A year for refinement
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is a serious phone that will become many buyers . It propose a great display , great design , a good camera and it ’s really powerful . Not much has change from the Galaxy S24 Plus , however , so while the experience is good , it ’s severe to urge as an upgrade if you have a recent twist .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Samsung ’s flagship family comprises three machine : the Galaxy S25 Ultra sitting in the flagship position , the Galaxy S25 the compact powerhouse , and this earphone , the Galaxy S25 Plus . To some , it ’s the awkward middle nestling , to others it ’s the meeting point of functioning and function .
The Galaxy S25 Plus has the reward of a large display , which is what smartphone buyers desire , while it come in brassy than the Ultra – under £ 1000 – also something that buyers want . The challenge for Samsung in 2025 is have this phone dissimilar old years .
The Galaxy S25 Plus looks a lot like the Galaxy S24 Plus – and there ’s not a sight of remainder on the specification sheet of paper either , as is the guinea pig with the non - Plus version . The termination is that it might leave upgraders a littlenon - plussed .
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So what , exactly , does the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus have to offer ?
Design
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus look a quite a little like the Galaxy S24 Plus , but rather than reinventing this equipment , Samsung has made small-scale tweaks .
That this phone thin down to 7.3 mm should n’t go unnoticed . Comparing to theOnePlus 13 – which is already looking like one of thebest phones for 2025 – and thePixel 9 Pro XL , the Galaxy S25 Plus definitely feel like the slender gadget . It ’s also lightheaded , with the weight dropping to 190 g.
I have discover the Galaxy S25 Plus to be a little slippery however . This often happens in winter when your hand are drier , but the number of time I ’ve pulled the phone out of my pocket and nearly sent it scuttle across the base … get a case is all I can say .
The frame of the Galaxy S25 Plus is Samsung ’s Armor Aluminium , while the front and back are Gorilla Glass Victus 2 . Unlike theGalaxy S25 Ultra , there ’s no atomic number 22 refinement or the fancy Gorilla Armor 2 spyglass – but again , that ’s the same as the Galaxy S24 Plus . The Galaxy S25 Plus keep back its IP68 dust and water protection , as you ’d expect from a flagship gadget .
There is a great range of colours for this speech sound . Some of the bolder colour are online exclusives when youbuy immediately from Samsung – but if you ’re considering doing that , you might also be able to take advantage of generous trade - in offers .
The only genuine alteration to the design of this phone is around the cameras . It ’s a minor point , but Samsung has lift the lens barrels off the rear of the phone a niggling and made them more distinctive – and I mean it ’s a much more innovative look than the metal ring of the previous phones .
The Galaxy S25 Plus retains itsIP68 rubble and water aegis , as you ’d expect from a flagship machine .
look to boost its eco credentials , the Galaxy S25 Plus is a picayune more sustainable too . That includes recycled cobalt in the batteries and the Al frames now admit recycled material too . As has been the guinea pig for some time , the box is a simple cardboard affair , with just a cable . There is no courser .
Screen
Samsung ’s display have a great reputation , so much so that other brand often make a point of saying that they ’re using a Samsung - sourced display . The 6.7 - inch AMOLED display on the Galaxy S25 Plus is everything you expect it to be : it ’s bright , it ’s vibrant and it fix all your content look great .
That ’s not just an off - the - cuff remark . Samsung has introduced ProScaler tech which has migrated over from the AI upscaling found on its televisions . The aim is to upscale lower - quality photo and video recording content to front comfortably when you ’re using the display at its highest resolution . This is single to the Galaxy S25 Plus and S25 Ultra , as the steady S25 does n’t have that higher - Ra screen .
That all sound great , but it ’s hard to see whether there ’s anything going on , without have the old machine and the fresh side - by - side . The result is , despite Samsung highlighting a new feature , that the exhibit looks very much like it did on theGalaxy S24 Plus .
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The resolution still fall in at 3120 x 1440 pixels , with the option to abuse down to 2340 x 1080 pixels or low to reduce electric battery need . The refresh rate is adaptive , interchange between 1 - 120Hz , just as before and the brightness sticks at 2700 nits . It ’s not the brightest phone out there , but remember that peak brightness level is n’t the same as you ’ll get when you reverse the screen brightness up .
significantly , the Galaxy S25 Plus can hand over those brighter HDR moment , so when you ’re watching a movie on Netflix you ’ll get a more dramatic and immersive experience , but it ’s really the impact of HDR in photograph that utilize this brightness . That ’s something you ’ll also mark on social medium , with photos carrying HDR data look so much better than those without .
endorse up the cracking showing experience is the speakers . These stereo system speakers are boost by Dolby Atmos ( if you toggle it on ) and it ’s surprising just how loud this headphone can be . The Atmos outcome is subtle but noticeable , rounding out loudspeaker system carrying out that ’s great .
Cameras
Many manufacturer dedicate long parts of any new phone launch to talking about how majuscule the new camera features are . It ’s pertinent that Samsung spent so long talking about AI rather than harping on about the photographic camera . If you ’re looking for fresh camera ironware , you wo n’t get it here .
