Google Pixel 10a vs Samsung Galaxy S25 | TechTalkTown
Google Pixel 10a vs Samsung Galaxy S25
Google Pixel 10a
Google
7.8
Great budget pick, lazy upgrade
Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung
7.8
Safe small-Android pick
Google Pixel 10a
What Reviewers Agree On
The fully flush camera module is the single most-celebrated change — the 10a lies dead flat on a table with no wobble, a rare and appreciated departure in 2026.
The 6.3-inch pOLED is brighter and tougher than the 9a's, hitting 3,000 nits peak with Gorilla Glass 7i replacing the ancient Gorilla Glass 3.
Battery life is reliably all-day on the 5,100 mAh cell, with multiple reviewers reporting two-day endurance on lighter use.
Google's image processing is still the best camera experience you can get for $500 — sharp detail, natural colors, class-leading Night Sight, fast shutter speeds.
Seven years of OS and security updates through 2033 remain industry-leading at this price point.
Pros & Cons
Google Pixel 10a
Pros
The fully flush camera module is the single most-celebrated change — the 10a lies dead flat on a table with no wobble, a rare and appreciated departure in 2026.
The 6.3-inch pOLED is brighter and tougher than the 9a's, hitting 3,000 nits peak with Gorilla Glass 7i replacing the ancient Gorilla Glass 3.
Battery life is reliably all-day on the 5,100 mAh cell, with multiple reviewers reporting two-day endurance on lighter use.
Google's image processing is still the best camera experience you can get for $500 — sharp detail, natural colors, class-leading Night Sight, fast shutter speeds.
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
Google Pixel 10a
The marquee design change is the camera module — Google ground it down until the lenses sit completely flush with the back, so the phone lies dead flat on a table with no rock or wobble. Otherwise it is dimensionally and visually almost indistinguishable from the Pixel 9a: same 6.3-inch 153.9 × 73 × 9mm chassis, same aluminum frame, same plastic back, same IP68 rating. The new Berry color is the standout, with reviewers from The Verge to 9to5Google to Wired specifically calling it the one to buy.
The 10a's bezels are about 10 percent narrower than the 9a's, slimming the visual footprint without growing the body — Google fully eliminated the camera bump rather than miniaturizing it like last year.
The completely flush camera module is an underrated perk after years of ever-thickening camera bumps — the 10a doesn't rock on a table and neatly glides into a pocket.
The lavender colorway is genuinely beautiful in person — light refracts beautifully off the aluminum frame and composite back, and the matte finish feels secure in the hand.
The new Berry color is a callback to the red Nexus 5 — it catches the eye like nothing else on the market and is the color to buy.
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Faster 30W wired and 10W wireless charging is a welcome but modest bump over the 9a's 23W/7.5W.
The clean Android 16 build with Gemini integration, Material 3 Expressive, Hold for Me, Call Screen, Now Playing and Quick Share to AirDrop is genuinely useful — a key reason the 10a still stands out at $500.
Deal Breakers
No Pixelsnap magnets — the single most-criticized omission, called out by The Verge, Wired, Engadget, Ars Technica, 9to5Google, Gizmodo, Trusted Reviews and SuperSaf as the easy win Google declined to ship despite Apple bringing MagSafe to the iPhone 17e.
Same Tensor G4 chip from 2024 means no AI throughput improvements and breaks the A-series tradition of matching the current-year flagship's silicon — flagged by Ars Technica, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, BGR, and most YouTube reviewers as a value regression.
Capped at 8GB of RAM with 128GB base storage that will feel cramped during the seven-year update window, and the 10a misses the flagship-tier AI features (Magic Cue, Pixel Screenshots, Pixel Studio) that require Gemini Nano's larger memory footprint.
Multiple reviewers — Engadget, TechCrunch, Wired, Trusted Reviews — recommend the cheaper Pixel 9a if you can find it on sale, since it offers ~95% of the same experience for $100 less.
