Samsung’s Galaxy S devices are always highly anticipated, consistently ranking as the best phones any given year. So, even though there are still a few months until the Samsung Galaxy S25 series launches, we’re already excited to see what the device will bring to the mobile market.
Plus, while Samsung’s latest smartphones – the Samsung Galaxy S24, Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra – are undeniably impressive, there’s also room for improvement, as you’ll see in our Samsung Galaxy S24 review, Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled a wishlist of all the major upgrades we’d like to see for the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, as well as a list of the biggest rumors that have already surfaced regarding potential best upcoming Samsung phones.
Get to the point
What it is? Samsung’s next non-foldable flagship. When will it be released? Probably early 2025. How much will it cost? Probably more than $799/£799/AU$1,399
Samsung Galaxy S25: Possible release date and price
The S25 series is expected to be priced at least in line with the S24 series (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Considering that the Samsung Galaxy S24 series was released in January of this year, it is highly likely that the Samsung Galaxy S25 series will be released around January 2025. Indeed, Samsung may release new models in February, but recent generations have always come out at the beginning of the year, so in any case, these smartphones are expected to be released in early 2025.
These smartphones are likely to be expensive, however: at least in some regions, they will likely come equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which is itself expected to increase prices.
For reference, the Samsung Galaxy S24 starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, so that’s probably the minimum you’ll pay for the Galaxy S25. But if the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Samsung will likely pass that price increase on to consumers. And of course, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will also be more expensive than the base model.
For reference, the Galaxy S24 Plus starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699, while the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at $1,299.99 / £1,249 / AU$2,199, so you’ll probably be paying around that much or more for your next model.
Samsung Galaxy S25: News and Leaks
Galaxy S24 (left) and Galaxy S24 Ultra (right) (Image credit: Future/Samsung)
Things are a bit unclear when it comes to the chipset that will power the Samsung Galaxy S25. Initially, it was believed that Samsung wanted to offer different chipsets for different regions with the Galaxy S25 series, similar to the Galaxy S24 series.
Specifically, the company will reportedly ship the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus with its own Exynos 2500 chipset in Europe, India, and South Korea, while the US market will be fully equipped with Qualcomm’s unannounced Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
It then emerged that Samsung was struggling to meet production demand for the Exynos 2500, leading sources to believe that the company might use the Snapdragon 25 Gen 8 chipset for all Galaxy S4 models regardless of region.
However, recent rumors suggest that Samsung is considering enlisting MediaTek to produce chipsets for the Galaxy S25 due to the rising prices of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. If Samsung does indeed strike a deal with MediaTek, some Galaxy S25 models in Europe, India and Korea might be equipped with MediaTek’s chips (likely the MediaTek Dimensity 9400), while others will use Samsung’s own Exynos 2500.
As with the Galaxy S24 series, the US market is likely to remain entirely Qualcomm-exclusive, and it’s also worth noting that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra in particular will be offered with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in all regions.
Either way, no matter which chipset Samsung decides to go with, it seems certain that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be significantly more powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Sources say that clock speeds could be up to 4GHz (up from 3.39GHz on the Gen 3 version used in the S24).
We’ve also heard that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 may support faster RAM, meaning smartphones with that chipset could be able to process more AI tasks on-device.
(Image source: Samsung / Future)
In another post, @Tech_Reve also argued The Samsung Galaxy S25 is expected to have a “major design change,” so don’t expect these smartphones to look the same as the current models. It’s not yet clear what form the design change will take, but one tipster at X claims that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s screen size could be slightly larger than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 6.8 inches, closer to 6.9 inches. Also, the well-respected Ice Universe claims that the sharp corners of the Galaxy S24 Ultra could be replaced with new rounded edges that could make it easier to hold.
In some other posts by X, @BennettBuhner also claims The S25 series may have a larger battery than its predecessor, and the S25 Ultra may feature a new 200MP main camera with a larger 1″ sensor, an improved 50MP ultra-wide camera, a 50MP 10x zoom telephoto camera, and a 50MP 3x-5x variable zoom telephoto camera. However, these are very early leaks, so take them with a pinch of salt.
In fact, a recent leak (from a more reliable source) claims that the Samsung Galaxy S25 will come with a 4,000mAh battery, just like its predecessor.
On the software side, Samsung has finally started offering seamless Android updates on its new phones, so we’ll probably see this on the Samsung Galaxy S25 as well.
Samsung Galaxy S25: What we want to see
The Samsung Galaxy S25 series could be even more impressive than the Galaxy S24 series if Samsung makes the following changes.
1. New design
The Samsung Galaxy S24 will have a new design (Image credit: Future | Roland Moore-Colyer)
The Samsung Galaxy S24 and its siblings all look very similar to their predecessors, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra looks very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, so we’re expecting the Samsung Galaxy S25 series to feature some more significant design changes.
The good news is that big changes are rumored to be coming, though it’s unclear what form they’ll take — but a fresh new design could help build anticipation for the upcoming phone, whereas staying the same could make it feel stale.
2. Improved AI
Samsung has packed the Galaxy S24 series with AI tools and features, but as our review proves, these features are a mix of cool and useless, and can even cause performance issues.
The Galaxy S24 series also lacks some of the Google Pixel 8’s impressive AI tools, such as the ability to sharpen old, out-of-focus photos.
So with the Samsung Galaxy S25, we would like to see more AI tools and improvements to the existing ones.
3. More sophisticated software
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image source: Philip Berne/Future)
Samsung loves to pack nearly endless features into its phones, but this leads to bloated, clunky software, with many of the best features, including AI tools, buried deep within layers of settings menus.
This makes the phone complicated and less intuitive to use, something we’re keen to see Samsung improve on with the Galaxy S25.
4. No chipset division
The Samsung Galaxy S24 comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset if you buy it in the US, but if you buy it most other places it comes with the Exynos 2400. The same goes for the Galaxy S24 Plus, while the S24 Ultra comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 everywhere.
With the Samsung Galaxy S25, you don’t want that split because you’d end up getting a fundamentally different phone depending on where you are in the world, and inevitably one chipset would be better than the other.
Ideally, the Galaxy S25 would use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in all regions, since Snapdragon is typically better, but I’d choose Exynos everywhere over region-specific chipsets. At the very least, that would make it clearer for buyers what phone they’re getting, and whether the reviews they read reflect what’s available.
5. The return of 10x zoom
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image source: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
One of the most surprising decisions Samsung made with the Galaxy S24 Ultra was to replace the previous model’s 10x optical zoom with 5x. This wasn’t a bad decision, as the sensor used was a better 50MP sensor (up from 10MP) and still allowed for a 10x optical quality crop.
But it meant that the S24 Ultra’s camera lost the lens that helps differentiate it from many of its competitors, many of which have 5x zoom cameras.
So we’d love to see the return of 10x zoom on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, along with an improved sensor, higher megapixel count, and perhaps a 20x optical quality crop.
If Samsung also increases the megapixel count on the 3x zoom camera, we’ll probably get a 5x cropped image, or, as one leak suggests, the S25 Ultra could have both a 10x telephoto and a variable optical zoom that can switch between 3x and 5x.