The Samsung Galaxy S25 is the one to pick if you want the best of Samsung’s Galaxy S series smartphones without the size and price of the Ultra. It’s compact, fast, and loaded with Galaxy AI features that have quietly become genuinely useful rather than gimmicky.

Design and display

At 146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2 mm and 162 g, this is one of the few flagship Android phones left that still fits comfortably in one hand. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, wrapped around an aluminum frame, feels every bit as premium as phones costing much more. IP68 certification means it shrugs off rain and splashes without a second thought.

The 6.2-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X panel runs at 1080 x 2340 with adaptive 120Hz refresh and peaks at 2,600 nits, so outdoor visibility is a non-issue even in direct sunlight.

Performance

Samsung’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy plus 12GB of RAM makes this one of the smoothest Android smartphones you can buy right now — multitasking, gaming, everyday swiping, none of it fazes it. Storage options run from 128GB up to 512GB, so most buyers won’t need to think twice about space.

Cameras

The 50MP main sensor with OIS is joined by a 12MP ultra-wide and a 10MP 3x telephoto. It’s a smart, well-rounded setup rather than a headline-grabbing one — daylight shots are sharp and color-accurate, and the telephoto covers everyday zoom needs even if it can’t match the Ultra’s reach. 8K video at 30fps rounds things out nicely for a phone this size.

Battery, charging and software

The 4,000 mAh cell comfortably gets most people through a full day, helped along by 25W wired and 15W wireless (Qi2) charging — not class-leading numbers, but dependable. It ships on Android 15 with One UI 7, and Samsung backs it with seven years of major OS and security updates, matching Google for the longest support commitment in the Android smartphone space.

Verdict

If you’re comparing the best smartphones of 2025 and want flagship performance without carrying around a phablet, the Galaxy S25 is hard to beat. It won’t win a camera shootout against the Ultra, but for anyone who wants a proper android smartphone that’s actually easy to hold, it’s one of the smartest picks in Samsung’s lineup.