If you belong to the niche of compact smartphone users, you aren’t exactly spoilt for choice in today’s market. Between Apple discontinuing the iPhone mini and Samsung favouring bigger displays across the board, we may be past the age of the compact smartphone. In 2025, Samsung’s 6.2-inch base variant in the Galaxy S25 series is the closest thing we have to a high-performing compact flagship. At first glance, it looks identical to its predecessor (our review here). But, the most important change comes under the hood as Qualcomm’s finest chipset makes a return on Samsung’s base flagship model. We’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy S25 as our daily driver for a week, here is our review of the smartphone.
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In This Article
Samsung Galaxy S25 Review: Design and Display
Here is what you get inside Samsung Galaxy S25’s retail box:
- Smartphone
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector
- Quick start guide
Samsung’s design language for the base model in the Galaxy S series has remained consistent for the last 3 years. The Galaxy S25 is lighter (162g) and sleeker (7.2mm) than its predecessor but retains the familiar flat aluminium rails and glass back panel. The Grade 5 Titanium frame is reserved for the Ultra variant. The vertically arranged triple rear cameras have new rings around their cutouts but they’ll almost certainly go unnoticed unless you’re paying close attention. Samsung’s decision to play it safe on the Galaxy S25 comes at the cost of the smartphone feeling quite blasé.
The bottom edge of the device houses the SIM tray, USB Type-C port, primary microphone, and primary speaker output. The top rail houses the secondary microphones. The earpiece also acts as the secondary speaker. The volume rocker and side button are positioned on the right edge. The device is rated IP68 for dust and water resistance. It can survive being submerged up to 1.5m for 30 minutes. With the recent crop of flagships featuring IP69 ratings (making them impervious to high-pressure water jets), the Galaxy S series has some catching up to do. All the more reason for Samsung to start making some fresh moves.
However, when it comes to displays, Samsung still reigns supreme. The 6.2-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED display on the Galaxy S25 is identical to its predecessor but has a marginally better screen-to-body ratio (~91.1%). This AMOLED panel works like a charm. It supports a 120Hz refresh rate and can hit a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. You can whip out this phone under direct sunlight and its display will remain unfazed by the bright surroundings. It is one of the smoothest panels we’ve ever used and the fluid experience is only compounded by the snappy ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that lies underneath it.
During the review period, we streamed movie titles and live sports across OTT platforms like Netflix, Disney+ Hostar, and Prime Video on the Samsung Galaxy S25. The smartphone produced an excellent viewing experience aided by detailed images that showcased vibrant and punchy colours. The dynamic range and contrast levels were perfect. We were also happy with the audio output produced by the stereo speaker setup.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Review: Performance and Cameras
As we mentioned earlier, the biggest change in the Galaxy S25 is its processor. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset replaces Samsung’s in-house Exynos 2400 SoC on the compact flagship. This is a welcome change as the Snapdragon chipset is based on a 3nm process and easily outperforms the Exynos 2400.
Performance benchmarks
- AnTuTu: 2,068,810
- Geekbench 6: 2,585 (single-core) | 9,027 (multi-core)
The Samsung Galaxy S25 is available in 2 storage (UFS 4.0) variants. Both variants have a fixed 12GB RAM (LPDDR5X).
- 12GB + 256GB: Rs 80,999
- 12GB + 512GB: Rs 92,999
The Samsung Galaxy S25 crushed daily tasks with ease during the review period. There was nothing that this device couldn’t handle. We threw everything and the kitchen sink at it, yet it remained unfazed. There were no hiccups or lags to be seen even after loading a dozen apps and carrying out background tasks like navigation and music streaming. Routine tasks like video calling, emailing, social media browsing, and photo editing were handled expertly as well.
The Galaxy S25 replicated a similar performance while gaming too. We played titles like Call of Duty Mobile and Apex Legends Unite on the smartphone and it produced detailed in-game visuals at 120fps. We did not encounter any frame drops or unnecessary lags while gaming. However, the smartphone could use a better cooling chamber as its back panel started warming up after 25 minutes of gameplay. We would also like to see a more comprehensive gaming toolbar in the next iteration of One UI.
Samsung is one of the last OEMs to come out with its Android 15-based skin but it is worth the wait. One UI 7 is lighter, snappier, and better looking than its previous iteration. Samsung has taken some design inspiration from iOS on its new skin, as the Quick Settings Menu is not separated from the notification shade. The former can be accessed by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen. Swiping down from anywhere else on the status bar or the home screen pulls down the notification shade. If you’re making the switch from iOS, this change will make the transition easier for you.
However, for seasoned Android users, this feels like a step back. Since the notification shade now gets a panel of its own, the lone alerts sit at the top of the screen and are a bit harder to reach while operating the phone with one hand. If you already struggle with one-handed usage on big displays, this will add to your problems. Secondly, the Quick Settings Menu cannot be expanded by swiping down on the home screen. It would’ve been more intuitive if a swipe-down gesture on the right side of the home page and the status bar triggered the Quick Settings Menu.
The good news is that you can reverse these changes and bring back the merged notification panel and Quick Settings. You can also change the order of the tiles in quick settings. If you find it hard to reach for the volume/brightness sliders or the WiFi/Bluetooth quick toggles, you can position them at the bottom of the panel.
