Samsung is using Corning's new Gorilla Armor 2 glass on the S25 Ultra, which it says is 29% more resistant to breakage than the original Gorilla Armor on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Interestingly, Samsung says the S24 requires 60% fewer screen repairs compared to the S23 series, which could mean the S25 is more durable.

The phones are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which has debuted in phones like the Honor Magic 7 Pro and OnePlus 13. all Samsung Galaxy S25 series mobile phones are launched globally, which is different from previous years when Samsung chose its own Exynos chips in some markets. Samsung claims that compared to the S24 series, the chip's CPU is improved by 37%, graphics performance is improved by 30%, and the neural processing unit is improved by 40%.

Samsung and Qualcomm worked together to optimize the chip, and this close collaboration enabled new features such as ProScaler. On the S25 Ultra and S25+, this feature enlarges the image on the screen to match the display resolution. Say you're browsing Instagram and someone uploads a 1,080p image - it will be upgraded to QHD+.

All three products have larger vapor chamber cooling systems, a key component in preventing the phone from overheating during intense gaming sessions, with the S25 Ultra's vapor chamber being 40% larger. Samsung also says a new "custom thermal interface material" is used on top of the chip that allows for zero air gaps, delivering heat from the processor directly to the vapor chamber cooling system to improve performance and reduce stress on the battery.

Arguably the most disappointing part of the hardware story is the lack of support for Qi2 charging. This is a new version of the Qi wireless charging standard that borrows many features from Apple's MagSafe charging system. It embeds magnets into the phone, allowing users to magnetically connect the phone to a Qi2 charger for more efficient and faster wireless charging, plus the convenience of magnetic accessories to enhance the phone's functionality. I expected to see several Qi2 Android phones in 2024, but all we got was HMD's Skyline. Now, the Galaxy S25 series is classified as "Qi2 ready," a move that will make things even more confusing.

This is a new category for mobile phones accustomed to Have built-in magnets, but will come with official and third-party Qi2 cases with magnets inside, essentially giving a similar (if not the same) magnetic experience as a proper Qi2 device. Until now, Android users who wanted the MagSafe utility had to rely on these cases, so Qi2 is sadly still not a native part of these brand new phones.

Camera specs are largely the same as before, with the exception of the ultra-wide-angle lens on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which now comes with 50 megapixels instead of 12 megapixels. Samsung says this in turn improves the quality of macro photos. There are some more interesting variations on image processing algorithms. Samsung's next-generation ProVisual engine uses a "spatial-temporal filter" to distinguish between moving and stationary objects to ensure that the subject of the photo is not blurred when taking photos in low-light conditions. Dual Analysis Noise Removal analyzes each pixel for noise, looks at the eight pixels around it, and removes the noise to clean up the image.