Price: It Hasn’t Changed Much, But You Can Get an Old Phone at a Discount
Samsung has done a fair job of keeping the price of its phones consistent over the last few years. When it came out, the entry-level Galaxy S23 cost $799.99 for 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. This same configuration of the Galaxy S24 had the same $799.99 price. The S25, with 128GB of storage but 12GB of RAM, also costs $799.99.
Left to right: Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25+, S25 (Credit: Eric Zeman)
The Plus-branded phones share a similar pattern. The Galaxy S23+ cost $999.99 at launch two years ago and came with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. Samsung sold the Galaxy S24+ for the same price, but increased the RAM to 12GB. This year, the Galaxy S25+ also costs $999.99 for 256GB/12GB.
The Ultra is the only model that saw a small price increase over the last couple of years. The S23 Ultra launched at $1,199.99 for 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. That price increased by $100 in 2024, when the S24 Ultra debuted at $1,299.99 for 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. The Galaxy S25 Ultra carries over the price, storage, and memory options from the S24 Ultra.
Of course, at this point, the S23 and S24 phones are discounted by hundreds of dollars. It’s also worth noting that if you take advantage of Samsung’s pre-order promotions, you can score a new S25 for far less than the MSRP—especially if you have a phone to trade in.
Winner: No clear winner
Get the Best Price on the Galaxy S25
Design: The Smallest of Changes
Samsung has changed its basic design only slightly over the last few generations. Most of its Galaxy S phones look similar from one year to the next and are even about the same size. The biggest and most obvious difference each year is the color selection, which almost always includes black and white mixed with a silver or blue tone.
The Galaxy S23 has a 6.1-inch screen, measures 5.76 by 2.79 by 0.30 inches (HWD), and weighs 5.93 ounces. Samsung pushed the display size up to 6.2 inches for the Galaxy S24 but kept its dimensions and weight almost unchanged (5.79 by 2.78 by 0.30 inches, 5.89 ounces). The Galaxy S25 carries over the 6.2-inch screen but shrinks a bit and cuts some weight (5.78 by 2.78 by 0.28 inches, 5.71 ounces).
Left to right: Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra (Credit: Eric Zeman )
The Galaxy S23+ has a 6.6-inch display, measures 6.21 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches, and weighs 6.91 ounces. The Galaxy S24+ gained a larger, 6.7-inch display but remained the same size (6.24 by 2.99 by 0.30 inches, 6.91 ounces). The S25+ keeps the 6.7-inch screen, and Samsung managed to trim a little weight (6.24 by 2.98 by 0.29 inches, 6.70 ounces).
Finally, the S23 Ultra has a 6.8-inch screen, measures 6.43 by 3.07 by 0.35 inches, and weighs a hefty 8.25 ounces. The S24 Ultra carried over the 6.8-inch display and its basic dimensions (6.39 by 3.11 by 0.34 inches, 8.18 ounces). This year, Samsung has increased the S25 Ultra’s display to 6.9 inches while trimming the phone’s weight (6.41 by 3.06 by 0.32 inches, 7.69 ounces). Samsung softened the corners of the S25 Ultra compared with its predecessors. It’s absolutely more comfortable to hold and to put in your pocket.
All the phones in the Galaxy S25 lineup are thinner and lighter than their predecessors, though not by much.
Left to right: Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra (Credit: Eric Zeman)
All three Galaxy S series phones have an IP68 rating, making them fully dust and waterproof. The glass varies a bit year over year. The three Galaxy S23 phones have Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back with aluminum frames in between. This remains true for the Galaxy S24 and S24+ as well as the Galaxy S25 and S25+. Both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra have stronger Gorilla Glass Armor and more robust titanium frames.
Winner: Tie (all three)
Display: Only a Few Pixels of Difference
The display technology across the Galaxy S lineup has shifted since the S23 came out in 2023, though not as much as you would expect.
All three of the S23 phones have Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays with a 120Hz variable refresh rate and support HDR10+. The 6.1-inch S23 has a resolution of 2,340 by 1,080 pixels and a pixel density of 425 pixels per inch (ppi). The S23+ has a 6.6-inch display also with 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, but with a lower pixel density of 393ppi. The 6.8-inch S23 Ultra is the sharpest of the bunch, with a resolution of 3,088 by 1,440 pixels and a density of 500ppi. The displays all reach a peak brightness of 1,750 nits.
