Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra might get a camera shake-up

Samsung may only have recently pulled back the covers on its latest flagship phones, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not already hard at work on next year’s successors.

We take a look at the latest news and rumours of what you should expect when the Samsung Galaxy S25 range comes around.

When will the Samsung Galaxy S25 be released?

There’s no official release date as of the time of writing, but Samsung is quite consistent with the Galaxy phone launches, so we can make an educated guess.

Here’s when the previous models arrived:

As you can see, the new Galaxy devices usually make their debut at the start of the year. It should be noted that the S24 range was actually released on 31st January, so it was almost a February release.

With this in mind, we think it’s safe to say that the Galaxy S25 range will launch in either January or February 2025.

How much will the Samsung Galaxy S25 cost?

Samsung seems to have a settled range of costs these days, so although we don’t know how the Galaxy S25 range will line up, we don’t expect it to veer too much away from the previous generation.

The S23 range saw some price hikes, but these were reduced in the S24 lineup, and it makes sense that these tiers will be retained for the S25 models.

Here’s how the last few iterations have been priced:

Samsung Galaxy S24

Samsung Galaxy S23

Samsung Galaxy S22

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

What specs and features will the Samsung Galaxy S25 have?

Samsung is yet to reveal anything about the Galaxy S25 range at this stage. However, there are already some rumours regarding what we can expect.

Design

A report from leaker Revegnus claims that the S25 range could come with an updated design. This would come via the MX division Design Team Leader, Ilwhan Lee (formally of Mercedes Benz), who has reportedly been given the brief of overhauling the aesthetics on the new models.

We don’t have any firm details of what these changes might entail, but hopefully it won’t be too long before we start to see leaks of potential cases and chassis from parts of the supply chain.

In the end, both the S25 and S25 Plus are expected to feature the same armour aluminium frame, while the titanium frame is likely to remain exclusive to the S25 Ultra.

However, it’s important to note that these details might still evolve as new leaks surface over time.

Display

Samsung may bring significant changes to the design of the Galaxy S25, particularly by enlarging its display.

According to known Korean leaker, Yeux1122, the Galaxy S25’s screen size is expected to increase from 6.2 inches in the Galaxy S24 to a slightly larger 6.36 inches, aligning with rumours about the enlarged display of the iPhone 16 Pro.

It’s likely that the phone will be slightly larger overall compared to its predecessor, as Samsung reduced the bezels in the S24 model to increase screen space.

Performance

As the Galaxy S range is Samsung’s flagship, we fully expect to see the S25 models that arrive in North America and Asia to be equipped with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, which is rumoured to be launching by the end of 2024.

The company may repeat what it’s done on the S24 range, with regular and Plus models using one of Samsung’s own Exynos chips instead. By the time the S25 series launches, this will likely be a successor the current Exynos 2400 and probably known as the Exynos 2500.

To help differentiate the Ultra, it may continue to use Snapdragon in all markets. And indeed, while initially there was a rumour from leaker Connor suggesting that Exynos will take over all Galaxy S25 phones, a more recent report from DigiTimes suggests that Samsung will maintain its dual-chip strategy, featuring both the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Exynos 2500.

Details on the division between chipsets remain undisclosed, but it’s speculated that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will exclusively use Snapdragon, while the S25 and S25+ may offer either Snapdragon or Exynos depending on the region.

Cameras

Alongside his leaks surrounding the design, Revegnus also suggested that Samsung will be moving away from the GN3 camera sensors that feature in the Galaxy S24 range.

Instead, they will apparently switch to improved Sony sensors for the Galaxy S25 devices. He doesn’t specify the particular variant, but Sony has been making some excellent camera sensors for a long while and this could mark a step up in photo and video quality on the new device.

One exception to the Sony sensors, states Revegnus, will be the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which will come with Samsung’s own ISOCELL sensor range.

Another online reporter, Bennett Buhner, has posted a list of rumoured specs for the S25 Ultra camera lineup, which he states will be a quad setup that includes a 1-inch 200Mp main sensor, improved 50Mp ultrawide, 3x to 5x 50Mp variable telephone camera and a 10x 50Mp telephoto.

Is it 3 or 4?

What’s more, recent rumour (via Nextpit) suggested that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will feature three rear cameras instead of four like its predecessor. The dropped camera was rumoured to be the 10Mp 3x optical zoom telephoto, with Samsung aiming to enhance the main camera’s capabilities to achieve similar or better zoom results through improved image processing.

However, contrary to this report, reliable tipster Ice Universe says it is “certain” that the phone will indeed retain its four-camera setup, including the 3x telephoto module.

Ice Universe suggests that an upgrade to the 3x camera is probable, as it has remained largely unchanged since its introduction with the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Similarly, the 12Mp ultrawide camera has seen minimal alterations since the S20 Ultra.

While the main camera has evolved through various sensor iterations, with expectations of the S25 Ultra using the 200Mp HP2 sensor, enhancements to gather more light may justify the purported removal of the 3x module.

Samsung might be also exploring a changeable focal length for the periscope module, offering preset points rather than smooth adjustment. There’s also the possibility of a new depth sensor, making the already-excellent cameras even better.

Battery & charging

At minimum, it’s anticipated that the Galaxy S25 series will maintain the same battery capacity as the S24 series.

Despite ongoing rumours about Samsung incorporating stacked batteries in its new flagship series, there isn’t substantial evidence to suggest that we’ll see them in the S25 just yet.

Software

Following the introduction of several Galaxy AI features with the S24 series, Samsung will need to innovate further for the Galaxy S25.

As of now, there are no leaks regarding new Galaxy AI features for the Galaxy S25. However, there’s speculation about their exclusivity to the S25 and whether they’ll eventually trickle down to older models.

This speculation arises as many once-exclusive Galaxy AI features of the S24 are becoming available on older Samsung phones through software updates.

And speaking of software itself, the Galaxy S25 series is likely to be available with Android 15 and One UI 7 on launch day.

That’s all we’ve found so far, but we’ll keep updating this article with any new information that comes to light. Be sure to also check out our guides to the best smartphones to see what else is out there.

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