Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Clash of the titanium

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra are extremely similar smartphones, with only around a year of time and a small improvement in technology separating them.

As is increasingly the case with generational releases, the biggest differences between these two phones is the performance. While newer hardware makes the S25 Ultra measurably faster than its predecessor, however, that doesn’t mean the jump in performance is going to be noticeable or all that relevant in the real world outside of benchmarks.

So what else does the Galaxy S25 Ultra bring to the table? There are, of course, deeper differences between these handsets that we can’t unpack in a quick comparison like this, so if you’re still unsure by the end, check out our full reviews of the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Ultra. Otherwise, read on to see which of these Samsung phones emerges victorious in our smartphone showdown.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Design and display

The Galaxy S24 Ultra was the first phone in Samsung’s flagship line to feature a titanium frame and as its direct successor, the S25 Ultra is also equipped with this tough metal as its backbone.

The S25 Ultra is a little lighter than its predecessor but the dimensions are so close that you’d need to whip out calipers to tell the difference. In fact, the design as a whole hasn’t changed much generation on generation.

We’d go as far as saying that not even smartphone connoisseurs could tell these phones apart at a glance.

Both phones use Gorilla Armor Glass but the S25 Ultra sports the second generation of the material, which offers improved durability. The IP68 dust and water resistance rating remains the same, certifying both handsets as dust-tight and waterproof to a depth of 1.5m for up to 30 minutes.

The S24 Ultra is available in Blue, Green, Orange, Grey, Black, Violet and Yellow. The S25 Ultra comes in Jadegreen, Pinkgold, Jetblack, Silverblue, Grey, Black and Whitesilver. So, if you like more exotic colours (or at least more exotic colour names) then the S25 Ultra has the edge in that department.

Both phones feature a Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display at 6.9 and 6.8 inches respectively. The resolutions and refresh rates are identical at 3,120 x 1,440 and 120Hz. The slightly larger screen gives the S25 Ultra a higher screen-to-body ratio but again, this would be hard to differentiate by eye.

Both screens are rated for 2,600cd/m² of peak brightness and are HDR10+ certified. However, our reviewers measured peak brightness well below this, with the S24 Ultra hitting 1,833cd/m² in HDR testing and the S25 Ultra peaking at 1,288d/m².

While neither screen offers a desirable colour accuracy score in their standard vibrant modes, they are both subjectively pleasant to look at and, perhaps more importantly for a comparison, indistinguishable from each other to the naked eye.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Performance and battery life

The biggest meaningful difference between these phones is performance. This comes down to the difference between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Elite.

The Geekbench 6 scores of 2,344 and 3,198 for single core performance yields a 36% increase in favour of the S25 Ultra.

Similarly, in the multi core test, the 7,268 and 10,134 scores show the S25 Ultra 39% ahead.

This is a significant gen-on-gen increase and is quite impressive in comparison, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the S24 Ultra’s scores aren’t exactly slow in absolute terms. It’s still flagship-class performance that’s more than adequate for the vast majority of users.

When we look at the GFXBench scores, which are most relevant to gaming, the differences are similar.

Only the offscreen scores matter here, since the S25 Ultra is hitting the screen’s 120Hz refresh rate limit. The offscreen scores of 142fps vs 194fps yields a 37% increase. Clearly if you’re an avid mobile gamer, the S25 is the way to go.

However, what does all that power matter if the battery runs down in a flash? There are no worries on that front because the S24 Ultra is, at the time of writing, the longest-lasting smartphone to ever undergo our in-house battery test, with an incredible result of 34hrs 36mins.

Sadly, the S25 Ultra doesn’t quite manage to surpass its predecessor on this front, missing the mark by just two minutes. 

Considering that both phones have the same battery capacity, screen specs, and a 35-40% performance difference, that’s nothing short of incredible. Either one will give you some of the best phone battery life that can be had right now.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Software

As of this writing, the S25 Ultra runs Android 15 and Samsung’s One UI 7, while the S24 Ultra runs Android 14 and One UI 6.1.1. However, by the time you read this, it’s likely that the S24 Ultra will have received the update to bring it to parity with the S25 Ultra.

