The middle child in Samsung’s latest flagship phone lineup, the Galaxy S25+, is somewhat easy to overlook. However, that would be a mistake. Sure, it’s almost the same as the Galaxy S24+ and the S23+ before it, but it’s still an excellent phone for those looking to upgrade. It’s so close to being the Ultra I’d argue this is the model most people should buy.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus

8
/
10

$1000 $1100 Save
$100

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is a premium smartphone with a 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and a 120Hz refresh rate.  It features the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB of RAM, and a 4,900mAh battery with 45W Super Fast Charging 2.0.

Pros & Cons

• A big and beautiful display
• 7 years of software updates and OS support
• Excellent cameras and great battery life

• AI features aren’t all that great
• Very similar to previous generations

See at Samsung

$1000 at Amazon

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Price and Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25+ is available in four main colors: Navy, Silver Shadow, IcyBlue, and Mint. Additionally, exclusive colors online include Coralred, Blueblack, and Pinkgold. The phone starts at $999.99 with 256GB of built-in storage, or $1,119.99 for 512GB. Both models include 12GB of RAM and are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Galaxy processor.

As usual, Samsung (and every carrier) offers lucrative trade-ins, so there’s a good chance you could get this phone at a significant discount.

More of the Same, But That’s Okay

Everyone is calling Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series boring because it is so similar to last year’s, but that’s okay. Most people don’t upgrade every year, so while they’re indeed nearly identical, the Galaxy S25+ is solid for potential buyers who actually need a new phone.

Yes, this phone is almost the same size, shape, and design as the Galaxy S24+. That’s frustrating on multiple levels, but Samsung isn’t the only one that plays this game. We have the same 6.7-inch display, nearly identical cameras, the same 4,900mAh battery with 45W charging, etc., etc.

What is new, however, is the slightly slimmer bezels, lighter frame, thinner design, upgraded Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, One UI 7, and a few other things. If you have last year’s model, you probably weren’t going to upgrade anyway. We’re just at a point where hardware innovation has slowed, and brands everywhere are trying to use software and AI to replace it, but more on the AI stuff later.

The Galaxy S25+ is a well-designed, stylish phone, just like the prior model. It looks good, feels good, and performs great. My only real complaint regarding the hardware and design is that Samsung dropped the ball on Qi2 charging. They’re happy to say it’s compatible, but you’ll need a case with built-in magnets to take advantage of MagSafe accessories. And a bump in the camera department would have been nice.

Get This Instead of the Ultra

I have a confession to make. I got the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Galaxy S25+ to compare the two and decide on which one to keep. Ridiculous, I know. Coming from the Galaxy S21 Ultra, I wanted a big Ultra phone with the best camera around. Honestly, I don’t need the S-Pen, and the crazy telephoto zoom lens is more of a party trick than anything.

When using the Galaxy S25+ day in and day out, it was a clear winner. The screen is 6.7 inches vs. 6.9 inches on the Ultra, which isn’t that much. And you get a 4,900 mAh battery that’s only 100mAh smaller. But thanks to the slim design, tiny bezels, and more rounded edges, the in-hand feel is leaps and bounds better. Using the Galaxy S25 Ultra all day is difficult and tiring. The phone is too unwieldy. For 95% of the same experience, only with a hair smaller screen, the Galaxy S25+ delivers everything I want and need. And I’ll go out on a limb and say most people are in a similar boat.

I returned the Ultra and kept the S25+. Looking at things from a consumer’s perspective with a 2, 3, or 4-year-old phone makes it clear how great this middle model is. And, for the last two years, the Plus and Ultra models have been a lot closer in terms of specs than ever before—making it hard to justify the bigger, more expensive variant.

Good Cameras, As Usual

In terms of cameras, it’s the same setup as last year, which delivers a solid all-around experience like every other flagship Galaxy phone. You’ll enjoy a 50MP main camera, 10MP telephoto with 3X optical zoom, and 12MP ultrawide camera. All three lenses capture excellent photos and videos full of crisp details and rich saturation—something Samsung is known for.

No, the Galaxy S25+ can’t zoom in as far as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but that’s a feature I didn’t use all that much on my last Ultra phone, anyway. When you do need to zoom in a bit, the S25+ is more than capable. I was pleasantly surprised by these punchy photos.

