I would just like the Samsung Galaxy S25 simply as a lot with out the AI


I am Google Editor right here at AP, and I spend most of my time carrying a Pixel. Samsung performs a central position within the Android ecosystem, although, and I’ve used loads of its telephones over time, too. I reviewed the S24+ final 12 months and the S23+ the 12 months earlier than, and I favored them each simply wonderful. This 12 months, I am tackling the smallest Galaxy S25.

I have been utilizing the S25 for simply over three days now, and being a fan of small telephones, I am loving the compact {hardware}. However the {hardware} is hardly new; the S25 sequence is all about One UI 7 and Galaxy AI, and I am unable to say I am as enthusiastic on that entrance. Here is how I am feeling in regards to the new Samsung Galaxy S25, 72 hours in.

The Galaxy S25 feels nice

The Samsung Galaxy S25 leaning against a green crate.

Samsung’s premium {hardware} has all the time been a number of the finest you may discover within the smartphone area, and the Galaxy S25 is in line with that legacy. The S25 seems to be and feels so much like final 12 months’s Galaxy S24, however it’s barely (learn: virtually imperceptibly) smaller and lighter.

I am a bit of torn about this. On the one hand, the final feel and look Samsung’s been working with for 3 generations operating now’s fairly good: it is clear and minimal, and the S25 feels good within the hand. It is a smaller and extra comfy system than Google’s Pixel 9 or Pixel 9 Professional, which makes it an interesting possibility for anybody into compact telephones.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 face down on a table.

However whereas it is a bit of extra svelte than the most recent Pixels, the Galaxy S25 additionally does not have a lot character to it. In reviewing the bigger Galaxy S24+ final 12 months, I mentioned that it regarded like what you’d get should you stopped somebody on the road and requested them to attract a telephone: the Galaxy S24 and S24+ are plain rectangles with some cameras on one facet and a display screen on the opposite.

And so is the Galaxy S25. The design is inoffensive and the {hardware} feels good general, however there’s nothing to level to within the S25 as a definitively Samsung piece of design. It is simply… a telephone. A effectively put collectively telephone, however not an particularly thrilling one.

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I attempted the Google Pixel 9 Professional and the Samsung Galaxy S25 to see which small telephone feels higher

When small flagships compete, all of us win

Folks are likely to maintain telephones longer than they used to, although, and anybody upgrading to the S25 from an Android telephone launched greater than a few years in the past will not thoughts that, visually, it seems to be like Samsung’s launched the identical telephone three years in a row. Subsequent to a contemporary Google or OnePlus telephone, although, the Galaxy S25 seems to be awfully primary.

I’ve solely run into a few points with the {hardware}, and each are nitpicks. For one, the ability button is a bit of wiggly — not excellent in an $800 telephone. There are additionally small gaps between the rings surrounding the three rear cameras and the again glass of the telephone. I’ve solely been carrying the S25 for a number of days, however I can already inform the cameras are going to be a hotspot for pocket lint and pet hair.

I do not assume One UI 7 is my cup of tea

The Samsung Galaxy S25 upright on a table, showing its multitasking menu.

The Galaxy S25 sequence is debuting Samsung’s latest One UI 7 software program, constructed on Android 15. I do not prefer it very a lot.

Probably the most notable new UI factor is the Now Bar, Samsung’s tackle options like OnePlus’s Dwell Alerts and, to an extent, Apple’s Dynamic Island. The Now Bar pops up on the backside of the lock display screen below sure circumstances — when you’ve gotten a timer going, for instance, or if you’re enjoying media. It provides you data at a look, which may be helpful, and it is seen on the always-on show by default, even when your notifications aren’t.

The Samsung Galaxy S25's Now Bar.

More often than not when the Now Bar has popped up in my first few days with the S25, it is to point out me One UI 7’s new Now Transient. Now Transient is form of like a legacy Google function referred to as Google Now: each attempt to floor related info at useful occasions, together with climate, calendar occasions, visitors info, and the like.