Still no telephoto lens or Wi-Fi 7, while same-price rivals like the Nothing Phone 4a Pro pack a dedicated zoom camera plus 50W charging.
Charging is functional but slow by 2026 standards — full charge takes ~98 minutes per Trusted Reviews testing, and Chinese rivals are pushing 100W in this bracket.
Samsung Galaxy S25
What Reviewers Agree On
The 6.2-inch form factor makes the S25 the last 'reasonably sized' Android flagship you can buy in the US — a real selling point in 2025.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers a legitimate generational jump (Engadget measured multi-core 8,950 vs 7,049 on the S24; Trusted Reviews logged Geekbench 6 multi 9,450) and the phone stays cool in normal use.
Battery life is meaningfully better than the S24 despite the unchanged 4,000 mAh cell — Engadget measured 28+ hours of video playback, roughly four hours longer than its predecessor, thanks to the more efficient 3nm chip.
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is bright (2,600-nit peak), sharp at 1080p / 416 ppi, and pleasant to use day to day.
Seven years of OS and security updates match Google and Apple and remain one of the strongest reasons to buy a Samsung flagship.
One UI 7 on Android 15 is a genuinely big software step — the Now Bar, redesigned Quick Settings, smoother animations and deeper Gemini integration are reviewer favorites.
Build quality is high — IP68 dust/water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, and a 5g weight reduction over the S24.
Deal Breakers
Hardware is virtually unchanged from the S24 — the same camera trio, same 4,000 mAh battery, same display, same 1080p resolution and same $799 price tag make the upgrade case very weak.
The 12MP ultrawide is now lackluster — the S25 Ultra got the new 50MP ultrawide and the base S25 / S25+ did not, so reviewers like Wired call out that an $800 Pixel 9 has a 48MP ultrawide for the same money.
Cameras still lag the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 in stills for most reviewers — Wired and Trusted Reviews both say the competition has pulled ahead while Samsung stood still.
Charging is slow versus rivals — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R (80W) and many Chinese flagships; full charge takes around 90 minutes (Trusted Reviews), and Qi2 'Ready' only works through a separately purchased magnetic case.
Galaxy AI is a mixed bag — Gemini cross-app actions help, but Now Brief is openly described as useless by Digital Trends and 9to5Google, and Samsung will not commit to whether Galaxy AI stays free after the end of 2025.
Seven years of OS and security updates through 2033 remain industry-leading at this price point.
Faster 30W wired and 10W wireless charging is a welcome but modest bump over the 9a's 23W/7.5W.
The clean Android 16 build with Gemini integration, Material 3 Expressive, Hold for Me, Call Screen, Now Playing and Quick Share to AirDrop is genuinely useful — a key reason the 10a still stands out at $500.
Cons
No Pixelsnap magnets — the single most-criticized omission, called out by The Verge, Wired, Engadget, Ars Technica, 9to5Google, Gizmodo, Trusted Reviews and SuperSaf as the easy win Google declined to ship despite Apple bringing MagSafe to the iPhone 17e.
Same Tensor G4 chip from 2024 means no AI throughput improvements and breaks the A-series tradition of matching the current-year flagship's silicon — flagged by Ars Technica, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, BGR, and most YouTube reviewers as a value regression.
Capped at 8GB of RAM with 128GB base storage that will feel cramped during the seven-year update window, and the 10a misses the flagship-tier AI features (Magic Cue, Pixel Screenshots, Pixel Studio) that require Gemini Nano's larger memory footprint.
Multiple reviewers — Engadget, TechCrunch, Wired, Trusted Reviews — recommend the cheaper Pixel 9a if you can find it on sale, since it offers ~95% of the same experience for $100 less.
Still no telephoto lens or Wi-Fi 7, while same-price rivals like the Nothing Phone 4a Pro pack a dedicated zoom camera plus 50W charging.
Charging is functional but slow by 2026 standards — full charge takes ~98 minutes per Trusted Reviews testing, and Chinese rivals are pushing 100W in this bracket.
