• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

The Galaxy S25 Pre-Release Thread

The_Chief

The_Chief

Accept no imitations!
VIP Member
Okay, I'll start one...

With roughly three months to go before release of Samsung's Next Big Thing, many of us are looking for information about the upcoming S25 series.

Here's some information to get started:

www.sammyfans.com

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Latest Leaks, Features, Release Date, and More (Updated Regularly)

Hey, Sammy Fans! Keep up with all the latest leaks and rumors about the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. We’ll be updating this page regularly with the freshest, most reliable info as soon as it comes in. Design and Build Early Renders: Onleaks revealed the Galaxy S25 Ultra design...
www.sammyfans.com www.sammyfans.com

From the leaks and rumors I've seen, this seems to be an incremental upgrade over the S24: slightly better cameras, slightly better processor, and slightly slimmer bezels for a slightly bigger screen in a slightly smaller frame.

If that's the case, I'm not interested in paying significant money for slightly better.

At this point, there's only ONE feature I want badly enough to part with my cash: satellite messaging. If we can use satellite connectivity to get emergency help whenever we are, I'll buy two for the Darling Bride and me. Never again do I want her to be in a collision, in a place with no cell coverage.

What about you? Are you excited for the S25 series?
 
Last edited:
It's a matter of features. The S24 Ultra was a huge leap from the S23 Ultra in terms of functionality. The S-Ultra phones, however, have used the same cameras for four years... it looks as though Samsung, likely pressured by competition, will finally upgrade the cameras. Between that and ease of use, it will be interesting to see if the S25 generates excitement.
 
It's becoming evident that the S25 series will sell well internationally due to the exclusive use of 3nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC instead of Samsung's own 3nm Exynos 2500.

The Exynos 2500 is on par with, in some ways superior to, and a lot cheaper than, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. With only a steady 25-28% production rate on the 3nm foundry, however, not enough functioning processors can be made to be profitable. Samsung has now run out of time and must use Snapdragon across all devices.

Qualcomm has already announced a double digit price increase for the Snapdragon 8 Elite... unless Samsung can pull some magic software features out of its hat, sales may be fairly modest in an increasingly competitive market.

www.notebookcheck.net

Samsung Galaxy S25 to become significantly more expensive due to Snapdragon 8 Elite, while a tri-foldable and two Galaxy Z Flip 7 foldable phones are expected in 2025

A cascade of new information about Samsung's 2025 smartphone lineup has been flooding South Korean media and analyst reports lately. Owing to the Snapdragon 8 Elite configuration, which is now practically set in stone, a price increase in the Galaxy S25 series appears inevitable, and Samsung...
www.notebookcheck.net www.notebookcheck.net
 
Samsung is too gun-shy on charging, even though 8 years have passed since they lost billions pushing the limit on the Note 7. While other phone manufacturers have charging rates of 65, 75, even 100 watts, Samsung still tops out at 45W for wired and 15W for wireless. Qi2 promises incredible wireless charging rates... watch Samsung cautiously stick with the bare minimum.

www.phonearena.com

Samsung Galaxy S25 to land with next-gen magnetic wireless charging tech

Finally, magnets.
www.phonearena.com www.phonearena.com
 
The_Chief said:
Samsung is too gun-shy on charging, even though 8 years have passed since they lost billions pushing the limit on the Note 7. While other phone manufacturers have charging rates of 65, 75, even 100 watts, Samsung still tops out at 45W for wired and 15W for wireless. Qi2 promises incredible wireless charging rates... watch Samsung cautiously stick with the bare minimum.

www.phonearena.com

Samsung Galaxy S25 to land with next-gen magnetic wireless charging tech

Finally, magnets.
www.phonearena.com www.phonearena.com
Click to expand...
Makes me question human kind.
 
We're still three weeks from Unpacked, and Samsung is firing people over all the leaks that have pretty well detailed the S25 series. Unless Samsung is holding back a few cards and shocks us all with some whiz-bang features we weren't expecting, this will likely be the first year in a decade that I haven't upgraded. Stephanie my S24 Ultra is running One UI 7/Android 15 beta 2, it's smooth as silk, and I really don't need the jump in performance for AI functions I hardly even use.
 
