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In just a few years, Samsung has built up a substantial collection of artificial intelligence tricks, features and apps. While some of them have been impressive, like live translation and annotation, others (often involving generative AI) arent actually helpful or notable enough to warrant regular use. The latest trio of Galaxy S flagship phones means another barrage of AI. Samsung has saved the best hardware for its S25 Ultra, of course, but the company also has smaller (and cheaper) flagships, with the Galaxy S25 ($800) and larger S25+ ($1,000) both launching at the same time. And those AI features could be more crucial for the base S25 and larger S25+. Aside from the addition of a potent new chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, theres not a lot here to differentiate from last years Galaxy S24. In fact, you really have to look for changes. Mat Smith for Engadget The Galaxy S25 and S25+ are as premium and solidly built as any of their predecessors. Once again, the company has gone for aluminum frames, while the S25 Ultra gets the favorable titanium treatment. Theres also Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 across both the screen and the back of the devices, with a trio of cameras (the same again) standing out as the only detail on the otherwise smooth backs. All of the devices edges are flat just like their predecessors even the S25 Ultras design has caught up here too. Is this more comfortable than the curvier sides? I dont think anyone knows. Weve seen Samsung, Apple and many others flit from rounded to flattened edges. I dont know anymore. But, boy, are they skinny. Does the Galaxy S25 slim exist? Im not sure it needs to: This years S-series models are the slimmest weve seen in nearly a decade barring Samsungs foldables ( unfolded). Both the S25 and S25+ are 0.4mm thinner than their predecessors. That makes the S25 the thinnest Galaxy phone since the 6.8mm Galaxy S6. Theyre both more pocketable because of this change, but I have an oversized affection for the base S25. Its bigger, but it reminds me of the Apple iPhone mini (RIP). As youd expect from Samsung, the AMOLED displays on these new phones are vivid, bright and gorgeous, with refresh rates up to 120Hz. The smaller 6.2-inch S25 has an FHD+ resolution, which is fine for a screen this size. Fortunately, the bigger S25+ has a higher-res qHD+ 6.7-inch display. So whats the biggest upgrade this year? Its a bit dry, but its the chip. The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is the biggest hardware upgrade since last year. Samsung claims the S25s CPU is 37 percent faster than its predecessor, with 40 percent improvements on the NPU, and a 30 percent more powerful GPU. Those are substantial jumps. Mat Smith for Engadget Given the hardware has barely changed, AI improvements and upgrades are the core focus for the Galaxy S25 series. Some features were unavailable during my briefing or will require a closer look and deeper testing. Some are intriguing, though, like a new spatial-temporal filter on the camera app. Its a Samsung exclusive since it relies on the custom Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and adds more power to noise analysis, as well as the ability to apparently maintain crispness of photo and video subjects while taming blurring backgrounds and low-light noise. Samsung says its new AI image processing with ProScaler offers 40 percent improvements to its AI images only on the S25+ and S25 Ultra. If youre looking for video upgrades, the S25 series all records 10-bit color profile video by default, while Audio Eraser offers some AI-augmented noise removal, although the benefits were difficult to discern during my brief time with the devices. A new large language model is also part of the S25s camera processing, which the company says will improve Portrait mode results and generative AI editing like object removal. Sadly, there is no sign of the Pixels Add Me arguably the best application of AI and photography on a phone. However, Samsung has also used its AI improvements (and the more powerful chip) to substantially improve the generative AI selfies inside the S25s Portrait Studio. Just look at what it did with my face at our briefing. This is a pretty decent line drawing and yes I was wearing a neckerchief. Mat Smith for Engadget Like weve mentioned elsewhere, Samsung has refined its existing AI features. A new AI select button will appear when you tap on the side panel, suggesting what you might want to do, based on the context of what the S25 can see on screen; Circle to Search can now figure out what to search based on sound too, using Googles existing Shazam-like hum-to-search feature. Cross-app smarts that integrate Googles Gemini mean the voice assistant can dip in and out of multiple apps to add appointments, figure out routes and set reminders. From my brief testing, this appears to involve only core Samsung and Google apps, which could constrain exactly how useful this is. Im at least intrigued and want to test this out in real life. Another feature that demands real-world testing is Samsungs new Now Bar and Now Brief, which is meant to collate your smartphone life and schedules into, hopefully, a single place. Itll offer up a morning and evening briefing, even pulling in sleep and wearable data for some wellness and health insights. One feature Samsung mentioned but did not hugely elaborate on was the S25s Personal Data Engine, which will analyze user context, patterns and preferences to deliver a personalized way of using your new Samsung device. Id imagine that taps into "Now Brief," which seems similar to iOSs daily summaries, offering up a curated selection of your schedule, weather updates, travel plans and even fitness and health insights from all those Galaxy wearables. Whether this offers some truly personalized experiences within One UI 7 will only be clear once were using these phones, but its hard to imagine itll be all that game-changing. Lets see if the S25 can change my mind, Samsung. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s25-and-s25-hands-on-180017460.html?src=rss
