REFINED DESIGN.REVOLUTIONARY AI, EVOLUTIONARY HARDWARE

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is among the first truly multimodal AI smartphones capable of understanding various inputs beyond just voice.

- Sahil Mohan Gupta

This phone offers a glimpse of the future, along with solid hardware improvements. It is a well-built device with a sprinkle of cutting-edge AI magic, but falls short in battery and camera technology, says Sahil Mohan Gupta

THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S25 ULTRA initially feels like “new wine in an old bottle.” It boasts of the usual iterative updates: Qualcomm's latest processor, a refreshed camera sensor, a larger display, and a tweaked design-squared-off rails, a flat screen and a thinner profile. Welcome refinements, yes, but not enought to tempt a Galaxy S24 user to upgrade to the S25. In a world where Chinese OEMs are cramming phones with DSLR-threatening camera sensors and power station-like batteries, Samsung's incremental hardware updates feel piecemeal. It's like adding a slightly faster engine to an already powerful car a marginal improvement, but not a game-changer. But Samsung, starting last year, has bet the farm on Galaxy AI. MX Business Head T. M. Roh described its hybrid AI strategy as marrying the best of Samsung with the best of Google, like a conductor merging two world-class orchestras to create a symphony of on-device and cloud-based intelligence. This makes the S25 Ultra one of the first truly multimodal AI smartphones, capable of understanding various inputs beyond just voice.

This is a phone for those craving a feel of the future, while still enjoying solid hardware improvements. You get the familiar comfort of a well-built device with a sprinkle of cutting-edge AI magic. On a purely hardware level, the S25 Ultra might not be the paragon of Android this year, lagging in battery and camera tech, and not the absolute best display - a shocking statement for a Samsung flagship.