Both phones promise seven major Android updates, which means that in the end, the S24 Ultra will be one major Android version short. Buying the S24 Ultra over the newer phone means one less year of support regardless of when you buy it, so that’s worth including in the calculus. 

However, few people interested in buying flagship-class phones are likely to go that many years without upgrading, so your personal upgrade philosophy will ultimately determine how important this difference is.

Both of these phones are marketed with AI features but the S25 Ultra boasts newer features and better levels of AI performance for on-device AI functions.

Of course, the most impressive AI features, such as generative fill and object removal in photos, rely on cloud AI services. So the only function the phones play here is as a ticket to the services in question. These services may not remain free forever, and Samsung’s Galaxy AI subscription service will introduce cloud-based AI features to any Galaxy phone Samsung wants to include. So it’s hard to see the cloud-based services as key features of these two phones themselves.

The S25 Ultra gets on-device AI features such as an AI-generated summary of your daily tasks but as our reviewer notes, most of these are little more than gimmicky party tricks. 

As such, while the S25 Ultra technically wins this round, the actual value of these features is debatable.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Cameras

Samsung remains a leader in smartphone photography, so we’ll foreground that no matter which of these phones you ultimately choose, you’re still choosing one of the best phone cameras on the market.

Both phones have a quad-camera array on the rear with a wide, telephoto, periscope telephoto and ultrawide camera. 

The specs for the camera hardware are virtually identical between the two phones, barring the notable upgrade of the ultrawide camera from 12-megapixels (f/2.2) to 50-megapixels (f/1.9). As our reviewer notes, the ultrawide camera yields a notably more natural and detailed image, though the 12-megapixels model doesn’t have anything in particular to complain about.

The S25 Ultra’s image processing is further refined, with punchy natural images, but this is a difference that requires some pixel peeping with images side-by-side. The proof, of course, is in the pudding. So let’s compare the images our reviewers were able to capture.

This daytime image from the main camera on the S24 Ultra is vibrant and detailed, showing off the excellent HDR processing of Samsung’s technology.

Likewise, the main shooter on the S25 Ultra just about matches the detail and natural colouring.

Night photography on the S24 Ultra is simply some of the best you’ll find on any phone.

And the S25 Ultra matches it blow-for-blow, while perhaps retaining a little more of the “night” look.

Both phones offer incredible optical zoom photography and hybrid zooms up to 100x, though in neither case would we consider the latter to be particularly usable other than as a set of digital binoculars or to capture an interesting event. As photos, the 100x zoom results aren’t particularly pleasant. The below image is from the S25 Ultra, but the core issue remains in the older phone as well.

As for the biggest upgrade—the ultrawide camera— our reviewer notes that in comparison to the S24 Ultra, the image is a “solid improvement” with “bright images with bold colours and decent contrast.”

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Verdict

The S24 Ultra is still an amazing flagship-class smartphone with performance and battery life to spare, premium materials and top-tier cameras. The lower system performance, while notable, is largely academic in normal use, and the cost savings compared to the newer model can be substantial, which you can put towards buying more storage.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra either equals or surpasses the S24 Ultra in nearly all areas, with battery life being a technical exception. Though both phones offer so much battery life that neither will leave you in a pinch.

If you’re an enthusiastic mobile gamer, or otherwise use your phone for performance-heavy tasks that are a priority, then this is as good as it gets for Android phones right now.

Written by

Sydney Butler

Sydney Butler is a technology writer covering a wide variety of tech and science topics. He’s been an IT practitioner for over 20 years, with a background in cyberpsychology and educational technology. He has over 10 years of experience in user education and training. His writing career spans over a decade, with bylines in major online publications such as 9to5Mac, How-To Geek, and Tom’s Hardware. He holds a Masters in Research Psychology, with a thesis in the effects of social media, and minored in Media Science, Journalism, and Communications.

More about