Samsung Galaxy S25 & S25 Plus Review: Flagship Power, AI Magic — But Do They Feel Too Familiar?
Galaxy S25 or the Galaxy S25 Plus bring the classic Samsung Galaxy flagship experience in spades and comes packed with top-notch hardware and software, with lots of AI.
Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus Review: The Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus deliver almost similar experiences, but in two very different form factors. They are perhaps the best Android flagships out there for those wanting smooth performance topped with lots of AI magic, although they do come with premium price tags.
Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus Review: Quick Pointers
What we love:
- Premium, classy design (the compactness of the S25 is a rarity)
- Smooth performance
- Very good main and telephoto cameras
- Great AI tools
- Assurance of updates
What we don't:
- Looks too similar to the Galaxy S24 series
- Not the best ultrawide camera
- No fast charging (even 45W ain't too great in this day and age) and no charger
Look Exactly Like Galaxy S24 Series
The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus look like two different-sized peas from a similar (Galaxy) pod. They even look and feel almost exactly like their predecessors, the Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus. And we do not think that is a bad thing at all, as those were very elegant phones, The S25 and S25 Plus have the same classy, understated elegance designed to earn nods of approval rather than screams of excitement.
Both devices are cut from the same design cloth. The back and front are flat, and the sides are straight, giving very iPhone and Pixel feels, with three cameras with the much-talked-about prominent rings around them arranged in a single column marking them out as Galaxy S25 devices. They are both pretty tough customers, with IP68 dust and water resistance, an armour aluminium frame and Corning Gorilla Glass 2 on the front and back.
Of the two, the S25 stands out for its relatively compact size. At 146.9 mm tall, the Galaxy S25 is smaller than the iPhone 16 as well as the Pixel 9, and is a mere 7.2 mm slim and weighs just 162 grams. In an age of oversized palm stretchers, this is one of the few phones that we could use with one hand most of the time. The S25 Plus is larger, but only in comparison: it is 158.4 mm tall, which makes it smaller than the OnePlus 13 and the iPhone 16 Plus, and at 190 grams, it is surprisingly light for its size. Both phones are available in Icy Blue, Navy, Silver Shadow, Blue Black, Pink Gold and Mint shades, which are quietly elegant, and a special Coral Red variant, which will turn heads. The S25 is more likely to be noticed than the S25 Plus, simply because it is a compact phone in a world of large phones, while its Plus brother kind of blends in elegantly.
If you do not notice the camera rings, you could mistake them for the S24 and S24 Plus.
Sharing Spec Sheets With Display & Battery Differences
Within those similar exterior shells beat very similar spec hearts. Both the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor (unlike in the past, where the non-Ultra variants had to make do with Exynos chips in some markets), and both have RAM and storage options of 12 GB/ 256 GB and 12 GB/ 512 GB, although the Galaxy S25 also has a 12 GB/ 128 GB variant.
Even the camera configurations are very similar - both phones have 50-megapixel main sensors with OIS, a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom and OIS and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. Both phones also have 12-megapixel selfie cameras and come with stereo speakers. The duo comes with Android 15 out of the box with Samsung's One UI 7 on top, Galaxy AI (Samsung's suite of AI tools), and an assurance of seven years of OS and security updates.
There are two major differences, though. Both are related to the difference in the sizes of the phones. While both phones come with LTPO Dynamic AMOLED 2x displays with 120 Hz refresh rate and a maximum brightness of 2600 nits (a little surprising when a device like the OnePlus 13 has a peak brightness of 4500 nits), the S25 has a 6.2-inch display of 1080 x 2340 resolution, while the S25 Plus has a larger 6.7-inch display with a quad HD 1440 x 3120 resolution.
Both displays are brilliantly colourful in best Samsung tradition, but put them next to each other and the S25 Plus looks clearly sharper, thanks to a higher pixel density (513 to 416 ppi). The other big change is in terms of battery size and charging speed. The S25 comes with a 4000 mAh battery with support for 25W fast charging, while the S25 Plus not only packs in a larger 4900 mAh battery but also can charge it faster at 45W. Both phones also support wireless Qi2 charging at 15W. Alas, there is no charger in the box for either device. Both phones come with pretty much flagship specs out there, with the Galaxy S25 Plus having a slight display and battery advantage, thanks to its size.
Matching Cameras, Matching Results
Both the Galaxy S25 and S25+ have exactly the same camera lineups, and the fact that they both come with the same processor and software onboard too ensures that their cameras work similarly and deliver the exact same results - shades of the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. They might not have the megapixel overload and the shooting variety of the more high-profile Galaxy S25 Ultra, but both phones deliver very good details and those typically slightly bright and oversaturated colours that Samsung is known for.
