s25 Ultra Samsung

-Highlights -📱-

1. Ditching the laptop for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 helped lighten my work load.

2. Samsung DeX needs significant upgrades to compete with the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

3. The Galaxy S25 Ultra may introduce enhanced AI features alongside DeX.

4. Touchscreen support in DeX provides a tablet-like experience.

5. Improved S Pen functionality is essential for a better DeX experience.

6. Samsung must avoid price hikes to remain competitive.

7. Galaxy S25 models are expected to launch early next year.

In the last month, I’ve been trying to minimize the load in my luggage by trying to simplify what I absolutely need to bring with me to work. One of the heaviest offenders has been my laptop, which at 3 pounds is still demanding on my back. That’s why I ditched my laptop for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 for 2 weeks, simply to see if I could make due with a phone for all of my work-related activities.

With the Galaxy S25 Ultra expected for an early introduction in 2025, it will more than likely have Samsung DeX functionality to fulfill my requirement as a laptop replacement. While this has been a longstanding feature in Samsung’s flagship series, it sorely needs to be used more than ever if the Galaxy S25 Ultra stands any chance at defeating the greatest phone out there in the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

I totally respect that Samsung is probably gambling on new Galaxy AI capabilities to entice consumers to get the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but Samsung DeX has long been flying under the radar and deserves an overhaul. I think it’s the key to the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s salvation.

It disturbs me to know that Samsung DeX was originally released in 2017 with the debut of the Galaxy S8. Since then, there have been new features added to the desktop PC interface here and there, but it’s been stale the past three years.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra could be the perfect time for Samsung to upgrade the experience because DeX is one of the few services that satisfies the gap between PCs and phones. This concept of a phone giving an experience equivalent to a desktop PC has long been there, but most people don’t understand that Samsung DeX works on touchscreen displays.

I’ve connected my Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 6 to an old portable monitor I have laying around, and to my surprise, the interface enables touch interaction - so it very much feels and functions like a tablet. From a productivity viewpoint, this ability to lean on touch controls make DeX even more effective with my day-to-day operations.

My point here is that people prefer multi-functioning devices, much to how smartphones fused the capabilities of point and shoot cameras, MP3 players and specialized phones. Samsung DeX on the Galaxy S25 Ultra could theoretically be good enough to replace my laptop, but it’s going to need more in order to get there.

Another component of Samsung DeX that needs to be strengthened are the Air Gestures of the S Pen. So far, none of the alleged renders of the Galaxy S24 Ultra show off the S Pen, but I presume that we’ll still receive it nonetheless with the S25 Ultra.

Even as the S Pen is first and foremost a pressure sensitive stylus for that rich paper meets pen experience, I would love for Samsung to make it the crucial component to connecting with DeX. I want to conceive of it much like how the Apple Vision Pro relies on hand movements to navigate around its UI, so the S Pen might do the same for DeX.

In the current iteration of Samsung DeX, I’m mostly employing an actual mouse hooked to my phone for navigating around the UI, but I’d like Samsung to somehow integrate even more gesture compatibility with the S Pen. For example, I’d want to see the S Pen behaving more like the mouse cursor in DeX — as well as offering functionality that could execute pinch and scrolling movements by flicking the S Pen in the air.

Just with any important phone introduction, I’m always hopeful that there’s no price hike – which could be true for the S25 Ultra seeing how the S24 Ultra received one last year. Either way, Samsung can’t afford to just throw DeX under the table yet again with no substantial upgrades. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has nothing remotely close to this, which is why it’s crucial that DeX gets the proper upgrade it deserves.

I’ve only realized recently from my colleague’s Mac Mini M4 review that you may link it up to a portable display touchscreen support. Just imagine if the iPhone 17 Pro Max could do the same? Samsung can’t disregard the utility that DeX offers, so it needs to take it to the next level and establish that the interface can more intuitive and more functional with the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

The S25 Slim is reported to boast a 6.7” flat screen and a thinner body than the rest of the lineup. It's also believed to have a 200 MP primary camera with an ISOCELL HP2 sensor.

