- 03/07/2025
In Mark’s Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra video review you'll find out just *how* good this flagship is, in fact, it actually beats the iPhone 16 Pro Max in multiple ways. Based on his testing, you get a brighter display, mostly better cameras (except macro), blazing performance and long battery life. But the AI features really stand out and go way beyond what Apple Intelligence can do right now, including cross-app actions, deep Google Gemini integration and handy tools like AI Select. The lack of built-in Qi2 magnets is a bummer and the S Pen loses Bluetooth, but overall this is arguably the best phone you can buy period.
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TechTranscript
00:00Here's the thing about the Galaxy S25 Ultra the moment it launched lots of
00:05people were calling out Samsung for copying the iPhone's design and I get it
00:09the rounded corners the flat edges even quick settings are pulled from the top
00:13right corner now but after testing this device I actually think the S25 Ultra is
00:17the closest Samsung has come to convincing me to ditch my iPhone in this
00:21video I'll tell you why let's start with the design of the Galaxy S25 Ultra
00:25which is mostly improved the sides are flat and the corners are rounded now
00:29which means it digs into your hand less than the S24 Ultra however I blame
00:34Samsung for not copying the iPhone enough with the new flat sides it means the
00:38edges of the design are sharp it makes the phone less comfortable to hold and use
00:43the titanium frame is still sturdy and the thinner bezels have allowed Samsung to
00:47increase the screen size from 6.8 to 6.9 inches which is protected by new Corning
00:52Gorilla armor too I also like the floating camera design on the back it looks much
00:56better than the iPhone's unsightly patch in my opinion but I'd be curious to know
01:00what you think the Galaxy S25 Ultra has nearly the same dimensions as the iPhone
01:0416 Pro Max while being noticeably lighter it's also thinner and lighter than last
01:08year's flagship one-way Samsung cut down on the weight is a notable downgrade the
01:13S Pen no longer has Bluetooth that means you can't perform air gestures while
01:17taking photos remotely anymore Samsung says it removed Bluetooth because not
01:22enough people were using the features so I hope you don't miss them the second
01:25trade-off is that the S25 Ultra has half-assed Chi 2 charging support I say
01:29that because in order for the S25 Ultra to be thinner there's no magnets built
01:34into the phone so if you want to easily attach it to magnetic Chi accessories
01:38like docks and car mounts you're going to have to spring for a special case
01:42there's always that one feature that you want to show your friends and family
01:45when checking out a new phone and with the Galaxy S25 Ultra that's cross-app
01:49actions now that Gemini is so deeply integrated to Samsung's flagship you can
01:54accomplish multiple things at once using just your voice look up the date and
01:58time of the Oscars add it to my calendar and text it to Mike what the
02:02phone is doing here is finding the information online then communicating
02:06with my Google Calendar and finally texting the info to my brother sure
02:10message to Mike Spoonhour saying the Oscars are on March 2nd 2025 at 7 p.m. I mean
02:16that's pretty impressive and it shows the potential of agentic AI on your phone
02:20I also asked Gemini to look up the top 5 rooftop bars near me in New York City and
02:24then output the list to Samsung Notes making sure to include the phone number
02:28and address for each one magic at launch cross-app actions work with Samsung and
02:38Google apps as well as two third-party apps in WhatsApp and Spotify if Samsung can
02:43increase the number of third-party apps this could be a game-changer another
02:46helpful new AI feature is AI select a key part of Samsung's one UI 7 software
02:52that can look at the content on your screen and provide contextually relevant
02:56suggestions for example I can easily turn a portion of this YouTube short video
03:01into a gif with just a couple of taps this feature is different from the
03:08popular circle to search which also gains new powers with the s25 Ultra it can
03:13now recognize emails phone numbers and URLs on your screen you just tap and go
03:18plus circle to search can now recognize sounds or music in things like videos
03:23personalization is another big theme with the galaxy s25 Ultra and one UI 7 and
03:28that comes with two major AI features the first is now brief which gives you a
03:32morning brief to start your day an evening brief to end it in the morning