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As expected, Samsung used its first Unpacked shindig of the year to officially unveil the Galaxy S25 series. Although the Galaxy S25 and S25+ bring welcome hardware upgrades like more RAM (12GB) and a Samsung-centric flavor of Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, most updates revolve around new Galaxy AI features many of which are on-device and context-aware. Fortunately, you wont have to pay more: The phones cost the same as their S24 predecessors. Its no surprise that Samsung put most of its eggs in the AI basket with this years flagships. The phones run One UI 7 on top of Android 15 a combination the company describes as a new AI-integrated OS. Samsung is trying to nudge its collection of features in the direction of a more personalized AI that understands the context of your needs and preferences, acting accordingly. Like the Galaxy S24 series, the new phones Galaxy AI features will be free through 2025. That sounds like a pretty big catch: Unless Samsung decides to extend the free period, youll have to pay for at least some of the phones marketed AI features starting next year. Sam Rutherford for Engadget The long list of AI features includes what the company describes as a breakthrough in natural language understanding. For example, Samsung says you can ask the phone to find a specific photo in your gallery or adjust your displays font size saving you the time-consuming legwork of sifting through old pictures or drilling through settings. One UI 7 includes the Now Bar, which hangs out at the bottom of the lock screen (and below the digital clock when unlocked), behaving similarly to the iPhones Dynamic Island. The Now Bars standout AI feature is the context-sensitive Now Brief, which proactively makes suggestions about your day (like forecasts, playlists or flight times for upcoming trips). Fortunately, this all stays on-device in Samsungs Knox Vault, a chipset-level security feature (introduced with the Galaxy S21) that separates sensitive data from the OS. Pressing and holding the side button activates Googles Gemini now the default assistant instead of Bixby. It can handle multi-step queries and can work across apps. For example, you can ask it to find your favorite teams schedule and add their games to the Samsung Calendar app with a single command. Theres also a new AI-powered call transcript and summarizing feature (something Apple recently launched in iOS 18) and an upgraded version of Googles Circle to Search. Meanwhile, AI Select is an outgrowth of Samsungs legacy Smart Select. The AI version is a multimodal series of tools that can recommend context-sensitive actions like creating a GIF from a YouTube video youre watching. The idea is to merge multiple steps (from multiple apps) into one quick action. Sam Rutherford for Engadget The phones display specs are unchanged from the S24 lineup: The Galaxy S25 has a 6.2-inch FHD+ screen, and the S25+ uses a 6.7-inch QHD+ panel. (Both are still Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels with a 120Hz max refresh rate.) Samsung says a new real-time AI upscaling feature called ProScaler can boost the screens image quality by 40 percent on the fly. But theres some fine print: The feature is only available on the Galaxy S25+ and S25 Ultra (not the standard model), and it only works when the screens resolution is set to the more power-efficient QHD+, not the phones native WQHD+. But if the feature works as advertised, it could offer a nice balance of image quality and battery life. The Galaxy S25 and S25+ are better equipped to handle all that AI with 12GB of RAM, up from the 8GB in last years models. Storage options stand pat: 128GB or 256GB in the standard model and 256GB or 512GB in the Plus variant. The 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy powers all Galaxy S25 and S25+ versions. The company says it worked with Qualcomm for its custom flavor of the processor. Compared to the S24 Ultra, the chip boosts performance by 40 percent in the NPU (for all those on-device AI tasks), 37 percent in the CPU and 30 percent in the GPU. Sam Rutherford for Engadget The phons camera specs are the same as last years models: a 50MP wide sensor, a 12MP ultrawide one and a 10MP zoom lens. But 10-bit HDR, which can better capture details in high-contrast scenes, is enabled by default on the new phones. Samsung says the Qualcomm chip makes the phones better at reducing noise in dimly lit videos. Meanwhile, Audio Eraser sounds similar to Googles Audio Magic Eraser in the Pixel 8. The AI feature can isolate sounds in videos (like voices, music, wind, nature, crowd and general background noise) to make it easier to remove or reduce the volume of those you dont want. The Galaxy S25 and S25+ are available now for pre-order ahead of their February 7 ship date. The standard S25 starts at $800 for 128GB of storage, and the S25+ begins at $1,000 for 256GB. Colors include Navy, Icyblue, Mint, and Silver Shadow. If you order from Samsungs website, you get a few extra options: Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-galaxy-s25-and-s25-have-more-ram-and-context-sensitive-ai-180013432.html?src=rss
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Last year, none of Samsung's phones offered support for Qi2 magnetic wireless charging. However, there was hope that would change after Samsung said it would launch compatible devices in 2025. Unfortunately, it seems the world's largest phone maker still isn't fully committed as the new Galaxy S25 line is said to be "Qi2 ready" instead of fully Qi2 compliant. So what does that actually mean? Similar to previous models, the Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra can charge wirelessly at up to 15 watts. That falls neatly within the Wireless Power Consortium's (the governing body in charge of the protocol) specifications for Qi2. But what the Galaxy S25 lacks in order to offer true compatibility are magnets inside the phone itself designed to help attach and align related peripherals. This is why Samsung says the S25 is merely "Qi2 ready" instead of 100 percent compliant. That means if you want to use Qi2 accessories with the S25, you'll need to pair the phone with a supported case that provides a built-in magnetic mounting system (like the one pictured above), with Samsung saying there will be a range of first and third-party options available at launch. For people who always put their phone in a case, this might not be a big deal. You'll just want to make sure you buy one with magnets inside designed to work with other Qi2 peripherals. However, for people who prefer their phones to be caseless or simply want something a bit less bulky, there may fewer alternatives. Some manufacturers have created skins that come with included magnets to help out older phones that also lack full Qi2 support, so it's likely we'll see some variation of that for the S25. Sadly, despite claiming that the company would release devices with Qi2 support in 2025, Samsung hasn't fully delivered on that promise with the new S25 family, which makes things a bit more complicated than they ought to be. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-samsung-galaxy-s25-doesnt-fully-support-qi2-on-its-own-180011574.html?src=rss
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