Samsung's Galaxy S25 brings several improvements in performance, cameras, and on-device AI experiences, but are they enough to upgrade from the two-year-old Galaxy S23? Let's find out.

Price and Availability

The baseline Galaxy S25 (128GB) costs $799.99 and is available to pre-order on the company's official website. Units will hit stores starting February 7, 2025. While the Galaxy S23 also debuted at the same price, it wasn't available on Samsung's official website when this article was written.

Galaxy S25 Is Slimmer and Lighter

The Galaxy S25 isn't quite different from the two-year-old flagship. Yes, the handset features thinner bezels on the front, a slightly more durable aluminum frame, and textured camera rings on the back, but other than that, it provides a similar in-hand feel as the Galaxy S23.

Coming to the numbers, the Galaxy S25 is 0.6mm thicker, 0.4mm narrower, and about 0.4mm thinner than the Galaxy S23. That isn't a significant difference, but the fact that the flagship is slimmer and lighter than its predecessor (162 grams vs. 168 grams) and features a bigger battery is commendable.

Materials on the S25 remain the same, though. You get Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus 2 at the front and back and a slightly stronger second-generation Armor aluminum frame. Everything else, including the placement of the buttons, USB-C port, and the speaker grille, is the same.

Even the IP68 dust and water resistance rating remains the same. Regarding colors, the S25 comes in four regular finishes, including Icyblue, Mint, Navy, and Silver Shadow, and three online-exclusive colors, including Pinkgold, Coralred, and Blueblack.

Galaxy S23's Screen Isn't Quite as Bright as Galaxy S25

Two years ago, the baseline flagship in the Galaxy S lineup had a 6.1-inch screen. However, with slimmer bezels and a few tweaks in the dimensions, Samsung increased the size to 6.2-inch on the Galaxy S24.

The Galaxy S25 also offers the same 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen that supports variable refresh rate (1-120Hz). However, the screen is significantly brighter than the Galaxy S23 (2,600 nits vs. 1,750 nits). With higher peak brightness, the Galaxy S25 offers higher outdoor visibility, especially under direct sunlight.

The increase in the display's size has led to a decrease in the effective pixel density (425 ppo to 416 ppi), but that's nothing that should bug you. Last but not least, you get the always-on functionality and Adaptive color tone feature on both phones.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm) chipset on the Galaxy S23 is a massive upgrade compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (3nm); here's why.

In 2023, the Galaxy S23 was one of the most powerful Android phones in the market. It featured the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm) for Galaxy CPU with a 3.36GHz prime core, the Adreno 730 GPU, and 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM. With this configuration, the phone scores around 1,831/4,914 points in the single/multi-core GeekBench 6 performance test.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S25 with an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm). This system-on-chip contains two 4.47GHz prime cores, a faster Adreno 830 GPU with support for the Vulkan Engine API, improved ray-tracing, and 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM.

The Galaxy S25 scores 2,813/9,700 points in the single/multi-core GeekBench 6 performance test (via NanoReview).

Moreover, Samsung's latest flagship is substantially faster than the 2023 model; the difference should be immediately noticeable. Expect remarkably speedier app loading times, seamless multitasking, and a virtually lag-free experience while playing games or editing videos on the smartphone.

Galaxy S25 Brings Several Improvements to Galaxy AI

Galaxy S25 Ultra

With the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, the Galaxy S25 can now handle features like Generative Edit entirely on the device. Together with the advanced CPU and GPU, the NPU enables a multimodal agentic AI experience on the smartphone in One UI 7. Let me explain.

The Gemini AI voice assistant on Galaxy S25 can execute multi-step tasks that involve accessing information from different apps. For instance, you can ask Gemini to access some documents on Gmail and share them with another email address or a contact on WhatsApp with a simple voice command.

Then there are additions like improved Circle to Search (it can now pick up call-to-action details from the screen), actionable searches with intelligence suggestions, and on-screen awareness. Even though some Galaxy AI features are available on the Galaxy S23, the phone lacks the advanced agentic AI experiences of the Galaxy S25.

The Galaxy S25 offers seven years of Android and security updates. Out of the box, it runs on One UI 7, which is based on Android 15. In contrast, the Galaxy S23 will only receive updates until 2027.

Samsung Hasn't Changed the Camera Sensors in Two Years

First, let's talk about the camera sensors on the smartphones. Both phones have a 50MP (f/1.8, OIS) primary sensor, a 12MP (f/2.2, 120°) ultrawide sensor, and a 10MP (f/2.4, OIS) tertiary sensor with a 3x telephoto lens. For clicking selfies and attending video calls, you get a 12MP (f/2.2).

Even though the S25 sports the same camera setup, it offers some new features. The phone can record better videos in low-light conditions and supports the Audio Eraser feature for removing disturbances or background noise from a video. Further, it also gets a Virtual Aperture button, an improved Portrait Studio, and new filters.

Lastly, both phones can record 8K videos at 30 fps, 4K at 60 fps, and 30x Space Zoom.

Both Phones Should Offer Similar Battery Life

Galaxy S25 features a 4,000 mAh battery, which is merely 100 mAh bigger than the cell on the Galaxy S24. However, both the S25 and the S23 support 25W wired charging, 15W wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging.

Although the Galaxy S25 has a larger battery, it provides up to 29 hours of video playback (the same as the Galaxy S23). Lastly, the Galaxy S25 is "Qi2 ready," implying that its casing doesn't include magnets.

Galaxy S25 Should Get the Satellite SOS Feature Soon

On the newer smartphone, you get Wi-Fi 7 download/upload speeds and Bluetooth v5.4 for better connectivity with accessories. However, connectivity features like GPS, NFC, and USB Type-C 3.2 port remain the same.

Although the company didn't announce this at the launch, the Galaxy S25 supports satellite connectivity via narrowband satellite networks. However, the feature isn't functional yet. Perhaps Samsung could enable it with a One UI update? Only time will tell.

Which Phone Is Right for You?

If you own a Galaxy S23 and feel like the phone is getting too sluggish for daily use, upgrading to the Galaxy S25 will provide a significant performance boost. You'll also get access to the advanced agentic AI features that the S23 lacks. The S25's cameras should also give better results.

Pro tip: trade-in your Galaxy S23 for $400 and get the new Galaxy S25 for an effective price of $399.99.

On the other hand, if you're content with your Galaxy S25 and aren't facing any major issues with the smartphone, you can consider holding on to it, at least for another year.

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  Samsung Galaxy S25

  The Samsung Galaxy S25 is a powerful and compact smartphone with a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and a 120Hz refresh rate. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB of RAM, and a 4,000mAh battery with 25W Super Fast Charging.

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• 

  Samsung Galaxy S23 (256 GB)

  The base model Samsung Galaxy S23 covers all the basics, with a 6.1-inch screen, three rear cameras, and the same fast Snapdragon chipset as the other models.

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