03:36brief you'll be able to get a snapshot of how you slept see the latest weather
03:40your upcoming appointments as well as news at a glance it even suggests Spotify
03:45playlists the evening brief will summarize things like your energy score
03:48from your galaxy watch as well as show highlight photos from your day the idea
03:53is that now brief will get smarter over time as it learns more about you via
03:57what's called the personal data engine think of it as a large language model
04:01based on your phone so it's good to have it all in one place I just feel like
04:05this is empty versus what Samsung has promised the now bar on the other hand
04:09is a handy tool that gives you timely info on your lock screen from sports
04:13scores and reminders to timers and directions it's very similar to live
04:17activities on the iPhone however because they stack on top of each other I like
04:21how easily you can flip between multiple statuses like cross app actions I want to
04:26see Samsung add more partners so you can access more updates on the fly like your
04:30uber status or door dash right from your lock screen I know I was just talking
04:34about images and in a second I'll get into the galaxy s25 ultra's camera but I
04:38wanted to remind you to hit subscribe below if you haven't already we're
04:41currently reworking our photo shootout series and I know you won't want to
04:44miss out back to the review another major reason I think the s25 ultra beats the
04:50iPhone is its cameras although the s25 ultra doesn't offer much in the way of
04:55camera hardware changes the key upgrade is the ultra wide sensor it gets a boost from
05:0012 megapixels to 50 megapixels that means better detail in your shots as well as
05:05the promise of sharper macro photos otherwise you get the same 200 megapixel
05:10main sensor a 50 megapixel 5x telephoto 10 megapixel 3x telephoto and a 12
05:15megapixel front shooter using the new ultra wide sensor I prefer the detail in
05:20the water and snow from the Samsung here the iPhone's pick is brighter but it
05:25offers less contrast in the sunny part of the frame and looks a bit blown out in
05:29macro mode though the s25 ultra falls behind the iPhone 16 pro max in this
05:34close-up of a crystal there's a lot more definition in the iPhone's pick while
05:38the Samsung looks a bit blurry that's disappointing given the upgraded sensor
05:42maybe human error the s25 ultra's 200 megapixel main camera is fantastic when
05:47it comes to capturing colors there's more gradation in the hues versus the iPhone
05:51here there's more dimension and depth to some of the galaxy s25 ultra's photos as
05:55well in this pic there's more definition in the brick and the shot feels more
05:59lifelike so what about low light this photo only illuminated by the fairy lights
06:04is brighter through the iPhone than the Samsung but if you zoom in there's less
06:08noise in the s25 ultra shot outdoors at 5x zoom I prefer the s25 ultra's photo
06:15because the lights are more distinct and you can make out more detail at the top of
06:19the lampposts the funny thing about this portrait shot is that I like it because it
06:23does some of the things I generally prefer the iPhone for my face has a
06:27warmer tone to it and my shirt pops more from the blurred background and with the
06:31selfie camera the s25 ultra pulls in more light especially on my face and my
06:36eyes for more samples check out our dedicated galaxy s25 ultra versus iPhone
06:4016 pro max photo comparison linked in the description and leave a comment below on
06:45which other phones we should compare it to overall I think the galaxy s25 ultra is
06:49easily one of the best camera phones we've tested and that carries through to
06:53video the galaxy s25 ultra steps up its video recording game with 10-bit HDR
06:58support for more colorful results as well as the ability to shoot in log format
07:02for pros who want more creative control over their footage you have been able to
07:07shoot log on the iPhone for a couple of years now so Samsung is playing catch up
07:11here but the s25 ultra can correct that color for you as well on the phone look
07:17both phones deliver crisp video 10-bit HDR is so good our export makes a mess of it
07:21here on YouTube so check out the unedited clips here zooming into 5x I think the
07:26galaxy s25 ultra delivers brighter stone in the fountain and crisper looking water
07:30plus bonus points for the Samsung offering ladder sound with its zoom mic
07:35and as I pan around here the Samsung does a better job on clarity and handling
07:39the brightness where the iPhone's footage looks softer with more of a haze you can
