Is it worth upgrading S23 Ultra to S25 Ultra?

[Steven P. Administrators]

I was pretty underwhelmed at the S25 Ultra reveal, there are things I like though:

• Overal a little smaller and thinner than S23 Ultra despite slightly larger screen (6.8" vs 6.9")
• 850+ nits peak brightness vs S23 Ultra

However that's pretty much it. I don't care for the selfie camera bump from 12 to 50MP, and I do not have WiFi 7 here to benefit from that upgrade.

There are things to dislike too, the S-Pen no longer has the bluetooth support (but the S-Pen from the S23 series will work exactly the same way in the S25 with full bluetooth support) which seems like a cash grab from Samsung to force people to buy the bluetooth supported pens. So a bunch of these plastic ones will end up in a landfill, great! /s

Reasons to buy or not buy

I think the only reason I would buy is if the main camera array is any better than the awful S23 ones. You only have to look at any of my reviews (good example here) to see there's a terrible bokeh effect when taking pics, it's really exaggerated and I am not even using Portrait mode! My fellow review colleague, Robbie Khan, told me he switched to the Pixel 9 Pro because of the poor camera array and lacklustre spec bump to S24 last year, and he is really happy with the cameras on that.

On top of that, I accidentally discovered while reviewing the Magic7 Pro for Neowin, that my linked wearable Galaxy Watch 6 Classic switches to the Bedtime mode toggle when not linked with a Samsung phone. Right now when linked to my S23 Ultra you have to tap modes, and then Sleep to toggle at night, but when it is linked with a non Samsung phone, you only have to click on the icon for Bedtime mode on the Watch!

Wondering if there are any people that can break down the differences with the main camera array, or link me a review that does a deep dive into it?

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

Phones have stagnated these days in my opinion, I think its got to the point where you don't really gain much by upgrading every couple of years.

I suspect you'd probably not notice all that much in day to day use going from the S23 to the S25, looking long in to the future the S26 or even S27 in all honestly would probably be a more noticeable upgrade when the time comes.

Perhaps if Samsung let you keep a review copy it would be rude not to, otherwise I question do you really need to upgrade?

Camera wise DXOMARK rate the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL camera second in their global Smartphone camera rankings, so if the camera is the key decider then it might well be worth going with a Pixel, even the Cameras on older Pixel devices just constantly take great photos in my opinion. Samsung's and Google's take on Android is quite different, so that's something to keep in mind.

Might be worth having a read of the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL Camera test on DXOMARK, they are currently working on testing the S25 series, so you should soon be able to see how the two phones compare camera wise.

[stevember]

I feel exactly the same way.

I'm sat with S22 Ultra and I'm still not convinced that it is really an upgrade.

I use my phone for a lot of videos, photographs social media and my work. And right now it's still doing everything I need it to do.

On balance, I think I will upgrade but what a shame it's taken three generations and I'm still underwhelmed.

PS this was a me to post I know it did not help answer your original question.

[Steffan]

Personally, I would hold on to them until Samsung is no longer updating the devices. Both the S22 and S23 receive updates for 5 years (4 major OS and 1 year of security) from their release date. Hopefully by then either Samsung or someone else will make it worth replacing it.

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 27/01/2025 at 16:27, InsaneNutter said:

Camera wise DXOMARK rate the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL camera second in their global Smartphone camera rankings, so if the camera is the key decider then it might well be worth going with a Pixel, even the Cameras on older Pixel devices just constantly take great photos in my opinion. Samsung's and Google's take on Android is quite different, so that's something to keep in mind.

Might be worth having a read of the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL Camera test on DXOMARK, they are currently working on testing the S25 series, so you should soon be able to see how the two phones compare camera wise.

Thanks for this, really helpful! I was not surprised to see the S23 Ultra far down the list in 35th place, four places below the 2021 released iPhone 13 Pro!

As I do quite a few reviews, I might go with the Google Pixel 9 Pro if I can get it subsidized with my two year renewal (March 2025) but I wanted to stay in the Samsung eco system since I have a Samsung Watch and have just ordered a Galaxy Ring.

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

Bear in mind DXO is just one metric - The real world possibility of the camera is often far greater.

I watched the reveal live and some of the camera stuff is better now like LOG recording, but you can get immense results from past and present phones too if leveraging apps like MotionCam Pro or Blackmagic Camera - I used the latter on my Pixel 9 Pro XL recently to film an indoor gig in low light and the results are pretty substantial vs any stock camera app on any phone available:

 

For photos though the Pixel camera app just wipes the floor with everything else in any lighting condition thanks to the wide dynamic range that HDR+ seems to capture without blurring moving subjects and stuff:

What I have learned having owned the S24 Ultra and now on Pixel is that the Pixel camera is just more versatile whilst the Galaxy camera app tries to do too much whilst forgetting what is important, just do great computational photography and have no shutter lag.

Personally I did not see anything remarkable enough with the S25 series to tempt me back to Samsung. They have not even updated to faster charging speeds, and whilst the wireless charging has increased to 25W, the number of 25W charging pad options out there to buy is super limited. You could buy one of the Chinese brand 50W wireless chargers but then you play the lottery on if it might work or not I guess.

 

[Steffan]

Thanks for the great info. I'll have to do more research like this before purchasing my next phone.

[WITHOUT-ME]

no

[tsupersonic]

If you have to convince yourself or even ask if it's worth upgrading, then the answer is no. 

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

When does your existing Samsung S23 Ultra stop receiving security updates from Samsung?  That might be something you wish to factor into your decision matrix.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 27/01/2025 at 21:56, goretsky said:

Hello,

When does your existing Samsung S23 Ultra stop receiving security updates from Samsung?  That might be something you wish to factor into your decision matrix.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

AFAIK 5 years total, so another 3 years of support!!!

