Samsung Galaxy S25+ review

The competition

The Galaxy S25+ comes in two storage variants. Both have 12GB of RAM. The base tier is 256GB, while the higher one is 512GB. The official MSRP for the base variant is $1,000/€1,170/£1,000, and you can get the upgraded storage for $1,120/€1,290/£1,100.

You could get slightly better deals from certain retailers and some potential accessory bundles, but generally, these are the launch prices. That's a pretty penny to pay for a smartphone, and there are certainly some interesting alternative options to consider.

While the Galaxy S25+ is truly a great all-around flagship, why not consider last year's Galaxy S24 Ultra and get almost the same experience? You'd be getting a larger, anti-reflective display, nice speakers, solid battery life and better camera hardware.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra • OnePlus 13 • vivo X200 Pro

The OnePlus 13 is an all-around excellent device. It has a really impressive build with IP69 certification in some regions. Its display is also very impressive. You get the latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, plenty of storage and RAM, a good stereo speaker system, fast charging on a large 6,000 mAh battery and a potent triple camera setup on the rear.

While there are plenty of other phones to consider, we would like to bring forth the vivo X200 Pro for our final spotlight choice, knowing full well that it won't be easy or convenient to acquire on many markets. If cameras are your primary concern and you are in the right market, it's hard to go wrong with the vivo X200 Pro. It, too, has a great display and excellent ingress protection. There is a large battery onboard this phone as well, and it has good battery life. Its camera system is arguably the biggest highlight, though.

Our verdict

Last year, a big update was made to the Galaxy S Plus model. The S24+ got back its QHD+ resolution and 12GB of RAM and was also included as part of Samsung's impressive seven-year software support promise. You still get all of that this year, but arguably, you don't get nearly as big of an upgrade.

The S25+ has a slightly more refined design, a new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and better connectivity, such as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support. And, you no longer have to fret about getting an Exynos or a Qualcomm chip.

And that's about it, unfortunately. The rest of the hardware is pretty much carried over from the Galaxy S24+. Not that we're outright complaining, but certain aspects could have seen an upgrade, like the display color depth, which is still 8 bits, despite Samsung being such a huge and market-leading display manufacturer. The ultrawide camera still lacks autofocus and we don't get the anti-reflective Gorilla Armor glass - a couple of features only available on the Ultra.

Traditionally, the Plus model is the least popular out of the Galaxy S family (at least according to our statistics), and that makes sense. We don't expect things to change any time soon. The Plus model just sits in an awkward space, where it has to be more expensive than the small vanilla model, but it is not that cheaper than the Ultra while coming with certain concessions. Still, if both Samsung and Apple deem it necessary to keep Plus models around, then there must be enough market interest. Don't get us wrong, the Galaxy S25+ is an excellent and well-rounded device that does not disappoint in any obvious way. Most of our "complaints" come down to expectations, missed opportunities and wishful thinking, so to speak. Ultimately, snatch one up if you find a good deal for the S25+. Otherwise, it is worth shopping around.

Pros

• Refined design, light and very comfortable to use.
• Pretty great 120Hz, LTPO, QHD+ OLED display.
• Better battery life than last year's model.
• Awesome stereo speakers.
• Top-notch performance.
• Solid photo and video quality across the board.
• Seven major OS updates.
• Fast charging no longer requires a 5A cable/charger so you have more options.

Cons

• Generational upgrades are few and far between.
• No charger in the box, slowish charging too.
• The anti-reflective Gorilla Armor glass is reserved for the S25 Ultra for yet another year.
• Still no autofocus on the ultrawide camera.

Pricing

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256GB 12GB RAM	$ 543.50	£ 494.20
512GB 12GB RAM	$ 628.49	£ 590.00
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