07:44make out more details and the signs around the vendor booths as well as more
07:48contrast in the windows above the rink the galaxy s25 ultra steals a trick from the
07:53iPhone 16 Pro Max with its audio eraser feature while the iPhone lets you remove
07:58unwanted background noise with its audio mix Samsung goes a step further by
08:03letting you fine-tune certain sounds like wind voices music and crowd this also
08:09works on any video on the camera where as with audio mix it has to be recorded using the iPhone studio mics
08:15sucking out all the noise will make your voice sound a bit computerized but
08:20overall it's a major improvement on the original the galaxy s25 ultra's display is
08:25the closest to perfect we've tested yet and that's saying something because the
08:28s24 ultra was freaking good outdoors the s25 ultra's display was noticeably
08:34brighter than the s24 ultra and in our lab testing the s25 ultra turned in a max
08:39brightness of 1860 nits that doesn't eclipse the insane score set by the
08:43google pixel 9 pro xl but it does beat the iphone 16 pro max by a fair margin the
08:48galaxy s25 ultra also turned in better scores for color saturation and color
08:53accuracy the brighter display and the new AI features on the galaxy s25 ultra are
08:57powered by an overclocked version of the snapdragon 8 elite chip along with 12 gigs
09:02of RAM Samsung seems to be very proud of the fact that it has the fastest
09:06snapdragon chipset and rightly so it's definitely one of the fastest phones we've
09:10ever tested the s25 ultra beat the iphone 16 pro max and some key benchmarks but
09:15not all on geekbench the s25 ultra turned in a higher multi-core score but lower
09:20single-core score however when it comes to graphics performance the s25 ultra
09:24blew away the iPhone with a much higher frame rate using it for a week I've
09:28flipped between dozens of open apps dipping in and out of chrome spotify
09:32photos and more and the s25 ultra remains silky smooth under pressure the s25
09:37ultra is also a gaming beast I enjoyed rock-solid frame rates when
09:40playing diablo immortal with the gameplay remaining fluid no matter what if
09:45there's a slight letdown it's that despite the more efficient chipset the
09:48battery life has not improved much over the galaxy s24 ultra it's possible the
09:53bigger brighter display may be preventing it from lasting more than 30 minutes
09:57longer in our tests the s25 ultra is 5,000 milliamp hour battery did last for an
10:02epic 17 hours and 14 minutes that's impressive but still about 20 minutes behind
10:07the iPhone 16 pro max however when we enabled the lower power 60 Hertz screen
10:12mode on the s25 ultra it lasted a much longer 1835 the one plus 13 remains the
10:17champ among current flagship devices at 45 watts the galaxy s25 ultra is charging
10:23speed hasn't changed versus the s24 ultra but it reached a still pretty good 71% and
10:2830 minutes compared to only 55% for the iPhone 16 pro max a little consolation
10:34there the one plus 13 remains the top of that list the galaxy s25 ultra has a
10:39release date of February 7th and still starts at the same yikes inducing price of
10:431299 for 256 gigs of storage but the 6.9 inch display is brighter the cameras are
10:49more versatile and arguably just better than the iPhone 16 pro max and the s25
10:53ultra is packed with the intuitive AI features I wish the iPhone had the
10:58ability to perform actions across multiple apps at once using your voice has the
11:02potential to change how we interact with our phones forever and it's all wrapped
11:06up in a design that while iPhone like is lighter yes Samsung has cut some corners
11:12the s pen no longer has Bluetooth downgrade alert and the Chi 2 charging support
11:16forces you to buy a compatible case it's also clear that Samsung needs to add more
11:20partners both for this AI agent feature and for things like now bar but overall
11:25the performance battery life and AI smarts of the s25 ultra add up to the best
11:30Android phone I've tested and possibly the best phone period so what do you think
11:35is this the Android handset to pull you out of the Apple ecosystem or is it still
11:40too iterative let me know in the comments below and check out all of the extra
11:44content we have around the galaxy s25 ultra on our socials at Tom's guide and
11:48don't forget to subscribe to the channel here on YouTube if you do get the s25
11:53ultra check out our setup essentials video to help get you started for Tom's
11:57guide this is Mark Swinellin
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