Whether taking photos indoors, in low-light situations, or zooming in on a subject, I get consistently good results, as expected. Using portrait mode on my new baby reminded me just how great Samsung’s Portrait mode really is. Then, you’ll be able to take advantage of all the Galaxy AI editing capabilities to remove subjects from a photo, eliminate shadows, and do other neat things.

You’ll get no real complaints from me in the camera department.

A Refreshed Yet Similar Software Experience (But With More AI)

Android purists and Pixel fans don’t love Samsung’s One UI software, but I think it’s great and improves yearly. Samsung’s One UI 7, based on Android 15, is fast, smooth, and polished, but there are a few new things I both love and hate.

For starters, it has all the usual One UI elements, meaning endless customization and an experience many Samsung fans enjoy. Then, there’s the “Now Bar,” which I absolutely love. It’s a pill-shaped widget similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island, only it lives on your lock screen or notification panel. When a sporting event I cared about was starting, it pulled the info from Google Discover and neatly displayed it for me. Following score updates, navigation directions, and other real-time information right here is fun, new, and valuable.

That same area on the screen is also used for “Now Brief,” a feature that’s good in theory but not in practice. It’s supposed to be a daily summary (brief) of everything important, but I don’t need another place showing me the weather or an upcoming calendar reminder. My teammate reviewing the S25 Ultra had similar conclusions.

This phone is fast and fluid thanks to the Samsung 8 Elite processor and plenty of RAM. My only real complaints about the software, or One UI 7, are the notification pulldown bar, notifications, and the battery icon. Samsung copied Apple and split the notification pulldown bar into two different actions. Most swipes will show you notifications, while a swipe from the right corner opens all the quick settings and such. I quickly disabled this in the setting and returned to the old style.

Additionally, notifications from the same app get stacked together and tossed into the status bar, and I missed a few important alerts. This, too, can be reverted to the old lock screen notification style. Why they made the change to begin with is baffling.

AI, Battery Life, and Fast Charging

As expected, these new phones are all about AI. We still have all those somewhat useful Galaxy AI features from last year, and a new Google Gemini experience. Long-pressing the power button fires up a capable Gemini that can handle multi-step tasks to a degree, but it’s pretty hit or miss. It’s great for alarms, reminders, and all the usual things we do with Gemini. Plus, anything is better than Bixby.

Other AI features include natural language search in the settings menu, face-swap camera tools, background noise cancellation in video clips, generative editing, and others.

For me, battery life and charging are far more critical than AI, and I’ve been very impressed with this phone. Performance is excellent, yet all that power doesn’t kill the battery. It easily lasts 24–36 hours, if not more, and I can charge it in the morning and not think about it again until sometime the next day. Standby battery is excellent, and it’ll sip on juice when that fancy screen isn’t actively scrolling social media or streaming Netflix.

The Galaxy S25 series doesn’t have a charger in the box, which isn’t new. The last few generations support a faster 25w or even 45w charging. It’s a bummer I have to buy that separately, but at least Samsung threw a 5A USB-C cable in the box that can take advantage of those speeds. This phone is fast, lasts long enough, and recharges incredibly quickly. Battery life isn’t a concern.

Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy S25+?

So, is the Samsung Galaxy S25+ a phone worth buying? Absolutely. Is it easy to overlook and almost forgettable? Yes. That said, as long as you don’t have a Galaxy S24 series phone, it’s a solid upgrade across the board. It offers excellent performance, a beautiful display, and stellar battery life—and it’s not as massive as the Ultra.

If you have any Galaxy S21 model, Galaxy S22+, or even the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the latest Galaxy S25+ is fantastic and way closer to the Ultra this year than the older generations. I’d argue this is the Samsung Galaxy model most people should get. If you’ve ever owned a Samsung Galaxy, you know what you’re getting, and that’s perfectly fine. Consistency doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

There’s nothing special here that we didn’t see last year. Those coming from an older phone will love it, and for everyone else with a Galaxy S24, there’s always next year.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus

8
/
10

$1000 $1100 Save
$100

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is a premium smartphone with a 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and a 120Hz refresh rate.  It features the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB of RAM, and a 4,900mAh battery with 45W Super Fast Charging 2.0.

See at Samsung

$1000 at Amazon

See at T-Mobile

See at AT&T

See at Verizon