Samsung Galaxy S25 Review – Compact Flagship Phone with Big AI Performance

Where current smartphone designs are veering towards larger displays and bigger form factors, the Samsung Galaxy S25 is a different beast altogether. Where its siblings the Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 Ultra pack large screens, the base Galaxy S25 keeps its dimensions compact and svelte, making it one of the few compact flagship smartphones available in the market.

We previously shared our first impressions of the Galaxy S25 in our feature here. After putting it through its paces, here’s our Samsung Galaxy S25 review where we share if their smallest, most affordable flagship phone is worth your money.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Review – Performance and Benchmarks

To recap, the Samsung Galaxy S25 has a similar design language as the prior Galaxy S24 from last year save for thicker camera rings for the rear triple camera array as well as a chassis that is 5g lighter and 0.4mm thinner. Our Galaxy S25 review sample retains the use of tough Gorilla Glass Victus 2 glass on the display and still uses second generation Armor Aluminium for the chassis. The phone also retains a robust IP68 dust and water resistance rating.

The triple camera array on the rear, the single 12MP selfie camera  along with the 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display up front are identical to the prior Galaxy S24. The battery itself also has a similar 4,000mAh battery capacity with the same 25W wired charging speeds, 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging as the older Galaxy S24. While not immediately obvious, the updated chipset also enables the phone to support the latest fast WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity.

The key upgrade is the use of the new Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor paired with a 15% larger vapour chamber, a standardised 12GB LPDDR5X RAM as standard and your choice of either 256GB or 512GB of storage. Here’s how the specifications of our Samsung Galaxy S25 review unit stacks up on paper:

 

Price	256GB (RM3,999), 512GB (RM4,599)
Display	6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, 1080 x 2340 pixels, 2600 nits peak brightness, 120Hz refresh rate
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy
OS	Android 15 w/ One UI 7
Memory	12GB LPDDR5X RAM/ 256GB or 512GB storage
Cameras	50MP F/1.8 w/ OIS + 10MP F/2.4 w/ 3x optical zoom and OIS + 12MP F/2.2 ultra wide angle camera [rear] / 12MP F/2.2 [front]
Battery	4,000mAh w/ 25W wired charging, 15W wireless charging, reverse wireless charging
Size/Weight	146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2mm / 162g

Hardware aside, the Samsung Galaxy S25 runs the latest Android 15 under the hood paired with Samsung’s own One UI 7 that adds in new AI features. The current RAM Plus virtual RAM feature is still present along with DeX mode, with the phone having the same powerful Galaxy AI features as its larger siblings the Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 Ultra. You also get a guaranteed seven years of OS and security updates which are currently the best in the market.

With the maximum of 8GB RAM Plus virtual RAM, our Galaxy S25 review unit scored the following benchmarks.

 

3D Mark Steel Nomad Light	2,473
3D Mark Steel Nomad Light Unlimited	2,003
3D Mark Solar Bay	10,512
3D Mark Solar Bay Unlimited	11,242
3D Mark WildLife Extreme	6,515
3D Mark WildLife Extreme Unlimited	5,756
Geekbench 6 Single Core	2,737
Geekbench 6 Multi Core	9,828
Geekbench 6 OpenCL	16,890
Geekbench 6 Vulkan	23,927
Geekbench AI (CPU quanticised)	4,472
Geekbench AI (GPU quanticised)	1,887
PCMark Work 3.0 Performance	20,742
PCMark Battery Life	15 hours 53 mins

In terms of overall performance, the Galaxy S25 review does not disappoint with benchmarks that befit a flagship phone in 2025 with excellent single, multicore and graphics performance scores that also closely match that of the larger Galaxy S25+ on account of having an identical chipset and a similarly sized vapour chamber. The larger Galaxy S25 Ultra has a much larger vapour chamber which slightly alters the results.

When subjected to the 3D Mark Steel Nomad Stress test, our Galaxy S25 review unit acquits itself surprisingly well with an 2,053 high loop score and 1,156 lowest loop score with a 56.3% stability percentage with heat kept to between 37°C to 46°C which means that it runs hotter than the Galaxy S25+ that we recently tested, presumably because its smaller size also means less available surface area on the chassis to shunt heat away via induction.

