72 hours later with the Galaxy S25 Ultra – the AI ​​hype is becoming a reality for me

Samsung’s Big Bad Galaxy phone has arrived and it’s pretty much everything I expected. the Galaxy S25 Ultrastarting at the same attractive price as last year, $1,299, it’s still the company’s do-everything phone, with a more durable screen, an upgraded camera system, and a few tricks up its sleeve. Handy editing and the latest Qualcomm processor keep everything running. Oh, and yes, artificial intelligence is everything, everywhere, all at once.

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While last year’s Galaxy S24 series ushered in Samsung’s Galaxy AI era, this year it looks like the company is consolidating its lead in the field, surpassing Apple and even Google (currently) in terms of features and capabilities. Of course, the level of decoration of that honor ultimately depends on how invested you are in using AI.

I’ve spent three days testing the S25 Ultra so far and, not too surprisingly, found myself both amused and bored. After all, this is now the fifth iteration of Samsung’s S-series Ultra model, and the changes from last year are modest. But if you’re currently using a phone that’s three to four years old and are considering an upgrade, keep this firsthand testimonial — I wouldn’t call it a full review — in mind. (And if you’re a geek, that’s important to you, too.)

The Galaxy S Ultra has always been a large, two-handed phone, and that remains the same this year. When I first unboxed the S25 Ultra, it felt like the best-looking computer ever (and I mean that in a good way), with rounded edges and tall dimensions. Comes from I recently reviewed the OnePlus 13 – on paper, relatively similar in size – the S25 Ultra has a bolder and more striking look.

Luckily, the device isn’t as heavy as I remember previous models, although Samsung has wrapped the four rear cameras with thicker rings this time. In fact, the S25 Ultra is 16 grams lighter than its predecessor, making it the thinnest Galaxy S Ultra ever. You’ll probably hear more about it “slim” the phone at the end of this year.

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The other notable design upgrade with the S25 Ultra is the layered Corning Gorilla Armor 2 on the front display. It does not lose the anti-reflective surface treatment created headlines about the S24 Ultra last yearbut promises to improve drop resistance and scratch resistance. I believe it. My S24 Ultra from last year had many small scratches after just a few days of testing, while my review S25 Ultra has so far remained intact.

Now if only Samsung could recapture its glory days hallucinatory aura end, because these Extreme colors of S25 is uninspiring. Perhaps it’s the nature of the titanium finish or the harsh reality that consumers are more likely to choose more secure colors are more black, white and silver than poppy and bright. Regardless, you’ll want to use a case if you want to give your S25 Ultra some personality.

Under the hood is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, with competitive processing power Android phone like OnePlus 13 and Honor Magic 7 Pro. The most notable benefit of the chipset comes from the AI ​​experience – specifically a 40% increase in NPU performance compared to last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

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In layman’s terms, on-device AI features take less bandwidth and power to operate and operate quickly. I saw the results firsthand, placebo effect or not, as my S25 Ultra was able to quickly remove subjects (along with their shadows) from the background of a photo via Creative Editing and display the results Search for Gemini in seconds.

You can also get a performance boost for the enhanced Gemini app, which can now be activated by pressing and holding the power button. Previously, Samsung phones were limited to Bixby – or Google Assistant, if you do some sketchy backend modifications – so this change is a breath of fresh air. It makes the transition from any other Android phone that uses Gemini as its default assistant much smoother.

Speaking of which, the new Gemini-Bixby hybrid AI agent, as Samsung cryptically puts it, can handle natural-sounding conversational action sequences, such as looking up a sports team’s upcoming schedule. your favorite sports and add the date(s) to your calendar. While the agent-like capabilities primarily work on Google and Samsung apps, some third-party services like Spotify are also supported.

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It’s important to know how to word your commands. For example, when I request an AI agent create a Spotify playlist for road trips and sent it to my wife, who replied that it couldn’t be done. Instead, when I asked for it find good songs for road trips, it curates the list and composes an editable text message. Ladies and gentlemen, AI.

Consider last year’s S24 series that was introduced by Google Circle to search feature and this year’s S25 series is doing the same to deliver an enhanced Gemini-Bixby experience, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Samsung, not Google, makes the best AI phones on the market today .

Some other new Galaxy AI tools like AI Select and Now Brief only reinforce that statement, with the former being an adaptive, context-aware screen selection tool and the latter giving you a row summary day about weather, calendar events and news.

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I just wish Now Brief showed me more than just political news; Even when I choose technology and sports as my priority topics in the Samsung News app, the app still wakes me up with the Spotify “Uplifting Morning Prep” playlist and the latest scoops. about the US president signing an executive order.

One of the main reasons to buy a Galaxy Ultra phone continues to be the camera, even though Samsung hasn’t improved the specs much this year – at least on paper. The only hardware change is the 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens (up from 12MP), which from my first shots offers greater detail and vibrancy, especially when taking macro shots. The remaining lenses, such as the 200MP wide, 50MP 5x telephoto, and 10MP 3x telephoto, are identical to last year’s S24 Ultra.

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There’s a bigger focus on the software side, with Samsung introducing useful photo and video features like 10-bit HDR video recording by default to capture a wider dynamic range, a new Audio Eraser feature that lets you volume adjustment of various frequencies (classified into audio themes such as voice, wind and noise) and the ability to record in Galaxy Log mode.

The latter feature allows you to better detect overexposed areas and adjust dynamic range as you shoot video, while also applying LUTs in post for better control of color and lighting. I will test the shooting mode more in the coming days.

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My first day of testing Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Confirmed a few things for me. While most aspects of the phone, such as its vivid, glare-free display, camera versatility, and AI features, are easy to appreciate, this year’s upgrades bring a sense of repetition and security.

In a way, Samsung has even taken a few steps back now that the S Pen is no longer supported. Bluetooth controls and gesturesand the company chooses The case is Qi2 ready instead of embedding the actual technology in your phone.

It’s understandable that early adopters and tech enthusiasts might feel overwhelmed by the S25 Ultra. But when I consider consumers using the S21 series, a Pixel 6 or 7, or even an older iPhone, Samsung’s new flagship checks almost every box you can think of. And you might even get points Generous trading transactions through your service provider or local retailer.