That was also the case for the Galaxy S24 Plus , which is a circuitous means of saying that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus camera has n’t change for a pair of contemporaries . That ’s what you might see on the airfoil , but it ’s not rigorously true . The biggest changes in photography are happening behind the lens these days , using AI or computational picture taking to advance the result and the experience for substance abuser .
That experience , however , is very similar to the Galaxy S24 Plus and so are the results . It ’s a intimate place and in the true , Samsung was n’t in a positioning where it had a decisive failure to correct – it was a practiced camera before and it remains a upright camera now . While the S25 Ultra swop to a new ultra - wide camera giving it better macro skill , the S25 Plus continues much as it was .
There are a brace of changes on the software side , with LOG telecasting now offered , as well as a practical aperture feature so you may see depth of field changes on the display – but these are both sophisticated lineament , residing deeply in the menus .
What ’s perhaps surprising , is that the Galaxy S25 Plus is sticking to a 3x optical lens when rival are declare oneself 5x optical . This makes a real difference of opinion : the Pixel 9 Pro XL I screen alongside the Galaxy S25 Plus is observably better at longer rapid climb . I photograph the warning sign on a weir with each headphone and there ’s a substantial difference in quality . That ’s excogitate throughout the rapid climb ambit .
Samsung ’s night mode engages mechanically in low light and that commonly results in a decent photo . Samsung does n’t lighten the full paradigm in the way that Pixel often does , so those darker shots can be a slight more atmospheric .
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For most people , I think that they will be perfectly happy with what the Samsung Galaxy S25 offers , but with phone like the OnePlus 13 and Pixel 9 Pro around the same Leontyne Price and both offer up cameras that are a little more exciting , there ’s plenty of rivalry .
Samsung ’s front tv camera is estimable , with great edge detection for portrayal blurring and bring about good selfies , even with the plain want of resolution compare to some competitors . Do n’t write off the Galaxy S25 Plus because it has a 12 - megapixel front photographic camera – it ’s still a beneficial performing artist .
Performance
Sitting at the heart of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is the raw Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy . The process of “ for Galaxy ” mean that it ’s slightly overclocked , yield a mite more execution compared to other brands using this hardware . Is it enough of a difference to declare Samsung the only viable alternative in this infinite ? No , it is n’t .
But that ’s only part of the story , because the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus feel degenerate and fluent . It ’s a pleasure to utilise from mean solar day to day . That come from enceinte hardware and computer software and it seduce a deviation in the pleasure you get from using the phone .
Unlike the Galaxy S25 Ultra , which get a 40 % larger vapor sleeping room , the Galaxy S25 Plus only sees a 15 % increase in its cooling execution . I bump the phone to get a little warm when playing long Roger Huntington Sessions of Call of Duty Mobile , but not uncomfortably so . If you really load the phone it will get red-hot , with a drop off in performance as the temperature get up .
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus come with 12 GB RAM , with options for 256 or 512 GB reposition – there ’s no 128 GB option for the larger Plus model . I found the connectivity of the telephone to be good , with generally strong reception on Wi - Fi and 5G. I notice that where some phone will clamber with the hand - off from Wi - Fi to 5 G on leave my home , Samsung did n’t . It ’s a smooth hustler , with good connectivity .
With so much of this Samsung phone closely related to the previous machine , it ’s really the lift in public presentation that stands it apart . It ’s here that the Galaxy S25 Plus is good than its predecessor , by quite some security deposit .
Software & AI
The Galaxy S25 Plus offer something of a Jekyll and Hyde experience . On one hand , you have that consignment to 7 years of software program updates , meaning you ’re choke to be getting new Android version and security patches for as long as you keep the phone . Samsung is a market drawing card here , pit only by Google .
Then you have One UI 7 , which debuts on the Galaxy S25 . The Samsung Android experience has been systematically full for many years , offering a arrant reskinning of Android , but without destroy it like some rivals do . Of all the Android skins , I imagine it ’s the most refined , the most ordered and the easiest to get along with .
That ’s the Doctor Jekyll half of the experience , because then you come to Samsung ’s own apps and service of process . These have been concentrate in recent years , with some Google apps stepping as the default service , but there are still a identification number of applications that Samsung think will heighten your experience – and I ’m not so confident .
That run to duplication : there ’s Samsung Internet , Samsung Gallery , Samsung Keyboard and a aggregation of other apps that , for a number of yr , did n’t offer anything that Google did n’t already do . Things are more complex now , Mr Hyde , and this is where I mix my metaphors , as Samsung ’s apps are a Trojan Horse for Galaxy AI .
Most of the AI functions that Samsung promotes in the Galaxy S25 Plus run off the back of Samsung ’s own apps . Samsung Internet has Galaxy AI built in , Samsung Keyboard opens admission to the writing assistance , Samsung Gallery gains you access to all the photo editing elements .
