Cast your mind back to 2010: it was the year David Cameron became Prime Minister, Prince William and Kate Middleton got engaged, and Samsung created its first Samsung Galaxy S flagship series.

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The Samsung Galaxy S flagship series prized itself on being bold in terms of design and software, and the smartphones have advanced over the past 14 years to fill in the blanks on photos, draft messages, and translate live phone calls, all with the help of AI.

Last year, we saw the introduction of Samsung Galaxy AI in the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, and some of the other highlights included improved graphics, a more immersive display, and increased durability – with the S24 Ultra in particular boasting the company’s first-ever titanium frame.

This year, the RadioTimes.com Technology team were lucky enough to get hands-on time with the brand new Samsung Galaxy S25 range: the S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 series includes even more AI-driven features, which is unsurprising as the sneak peek video of the Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphone called it 'a true AI companion'.

Here's everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra, including the all-important price and how to buy the device today.

Don't forget to look at the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge explained. Plus Apple iPhone 16e pre-order.

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How to buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra in the UK

Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra are available to buy outright from the official Samsung store, having been released this morning (Friday 7th February).

Where can I buy the new Samsung Galaxy S25 in the UK?

You can also buy the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra from reputable UK retailers and mobile networks, and we've listed them below.

UK retailers

UK mobile networks

Samsung Galaxy S25 series UK release date

Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra began on Wednesday 22nd January, before going on general sale two weeks later, on Friday 7th February.

Samsung Galaxy S25 series UK price: How much does the S25 cost?

Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is priced from £799, the Samsung Galaxy S25+ starts from £999, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a price-tag of £1,249.

The price obviously increases if you opt for a higher-storage model, however right now you can get double the storage for free if you buy during the pre-order period. So the 256GB S25 costs the same as the 128GB, the 512GB S25+ costs the same as the 256GB and so on. Here's a full breakdown of price:

S25

S25+

S25 Ultra

If you're in the market for a laptop, be sure to check out the best laptop deals for this month.

Samsung Galaxy S25 series design: What does the S25 look like?

Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung

One of the biggest changes in the Samsung Galaxy S25 series is the curvier design, and in true Samsung style, the S25 series will be the thinnest smartphone to date, with thinner bezels, too.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 series has larger displays, too, with the Samsung Galaxy S25 getting a 6.36-inch display and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra having a 6.9-inch display, which will put it on par with the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max displays.

So, what about colours? The Samsung Galaxy S25 will come in Titanium, Black, Green and Blue colourways, with Pink, Jade and Blue/Black colourways being sold exclusively by Samsung.

Plus, the Samsung Galaxy S25 is made from 50% recycled cobalt, as per Samsung's sustainability goals.

Samsung Galaxy S25 series specifications: What's new?

Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung

The rumours are true: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and One UI7 operating system. However, this is likely to result in a more expensive smartphone, as Chris Patrick from Qualcomm confirmed in a Q&A that the chipset will cost more in comparison to previous versions.

The new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset promises to increase the NPU by 40%, the GPU by 30% and the CPU by 37% in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. Plus, ray tracing has improved 40%, which is fantastic news for all of you gamers out there.

In terms of storage, the base storage will begin at 12GB of RAM with 256GB of storage, then there will be a 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage model, and a model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

As for charging, the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra will include the same 5,000mAh battery used since the Samsung Galaxy S22 series, so you can expect approximately 12 hours battery life. All three Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphones will feature Qi2 wireless charging, which offers faster 15W charging speeds.

What are the Samsung Galaxy S25 AI features?

Integrated AI features were introduced on the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, but how have these features been upgraded for the Samsung Galaxy S25 series?

The RadioTimes.com Technology team were lucky enough to get hands-on time with the new Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphones, and the new devices act as your personal concierge using integrated AI features such as Ask Gemini.

On the new smartphones, you'll be able to take a photo of your fridge and the Samsung Galaxy S25 will tell you what recipes you can make using the contents, the Now Brief will show you a summary of your schedule, for example, calendar reminders, fitness goals, and a daily recap, and the Now Bar will present information you're interested in, for example, the Nottingham Forest football score (equalised with Liverpool, boo), as well as features we know and love such as AI Select and Circle to Search.

How good is the Samsung Galaxy S25 camera?

Close up of Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung

If you've been in the new tech release game for as long as the RadioTimes.com Technology team has, you'll know that the camera is the main event when unveiling the new Samsung Galaxy S series.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra boasts a 50MP sensor on the ultrawide lens, which is a huge leap from the 12MP sensor found on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. The quad-camera set-up also hosts a 200MP main camera, a 50MP telephoto 5x lens, and a 10MP telephoto 3x sensor.

On the topic of AI, too, the Samsung Galaxy S25 has smart features which allow you to edit videos, for example, you can turn the volume down of the people next to you at a concert.

Samsung S25 Ultra vs Samsung S24 Ultra

Despite being the same price, there have been significant improvements between the S24 and S25 Ultra. To start, the S25 Ultra has the first 50MP Ultra-Wide camera (the S24 Ultra's was only 12MP), which takes its photo-taking capabilities further than ever before. It also has a 12MP front camera compared to the previous version's 10MP.

The S25 Ultra also comes with a larger screen size, of 6.9-inches compared to 6.8, and boasts thinner bezels and a slimmer frame. Meanwhile, its strength and durability has improved, the S25 Ultra uses an upgraded Gorilla Armour glass which is 29% more effective at reducing scratches.

Plus, as we've said, the S25 series comes with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is a massive perk for gamers. This new engine guarantees a much faster and smoother performance, with enhanced graphics and Ray Tracing.

Our hands-on review of the Samsung Galaxy S25 series

Samsung S25 Series

One week before Galaxy Unpacked 2025, the RadioTimes.com Technology team went to Samsung KX London to get hands-on time with the brand-new Samsung Galaxy S25 series.

This isn't the first time the Technology team has gotten to review products first-hand, and it means that we can get a feel (literally) for a product before we recommend it to you. There were a few things which stood out to us at the hands-on session, which we'll share with you!

The main thing we noticed is just how human-like the integrated AI features are; there was a big emphasis on speaking to your smartphone just like you would a person — there's no need to 'dumb down' your commands, as the Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphone will understand you, regardless.

Another thing that we liked about the brand-new smartphone was its personalisation aspects. If you're a keen football fan, you can get your team's results on the smartphone's Now Bar, and on the Now Brief, you can customise it to include, for example, a summary of your schedule and daily recap including your fitness goals.

If you watched the Galaxy Unpacked event yesterday (Wednesday 22nd January), you would've seen in action the Samsung Galaxy S25 telling you what time to leave for work depending on the traffic, and what recipes you can make by taking a photo of your fridge. Handy, right?

So, why would we recommend it to you? Put simply, the Samsung Galaxy S25 series boasts a lot more impressive features than its predecessor (the Samsung Galaxy S24) for the exact same price. These features include a 40% improvement on Ray Tracing for gamers, an all-new and improved 50MP ultra wide camera, and an increase in the NPU (40%), GPU (30%) and CPU (37%) for higher performance.

For more on smartphones, here are the best smartphones for older people in 2025.

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For more Technology guides, take a look at our Loop Earplugs, Audible gift card, and Sky Q explainers.

Authors

Laura Wybrow
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