After spending a solid four months with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra as my daily driver, I’ve had enough time to dive deep into its performance, features, and quirks. This isn’t just about first impressions; it’s a real-world evaluation of how Samsung’s flagship holds up with consistent daily use. Whether for work, entertainment, photography, or casual browsing, I’ve relied on the S25 Ultra for everything. In this long-term review, I’ll cover its design, display, performance, battery life, camera quality, software experience, AI features, and overall reliability, blending personal experience with broader user sentiment and tech community feedback.
3Performance
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite “for Galaxy,” the S25 Ultra handled everything I threw at it with ease. From multitasking with multiple apps (Chrome, Discord, and MS Word simultaneously) to playing demanding games like Genshin Impact and Call of Duty Mobile, the phone never stuttered. The overclocked chip offered a slight edge over other Snapdragon 8 Elite devices, and I noticed snappy performance even during intensive tasks like 4K video editing. I didn’t encounter any slowdowns or overheating, even during extended gaming sessions or when using DeX mode to connect to an external monitor for work. This DeX is quite handy when I am travelling and still want to work a bit at the hotel. The 12GB of RAM and storage options (I used the 512GB model) ensured I never ran out of space for photos, videos, and apps.
I own a Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is already an impressive phone, but the battery performance is one department that’s a bit of a letdown. The S25 Ultra’s 5,000mAh battery delivered solid performance, typically lasting a full day with around 8 to 9 hours of screen-on time even with QHD+ resolution. On my typical day—starting at 7am with emails, social media, Spotify streaming, and occasional gaming—I usually ended with 20 to 30% battery by 10pm.
On lighter days, I could stretch it to nearly two days by reducing the screen resolution, which pushed battery life to around 18 hours and 35 minutes in testing scenarios. So, while the battery size did not increase compared to the previous generation, Samsung did manage to pull out more battery life on the S25.
Charging speed at 45W was decent, reaching 71% in 30 minutes. However, I wish Samsung had adopted faster charging or explored carbon-silicon batteries. Wireless charging worked reliably, but the lack of Qi2 magnet support was a missed opportunity for better accessory compatibility.