Samsung Galaxy S25
Pros
The 6.2-inch form factor makes the S25 the last 'reasonably sized' Android flagship you can buy in the US — a real selling point in 2025.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers a legitimate generational jump (Engadget measured multi-core 8,950 vs 7,049 on the S24; Trusted Reviews logged Geekbench 6 multi 9,450) and the phone stays cool in normal use.
Battery life is meaningfully better than the S24 despite the unchanged 4,000 mAh cell — Engadget measured 28+ hours of video playback, roughly four hours longer than its predecessor, thanks to the more efficient 3nm chip.
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is bright (2,600-nit peak), sharp at 1080p / 416 ppi, and pleasant to use day to day.
Seven years of OS and security updates match Google and Apple and remain one of the strongest reasons to buy a Samsung flagship.
One UI 7 on Android 15 is a genuinely big software step — the Now Bar, redesigned Quick Settings, smoother animations and deeper Gemini integration are reviewer favorites.
Build quality is high — IP68 dust/water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, and a 5g weight reduction over the S24.
Cons
Hardware is virtually unchanged from the S24 — the same camera trio, same 4,000 mAh battery, same display, same 1080p resolution and same $799 price tag make the upgrade case very weak.
The 12MP ultrawide is now lackluster — the S25 Ultra got the new 50MP ultrawide and the base S25 / S25+ did not, so reviewers like Wired call out that an $800 Pixel 9 has a 48MP ultrawide for the same money.
Cameras still lag the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 in stills for most reviewers — Wired and Trusted Reviews both say the competition has pulled ahead while Samsung stood still.
Charging is slow versus rivals — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R (80W) and many Chinese flagships; full charge takes around 90 minutes (Trusted Reviews), and Qi2 'Ready' only works through a separately purchased magnetic case.
Galaxy AI is a mixed bag — Gemini cross-app actions help, but Now Brief is openly described as useless by Digital Trends and 9to5Google, and Samsung will not commit to whether Galaxy AI stays free after the end of 2025.
Glance at the Pixel 10a and you'd really struggle to tell the difference from last year's Pixel 9a — the design is near-identical apart from a sliver of extra thickness at 9mm.
On the outside, you literally cannot tell the difference versus last year's Pixel 9a — same dimensions, same shape, super safe, super generic, super flat.
The fully flush camera module is reminiscent of smartphones from over a decade ago, and in a stagnant market this kind of nostalgia play goes a long way toward feeling refreshing.
After dropping the previous one, the Pixel 10a's more rounded corners feel significantly better against the palm than the older 7a — a welcome ergonomic change.
If you have the 9a, you really don't need the 10a — the camera module being flat is essentially the only meaningful visual change.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The S25 keeps the S24's flat-edge aluminum chassis nearly intact — 0.4 mm thinner, 5 g lighter, and visually distinguishable only by slightly more prominent camera rings. Reviewers unanimously call out that this is now the last 'small' Android flagship you can buy in the US, which has become a feature in its own right. Build quality is high: Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, IP68 rating.
The Galaxy S25 is secretly the best small Android phone you can buy in the US — almost more by attrition than by design, since Google's Pixel only comes in big and bigger.
After several years of testing 6.5-inch-plus phones, having the 6.2-inch S25 around is refreshing — small enough to use one-handed but still big enough for everything but extended video.
The S25 is a 'pocket powerhouse' — its lightweight, compact build delivers a refreshing change from larger devices while still offering a big enough display for everything you need.
Aside from the camera lens hubcaps and the new chip inside, the S25 is essentially the same boxy, sharp-cornered phone we've seen for the past three years.
Spot-the-difference between the S25 and S24 is a tough game — the camera lenses sit slightly more prominent on the rear, the weight is 5g lower, and that is basically the entire visual delta.
Build quality is excellent — Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both sides, an Armor Aluminum frame, IP68 water and dust resistance, and a high-quality feel in the hand.