The_Chief said:
Samsung is too gun-shy on charging, even though 8 years have passed since they lost billions pushing the limit on the Note 7. While other phone manufacturers have charging rates of 65, 75, even 100 watts, Samsung still tops out at 45W for wired and 15W for wireless. Qi2 promises incredible wireless charging rates... watch Samsung cautiously stick with the bare minimum.
Click to expand...
I have to be honest I can't get excited about 65 W, 75 W, 100 W charging. To avoid damaging the battery the charging rate usually drops from those advertised values very rapidly, so I view these headline numbers mainly as marketing gimmicks. But for me the way I look at it is that if the phone can last the day I don't want it to rapid charge overnight, and if the phone can't last the day, at least for the first few years, then I don't want to buy it in the first place. Hence for me personally the charging speed is largely irrelevant - I do occasionally turn on fast charging as a one-off when I want a quick top-up, but I turn it off again afterwards, and Samsung's "modest" fast charging is still sufficient for that.

After > 3 years my s21 has reached the point where if I know I have a long day and don't want it to run out, e.g. when travelling, then I'll turn off the battery protection and let it charge to 100% rather than 80%. Whether that is better for battery longevity than a quick top-up is doubtful, but those are days when that's not necessarily going to be an option.
 
Three weeks away from Unpacked and I'm increasingly confident that this will be the first year in a decade that I don't upgrade to a new phone. That should say a lot about Samsung having played it safe too long and stopped innovating.

The new Elite chip promises 47% better efficiency (which I really don't need) and better AI processing (which I really don't use). Stephanie (my S24 Ultra) already lasts all day and does everything I need done. She sits on the wireless charger all night.

"But but but slightly rounded corners! Oooooh!" Samsung will say, to my deaf ears...
 
I don't know, Olbriar, the S24 (especially the Ultra with S Pen) is lightyears beyond the S21... I think you'd be amazed by the difference. S25? Meh.
 
A lot of people don't... a lot of people do. My fingers don't like to go where I tell them, so the S Pen helps me tap, swipe and type with surgical precision. It's also incredible for its creativity functions. I hope Samsung never gets rid of it!
 
I've watched grad students use the S-Pen on Note/Ultra series devices very effectively when teaching, so it's definitely a useful thing for some people. Not for what I use a phone for, but that's why it's good to have different options.

(Since my main requirement for a phone is portability I'm watching the flip-type devices more these days, though I'm probably about 2 years away from my next phone so not watching too closely yet.)
 
News broke today that the new S25 series will feature 25W wireless charging. That and the Ultra will have a 38% CPU performance gain over the S24 Ultra while having a 42% better heat dissipation via the new vapor chamber, dispersing the heat throughout the device so it almost never gets hot. Still not enough of a year-over-year upgrade to compel me to switch from my S24 Ultra... but any devices older than that will be primitive in comparison.

EDIT: I dunno... I'm starting to think that the S25 Ultra will be the first of a next-gen smartphone era. I'm beginning to reconsider my decision to stick with this one and plunk down the money for the new Ultra (due for release February 7th). But AR glasses? After the fiasco that was Gear VR and the Gear 360 camera (which were unceremoniously dumped like bad habits), there's no way I'll get suckered into buying any more of those.
www.techradar.com

5 things to expect at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, from the Galaxy S25 Ultra to Project Moohan

Samsung’s next big product showcase is just around the corner
www.techradar.com www.techradar.com
 
Last edited:
Unpacked is LIVE!

Admittedly, the new AI Assistant is impressive... and personal data stays ON THE DEVICE. Yes, the S-Pen is losing its Bluetooth capabilities. However, Samsung noted that fewer than 1% of all users even bothered with those capabilities. While I have long used the S-Pen button as a remote shutter, I can now do the same thing with the Camera Controller on my Galaxy Watch Ultra.
www.zdnet.com

The most innovative S Pen feature on Samsung Galaxy phones is going away - but you likely won't notice

The magic wand spells and air gestures are no longer supported by the S25 Ultra's S Pen - and likely future models. Here's why.
www.zdnet.com www.zdnet.com
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom