The 7,500 mAh silicon-carbon 'Glacier' battery is unprecedented in a 6.32-inch body and delivers roughly 1.5 days of real-world endurance — easily the longest battery life in the compact-flagship class.
Build quality is genuine flagship-grade: metal frame, IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K dust + water resistance, ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, and a 91% screen-to-body ratio with ~1.1 mm symmetric bezels.
The 6.32-inch 165 Hz 1.5K AMOLED reaches the advertised 1,800 nits in standard measurement and is marketed up to 3,600 nits peak — making it the only true 165 Hz compact-flagship display on the market.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 + 16GB LPDDR5X Ultra Pro RAM hits Geekbench multi-core ~10,976 and 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited ~29,901 — top-tier flagship synthetic performance in a sub-200g chassis.
100W wired SuperVOOC and 50W wireless charging mean even the giant battery refills fast.
Pros & Cons
OnePlus 15T
Pros
The 7,500 mAh silicon-carbon 'Glacier' battery is unprecedented in a 6.32-inch body and delivers roughly 1.5 days of real-world endurance — easily the longest battery life in the compact-flagship class.
Build quality is genuine flagship-grade: metal frame, IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K dust + water resistance, ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, and a 91% screen-to-body ratio with ~1.1 mm symmetric bezels.
The 6.32-inch 165 Hz 1.5K AMOLED reaches the advertised 1,800 nits in standard measurement and is marketed up to 3,600 nits peak — making it the only true 165 Hz compact-flagship display on the market.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 + 16GB LPDDR5X Ultra Pro RAM hits Geekbench multi-core ~10,976 and 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited ~29,901 — top-tier flagship synthetic performance in a sub-200g chassis.
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
OnePlus 15T
OnePlus inherits the design language of the OnePlus 15 — metal frame, glass back, micro-arc oxidation finish on the rails — and shrinks it into a 6.32-inch, 194g body that's roughly iPhone 17-sized but with more than twice the battery capacity. IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K rating, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and ~1.1mm symmetric bezels are unambiguous flagship moves. Reviewers debate whether 6.32-inch genuinely counts as compact in 2026.
Same premium design as the OnePlus 15 — metal frame, glass back, IP69 water resistance — feels high-quality in the hand at just 194g.
Dimensions and weight are similar to an iPhone 17, but the 15T packs more than twice the battery capacity with a ~91% screen-to-body ratio.
Full-level water resistance and a fast ultrasonic fingerprint sensor make the 15T noticeably more confident outdoors than the OnePlus 13T was.
The metal frame uses a micro-arc oxidation process with a 50/50 weight distribution — it doesn't feel top-heavy and one-handed use is genuinely comfortable.
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The new 3.5x periscope telephoto with OIS is a meaningful step up from the OnePlus 13T's limited 2x zoom and is well-suited to portraits at the classic 85 mm focal length.
Deal Breakers
China-only launch with no confirmed global release — ColorOS instead of OxygenOS, no eSIM support, no WearOS support, and missing European LTE band 20 and band 32 make it a compromise outside China.
Notebookcheck measured pronounced sustained-performance throttling of over 50% in 3DMark stress tests, with surface temperatures climbing past 46 °C; SuperSaf hit 50 °C on the back during Wildlife Extreme and saw scores drop from 6,990 to 3,743 inside a single loop.
No ultrawide camera at all — the 'triple camera' is just main + 16MP front + 3.5x periscope telephoto, which is a downgrade versus the OnePlus 15 for anyone who shoots landscapes, group photos or wide-angle video.
Charging port is still USB 2.0 in 2026, which SuperSaf calls 'a choice and not a good one' on a flagship-tier device at this price.
No built-in MagSafe-style magnets — wireless-charging accessories require a separate magnetic case to align properly.
Software-support window is uncertain: OnePlus has not committed to a specific update timeline for the Chinese-market 15T, and the global OnePlus 15 already commits to only 4 years of major Android upgrades — well behind Samsung and Google's 7-year promises.
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.
100W wired SuperVOOC and 50W wireless charging mean even the giant battery refills fast.
