At Amazon, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is on sale for $800, a $200 discount from its retail price.
The “middle child” often gets a bad rap, but the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus<!–>, which sits right between the smaller S25 and more-capable S25 Ultra, flips the script. Because after just a few days of use, it’s quickly become my favorite model of the three.
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Part of the reason is less to do with the S25 Plus and more with the larger, square-shaped Ultra model that I tested first. Even with my larger-than-average hands, I wouldn’t exactly call the S25 Ultra’s design burdenless; the corners still dig into your palms with extended use, and reaching for certain corners of the screen – for checkboxes, menu buttons, etc. – requires a level of finger gymnastics that no other phone prepares you for.
On the other hand, the S25 Plus, with its rounded edges and slimmer profile, is much less jarring – and the new Navy color gives it a charm that not even the Ultra can match. When I first held my S25 Plus review unit a few months ago, my first thought was, “If this model already feels this thin, how much thinner is the new Edge?” That’s a compliment to both devices.
But there’s more to it than fit and finish. After all, if a compact design is what you’re after, the standard Galaxy S25–> is just as considerable. For $200 more than the S25 and $300 less than the Ultra, the S25 Plus strikes the best balance of form and function.
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Some key distinctions make the S25 Plus model a significant step up over the standard S25, from double the base storage (256GB versus 128GB) to a much larger battery (4,900mAh versus 4,000mAh) to the QHD+ display (versus FHD). The larger battery, with only a slight differential in thickness and an extra telephoto lens, also gives the S25 Plus a leg up over the S25 Edge, in my opinion.
The higher-resolution display allows the S25 Plus to support Samsung’s new ProScaler feature, which automatically upscales lower-resolution content so that it appears sharper and crisper. When I compared the S25 Plus with ProScaler to the S25 without it, the latter device lacked a level of clarity.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus (right) has the same resolution, peak brightness, and ProScaler feature as the S25 Ultra (left).
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
Then there’s the feature parity between the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra – which, again, costs $300 more. If you went into this comparison blindly, you would expect the Ultra model to have a better processor, camera system, software features, and charging capabilities. Only one of the items on that list is different.
The S25 Plus has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, suite of Galaxy AI tools, and identical wired and wireless charging speeds (45W and 15W, respectively) as the S25 Ultra, but it doesn’t have the same 200-megapixel-led camera system. But that’s okay.
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The versatility of the S25 Plus’ triple camera system, which includes a 10MP telephoto with 3x zoom, is more than enough for most users, including myself. A lot of what makes modern-day smartphone cameras so good has to do with the computational processes that run in the background. Also, there’s not much difference between the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, which is great.
Two exceptions to camera output are if you’re very passionate about macro photography, which the S25 Ultra’s new 50MP ultrawide lens excels at, and capturing a less-than-optimal shot of the Statue of Liberty from across the borough. For almost every other use case, the S25 Plus will serve you well.
The S25 Plus (left) is almost just as thin as the S25 Edge (right) but has many more features for less money.
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
My argument is made easier with Samsung nerfing this year’s S Pen functionality, reducing the S25 Ultra’s exclusive accessory to a mere touchscreen stylus and nothing more. If you don’t see yourself needing the precision inputs of the stylus, then the hardware difference is negligible.
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To be clear, this isn’t a knock on the S25 Ultra; that model will almost surely be at the top of our best phones rankings until the end of this year. But it’s easy to ignore the S25 Plus when the standard S25 and S25 Ultra cover both ends of the flagship spectrum so well, and you may be wondering if it’s better to fork up the extra $300 if you’re already spending $1,000 on a new Samsung phone.
But a closer look at how all the specifications fare should suggest that maybe — just maybe — being the boring middle child may not always be a bad thing.
The recent US tariffs on imports from countries like China, Vietnam, and India aim to boost domestic manufacturing but are likely to drive up prices on consumer electronics. Products like smartphones, laptops, and TVs may become more expensive as companies rethink global supply chains and weigh the cost of shifting production.
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Smartphones are among the most affected by the new US tariffs, with devices imported from China and Vietnam facing steep duties that could raise retail prices by 20% or more. Brands like Apple and Google, which rely heavily on Asian manufacturing, may either pass these costs on to consumers or absorb them at the expense of profit margins.
The tariffs could also lead to delays in product launches or shifts in where and how phones are made, forcing companies to diversify production to countries with more favorable trade conditions.
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This article was originally published on January 28, 2025, and was updated on June 25, 2025.
Source: Robotics - zdnet.com
