It’s fitting that the Samsung Galaxy S25 was released in February, a month famous for a movie about a man re-living the same day over and over again. Sadly, that’s the same feeling I had reviewing this phone.

Price and Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is available for $799.99 with 128GB of storage and $899.99 for 256GB of storage. Most retailers offer the phone in four colors: Navy, Mint, Icy Blue (pictured in this review), and Silver Shadow. If you order directly from Samsung, you can also get the Galaxy S25 in Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold.

Probably the Best Small Android Phone

You’re going to notice a theme in this review, but it’s most apparent when talking about the design. The Galaxy S25 is very, very similar to the Galaxy S24. Samsung boasts that it is 0.4mm thinner and 5g lighter, but let’s be honest: that’s unnoticeable. I was able to spot two tiny changes.

If you’re upgrading from a Galaxy S24, you might notice more squared-off edges. The Galaxy S24 had a bit of a rounded-over transition between the glass back and metal edges. However, the Galaxy S25 is essentially a 90-degree corner. The phone feels slightly different in your hand, but it’s not uncomfortable.

However, I will say it is slippery. This is not uncommon for modern smartphones, but the Galaxy S24 felt especially grip-less in my hands. Latercase provided me with its Thin Case made with aramid fibers, and it made a big improvement. You may find a case to be essential for this phone–in more ways than one.

The second change you may or may not notice is the camera lens housings. Samsung slimmed down the lenses so it looks like they’re literally sticking out of the back of the phone rather than being inside metal rings. If you’re looking at the Galaxy S25 and S24 next to each other, this is practically the only way to distinguish them visually.

All this talk about sameness aside, the Galaxy S25 is a well-designed, attractive phone. However, it’s surprisingly small and lightweight, which makes it feel less premium. I have to tap my pockets to make sure I’m carrying it. Depending on your preference, that may actually be a big point in favor of the Galaxy S25. It’s one of the few small-ish flagship phones on the market.

Staying on theme, the display is identical to the Galaxy S24–not that that is a bad thing. It’s a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED panel with a 2340 x 1080 resolution, up to 120Hz refresh rate, and 2600nits. Samsung displays are so consistently good I’ve run out of ways to praise them.

Overall, my biggest gripe about the Galaxy S25’s hardware is the “Qi2 Ready” copout. Samsung did everything to support the new Qi2 standard except include magnets on the back for accessories. You’ll need a case with magnets to take advantage of MagSafe accessories. The situation negates some of my excitement about Qi2, but for this phone in particular, I would use a case regardless.

The Best Software Additions Don’t Involve AI

I have never been a fan of Samsung’s One UI software, but I’ll admit it’s gotten pretty decent over the years. My experience with One UI 7 based on Android 15 has been both better and worse than previous versions.

First, the good. As my colleague Justin Duino talked about in depth in his Galaxy S25 Ultra review, the new “Now Bar” is great. It’s a pill-shaped widget that lives on your lock screen and can also appear in the notification panel. When something you might care about is happening–like a sporting event, timer, or navigation directions–you’ll find the real-time information there. I found this to be surprisingly awesome, especially for tracking sporting events.

The “Now Brief” is not nearly as useful. This is a panel that’s supposed to keep you updated with what’s happening during your day. However, nine times out of ten, it would simply show me the weather forecast and events from my calendars. It’s not revolutionary in the least, and this is something Justin found in his testing as well.

Now, on to the bad. Samsung is no stranger to getting inspiration from Apple. That can be good, like in the case of the Now Bar, which is similar to the Dyanmic Island. However, they’ve also dipped into some of Apple’s less-than-stellar ideas for One UI 7.

iPhone notifications are simply far behind Android. This is well established. And yet, in a decision that boggles my mind, Samsung decided it should be more like the iPhone. By default, notifications are less visible on the lock screen. Notifications from the same app are put into a stack. You have to swipe on one side of the screen to open the notifications panel. Notification channels for apps are disabled by default.

Most of this can be undone, but the fact that it’s the default out-of-the-box behavior is disappointing. All of it is a downgrade from how Android notifications usually work. Don’t mess with something already great.

Galaxy AI + Gemini

With the hardware being so similar to last year, Samsung had to put a greater emphasis on AI features. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the updates, though Google’s Gemini is more to thank for it.

In my Pixel 9 review, I raved about the Pixel Screenshots feature, but it wasn’t as good as I thought it could be. The example I gave was being able to identify event details on the screen and add them to my calendar. At the time, Gemini could do the first part but couldn’t connect the dots to my calendar. That now works with Gemini on the Galaxy S25.

This is thanks to Gemini’s improved ability to interact with apps on your phone. It works especially well with Google and Samsung apps, but there are some third-party additions, too (WhatsApp and Spotify). This even includes the Settings app, which can be daunting to navigate. You can ask Gemini how to do something, and it will usually take you to the right place without you needing to know the exact name of the setting.

Little to Say About Performance and Battery Life

Under the hood, the S25 packs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and 12GB of RAM. It handles everything with absolute ease, and it really feels like we’re scratching at the best performance possible in a smartphone. One of the positive side effects of AI being stuffed into these phones is that they need computing power to handle it, but that improves everything as a whole.

I’ve also been very impressed with the battery life. One night, I went to bed at 10:30 PM with around 55% charge remaining. I decided not to charge it overnight, and when I woke up, it was still over 50%. I could have squeaked through the day without charging it if I needed to. Rarely have I tested a phone that could genuinely last two days with my usage.

The Cameras Are Still Good…Again

On the camera front, there’s more of the same. The Galaxy S25 has the exact same setup as last year. That gets you a 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide camera, and 10MP telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom, along with a 12MP selfie camera.

Like last year, this camera system is a solid performer. It captures detailed images with Samsung’s trademark punchy saturation in most lighting conditions. Zoom quality is top-notch, the low-light performance is good as well, and I continue to believe Samsung has the best Portrait Mode of all smartphones.

If you’re deciding on the “best camera” in the Android phone world, it ultimately comes down to your taste. I can tell you the Galaxy S25 takes excellent photos, but you might not like the Samsung-y look. A Pixel 9 also has its own distinct Pixel-y look. With so much processing happening behind the scenes, it’s about more than megapixels. You have to decide which style matches your personal taste.

Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy S25?

I’ll get right to the point: Galaxy S24 owners have absolutely no reason to consider upgrading to the Samsung Galaxy S25. In fact, even if yours is damaged and you genuinely need a new phone, I’d suggest saving some money and just replacing it with another Galaxy S24.

That’s the problem with the Galaxy S25. It’s common for new phones not to warrant an upgrade from the previous generation, but I’m not sure the Galaxy S25 warrants an upgrade from any generation. It’s a very good phone, and there’s technically nothing wrong with it, but I can’t find a compelling reason why it needs to exist.

If you’re in the market for a new Samsung phone, last year’s Galaxy S24 series is still an excellent choice. The Galaxy S24, in particular, is perfect for those looking for a smaller form factor. Opt for the Galaxy S24+ if you want a slightly bigger screen and better battery life.

For those Android fans not locked in to buying a Samsung phone, the Pixel 9 is the closest competitor to the Galaxy S25 and S24. The specs are similar across the board, but the Pixel 9 lacks a telephoto camera, and the Tensor G4 processor isn’t quite as good as the Qualcomm Snapdragon line.

When it comes right down to it, the Galaxy S25 is a forgettable phone. It doesn’t offer enough compelling upgrades from the previous generation to defend its existence. No amount of AI can save it.