Left to right: Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25+ (Credit: Eric Zeman)
The Galaxy S24 phones upgrade to brighter Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X displays with a variable refresh rate of 120Hz and HDR10+ support. The S24 display increases to 6.2 inches but carries over the 2,340-by-1,080-pixel resolution for a density of 416ppi. The S24+ grows to 6.7 inches and upgrades the resolution to 3,120 by 1,440 pixels for a density of 513ppi. Meanwhile, the S24 Ultra maintains its 6.8-inch dimensions but boosts the resolution a small amount to 3,120 by 1,440 for a density of 505ppi. All three phones reach a much higher peak brightness of 2,600 nits.
The S25 and S25+ displays are exactly the same as the S24 and S24+. The S25 Ultra’s screen is slightly larger at 6.9 inches, but it maintains the same resolution, refresh rate, color support, and brightness as the S24 Ultra.
Winner: Tie (Galaxy S25 and S24)
Performance: Strong Year-to-Year Gains
One place that’s almost guaranteed to improve with each successive generation is performance. If you need the fastest and most powerful phone available, there’s no question that you want to upgrade to the newest model. Older phones are still mostly able to run your favorite apps and games, but the latest features require the latest chips. As far as the Samsung Galaxy S phones are concerned, you won’t really notice too much of a daily performance difference unless you’re using AI.
Left to right: Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra (Credit: Eric Zeman )
The Galaxy S23 phones use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which performed well at launch. For example, the S23 Ultra reached 1,545 on the Geekbench 5 single-core test and 5,078 on the multi-core test. There were no AI-specific features on the S23 Ultra at launch, though some tools from the S24 Ultra trickled down later via software update.
AI certainly becomes a factor with the Galaxy S24 series. These phones run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This processor surpassed the performance of its predecessor in the S24 Ultra, which scored 2,273 and 7,056 on the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark. The results show clear gains generation over generation. The S24 lineup also introduced a number of AI features, including Chat Assist, Circle to Search, Note Assist, and more.
This year, the Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup is even more powerful. It is among the first wave of phones to use the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. Samsung says it had Qualcomm develop a customized version of the 8 Elite with a faster application processor. The 8 Elite already has significantly boosted CPU, GPU, and NPU figures, thanks to its custom cores. Running Geekbench 6, the S25 Ultra delivered scores of 3,121 and 9,937—representing an enormous jump in performance compared with the 8 Gen 3 in the S24 Ultra.
Samsung goes heavy with the AI features for the S25. The phones include an enhanced version of Google Gemini, upgrades to Circle-to-Search, new call transcript AI summaries, on-device generative photo editing, and more.
Winner: Galaxy S25
Cameras: Small Hardware Changes, Big Software Changes
Getting a new camera is part of the fun of buying a new phone. Each year, we expect faster cameras that take sharper, brighter photos. While Samsung hasn’t updated its camera hardware too much over the last few years, the underlying image processing has improved quite a bit.
Left to right: Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25+, S25 (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Both the Galaxy S23 and S23+ have a 50MP main camera at f/1.8 with optical image stabilization (OIS). They also carry a 10MP telephoto camera at f/2.4 with OIS and 3x optical zoom, paired with a 12MP ultra-wide camera at f/2.2.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 200MP main shooter at f/1.7 with OIS, a 10MP telephoto camera at f/2.4 with OIS and 3x optical zoom, a 10MP periscope telephoto camera at f/4.9 with OIS and 10x optical zoom, and the same 12MP ultra-wide camera at f/2.2.
All three phones also have a 12MP f/2.2 selfie camera. They can record 8K video at either 24 or 30fps, 4K video at either 30 or 60fps, and 1080p video at 30, 60, or 240fps.
The cameras of the Galaxy S24 and S24+ are carried over entirely from the S23 and S23+. The same is true of the S24 Ultra with the exception of the secondary telephoto camera, which jumps to a new 50MP, f/3.4 periscope design with OIS and 5x optical zoom. The selfie camera and video capture features also remain unchanged year over year.
However, the S24 series introduces a number of AI-based photo features, including AI Zoom for sharper zoomed shots, generative edit for expanding your photo backgrounds, Instant Slo-Mo to automatically create slow-motion videos, and Nightography to create smoother videos in the dark. These features are fun and easy to use.
The camera specs don’t change much in the Galaxy S25 lineup. Once again, the cameras of the Galaxy S25 and S25+ remain exactly the same as they were on the S23 and S24 series, including a 50MP main camera, 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and a 12MP selfie camera.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra gets a bit of boost, but not much. It still has a 200MP main camera, 10MP 3x telephoto camera, 50MP 5x telephoto camera, and 12MP selfies camera. However, it improves the ultra-wide camera from 12MP to 50MP and gives it macrophotography features for better close-ups.