The new 3.5x periscope telephoto with OIS is a meaningful step up from the OnePlus 13T's limited 2x zoom and is well-suited to portraits at the classic 85 mm focal length.
Cons
China-only launch with no confirmed global release — ColorOS instead of OxygenOS, no eSIM support, no WearOS support, and missing European LTE band 20 and band 32 make it a compromise outside China.
Notebookcheck measured pronounced sustained-performance throttling of over 50% in 3DMark stress tests, with surface temperatures climbing past 46 °C; SuperSaf hit 50 °C on the back during Wildlife Extreme and saw scores drop from 6,990 to 3,743 inside a single loop.
No ultrawide camera at all — the 'triple camera' is just main + 16MP front + 3.5x periscope telephoto, which is a downgrade versus the OnePlus 15 for anyone who shoots landscapes, group photos or wide-angle video.
Charging port is still USB 2.0 in 2026, which SuperSaf calls 'a choice and not a good one' on a flagship-tier device at this price.
No built-in MagSafe-style magnets — wireless-charging accessories require a separate magnetic case to align properly.
Software-support window is uncertain: OnePlus has not committed to a specific update timeline for the Chinese-market 15T, and the global OnePlus 15 already commits to only 4 years of major Android upgrades — well behind Samsung and Google's 7-year promises.
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.
The pure cocoa colorway is OnePlus's first-ever brown finish and stands out next to the standard 15's black/violet/sandstorm options.
Calling a 6.32-inch phone 'compact' just normalizes the new baseline — at this size the only thing keeping it small is OnePlus refusing to make the body any larger, not any genuine effort to shrink the footprint.
r/gadgets commenters reject the compact framing outright — '6.3" screen is NOT compact' is the top reply on the official-first-look thread, with multiple users asking for a true 5.x-inch option.
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
OnePlus 15T
The 6.32-inch 165 Hz 1.5K AMOLED panel is the only true 165 Hz compact-flagship display on the market and pairs that refresh rate with a measured 1,800 nits brightness, 460 ppi pixel density, Crystal Shield Glass, and HDR10+/Dolby Vision support. Native 165 Hz support in popular FPS games is a real differentiator. Notebookcheck flags 120.7 Hz PWM dimming that can cause eyestrain for sensitive users.
The 6.32-inch 165 Hz AMOLED panel achieves a very good 460 ppi pixel density and the advertised maximum brightness of 1,800 nits in standard measurement.
Display sharpness is plenty competent — sharp, smooth, and easily one of the strongest spec sheets you can get on a compact phone.
Native 165 Hz support in COD, Delta Force and Peacekeeper Elite makes this the only small-screen flagship pushing a full 165 Hz gaming experience.
OnePlus claims up to 3,600 nits peak brightness — even on a playground in direct sunlight you can still see everything clearly, no squinting required.
Specifications confirm a 6.32-inch 1.5K (1216 × 2640) resolution with 165 Hz refresh — a configuration unique to the 15T in the compact class.
Display backlight flickers at just 120.7 Hz under PWM dimming — low enough that the flickering may cause eyestrain and headaches for sensitive users after extended use.
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
OnePlus 15T
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 paired with 12-16GB LPDDR5X Ultra Pro RAM delivers flagship synthetic scores — Notebookcheck recorded Geekbench multi-core 10,976 and 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited 29,901, on par with the larger Xiaomi 17 and Honor Magic8 Pro Air. The problem is sustained: in the 3DMark Wild Life stress test the GPU drops over 50% and the back of the phone hits 50 °C, which both Notebookcheck and SuperSaf flag as a deal-breaker for long gaming sessions.
Geekbench 6 multi-core hits 10,976 — flagship-tier and within 1% of the average 8 Elite Gen 5 result, so there is no compromise on the chipset versus larger phones.
3DMark Wild Life Unlimited hits 29,901 — 5% above the 8 Elite Gen 5 average and ahead of the Xiaomi 17 with the same chip.
In the 3DMark stress tests the OnePlus 15T shows a sharp drop in performance of over 50%, which significantly lowers our rating.
