This Is the Best Samsung Phone (Not the Galaxy S25 Ultra!)

Go small, but not too small

It may come as a surprise, but I would prefer the generally uncomfortable mid-range Galaxy S25 model, the Galaxy S25 Plus, to any of the others, despite having used the Galaxy S24 Ultra during the past year. This time I’m willing to give up the potential best camera spec to improve the in-hand feel. Samsung has made some changes to the body of the S25 Ultra that I’m not sure I completely agree with, especially since it has gone in a different (and for me, preferable) direction with the S25 and S25 Plus.

I wrote it down in my Practical with the S25 Ultraand I’ve thought about it a lot since then. The S25 Ultra’s flat sides with barely any curves where the screen and back panel meet the chassis just don’t fit my hands. When I went to the main Galaxy Unpacked launch event, I immediately went to hold the three phones again, as I wanted to make sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me. Indeed, the slim frame of the Galaxy S25 Plus is a pleasure to hold. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is more manageable than the S24 Ultra in terms of size, but I definitely miss its more curved sides.

Samsung’s efforts to make the Galaxy S25 Plus a little thinner (just 0.5mm) and five grams lighter than the Galaxy S24 Plus have made it look and feel fantastic. The little Galaxy S25 is really compact, but I want the larger screen of the Plus. But the real advantage is the subtle little curve around the otherwise flat edges. It’s what makes the phone comfortable to hold compared to the sharper S25 Ultra, and if I feel it in a matter of minutes, I know it’s going to get annoying over time.

Be colorful

The exclusive Coral Red looks gorgeous, but the Mint color available through retailers and carriers is a close second. I would have a hard time choosing between them, which is not the case with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The standard colors of the larger S25 model are extremely dull, even by Samsung standards. The only consolation is that if I wanted to buy the S25 Ultra, it would have to live in a case anyway, given those rather sharp edges.

Aesthetics and comfort in hand are only part of the reason why you would choose the Galaxy S25 Plus over any of the other models. They all use the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor for the Galaxy, they all have 12 GB of RAM and the same display technology. All three phones were incredibly fast while playing with One UI 7. Samsung has once again hindered the Galaxy S25 with a slow 25W charging speed, but the S25 Plus gets the maximum available speed of 45W, plus you have the option of 512 GB of storage space. even if you lose the 1 TB of the Ultra.

Most importantly, the new and improved Galaxy AI features are also present across the range and should work the same regardless of which model you have. I have high hopes for Now Brief and Now Bar, and have bought into Samsung’s expectations for its life-changing personalized AI features. I’m looking forward to seeing if they do what they promised. I know I can do it on the Galaxy S25 Plus, comfortably, looking at a reasonably sized screen and exactly the level of performance I if I the S25 Ultra.

Will I miss the camera?

It will be the camera I’ll miss the most if I buy the Galaxy S25 Plus instead of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but since the only major hardware change between the S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra is the new wide-angle camera, I don’t feel like I’m going to miss it. lose a new and innovative system. The S25 Plus still has a 3x optical zoom, which I know I’ll use more than the wide-angle camera anyway.

Suppose much of this rings true for you. In that case, I highly recommend going out and holding all three phones before purchasing them, and seriously thinking about whether you’ll use the S Pen stylus, now sans Bluetooth, or regularly test out the Ultra’s camera. performance. Battery life is a consideration, but the Snapdragon 8 Elite has proven to be very efficient on phones like the OnePlus 13 the S25 Plus’s lower capacity 100mAh battery compared to the Ultra probably won’t drastically impact longevity.

He Galaxy S24 Plus was last year’s dark horse, and having held and used all three Galaxy S25 phones, the S25 Plus will be the same again this year. It’s also priced at a much more reasonable $999, rather than the still very expensive $1,299 Galaxy S25 Ultra. We’ll know for sure which is the better buy when we fully review all the new Galaxy S25 models, but for now, it’s the Galaxy S25 Plus that I’d be more than happy to take home. You can read our Galaxy S25 Ultra practical here and our Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus hands-on here.