The S25 series is so visually similar to the S24 that the new color palette is one of the few obvious ways to tell them apart — Black is now a Samsung.com-exclusive, leaving Navy, Mint, Icy Blue and Silver Shadow at most retailers.
Unbox Therapy noted the S25 design language is 'as minimal as you can get' — a familiar boxy phone with very little flair in the camera layout, branded with a small mirrored Samsung logo on the back.
Display
Google Pixel 10a
The 6.3-inch 1080×2424 pOLED with 120Hz refresh is identical in resolution and panel tech to the 9a, but Google bumped peak brightness 11% to 3,000 nits and finally replaced the ancient Gorilla Glass 3 with Gorilla Glass 7i. Reviewers agree it is good rather than great — bright enough for outdoor use, sharp, fast — but the bezels remain noticeably thick by 2026 mid-range standards, and the panel still ships with 120Hz off by default.
The Gorilla Glass 7i upgrade from the ancient Gorilla Glass 3 might secretly be the best improvement here, bringing the screen's protection and feel closer to the base Pixel 10.
After two weeks of use I can't see a single scratch on the Pixel 10a's screen — the Gorilla Glass 7i upgrade noticeably improves on the older Gorilla Glass 3.
The display is fast, responsive, vibrant, and the on-screen fingerprint sensor is in an easy-to-reach spot toward the middle of the phone.
Display brightness climbs to 3,000 nits at peak, matching the iPhone 17 Pro — readability is excellent even on sunny days outdoors.
Slimmer bezels than the 9a, but still pretty thick — only a 0.8% increase in screen-to-body ratio, and noticeably thicker than the OnePlus Nord 5 or Honor 400.
The 11 percent boost to 3,000 nits matches the Pixel 10, but the difference won't be obvious unless you put a 9a and 10a side by side in strong sunlight.
The display ships with refresh rate set to 60Hz out of the box — you have to manually flip it to 120Hz in settings, which most casual buyers never will.
Coming from a 7a's 90Hz panel, the 10a's 120Hz feels noticeably smoother — and the measured peak brightness over 4,000 nits SDR is brighter than most content you'll ever watch.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel is unchanged from the S24 — 1080p / 416 ppi, 1–120 Hz LTPO, 2,600-nit peak brightness, HDR10+. Reviewers praise the sharpness and color but flag that the base S25 does not get the Ultra's new anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating, peak brightness is rarely sustained in manual mode, and PWM dimming sits at a low 240 Hz on Notebookcheck's measurements.
The 6.2-inch display has not changed from the Galaxy S24 but remains a great screen with good detail, vibrancy and plenty of punch — perfectly sized for one-handed use.
The 2X AMOLED screen tops out at 2,600 nits peak and is plenty bright, with variable refresh rates from 1 Hz to 120 Hz — though at 6.2 inches it can feel small for extensive Netflix or YouTube watching.
Notebookcheck measured 1,311 cd/m² in APL18 white and a 2,594 cd/m² HDR peak — light output is almost identical to the S24, but PWM dimming sits at just 240 Hz which can bother sensitive eyes.
Brightness is not as high as some Android rivals — the OnePlus 13R reaches 4,500 nits — but the S25 is bright enough for sunny days and HDR streaming.
Performance
Google Pixel 10a
Google broke A-series tradition by reusing the Tensor G4 from 2024 instead of pairing the 10a with the current flagship Tensor G5. Real-world performance is fine — Pixel UI is fluid, animations are smooth, light gaming works — but benchmarks confirm what reviewers expected: the 10a is closer to a mid-range chip than a flagship. The 8GB of RAM cap is the bigger long-term concern for a phone that will get updates through 2033.
Same Tensor G4 chipset as the Pixel 9a, same 8GB of RAM — there are essentially no performance gains this year, which you might notice when switching between many apps.
The Tensor G4 isn't bad at all for a $500 phone — Pixel animations are smooth, apps open quickly, and the move to an Exynos 5400 modem brings Satellite SOS plus better thermal behavior.