Samsung’s native Good Lock app unlocks more customisation control over the OS’ design and functionality. We highly recommend installing this app if you choose to purchase this phone. Customisation has always been One UI’s forte and the Good Lock app is the key to adding a personal flair to your device.
AI integration on smartphones is still in its infancy. There is still a long way to go before AI becomes an essential component of smart devices. Samsung leads the race with Galaxy AI, as it remains one of the most comprehensive and practical AI suites we’ve used yet. Our favourite addition to Galaxy AI this year is the option to choose on-device data processing. This prevents your data from being exported to cloud servers for AI computation. Of course, choosing these options limits what Galaxy AI can do, but the trade-off is worth it.
One UI 7 also marks the debut of the ‘Now Brief’, which is another feature that is in its infancy. In theory, this tool is designed to give you a snapshot of your daily highlights and upcoming events in a way that is easy to digest. It uses AI to analyse things like your travel itinerary, upcoming events, work routes, and more to present helpful information that can help you streamline your day. However, as of now, it does nothing but show the weather and recommend the odd Spotify playlist. The ‘Now Bar’ is a much more practical tool that sits at the bottom of the lock screen and lets you control ongoing background tasks like navigation, music playback, timer, and more. Talking about the lock screen, the One UI 7 can use AI to overlay it with effects that are consistent with your local weather.
Galaxy AI features like Drawing Assist, Writing Assist, Call Assist, and others work flawlessly for the most part. Some errors still creep in from time to time but that is something we expect from AI at this stage. The native Gallery app on the device is equipped with an Audio Eraser which helps you suppress the background noise in your videos. It matches the performance of Google’s Magic Audio Eraser.
Samsung and Google have worked together to bring a better digital assistance experience to the Galaxy S25. Long-pressing the side button triggers the Gemini Assistant, but takes the help of Bixby to tap into Samsung Calendar and other utilities. The process is smooth and it does not look like one assistant is plastered on the other.
Things remain the same on the battery front as the Galaxy S25 sticks with last year’s 4,000mAh battery pack. We would’ve preferred a Si/C unit on this smartphone, but its battery life leaves very little room for complaints. The power-efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite processor gets more mileage out of this battery pack than the Exynos chipset from last year. During the review period, our daily tasks on the Samsung Galaxy S25 consisted of video calling, IMing, social media browsing, media streaming, and gaming. After racking up 5-6 hours of screen time, we were consistently left with over 20% charge. This is a pretty good performance for a compact smartphone. However, Samsung needs to pull up its socks when it comes to charging speed, as this device takes over an hour to reach a 100% charge.
There are no changes to the rear camera panel either. The vertical camera array consists of a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3 primary shooter, a 10MP Samsung ISOCELL S5K3K1 telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP Sony IMX564 ultrawide sensor. The lack of changes doesn’t bother us too much as these cameras are still very impressive.
The 50MP primary shooter takes incredible pictures in outdoor daylight conditions. The images pack a lot of detail and showcase radiant colours. The shadows cast by objects in the scene retain their sharpness in the final results. The dynamic range produced by the pictures is quite good. In limited lighting, the Night Mode does a good job of getting rid of the grain and restoring the warmth of the images.
The ultrawide sensor replicates the performance of the primary shooter. There is no significant shift in colours or sharpness. We were also happy with the way this lens exposed the sky and assigned it accurate colours. Images taken in limited lighting are well-lit, albeit a tad softer than the ones taken with the primary shooter.
The 3x telephoto lens is quite reliable when you need to zoom into faraway objects. The images retain excellent composition and sharpness. You can further zoom up to 30x, but the smartphone tends to overprocess the images in order to resolve the details. The 3x telephoto lens also comes in handy while taking portraits. These portrait shots showcase an amazing depth of field. The smartphone does a good job of separating the subject from the background and applying the appropriate level of blur. The 1x and 2x portraits are pretty good as well, but pale in comparison to the telephoto lens.
The 12MP front-facing camera captures great selfies with vibrant colours and natural skin tones. This camera can record 4K footage at 30/60fps. Meanwhile, the primary camera can shoot videos at an 8K resolution (24/30fps). The ultrawide and telephoto cameras can record 4K videos at 30/60fps. You can now shoot Log videos from this camera for more editorial control in post.
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Verdict
Although the changes to the Samsung Galaxy S25 are mostly incremental, it still remains one of the best compact Android phones on the market. Its light design and sleek form factor are a winning combination for anyone who does not want to work with a brick on a daily basis. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset has rejuvenated the device and it finally feels like Samsung’s base flagship has got its punch back. It is surprising that a sleek device like this can handle demanding tasks without breaking a sweat. The new processor has improved the smartphone’s battery life too. On the software front, One UI 7 delivers a familiar performance while adding new AI features to its arsenal. The cameras are also the same as last year but are very reliable in a multitude of lighting conditions.
Samsung Galaxy S25: Pros
- Sleek profile
- Lightweight
- Incredible performance
- Good range of AI features
Samsung Galaxy S25: Cons
- Largely unchanged from last year
