I tried to love the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but Samsung didn’t love me back

It’s difficult to dislike a phone that features a top-of-the-line chipset and a premium design, such as the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

I’ve been using it for eight months, and I don’t hate it. I’m sure it’s a smartphone many people are happy with, and if you’re used to Samsung’s ecosystem, you’ll feel right at home.

However, it’s not the device I expected for a $1,300 flagship phone. Samsung promised me a transformative AI experience, but so far, Galaxy AI isn’t living up to its lofty billing.

Many of the features I was sold on as reasons for upgrading either don’t work well or lack functionality.

I was willing to give Samsung the benefit of the doubt for a time, but the long-term report card on the Galaxy S25 Ultra isn’t flattering. Here’s why.

Galaxy AI got top billing

There wasn’t much else to upgrade for

Samsung didn’t overhaul the design of the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The phone’s looks have remained relatively static for four generations, with only slight refreshes distinguishing one model from the next.

It’s been a slow process, but Samsung managed to remove any soul the old Galaxy Note series had, replacing it with a device design that would offend the fewest number of people on carrier store shelves.

Unfortunately, the spec sheet isn’t that exciting either. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is undoubtedly impressive, but it’s been outstanding in several flagship devices this year, so that’s hardly a credit to Samsung.

I was expecting more RAM or a larger silicon-carbon battery, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra did not include either.

Samsung was content building a phone that would feel like a considerable upgrade for people coming from their Galaxy S22 Ultra, but that’s a hard sell when the company asks big money for its phones.

Instead of hardware upgrades, Samsung promised Galaxy AI wizardry, making the experience feel new, despite a familiar design and uninspiring hardware. I was ready to believe, but the result has been anything but impressive.

I’m still waiting for Now Brief

Galaxy AI has been a mixed bag

Samsung highlighted a few Galaxy AI features made possible by the Snapdragon 8 Elite (for Galaxy) chipset, but neither is particularly useful or exciting currently.

I was most excited about Now Brief, a kind of AI assistant that helps you through your day — or so I thought.

I envisioned Now Brief would be filled with helpful information, whether it was about my next meeting or about the weather for where I’d be later in the day or week.

The reality has been eight months of Now Brief giving me the generic weather for the day, along with a random news story — hardly the generative experience I was hoping for.

Recent updates have shown signs of life, with traffic updates and parking spot reminders added. However, I still need to be more proactive in how I want Galaxy AI to work on my Galaxy S25 Ultra.

The multimodal experience is a perfect example. I need to make sure my prompt is just right, explaining that I want information from a specific notes app to be transferred to my Google Calendar, rather than my Samsung Calendar.

The result isn’t intuitive, and if it takes longer for AI to do something than just doing it myself, what’s the point?

I’ve seen a better implementation

I gave Google a pass for coasting

I recently gave Google a pass for coasting with its design, but the company had a few other things going for it.

It was only Google’s second year using its current design for the Pixel 10. If the Pixel phones still look the same in another couple of years, I’ll have a bigger problem.

Google also increased the battery sizes in its lineup, offering some upgrades.

More importantly, Google’s vision for Gemini AI functionality is superior in both theory and practice to Samsung’s.

I’ve already enjoyed using Magic Cue far more than anything Galaxy AI-related on my Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Google’s vision for AI is in the background of the user experience, and when I mentioned to a friend in a text that we should plan something soon, a prompt for my calendar magically appeared, without me having to leave the app.

That’s the AI experience I want, but I’m just glad it’s working as intended. I’m a lot more forgiving of lackluster hardware if the promised software experience actually feels like an upgrade.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra isn’t a bad phone; it just needs something

If you purchased a Galaxy S25 Ultra as an upgrade from your Galaxy S22 Ultra, there’s no way you’re disappointed. The phone is snappy, and its display is the best I’ve seen on a Samsung device in a long time.

However, Samsung has plenty of work to do with Galaxy AI. If the company truly wants to make AI the selling point of its devices, I need an approach that feels like the features support what I’m already doing, rather than requiring me to figure out how to best use the tools I’m given.

AI has a place on smartphones, but it’s in the background — I hope Samsung figures it out.