Even with average gaming sessions like Diablo Immortal at high settings and 60fps, the phone stayed cool to the touch for an hour straight — thermal management is solid.
Trusted Reviews measured 4,551 Geekbench 6 multi-core, 1,753 single-core, and 2,608 in 3DMark Wild Life with a 91% stress-test stability — solid mid-range numbers for a flagship-tier chipset from a year ago.
The 10a's 1700–1750 single-core Geekbench score lags the Pixel 10's 2,300+ by a meaningful margin, and multi-core drops to ~4,500 vs ~6,000 — measurable, but rarely felt during everyday browsing.
It's just the chip. Like Tensor G5 is Google's latest, and the A-series traditionally got the flagship chip — this year they're not even doing that, so the 10a feels like a software-defined product more than ever.
The Tensor G4 paired with 8GB of RAM means the 10a can't run the updated Gemini Nano model — missing on-device AI features include Magic Cue, Pixel Screenshots, call notes, notification summaries, and on-device call translation.
8GB of RAM might be skimpy seven years from now, but right now Pixel keeps apps in memory well enough — and the 10a runs fewer AI models in the background than the flagship Pixels.
Genshin Impact at 60fps fell to 24–30 fps with quick heat buildup — the 10a isn't aimed at gamers, but for casual or battle-royale sessions at moderate settings it holds its own.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is the single substantive hardware change this year and reviewers agree it delivers — Engadget measured multi-core Geekbench jumping from 7,049 on the S24 to 8,950, Trusted Reviews logged 9,450 multi-core / 3,101 single-core. The base S25 lacks the Ultra's larger vapor chamber so it warms up under sustained load, but everyday performance is butter-smooth. RAM is now 12GB across all storage tiers — a real upgrade.
With the 3 nm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, CPU multi-core hit 8,950 (up from 7,049 on the S24) and GPU scored 19,158 (up from 15,082) — a meaningful generational jump.
Geekbench 6 multi-core landed at 9,450 and single-core at 3,101, putting the S25 at the top of the Android pile and roughly on par with the iPhone 16 in multi-core.
Everyday tasks and gaming run smoothly — the S25 got warm under stress tests and back-to-back generative AI plus 4K video uploads but never uncomfortably hot.
Back-to-back generative AI requests and shooting and uploading 4K video made the S25 heat up — it lacks the expanded vapor chamber that Samsung added to the S25 Ultra.
Camera
Google Pixel 10a
The 48MP f/1.7 main with OIS, 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide and 13MP selfie carry over byte-for-byte from the Pixel 9a — no new hardware. What is new is Camera Coach and Auto Best Take, both pulled from the Pixel 10 series, and the absence of a telephoto lens that the Galaxy S25 FE and Nothing 4a Pro both ship at this price. Critics agree this is still the best $500 camera experience on Android thanks to Google's image processing, though shooting beyond 2x or in low light reveals the small sensor's limits.
Photos are pleasingly exposed with sharp details and natural colors — overall it's a very respectable system for the money, even if a 2x or 3x optical zoom lens would be welcome on a future A-series.
No other $500 phone offers a comparable camera experience — Google's image processing brings out detail in bright and dim areas, and Night Sight is great for situations where rivals fall apart.
Camera Coach is too slow because it relies on a cloud model — by the time the AI responds, the cat has walked away, so its utility is limited to static scenes.
Auto Best Take works as advertised — Google merges multiple group photos so everyone looks their best, finally solving the problem of no single frame having everyone smiling.
The main 48MP impresses despite the small 1/2.0-inch sensor — sharp focus, natural colors, and some of the best skin tones of any phone on the market.
Camera Coach impedes the flow of taking a photo — I have little reason to use it, but Google's conversational photo editor in Photos is genuinely useful.
Without a telephoto lens you're limited to 8x super-res zoom, and things get blurry beyond 3–4x — Google's processing cleans up a 2x crop well enough but starts to look artificial.
