Initial Verdict: While The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra does not look any different, we think that they still remain the benchmark for flagship Android Phones especially with AI Features.
Pros
- Galaxy AI is better
- New Ultrawide camera
Cons
- It’s expensive
- Same battery and charging speeds
Another year, another new set of Galaxy S series phones. The Galaxy S25 Ultra may look similar, and Samsung swears by its design language–focusing more on internal upgrades and a renewed push for Galaxy AI.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Impressions Philippines: Design
There’s no beating around the bush that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s core design is similar to its predecessor–down to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Some would think that Samsung’s playing safe, while others think otherwise: the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s minimalist look works for people, and it still looks more discreet compared to current Android flagships that battle through having the biggest camera module.
The biggest difference design-wise is that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is that it’s frame is much flatter than ever. Not everyone was a fan of the Galaxy S24 Ultra‘s very sharp edges, so Samsung tweaked the overall design of its titanium frame to make it more ergonomic.
Being an Ultra variant, you still get the S-Pen built into the chassis, along with the same button and port layout.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Impressions Philippines: Display
The Galaxy Ultra series have historically set the benchmark for the best display on an Android flagship, and the same applies on the S25 Ultra’s 6.9-inch 120hz AMOLED display. The bezels appear to be slimmer than ever, and it’s a flat panel.
The display slightly grew while having roughly the same overall size thanks to Samsung making those bezels slimmer than ever, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra does not go with the recent trend of Android phones sporting micro quad-curved panels–that’s not a bad thing on our book, as the general consumer these days prefer a flat display more than curved ones.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Impressions Philippines: Cameras
While it may appear that the Galaxy S25 Ultra uses the same set of cameras as its predecessor, you’re almost right. We say almost because Samsung has upgraded the ultrawide camera to a 50-megapixel shooter, which translates to higher-resolution ultrawide shots.
The rest of the camera setup remains the same: 200-megapixel main camera, 50-megapixel periscope with 5x optical zoom, 10-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and 12-megapixel selfie camera.
We weren’t allowed to publish sample photos since we handled engineering units, but we expect the Galaxy S25 Ultra to be stellar–and perhaps one of the best camera phones you can buy in 2025.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Impressions Philippines: Internals, Software
While RAM remains the same at 12GB and storage can be availed at up to 1TB, the Galaxy S25 Ultra gets a performance bump with a Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor. Battery capacity is the same at 5000mAh, and the same goes for charging speeds: 45w for wired, and 20w for wireless.
Just like last year, Galaxy AI remains to be the main push, with Samsung adding more useful features and deeper Google Gemini integration, which we think will set the benchmark as we get our hands on more AI-enabled phones this year.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Impressions Philippines: Wrap-up and Initial Verdict
Looks may be deceiving, but Samsung made subtle changes with improved ergonomics and slimmer bezels to fit in a bigger display. Like last year, the biggest push is Galaxy AI, and Samsung has made it better with deeper Google Gemini integration and more features that users will appreciate from day-to-day use.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra First Impressions Philippines: Price
The Galaxy S25 Ultra starts at Php 84,990 for the 256GB variant, and goes up to Php 110,990 for the 1TB variant.
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