The telephoto camera helps in portrait mode and also provides not just 3x telephoto, but also lets you zoom in digitally without too much loss of detail till about 8x, which can be very handy for those who love to snap birds and animals. Portraits are sharper than in the S24 and bokeh looks more natural, Samsung has also upped its lower light photography (Nightography) game, delivering images that have just the right touch of darkness and do not seem to have been forced to be brighter by an over-enthusiastic image processing engine. Interestingly, we felt that the 10-megapixel telephoto sensor often took better low-light snaps than the 50-megapixel main sensor - just do not use digital zoom at night!
There is support for 4K video and plenty of AI magic out there (apart from the usual magic eraser clones) to let you do a whole lot more with your content - Auto Trim, for instance, literally pulls out highlights from a video and creates a reel based on them. It is not perfect but is very useful, especially if you do not like wading through rough footage. You also get innovative filters, including those specially created to get more out of a particular. There are truckloads of shooting and editing options, and it can all get a bit overwhelming initially, but get to grips with it and you will be able to do a lot with the main sensor and the telephoto.
The 12-megapixel ultrawide seems a little out of place in terms of quality and performance (it has no autofocus and shots are dull), but the 12-megapixel selfie camera churns out some very good selfies. All in all, both phones have very good main, telephoto and selfie cameras. The ultrawide is not in the same league but can give you a different perspective at least. Image and video quality is flagship level (although some might have expected more zoom at this price) and thanks to the editing options onboard, you can do a whole lot more with your content.
Similar Overall Performances Too, Although Plus Has An Edge
With specs that are broadly carbon copies of each other, it is hardly surprising that there is not much to separate the S25 and the S25 Plus in terms of performance. Both phones are awesome at high-end gaming, handling titles like Genshin Impact and the Asphalt series with ease. Both do get a little warm while gaming but never uncomfortably so.
The high-quality displays combined with very good for viewing content, with the speakers making shows, gaming and videos more immersive. Both phones pack in enough hardware for you to even be able to edit video on them. And OneUI 7 along with all the Galaxy AI tools - be it image generation, circle to search, image editing, translation or note organisation - works smoothly on both of them New features like the Now Bar and Now Brief, which provide information on the lock screen and also details of the day, as well as Google Gemini glide seemingly effortlessly .These phones are proper flagship powerhouses.
The Galaxy S25 Plus does have a slight edge over the S25 in some regards, though. All that extra display real estate comes in handy when you are playing games, browsing the Web or editing audio or video content.
We also felt that using Samsung's large array of Galaxy AI tools was easier on the Galaxy S25 Plus, as we simply had more screen space for edits, summaries, translations and the like. The S25 Plus' big battery and faster charging also make a telling difference - while the S25 just about sees off a day of normal to heavy usage on a single charge and takes about 75-80 minutes to fully recharge using a 25W charger, the Galaxy S25 Plus easily got us through a day and more of usage and also charged in about an hour with a 45W charger.
Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus Review: Final Verdict
They are largely united in design, specs and performance and separated mainly by size. So which of the two flagships should you go for - the Samsung Galaxy S25 or the Galaxy S25 Plus? Both devices come with premium prices - the Galaxy S25 starts at Rs 74,999 for its 12 GB/ 128 GB variant, while the Galaxy S25 Plus begins at Rs 99,999 for its 12 GB/ 256 GB one (it has no12 GB/ 128 GB avatar). If you are on a tight budget, the Galaxy S25 is the more wallet-friendly version.
Take money out of the equation, however, and the choice becomes a bit more difficult and is really going to boil down to what you value more - ease of use or overall functionality. The smaller form factor of the Galaxy S25 makes it much easier to carry and use, but the bigger and higher resolution display of the S25 Plus combined with its larger and faster charging battery allows you to do much more on it.
Both phones face a lot of competition, especially from the likes of the OnePlus 13 and Vivo's camera-centric Vivo X200 and X200 Pro (all of which come with comparable specs, and faster charging and chargers!), the compact Pixel 9 and 9 Pro, and of course, the OG Galaxy S adversaries, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, but the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus more than hold their own against the lot in terms of both appearance and performance.
They deliver the classic Samsung Galaxy flagship experience in spades and come packed with top-notch hardware and software, with lots of AI. They might not have the hype of the Ultra or its S Pen, but they are going to be the benchmarks for Android smartphones for the rest of the year.
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