Galaxy S25+ (Credit: Eric Zeman)
As you might guess, the underlying software enables far more camera features on the S25 range. The S25 devices are the first phones from Samsung to be able to record Log video. This gives advanced users more control over their color palettes in post-production. Samsung has improved night photography and videography thanks to a new Spatial-Temporal Filter (STF). It is able to search for noise at the individual pixel level of every frame and correct it. The Gallery app is smarter, as it can now automatically remove background items from your pictures. Further, generative image editing is now available offline and a new virtual aperture too gives you real-time control over depth and brightness.
The S25 series is far more powerful than its predecessors in terms of photography, videography, and AI-assisted photo tools.
Winner: Galaxy S25
Battery: Incremental Upgrades
Samsung has increased the battery capacity of some of its phones over the last few years, but the improvements are modest at best. The Galaxy S23 has a 3,900 mAh battery that lasted 13 hours and 12 minutes in our battery test. The S23+ has a 4,700 mAh battery that managed 14 hours and 45 minutes on the same test. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, which lasted 13 hours in testing. The Galaxy S23 supports wired charging speeds of up to 25W while the S23+ and S23 Ultra can charge with a wire at up to 45W. All three phones have a maximum wireless charging rate of 15W.
Left to right: Galaxy S24 Ultra, S24+, S24 (Credit: Eric Zeman )
Samsung upped the battery of the Galaxy S24 to 4,000mAh, which lasted 13 hours and 5 minutes in testing. It charges at 25W via wire and 15W wirelessly. The S24+ saw a battery increase to 4,900mAh, which lasted 14 hours and 10 minutes. The Galaxy S24 Ultra battery has the same 5,000mAh capacity, though it lasted longer at 14 hours and 10 minutes. The S24+ and S24 Ultra have the same 45W wired and 15 wireless charging rates as the S23 series.
Samsung didn’t change anything about the batteries between the S24 and S25 series. The capacities and wired and wireless charging rates remain the same. Samsung claims the higher efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip combined with extensive software tweaks to the base Android code ensure that the S25 devices last longer than their S24 counterparts. We plan to fully test the S25 devices to determine how long they run.
Winner: To be determined
Software: Longer Support for Newer Phones
The Galaxy S23 series shipped with Android 13 and One UI 5. The phones have since been updated to Android 14 and One UI 6. Notably, the S23 series is only guaranteed to receive four years of operating system upgrades and five years of security upgrades. That means users will be covered through Android 17. The S23 didn’t have AI features at launch, but some have since trickled down from the S24 series.
Left to right: Galaxy S25, S25+, S25 Ultra (Credit: Eric Zeman)
The S24 series shipped with Android 14 and One UI 6, as well as a wide range of AI features that we’ve already discussed, such as Circle to Search, Live Translate, and AI Zoom. Importantly, the S24 series is the first from Samsung to get a seven-year promise for OS upgrades and security patches.
Last, the S25 devices ship with Android 15 and One UI 7. This is a more significant jump. The underbellies of Android 15 and One UI 7 have a completely new framework, which allows Samsung to incorporate a lot of efficiencies systemwide. It also makes the devices run AI better. This is why the S25 devices come packed with lots more AI, such as on-device generative editing, Gemini Live, and more. The S25 will get the same seven years of support as the S24. Samsung has not been clear about what features from the S25, Android 15, and One UI 7 will trickle down to the S24.
Winner: Galaxy S25
Verdict: Should You Upgrade?
If you own a Galaxy S23 or S24 and are thinking about upgrading to the S25, consider the following:
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If you have a Galaxy S23 and are happy with its features and performance, there’s no need to upgrade. The S23 devices are solid smartphones with great specs that still deliver a good experience. Just be aware that the battery life may begin to shorten, and you won’t have access to most of the latest AI features.
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If you have a Galaxy S24, you have an excellent phone with outstanding performance and access to a nice starter pack of AI features. It isn’t likely to gain all the fun AI tricks of the S25, but it will continue to receive feature updates from Samsung for another six years.
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If you are a spec fiend or absolutely have to have the most cutting-edge AI tools, the Galaxy S25 has the best processor by far and will be a much better AI platform for years to come. Moreover, launch promos mean you can get it for the price of the S24 or S23—if not even less.
We’re in the process of testing the Galaxy S25 line now, so we’ll update this comparison with findings from our full reviews. Until then, be sure to check out our hands-on impressions of the new phones and the AI tools we’re most excited about.
Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra: Hands On