In terms of practical day to day performance, the Galaxy S25 is able to tackle everything thrown at it from heavy gaming to demanding video editing tasks on CapCut though it does get noticeably warm with extended use or demanding tasks.

The 6.2-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on our Galaxy S25+ review sample pushes less pixels than the Plus and Ultra models which also contributes to better battery life but still looks crisp with vibrant colour rendition and excellent visibility under direct sunlight.

In PC Mark’s battery life test, it garnered a decent 15 hours and 53 minutes which surprisingly matches that of the Galaxy S25 Ultra with its bigger battery. Unfortunately, charging speeds haven’t been altered and you get 25W of wired charging which is the slowest in the Galaxy S25 series with the Plus and Ultra models getting 45W wired charging. From dead zero, the Galaxy S25 still needs close to an hour and 30 minutes to charge.

Given these synthetic benchmarks, practical field tests revealed surprisingly good endurance. Battery life on our Galaxy S25 review sample under actual usage conditions is exceptional despite retaining the same 4,000mAh battery as its predecessor with a comfortable full day of heavy usage and close to two days if you’re a light user on account of its smaller display which means less pixels to push along with the efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Review – Cameras

The Galaxy S25 has a camera setup that is similar to that used in the older Galaxy S24 and which is also similar to that used in the Galaxy S25+.

In essence, you get a triple camera array which consists of a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with OIS and Dual Pixel autofocus, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra wide angle camera and a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto camera with OIS and 3x optical zoom. Combined, the rear camera array can capture up to 8K@30fps video with up to 5X zoom or a more practical 4K@60fps with up to 12x zoom while stills have up to 30x digital zoom and 3x lossless zoom. The front 12MP f/2.2 camera offers mugshots and up to 4K@60fps video. 

Of note this time around is the inclusion of a Spatio-Temporal filter for sharper images and better low light performance, a Smooth Zoom mode when recording video so that you can zoom in a judder-free fashion for a more professional look, the ability to record Log video for content creators and beefed up Generative Edit feature using AI to remove or tweak images to taste as well as a new Audio Eraser that also uses AI to remove selected sounds from a track.

Overall performance is comparable to that of the Galaxy S25+ that we reviewed as it has an identical camera setup, with the Galaxy S25 serving up excellent shots that have good detail and colour rendition on the primary camera array all the way to 3X zoom in daylight conditions with Instagram-worthy shots out to 10x zoom with 30x zoomed in shots offering fair clarity for bragging rights. 

Low light shots have some slight improvements over the older Galaxy S24 due to the Spatio-Temporal filter and improved ISP to eke out more detail from shadows and better dynamic range though best results are achieved if you stick to under 3x zoom. 

Video results are similar to the Galaxy S25+ with excellent colour rendition and detail in 4K@60fps though 8K@30fps is indeed possible if somewhat impractical to edit. Content creators will appreciate its ability to capture footage in Log and the new Audio Eraser feature.

While it enjoys marginal updates, the cameras on the Galaxy S25 are still a solid, highly capable setup for all but the most finicky content creators and can deliver sterling results for casual users. You can also check out our Galaxy S25+ review for more shots.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S25?

The svelte Samsung Galaxy S25 remains in a unique niche of its own as one of the few compact flagship phones in the market. While it doesn’t get major hardware upgrades, it has it where it counts.

You get a lighter, slightly slimmer yet equally durable chassis with an excellent display, a top notch custom processor, a generous 12GB RAM, a solid camera array and a bevy of new Galaxy AI features that round out what is otherwise one of best compact flagship phones money can currently buy.

If you need a larger display and are content with the Galaxy S25’s camera array, the Galaxy S25+ has faster 45W charging speeds, a bigger touchscreen up front and a larger battery for a bit more money though if you want the best that Samsung has to offer, you’ll still need to acquire the Galaxy S25 Ultra which costs a pretty penny.

Samsung Galaxy S25 review unit courtesy of Samsung Malaysia. For more details please visit https://www.samsung.com/my/smartphones/galaxy-s25/buy/