The 10a continues Pixel's longstanding fear of saturated colors and deep shadows — the camera feels stuck where it was in 2021 or 2022, and I miss the bigger generational leaps from earlier Pixels.
The 13MP ultrawide sensor is smaller and tends to lose details, and it lacks autofocus — fine for casual use but a step behind the main camera in low light.
Side-by-side, the Pixel 10a's photos look slightly crisper and more vibrant than older Pixels — clearly an improvement, even if it's mostly the same hardware on paper.
The cameras are identical to the Pixel 10 except for the missing 5x telephoto — same main, same ultrawide, same processing, same Camera Coach. The only real ceiling is zoom flexibility.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The camera hardware is identical to the S24 — 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto, 12MP selfie — for the third year running. Samsung made software-side improvements (HDR by default, 10-bit color, Galaxy Log, Audio Eraser) and the new ISP cleans up low-light noise, but reviewers are nearly unanimous that the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 have pulled ahead at this price point. The 12MP ultrawide in particular looks dated next to the 48MP/50MP ultrawide on the Pixel 9, iPhone 16 Pro and S25 Ultra.
It is the same camera system as the S24, minus some software tweaks — the unchanged 12 MP ultrawide is lackluster, and the lineup feels static while rivals pulled ahead.
The $800 Pixel 9 and $1,000 iPhone 16 Pro both have 48 MP ultrawides — it is confusing that Samsung doesn't give the full S25 lineup the same ultrawide upgrade it gave the Ultra.
Samsung's main camera once again uses the four-generation-old ISOCELL GN3 sensor, originally introduced on the Galaxy S22 — Vivo's X200 Pro Mini with the newer Sony LYT-818 delivers visibly better photo quality at a similar size.
Samsung was pleasantly consistent in daylight, but iPhone 16 results were better in darker conditions and S25 night-time shots sometimes came out amber-hued — telephoto and primary sensor process images differently.
Battery & Charging
Google Pixel 10a
The 5,100 mAh cell is identical to the 9a's — Engadget measured 28 hours in their video rundown (matching last year), and most reviewers report comfortable all-day life with two-day endurance on lighter use. Charging is the bigger story: wired jumps from 23W to 30W (~50% in 30 minutes, full in ~98 minutes), and wireless from 7.5W to 10W. The non-negotiable disappointment is the lack of Pixelsnap magnets — every single reviewer flags it.
The 10a ran 28 hours in Engadget's video rundown test — exactly where the Pixel 9a landed last year, putting it middle of the pack for 2026 flagships.
After a heavy workday — off charger at 8am, messaging, snaps, scrolling, evening event — the 10a still had 26% left by midnight. Two-day life is achievable on lighter use.
Battery life has been OK — the 10a lasts a full day with average use but still requires daily charging, and heavier travel use pushes me to top up in the afternoon.
The 10a actually outperformed my personal Pixel 10 on raw battery life — and on lighter days I squeezed two full days of use out of a single charge.
Wired charging hits 30W and delivers ~50% in 30 minutes as advertised, with a full charge in about 98 minutes — serviceable but not class-leading.
No Pixelsnap magnets is the biggest letdown — Google should have brought Qi2 wireless charging to the A-series the way Apple brought MagSafe to the iPhone 17e.
The lack of Pixelsnap is the biggest let down here by far — Google should have found a way to get it on the 10a, and a third-party magnetic case ruins one of the best aspects of this phone's design.
There are no Pixelsnap magnets inside the 10a, which feels arbitrary — almost as if Google is gating the feature to make the $800 Pixel 10 look like a better upgrade.
Adding Pixelsnap magnets across the entire Pixel 10 lineup would have been a clean win and a great moment for Google — instead the A-series gets left out yet again.
