Differences Between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra

With the New Year comes potentially the best Samsung Galaxy phone yet – the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The latest addition to Samsung's flagship phone range is due to debut in January 2025 at the company's annual Galaxy Unpacked event.

Last year's event saw the release of the S24 line and a preview of the Galaxy Ring. Smartphone enthusiasts were also treated to the launch of Samsung's venture into artificial intelligence with Galaxy AI. The new S25 Ultra will build on the success of this launch and deliver an exceptional Snapdragon 8 Elite chip that could rival the likes of Apple's A18 Pro.

But will the S25 Ultra be worth the $2000+ price tag, or should you stick with last year's high-performance model? We'll explore the key differences between the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S24 in this article to help you make the right choice, including design, cameras, and battery life.

Technical Specifications: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S24 Ultra

Here's an overview of the key technical specs and differences between the two Samsung phones: 

Design

Like the Flip 5 and Flip 6, the design differences between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra are minimal.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra follows the notebook design of previous models, featuring a sharp rectangular design with a flat top and bottom. In contrast, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will have a softer look, with rounded corners that offer a more comfortable grip. It may also be slightly thinner and lighter, although this shouldn't be too noticeable when the devices are placed side by side.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra sports a Corning Gorilla Armour glass screen, with an anti-reflective coating that offers impressive protection against drops and scratches. The S25 Ultra will feature the second-generation Gorilla Glass Armour, making it the toughest display on a Samsung Galaxy phone yet.

As a professional device, the Ultra range comes in more neutral tones compared to the original Galaxy series, including Titanium Black and Grey. If you prefer brighter colors, however, Samsung also offers Titanium Violet and Titanium Yellow. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is expected to follow the same suit, with both muted and vibrant shades.

Both frames are made from the same strong titanium frame, offering a significant upgrade in durability compared to the S23 Ultra's aluminum. They also both have the S-Pen stylus, allowing you to write easily on the Samsung Notes app, take group photos, or even use the device as a remote control.

Performance

Among the biggest differences between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the S24 is the upgraded processor. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite will deliver a much-needed 45% performance upgrade over the 8 Gen 3 chip and could even compete with Apple's A-series chips.

The 8 Elite offers even faster Galaxy AI processing thanks to more memory, alongside a boosted graphics performance with 6 powerful performance cores. This will ensure smoother scrolling, while also supporting easy language translation and better photo taking.

The new and improved Snapdragon chip is expected to bump up the price of the S25 Ultra to around $2000, mirroring the cost increase between the Galaxy S23 and S24 Ultra.

Cameras

Rivaling the iPhone 16, one of the best camera phones currently on the market is the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It offers a pin-sharp 200 MP Main camera, alongside up to 10x optical zoom with the 50 MP Telephoto lens.

This hardware is boosted significantly by Galaxy AI, which powers 100x Space Zoom and allows users to capture brighter, clearer quality photos.

Samsung is likely to keep these features mostly the same. However, the Ultra-wide camera sensor will be upgraded from 12 MP to 50 MP.

There aren't expected to be many hardware upgrades, but thanks to the new processor, we may see improvements on the software side. This could include better post-processing or even some new Photographic Styles, echoing those of the iPhone 16.

Battery Life

Like other flagship Android phones, both the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra have the standard 5,000 mAh battery.

However, the new, more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is likely to offer energy efficiency improvements for a better battery life. This means you'll be able to browse the internet, play games, and watch videos for longer, without consuming so much power.

While both phones have 45 W wired charging, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will offer faster wireless charging speeds of 25 W compared with 15 W.

Software

With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, no longer will you need to manually download new software.

Instead, rumors suggest that the new Galaxy phone may support seamless software updates. These should download automatically in the background similarly to Google Pixel devices and will become active after simply restarting your device.

Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S24 Ultra: Final Thoughts

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra offers a small range of performance and design upgrades, mainly thanks to the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Chip.

Due to the titanium frame and Corning Gorilla Armour glass upgrade, the hardware is likely to be just as tough as the older model. So, if you're looking to invest in a new flagship phone, then the Galaxy S25 Ultra could be a great choice for you.

However, with its high-performance 8 Gen 3 processor and the continual Galaxy AI improvements, you may prefer to hold off on the upgrade if you already own the S24 Ultra.

Whichever model you choose, both require a significant financial investment. So, protecting your device from drops, spills, and other impacts is essential for maintaining its lifespan – and that's where shockproof phone cases come in.

At Ghostek, our cases combine best-in-class engineering with sleek design, offering everything from military-grade drop protection to exceptional waterproofing for your Ultra device. Explore the full collection of cases for the Galaxy S Series on the Ghostek website today.