up in around 20 minutes.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra easily saw our reviewer through two full days of use, with around three hours of screen-on time, though this didn’t include any gaming. Add gaming and 4K video recording to the mix and the phone struggles to make it through the second day without a top-up.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra will easily see you through two full days of use, according to our review, and with light use, this could be stretched even further. You can expect a full charge to take around 70 minutes.

Neither phone includes a charger in the box, so for the fastest speeds you’ll need to invest in a compatible 45W adapter.

We’re calling this round a tie since both devices should see you through two days of use and offer speedy 45W charging.

Winner: Tie

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: software and updates

Out of the box, the Galaxy S25 Ultra runs One UI 7 based on Android 15, while the S24 Ultra runs One UI 6.1 based on Android 14. Samsung’s One UI features plenty of customization options including AI-generated wallpapers. Galaxy AI features and tools are included with both devices — though this isn’t a reason to buy either phone.

In our S25 Ultra review, we noted that the now separate notification and Quick Settings pull-downs could be annoying for some, as it’s too easy to pull down the wrong one when rushing and using the device one-handed. However, we did like the vertical app drawer, which makes finding apps much faster.

Galaxy AI across both phones includes tools like Circle to Search, Samsung’s take on Google Lens, and Generative Edit, which works similarly to Google’s Magic Eraser to remove unwanted elements from your photos using AI. Other features like Live Translate and Interpreter are tools you’ll likely use less often, while our reviewer felt Chat Assist, designed to provide suggestions to give your typed messages a different tone, was awful in its current iteration. In our S25 Ultra review, we also noted that the updated Circle to Search now looks for audio in videos and recognizes phone numbers and addresses in images, which could come in pretty handy.

Two new features for Galaxy AI on the S25 Ultra are Now Bar and Now Brief. These are currently exclusive to the S25 Ultra but may roll out to the S24 Ultra with future updates. Neither is essential unless you lead a jam-packed busy life and frequently forget to do things or miss appointments. To get the most out of Now Brief, you’ll need to own a Samsung wearable, too.

On the S25 Ultra, Gemini has replaced Bixby, but it’s not great for complicated requests or anything specific, though it’s excellent for setting timers and summarizing documents and emails.

Samsung has promised seven years of security updates and OS upgrades for both devices, which means the S25 Ultra’s final OS update will be Android 22, likely in 2032. The S24 Ultra’s final OS update should be Android 21.

Though we’ve awarded the S25 Ultra our winner here due to it seeing you through until 2032, which device you choose largely depends on how much you want — and will use — the latest Android 15 and Galaxy AI features, like Now Brief, which may come to the S24 Ultra in future.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra comes with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of onboard storage. It’s currently available starting from $1,300 for the 256GB model. Currently, the 512GB model can be picked up for the same price, with the 1TB model on sale for $1,420.

The S25 Ultra is available in four standard colors: Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Silverblue, and Titanium Whitesilver, as well as three online-exclusive colors only available from Samsung: Titanium Jetblack, Titanium Jadegreen, and Titanium Pinkgold. The phone is now on general sale from Samsung.com and most other major online retailers.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra also packs 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. It’s currently available to purchase from Samsung.com, Amazon, and most other major online retailers. Pricing starts from $1,300 for the 256GB model, rising to $1,420 for 512GB of storage. The 1TB model is available from $1,449. It is available in four standard colors: Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Yellow, and Titanium Violet, as well as three online-exclusive colors only available from Samsung: Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, and Titanium Orange.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra are both epic smartphones, with not much separating the two. Deciding which phone to invest in may come down to your budget, color preferences, and desire to own the latest, greatest Galaxy device.

We’ve crowned the Galaxy S25 Ultra our ultimate winner, though. With its more powerful processor, enhanced cooling features for gaming, and upgraded 50MP ultrawide camera, plus its improved anti-reflection coating to ensure its screen is viewable in any environment, it’s a home run for Samsung’s latest flagship.

Don’t be fooled, however, as the S24 Ultra holds its own and is still an excellent purchase in 2025. Its perfectly powerful processor can handle multitasking and the latest games without overheating, its beefy 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charging matches the S25 Ultra, and it has a solid camera array that should please most.

If you simply must have all the latest features, with bells and whistles, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is the one to go for — and it will receive updates until 2032. If you’re happy to have a powerful Galaxy phone that’s an excellent daily driver, without the latest processor or most groundbreaking features, the S24 Ultra is an excellent buy.

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