Wireless charging up to 10W from 7.5W is a real bump — but without Pixelsnap, I can't imagine throwing this thing on a wireless charger very often.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The 4,000 mAh battery is unchanged from the S24, but the more efficient 3 nm chip pushes real-world endurance noticeably further — Engadget recorded 28+ hours of video playback (about 4 hours longer than the S24), Trusted Reviews ended most days with 30%+ remaining, 9to5Google occasionally killed it in a heavy day. Charging is the weakness — 25W wired, 15W wireless, with Qi2 'Ready' working only via a separately purchased magnetic case. The OnePlus 13R's 80W wired charging is a generation ahead.
The Galaxy S25 clocked in at over 28 hours of video playback — almost four hours more than the S24, and a real testament to processor efficiency gains since the battery itself didn't grow.
Battery life was decent overall — most days finished with over 30% remaining, comfortably getting through a day but not a full two-day phone.
A 4,000 mAh battery at $799 is not great — 9to5Google could kill the phone in a single heavy day, and a midday top-up may become routine as the battery ages.
The S25's 4,000 mAh got me through a full day of moderate use — a smaller battery is a concern in a tiny device but the new chip earns the phone enough efficiency to compensate.
The base S25 misses the S25 Ultra's anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating and the new 200MP / 50MP ultrawide cameras — reviewers say the gap between the S25 and the Ultra has widened, not narrowed.
The base S25 misses the S25 Ultra's anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating and the new 200MP / 50MP ultrawide cameras — reviewers say the gap between the S25 and the Ultra has widened, not narrowed.
The S25 keeps Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 instead of the Ultra's Gorilla Armor 2 — meaning no anti-reflective coating on the base model, a step Trusted Reviews wishes had trickled down.
Dave2D notes the regular S25 and S25+ did not get any design overhaul — the new anti-reflective coating is exclusive to the Ultra, and the difference vs the Plus is visible side-by-side under overhead light.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is the most powerful chip on Android to date, with a special enhanced 'for Galaxy' variant supporting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 — the biggest upgrade in years.
Across all S25 devices the Snapdragon 8 Elite shows roughly 25–30 percent better real-world battery efficiency over the previous generation — and that is the change that matters most.
For now this is the most powerful small phone on the market — the Snapdragon 8 Elite makes the S25 feel slick and top-of-the-line, and dropping the Exynos chip globally is a big win for non-US buyers.
All three S25 models share the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12 GB of RAM — the biggest practical differences between them come down to battery size and screen size.
The 3x optical telephoto is a real asset — most base-model rivals don't include a telephoto at all, and the 3x reach is treated as essential by 9to5Google.
Compared to the Apple iPhone 16 or the Google Pixel 9, the S25 doesn't deliver the best camera performance in its class — Samsung will have to make changes next year to avoid slipping further behind.
Photos straight from the S25's main sensor show strong dynamic range and natural colors, but the edges appear somewhat blurred and low-light contours soften noticeably.
Samsung has substantially improved video for cinematographers — HDR by default, 10-bit color and a new Galaxy Log mode that lets you capture flat footage and color-grade in post.
Generally I preferred the photos from the Google Pixel 9 Pro over the Galaxy S25 series, though there are several instances where the Samsung phones pull ahead.
iJustine confirmed at Unpacked that the S25 base and Plus retain the same primary sensors as the prior generation — the major camera upgrades were reserved for the Ultra.
Charging speeds aren't the fastest — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R's 80W, but Trusted Reviews considers it comparable to Apple and Google and not a deal-breaker.
Qi2 charging only works through a compatible third-party magnetic case — the phone itself has no built-in magnets, and Samsung's first-party magnetic case has 'weak magnets' that lose hold over potholes.
0–50% wired charging took 33 minutes and a full 0–100% charge took 90 minutes — Trusted Reviews benchmarks confirm Samsung is happy to stay conservative versus 80W-plus Chinese rivals.
Samsung has stuck to the same 4,000 mAh capacity, 25W wired, 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless charging as the S24 — there's an upgrade to Qi2.1 Ready, but it can go easily unnoticed.