The fresh leakster did not reveal a likely date for the introduction of the Slim but we obtained some exciting information from South Korea. One leakster reported Galaxy S25 Slim (name yet confirmed) will launch around April. Samsung will then reveal Galaxy Z Flip SE and two Galaxy Z Fold7 devices in the summer, but the release date is yet to be decided.

It's interesting that we haven't heard any predictions about a release date yet, but Samsung generally announces new Galaxy S models in January or February, so we'd assume the same to happen next year, indicating there probably won't be much longer to wait.

News around the potential pricing of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is less favorable, however, as many sources have suggested that the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset we think it would employ would cost more than its predecessor.

One source indicated the Snapdragon 8 Elite will cost around $40 more, another said the Snapdragon 8 Elite would be nearly 20% more expensive, and even Qualcomm (who develops the chipset) confirmed the Snapdragon 8 Elite will be expensive.

In this case, there is a strong likelihood that Samsung will pass this increase on to consumers, which means that we could have a greater initial price than that of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra , which is €1,469.

We estimate the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to likely cost more than the S24 Ultra, considering that its chipset is nearly undoubtedly more expensive, but we don't think it will be a major price jump.

Everything suggests that with its Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung would provide the exclusive option of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 , renamed in fact to Snapdragon 8 Elite . The brand would still contemplate about the Galaxy S25 / S25 Plus, but would be convinced of its choice for the Ultra model. This SoC will be formally disclosed in October and should give substantially greater performance compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 of the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

A chip that would be supported by up to 16 GB of RAM, and a minimum of 12 GB. Samsung would require it substantially for Galaxy AI and all the generative AI functions of One UI 7 working locally.

In practice, the smartphone's performance appeared on the Geekbench 6 benchmark application , under the code name SM-S938U. The progression compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra is great and if it is overtaken in Single Core, the Galaxy S25 Ultra performs substantially better in Multi Core compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max .

As with the base and Plus models, the Ultra model would not see its battery grow. It would have a capacity of 5000 mAh , like previous year. But Samsung would have a secret weapon to pull out: Battery AI . It is not a size 42 shoe, but a software feature. It would eliminate non-essential duties in order to improve autonomy by up to 10%.

As for charging, no change either: still 45 Watts. Enough to recover, as for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, 65% of battery in 30 minutes. In wireless, the device would offer 25 Watts (Qi2) and even 4.5 Watts in reverse charging.

At the time, there are no predictions about the price for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. That's typical, it's still too early to say anything about it. Even Samsung apparently hasn't picked yet. As a reminder, following are the costs of the Galaxy S24 Ultra:

Android 15 is now out, so for the Galaxy S25 Ultra to come with that version already in place, in the form of the freshly unveiled One UI 7 that is confirmed to be coming to next year's new Galaxy handsets. We'd imagine the Galaxy S25 phones will get the same seven years of software support that the Galaxy S24 receives.

Another supposition of ours: the Galaxy S25 Ultra will add more Galaxy AI functions similar to the ones that debuted with the S24 series. Samsung itself has said AI will be a prominent area for the S25 series, but there's no information on what those capabilities will be or whether any would be earmarked as exclusives for the higher-end Ultra. With the Galaxy S24, the same Galaxy AI capabilities were supported by all three models, so the entry-level S24 can pull off the same chores as the premium Ultra.

Samsung executives have already floated the notion of one prospective Galaxy AI update themselves, as Won-joon Choi, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile division, suggested maybe equipping the Bixby personal assistant with generative AI capabilities.

Outside of AI, satellite connection could be on its way to the Galaxy S25 series. We've seen this put to fantastic use on Apple devices since the iPhone 14, so it makes reasonable that Samsung would try and adopt it too.

Potentially, the Galaxy S25 Ultra could benefit from an Android upgrade that allows the phone to install updated Android versions in the background. The change would make it more straightforward to update your OS on the Galaxy, while bringing Samsung's phones in line with other Android handsets.

Though it may be early for you and I to be thinking about the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it's a good bet Samsung has already put a lot of effort into what goes into its next smartphone. With the iPhone 16 Pro Max earning a lot of accolades for its upgrades, the pressure's on Samsung to counter in kind with its premium device.

We should find out more about such initiatives throughout the rest of this year, as we approach closer to the S25 Ultra's 2025 debut date.