Wildlife Extreme stress test scores swung from 6,990 best loop to 3,743 worst loop in a single run — the chart is 'quite a bit of a bumpy ride' and performance mode did nothing to stabilize it.
Surface temperatures hit 48.3 °C on the back during stress testing and continued climbing to 50 °C near the camera bump — about 45 °C internal — which seems to be the phone's thermal limit.
Genshin Impact averaged 60.3 fps over 30 minutes at just 3.2 W power draw, with the phone staying cool to the touch — and Peacekeeper Elite pushed 164.5 fps thanks to native 165 Hz support.
r/Android's reviewer thread flags the same thermal issue directly: 'Gets kinda hot, over 50 degrees in the corner. This is with its very heavy throttling.'
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
OnePlus 15T
OnePlus has dropped the Hasselblad partnership (now Oppo-exclusive) and built the 15T camera around two 50MP sensors — a main with a 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX906 and OIS, plus a new 3.5x periscope telephoto with OIS at the classic 85mm portrait focal length. There is no ultrawide. Notebookcheck still rates the system 'a class above' the iPhone 17, but reviewers agree this is the area where the 15T's compact-and-cheap positioning is most visible — sensor sizes are small, sharpness and dynamic range trail genuine top-tier flagships, and the OnePlus 15 / Oppo Find X9 Pro siblings keep the better imaging.
The new 3.5x periscope telephoto delivers a classic 85 mm focal length perfect for portraits — a huge step forward from the OnePlus 13T's limited 2x zoom.
OnePlus has confirmed the headline upgrade is a LUMO periscope telephoto with both improved hardware and improved algorithms, focused on stronger zoom and better atmospheric portraits.
Despite the small 1/1.56-inch main sensor, the 15T's daylight and low-light photos are 'still a class above' the iPhone 17 in side-by-side comparison.
The 50MP main sensor lacks sharpness and dynamics — good photos are possible in both daylight and dark, but top quality looks different.
There is no ultra-wide-angle camera at all — the omission is partly excused by the new periscope, but it's a meaningful downgrade versus the OnePlus 15's triple-camera system.
The telephoto produces unstable results inconsistent with the main sensor — at night the camera struggles with depth perception and doesn't always switch to the periscope when it should.
The cooperation with Hasselblad is now Oppo-exclusive, and the OnePlus 15T's built-in image sensors are quite small and therefore not very bright.
The selfie camera drops from 32MP on the OnePlus 15 to 16MP on the 15T — a small but real downgrade for anyone who shoots a lot of front-facing video.
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
OnePlus 15T
This is the section the OnePlus 15T was built to win. The 7,500 mAh silicon-carbon 'Glacier' cell is the largest ever fitted to a true compact phone — 50% bigger than the iPhone 17's pack in a similar footprint. Notebookcheck measured roughly 1.5 days of real-world endurance at 150 cd/m². Wired charging tops out at 100 W, wireless at 50 W. The only friction points are the missing built-in magnets for MagSafe-style alignment and the still-USB-2.0 port.
OnePlus relies on a silicon-carbon-based battery with a large capacity of 7,500 mAh for its mini flagship — in our practical battery test at 150 cd/m² brightness, the 15T achieved an excellent battery life of nearly 1.5 days.
9to5Google's preview confirms the 7,500 mAh cell carries the same 'Glacier' moniker as the OnePlus 15's battery, so the silicon-carbon structure is here too — 200 mAh more than the larger sibling.
Even though the phone keeps the same compact size, it now packs a massive 7,500 mAh battery — to put that into perspective, the iPhone 17 Pro Max only has around 5,000 mAh, and this is a 6.32-inch phone.
Battery life is wild for a phone this size and is actually a hair bigger than the one in the OnePlus 15, which has a noticeably larger footprint.
100W SuperVOOC wired charging and 50W wireless mean even the huge cell refills fast — getting through two full days on a single charge feels totally realistic.
There is no native magnetic Qi alignment — wireless charging works, but accessories require a separate magnetic case for MagSafe-style snap-on functionality.
r/Android's reaction to the battery is unambiguous — 'Incredible battery life makes the compact smartphone competition pale in comparison' is the actual review-thread headline.
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.
