The Galaxy S25 Ultra gave me hope for artificial intelligence, but only for now

Andy Boxall from DT in English

Much depends on the latest features Galaxy AI which is headlined by the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but after spending a short time with the phone, I feel much more positive about it than before. mobile AI up to now. That’s a good thing, because the rest of the Galaxy S25 Ultra isn’t anything groundbreaking. However, it will be some time before we really understand whether the Galaxy AI in the S25 series is as revolutionary as Samsung claims.

The more you use it

Before we move on, we need to explain a few things about the Galaxy AI features. I base my positive interest on the fact that I they said what he would do instead of seeing him do it in person. Normally this would be a serious sin, but since this is a practice and not a review, I think it’s acceptable. The reason is that Galaxy AI’s personalized information, the most intriguing aspect, takes time to get to know you and if you haven’t used the phone for a certain period of time, it doesn’t work.

Samsung’s personalized AI powers Now Brief, a proactive “AI agent” that delivers informative briefings multiple times a day containing details about the weather, your activities during the day, photos taken, upcoming schedule, number of steps taken and a variety of other data . things based on your interests. This could include new content from your favorite artists, podcasts, or sports scores and matches. The more you use your phone, the more it will tell you.

The daily summary appears on a separate page or in the Now panel at the bottom of the lock screen. The Now panel acts like a dynamic iPhone island, displaying timers, playing music, and other live information. It’s a really cool implementation, and because it’s software controlled and doesn’t partially obscure the camera cutout, it’s completely hidden when not in use. The summary of the moments when it is explained to me seems very useful. Being fully customizable, I won’t be bothered by things I don’t care about, reducing information overload or unnecessary noise, and all my data is fully encrypted.

I don’t think the Galaxy AI’s “custom” approach is all that new, but Samsung is really pushing its smarts and convenience, plus the overall design and implementation is top notch. Mobile AI should provide value, appear flexible and well-designed, and save me time and effort on a regular basis. The Daily Brief system looks like it should do most of this, but unfortunately only time will tell if it can do it. However, Samsung has done a very good job and I feel more positive about Samsung’s custom AI features than any other mobile AI feature at the moment.

Equipment use

Do you want to use the Galaxy S25 Ultra for as long as it takes Galaxy AI to recognize you? There have been some significant changes in hardware compared to Galaxy S24 Ultraand I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it. Samsung has rounded the frame, which it says improves grip, but while I held and tested the phone, it didn’t feel particularly comfortable. The flat sides have a sharper taper than the S25 or S25 Plus and are less comfortable to hold than Apple’s. iPhone 16 pro max.

Samsung has kept the weight down to 215 grams, and the larger 6.9-inch screen has 15% fewer bezels, so the phone feels nice and lightweight. whole screen at the front. The body is also a couple of millimeters smaller in width, which is very noticeable, especially since the S Pen stylus holder is located right on the edge of the base of the phone. Like the slight size differences between the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung has tried to make its non-folding flagship less bulky, even after increasing the screen size. It works, but the phone leaves less of an impression than before because it no longer looks or feels as gigantic.

The back is business as usual, the camera design hasn’t changed, but the overall shape of the phone is so ‘new’ that I don’t think you’ll confuse the S25 Ultra with the S24 Ultra. However, after holding all three S25 phones, I thought the S25 and S25 Plus felt the best in the hand. The titanium frame is a continuation of the S24 Ultra with some improvements, and the Gorilla Armor 2 anti-reflective glass surface treatment is even more effective and more resistant to fractures and damage than before.

New specification

The S25 Ultra (and all other S25 models) features an overclocked and better optimized Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Galaxy processor, plus a larger vapor chamber for cooling, along with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The camera retains the 200-megapixel main unit and 50-megapixel telephoto camera from the S24 Ultra, but there’s a new 50-megapixel wide-angle camera. I was impressed by the new smooth zoom feature and instant color correction mode when recording video in recording mode. A demo of the Audio Eraser feature, which can remove unwanted noise from video, showed how effective it can be in noisy environments.

My impression is that there are a lot of small changes to the camera software and feature list, such as 10-bit HDR, virtual aperture mode when using the Expert RAW app, new generative editing features, and updated noise reduction algorithms. The same thing happened with the rest of the Galaxy AI elements, such as Circle to searchwhich now works with video audio to identify songs and can verbally request changes in the Settings menu. Some of them you will notice and use, others work in the background, and others you will never be able to use.

As in previous years, the reason to choose the S25 Ultra over the other two models is mainly due to the giant screen, high-tech camera and S Pen stylus. All three new S25 phones use the same processor. The screen is huge, but when I briefly used the Galaxy S25 Plus, it didn’t feel small or cramped, and unless you’re a real camera fan and never plan on using the S Pen, then it’s probably a better buy. The S25 and S25 Plus are also slimmer, and compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the square corners of the Galaxy S25 Ultra are emphasized even more.

Exciting future

If the daily digest and more personalized aspects of Galaxy AI work as Samsung describes, it could be the first major set of mobile AI features that means something to a lot of people. The S25 Ultra’s hardware is also better, with rounded corners, lighter weight and a thinner body. Taken together, this makes the Galaxy S24 Ultra less interesting for hardcore users and more interesting for discerning buyers who want the best deals from Samsung.

However, there are two big “ifs” in all this. Yeah Galaxy AI custom features don’t provide any benefit and Yeah If the new design of the S25 Ultra is uncomfortable or tiresome to hold for long periods of time, then your attention should be turned to the Galaxy S25 or S25 Plus or the Google Pixel 9 series. We’ll know for sure when we review the S25 Ultra. , but for now I’m very excited about its potential as the first AI smartphone that will truly appeal to the masses.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra goes on sale on February 7 and costs $1,299 GST.