The full news show is that if you choose not to use any of those Samsung apps , the layering of Galaxy AI into this telephone set is less obvious . Having used Galaxy AI on the S24 and now on the S25 , I do n’t see that it make for any veridical sweetening and there ’s nothing that ’s different to other maker .
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Of course , you get access to Google AI too , with Gemini useable as a part assistant , but Bixby is still lie in wait in the background signal . Then you have Google AI in Google ’s apps , in many case offering the same alternative to summarize selective information , or translate it .
The highlight of the AI comes in photo editing . Whether you utilize Samsung ’s options or Google ’s , the ability to make reproductive edits to your images is capital . Samsung offer the ability to sketch to simulacrum – first regard on the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 – and it remains a fun feature . The option to create cartoon of yourself from selfies , or a sketch image , is a evanesce bauble , which I surmise people will only use once .
Samsung introduced Now Briefing and the Now Bar on the Galaxy S25 family and the Now Briefing is , broadly speaking , a dissipation of space , offering information about the weather and your appointments as though notification no longer exist . The Now Bar is a little more utile , offer live sport results ( sourced from Google ) , Spotify command and controls over some live Samsung apps , like the Voice Recorder .
Again , it ’s a reinvention of ignition lock screen door widgets and comparing it to the larger medicine controls you get on other machine , it ’s a bit of a footstep backward , especially for Spotify .
This sounds very negative , so I want to qualify it by saying that the software experience of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is bully . The unawares - lived novelty of AI does n’t limit the day - to - day experience of this speech sound , even if Samsung thinks it does . The Galaxy S25 Plus is good despite the AI , not because of it .
Battery life
There ’s no change to the capacity of Samsung ’s bombardment or to the appoint speeds that it bear out , with 45W wired and 15W wireless charging . Samsung has stuck to these slower velocity – like Apple and Google – because of shelling health . even , reprize , fast charging is bad for long - term battery health . While rivals will make headlines for the faster amphetamine , in four years ’ time , that could have consequences .
Regardless , the Galaxy S25 Plus is still a tight - send earphone . I link to a 65W charger and found that after 15 instant I was nearly at 45 % . After 30 minutes , I was 72 % charge from a flat bombardment . Then the big change come , as charging over 80 % slows right down , depart you full charged in about 75 minutes . This is fast than the Galaxy S24 Plus , because the charge is being care in a dissimilar way .
The great affair about this organization is that if you ’re enamour with only a curt stop of time to agitate , then Samsung wo n’t leave you pay heed . A 20 - arcminute blast will see you at 50 % , so you may go out for the eve without worrying about your headphone demise .
The Galaxy S25 Plus will also last about a day and a half in normal use . Of course this will motley from user to user and what you do with your phone , but work calls , browse , using Google Maps or navigation and some hotspotting , followed by some eve play left me with enough succus still in the phone to not get at charging overnight .
Should you buy it?
This is a powerful and smooth phone that ’s great in daily use . Its nod to more restrained charging speeds and that farseeing software support entail this phone could last you many happy years .
There ’s little unexampled in the camera and it can be better by rivals for a alike cost . Samsung ’s camera is good , but there ’s more fervor elsewhere .
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is an interesting earpiece . It lacks the flagship ingathering of the S25 Ultra with its large show , S Pen and enhance camera options , and it lacks the affordability of its smaller S25 sib . But for many multitude , this is probably the phone to prefer .
There ’s plenty of powerfulness on offer for a premium experience , the show is fantastic , the assault and battery life is groovy and even if the charging sounds tiresome on paper , the world is quite unlike . The daily user experience that you get from Samsung is still one of the well that you ’ll find in the Android blank space .
It ’s all packed into a telephone set that looks and feels corking and even though it look like the last phone , in many ways , it still feels well in your hand and well in your pouch than some of its challenger .
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Yes , the tv camera is n’t the best in class , but it could be good enough for your need . Yes , the AI is a bit of a dampish squib , but it ’s gentle to avoid . Sure , you could get a sight of this from the Galaxy S24 Plus . That ’s the argument against upgrading if you have a late Samsung earphone – but if your equipment is a small older , then it has a lot to offer you .
For more inspiration , take a spirit at our selection of thebest smartphones .
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How we test
We test every mobile phone we critique thoroughly . We use diligence - standard tests to compare features properly and we use the earpiece as our independent gimmick over the review full stop . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , have money to survey a Cartesian product .
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FAQs
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus offer IP68 aegis , meaning it will hold up dust and water Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres . Some phones are now offering IP69 protection – meaning a slightly higher tier of water auspices , but Samsung will withstand complete submerging .
The Galaxy S25 Plus is rat at 45W for wired charging , but this is well - managed , so you ’ll be able-bodied to reach a 50 % thrill in 20 minutes . The last 20 % is much slower – designed to preserve long - term battery health .
There are no changes to the photographic camera hardware on the Galaxy S25 Plus compared to the Galaxy S24 Plus . There are some software system changes , but the experience is much the same .
Test Data
Full Specs
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