I am open to the chance that Now Transient will get extra helpful over time as One UI involves grips with my telephone habits, however inside my first 72 hours on the Galaxy S25, it has been patently ineffective. It all the time exhibits the hourly climate forecast, which is good. It additionally surfaces suggestions for information tales, user-generated Spotify playlists, and YouTube Shorts — which, as far as I can inform, do not take my preferences into consideration.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 showing a Now Brief

Now Transient is ostensibly AI powered, in fact, however I am but to see it do something but that common, non-AI algorithms have not been dealing with on smartphones for years (Google Now debuted in 2012). It additionally surfaces content material I positively do not want AI to seek out: if I am questioning what the climate can be doing in a number of hours or I wish to hearken to some music, it is no tougher to manually open the climate app or Spotify than it’s to entry Now Transient. Probably the most AI-y factor I’ve seen Now Transient do is floor pictures I would taken earlier that very same day (ah, reminiscences), and even that does not appear to be it ought to require any AI intervention.

The one place I’ve seen Samsung apply its AI in a method that actually is sensible is within the settings app, the place you possibly can search in pure language — so should you did not know what particular setting you should discover, you possibly can search one thing like “my eyes damage” to achieve show settings. Not one thing I want personally, however a sensible utility of the tech.

The Samsung Galaxy S25's lock screen.

One other noteworthy AI inclusion: Google Gemini is the default digital assistant on the S25. Bixby remains to be round, however Gemini is pre-installed and mapped to an extended press on the ability button. You won’t be particularly occupied with Gemini, however I do not assume many individuals would argue Bixby supplies a greater assistant expertise, particularly now that Gemini can work together with Samsung’s inventory apps. (When you’re a real Bixby sicko, you possibly can remap the button to Samsung’s in-house assistant.)

For me, One UI 7 nonetheless requires a whole lot of tweaking earlier than it feels comfy. Samsung ships a whole lot of bloat on its flagships (get out of right here, Fb and LinkedIn); the default app drawer is annoying; Edge panel and Samsung Pockets shortcuts get in the best way. The default show density is bizarre, too — it appears tuned for a fair smaller telephone, with textual content rendering massive and UI parts in lots of apps surrounded by pointless unfavorable area. When you’re a One UI fan, this stuff won’t hassle you. However coming from some other main US smartphone model, the Galaxy S25’s software program feels… busy.

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Why I would not purchase a Galaxy S25+ if I had a contemporary Samsung telephone

Not the expertise I used to be promised

A phrase on efficiency (the phrase is ‘good’)

The Samsung Galaxy S25 running Pokémon TCG Pocket.

I am not an particularly demanding consumer, however the Galaxy S25’s efficiency has been prime notch up to now. I have not skilled any slowness, any hanging, any hiccups. Granted, probably the most intensive duties I am more likely to do on a telephone are navigating in Google Maps or enjoying a number of matches in Pokémon TCG Pocket. However the S25 is definitely as much as the duty.

Battery life’s been wonderful, too. I have not run the S25 into the bottom but, however based mostly on my utilization up to now, it is wanting like I will be getting about six hours of display screen time on a full cost — with the AOD wallpaper lively. That is hardly distinctive, and I would fortunately sacrifice a bit of efficiency headroom or thinness for an additional hour or two of use between fees. However six hours is okay for my wants. If you cannot dwell with that sort of battery life, the S25+ is perhaps extra your pace.

There’s nonetheless loads of testing to do

A pink Pixel 9 Pro standing next to a blue Samsung Galaxy S25

I’ve solely been utilizing the Samsung Galaxy S25 for a number of days, so there’s loads I do not learn about it but. I am actually eager to get a greater thought of digicam efficiency; Samsung’s cameras traditionally have not been my favorites, and I am hoping this may be the 12 months that adjustments.

Look out for our full overview someday within the subsequent week.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 on a white background


Samsung Galaxy S25

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 retains issues small with out sacrificing energy. With a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12GB of RAM, and all kinds of instruments courtesy of Galaxy AI, that is every part you count on from a contemporary flagship squeezed into a comparatively svelte chassis.



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