Samsung Galaxy S25 release date, price and specs: Everything you need to know

Samsung is still the biggest global name in Android smartphones and for good reason. The Korean firm produces scores of new devices every year, from the affordable Galaxy A series right up to the pricey foldable Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip series.

But the Samsung phones that get the most attention are the Galaxy S series, the premium high-end range that impresses each year with its great design, capable cameras and excellent screens.

The Galaxy S24 series was the best yet, with the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and superlative S24 Ultra. The Ultra was one of Express.co.uk’s favourite phones of 2024 – and ever – thanks to its kitchen sink approach to mobile tech. It can do everything, from the superb two-day battery life to the anti-reflective coating on the pin-sharp display and inclusion of the S Pen stylus for drawing, writing notes and signing documents.

Rumours and leaks have piled up over the past few months for the sequel to the S24, the Samsung Galaxy S25 series. It looks as though those phones are about to be announced, so we’ve rounded up all the latest news and chatter about the devices before their alleged impending launch.

All signs point to Samsung announcing the Galaxy S25 series this month, January 2025. This has been reported in Korean media, but lines up with Samsung’s release cycle over the past few years, when it has held one of its Unpacked events to announce the S series in either January or February.

Samsung itself confirmed in November on an earnings call that it would release a new phone series with the S25 name at some point “in the first half” of this year.

Here’s when the last few Galaxy S phone ranges were announced:

• Galaxy S24: 17 January 2024
• Galaxy S23: 17 February 2023
• Galaxy S22: 9 February 2022
• Galaxy S21: 14 January 2021

Financial News reported the S25 will be launched at an Unpacked event in the US on Wednesday 22 January 2025. Samsung has not yet confirmed this date, but it seems increasingly likely we’ll get the full lowdown on the new phones on that day.

If this happens, the phones will likely go up for pre-order around that time before going on full sale one or two weeks after being announced.

Another early launch for Samsung would continue the company’s preference of being one of the first major premium Android smartphone releases of the calendar year. One of Samsung’s main competitors, the iPhone, is usually unveiled much later in the year in September.

Price rumours for the Galaxy S25 are hard to come by. One of the only indications we have is a report that suggests Samsung will keep the pricing exactly the same as the S24 range:

• Galaxy S24: £799
• Galaxy S24 Plus: £999
• Galaxy S24 Ultra: £1,249

If the base Galaxy S25 remains at £799, that will be a competitive price. The iPhone 16 also costs £799, and Samsung devices often see healthy discounts throughout the year.

But the £1,249 sticker price for the S24 Ultra is particularly high, and we would appreciate Samsung cutting the cost of the S25 Ultra. But this seems unlikely given the S25 Plus could start from £999. These prices would also be for the lowest storage tier, with additional storage options costing more.

The Galaxy S25 is likely to look very similar to the Galaxy S24, which was fairly indistinguishable from the S23. This is the way of phone design in 2025, with manufacturers generally unable, or unwilling, to drastically change the looks of their devices year over year as was common a decade ago.

As seen in images posted online by case maker Dbrand, who is already selling protective skins for the S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, the S25 and S25 Plus have triple cameras slightly larger in size than on the S24 but otherwise retain the curved edge plain rear design.

The S25 Ultra is shown with similarly larger quadruple lenses on the back but also has rounded corners, different to the sharp and boxy S24 Ultra.

These images back up previous leaks that show the S25 Ultra with curved edges as well as rounded corners on the display.

The cynic in us feels these minor changes could be introduced to make it seem as though there are significant changes from the S24 Ultra, but in reality the two smartphones will be very alike.

Before we delve into specifics, one unconfirmed but persistent rumour is that Samsung will introduce a fourth S25 phone in the form of a ‘slim’ edition. If accurate, we might get the S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, plus an S25 Slim with an updated, more svelte design.

Details are foggy, but we would expect such a device to have a higher price tag than the regular model, instead closer to the £1,249 of the S24 Ultra but with less capable cameras. Quite why Samsung feels the need to do this is unclear, but last year it penned a weird open letter to stakeholders and customers apologising for perceived poor business performance. The company might want to flex its design muscles and prove it can be exciting and innovative.

Aside from the slim rumours, the Galaxy S25 series is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that was revealed back in October 2024. For the past few years Samsung has opted to use the latest high-end Snapdragon processor for its Galaxy S series in the US and many other regions.

But UK Samsung phones have been a different story. Though generally the S Ultra phone has had the Qualcomm chip, the S24 and S24 Plus, like the S23 and S23 Plus before, have had Samsung’s own Exynos chips when bought in Britain. It remains unclear why Samsung opts to do this, but it could be a cost-cutting measure. Benchmarks and feedback from reviewers and users tends to conclude that the Exynos chip is not as good as the Snapdragon equivalent, with fall offs in performance and battery life.

Recent reports suggest Samsung might have changed its mind though, with all three S25 models potentially running the Snapdragon 8 Elite globally. This would please die hard Samsung fans, though admittedly many buyers worldwide won’t be too fussed.

A blog from a prominent leaker claims the regular Galaxy S25’s screen will increase in size over the S24 from 6.2-inches to 6.36-inches.

The Plus will be larger, hence the name, and the S25 Ultra is likely to continue to be as pocket-busting as the 6.8-inch S24 Ultra.

Leaker Ice Universe has also described the feel of the S25 Ultra in the hand as “completely different” from its predecessor, saying Samsung has managed to make the display a little wider while also making the body of the phone physically narrower.

The S25 Ultra’s quad camera set up is set to include upgrades including a 200MP Samsung HP2 main camera, a 50MP Samsung JN3 ultra-wide-angle lens, a 50MP telephoto 5x lens and a 10MP telephoto 3x sensor, according to 91Mobiles.

The S24 Ultra made the step up to a 200MP main camera sensor for the first time in a Samsung phone, but the upgrade to a 50MP ultra-wide on the S25 Ultra could bring significant improvements. Ultra-wide lenses are on most phones, but they aren’t usually very good.

We might also see changes to the telephoto lenses. Unlike most phones, the Ultra tends to have two separate optical telephoto zooms – on the S23 Ultra there was a 3x and 10x, which was changed to a 3x and 5x on the S24 Ultra, but results were largely similar. Though the above rumour suggests Samsung will stick with 3x and 5x, Samsung could have some tricks up its sleeve.

One thing the firm is certain to do is big up new and existing AI features for the Galaxy S25 series after launching its Galaxy AI tools with the S24 in 2024. Those phones saw the debut of Circle to Search, the Google search feature where you can circle with your finger anything on any screen to search it, and since then Samsung has added a lot of Samsung-exclusive AI tools including ways to proofread, summarise and rewrite emails, or make edits to photos including removing unwanted objects or people.

We’re not sold on all this AI cruft, but you might have a genuine use for it.

A final solid rumour is that the S25 series will be the first Samsung phones to support automatic car crash detection. To date, only recent Google Pixel and iPhone models work with this potentially life-saving feature that can detect if you’ve been in a car crash and automatically inform emergency services and include your location.

It’s small quality of life upgrades like this that we’d welcome over another AI emoji maker.

Either way, we’re looking forward to seeing what Samsung has to offer with the new S25 series. We’ll bring you all the latest when the phones are announced.