My motivation for upgrading is for better main camera, since I use it a lot for reviews.

It may not seem like a lot but I have 209GB of 256GB used (mostly taken up from taking images for reviews) in the past two years!!!

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

Does your existing model or the new one have a Micro SDXC card slot?  That has always been a hard requirement for me when upgrading a phone, since I also use mine as an MP3 player and carry my complete collection (~135 GB MB) with me.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

Edited January 31, 2025 by goretsky
fixed a typo

[tsupersonic]

On 28/01/2025 at 20:42, goretsky said:

Hello,

Does your existing model or the new one have a Micro SDXC card slot?  That has always been a hard requirement for me when upgrading a phone, since I also use mine as an MP3 player and carry my complete collection (~135 MB) with me.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

135 Megabytes? What is that mp3 for ants? 😛 To answer your question - the old and new ones don't have microSDXC slots. I think the last Samsung flagship that had a microSD slot was the S20 series 

[mayop]

On 28/01/2025 at 19:42, goretsky said:

Hello,

Does your existing model or the new one have a Micro SDXC card slot?  That has always been a hard requirement for me when upgrading a phone, since I also use mine as an MP3 player and carry my complete collection (~135 MB) with me.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

The last Galaxy S series to have a micro sd slot was the S20.

[Sirtuin]

AFAIK Samsung hasn't upgraded the main camera since S21 (Ultra), and S25 isn't going to bring much new in that - or other sense.

I'm a happy with my S23U and I think the camera system is very versitale, but the main camera isn't basically any better than the previus Oneplus 8 Pro with gcam port.

Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi flagships with 1" main sensors and good camera systems accross the board, would probably be a real upgrade, though that would yeild even bigger bokeh, which could be problem for product photos. I'm also really not fan of their software.  

[Steven P. Administrators]

Think I will just keep hold of the Honor Magic7 Pro that I recently reviewed. The camera system is better, although I am waiting on some comparison reviews to drop. 

[Stuman]

I have an S24 Ultra and the specs for the S25 ultra are almost the same. I will happily save some money and wait for the S26.

 

[goretsky Supervisor]

On 28/01/2025 at 19:13, tsupersonic said:

135 Megabytes? What is that mp3 for ants? 😛 To answer your question - the old and new ones don't have microSDXC slots. I think the last Samsung flagship that had a microSD slot was the S20 series 

Hello,

Oops, that was a mistake on my part.  I meant about 135 gigabytes.  I have gone ahead and edited my post.  Thank you for catching that.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

[_neutrino Veteran]

Personally, I went from a Fold5 to the S25 Ultra. I just can't do the fold anymore the inner screen is too fragile, I noticed I rarely open it anyway, and the outer screen aspect ratio is a nightmare. Spec wise it would be the equivalent of going from an S22 to a S25 I believe so it's a decent bump for me. Prior to the fold series (I had the Fold 1 -5 I was on the Note line of phones so that's why I went back to the Ultra (I like the stylus)

[Sem XL]

im swapping my S23 Ultra for an S25 Ultra and its due to be delivered this weekend

now performance and feature wise the S23 Ultra is fine for me i could continue to use this phone for another year or two no problem

but... the main reason im changing is i really dislike the curved edges on screen i like the fact that the S25 has a totally flat screen and its slightly bigger

 i spend alot of time on the london underground going to work and thats when i watch most of my TV shows and the glare and low brightness makes it hard to watch some shows with dark scenes im hoping the new improved anti-glare and higher brightness will help with that

also using Samsung's great trade in price and voucher codes im only paying £800 to upgrade to the 1TB model and i plan to keep it till the S27 or so

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

I know this thread is almost a year old.. but I've not seen it til now. 😇 I've been in a similar situation, sorta.

I've got a S22 Ultra, had it since new. I used to upgrade my phone every couple of years, but everything I see and listen to about the S23, S24, S25 etc, There's literally nothing obvious to me that makes me think "wow.. I need that". In fact, some things even seem like a downgrade (S-Pen not having Bluetooth anymore for example).

I dunno. I've had this phone for a really long time, but the battery is still good, the specs are still good and it's still getting One UI 8 updates (albeit a little behind the newer models). The only thing I don't like about it is the curved edges of the screen, but that was cool in 2022. 😅

[Steven P. Administrators]

According to AccuBattery mine is at 85% health, which kind of makes sense because it is always on a wireless charger cradle here, so that 5000mAh has gone down to around 4250mAh capacity. Mind you I have not calibrated the battery for ages either.

In a way I'm not bothered because the battery started bulging in every other Samsung phone I've had after around two years, and I am up to almost three years with my S23 Ultra thanks to the new "battery protection" built into Android!

[satukoro]

On 14/12/2025 at 04:21, jamesyfx said:

I know this thread is almost a year old.. but I've not seen it til now. 😇 I've been in a similar situation, sorta.

I've got a S22 Ultra, had it since new. I used to upgrade my phone every couple of years, but everything I see and listen to about the S23, S24, S25 etc, There's literally nothing obvious to me that makes me think "wow.. I need that". In fact, some things even seem like a downgrade (S-Pen not having Bluetooth anymore for example).

I dunno. I've had this phone for a really long time, but the battery is still good, the specs are still good and it's still getting One UI 8 updates (albeit a little behind the newer models). The only thing I don't like about it is the curved edges of the screen, but that was cool in 2022. 😅

I am going to pick up a galaxy z fold 7 today to replace my S24 ultra. i will miss my S pen but i admittedly do not use it as much as i thought i would.

i hear it has a pretty similar camera cluster which i should be happy with as Ive done some light professional photography as a backup for my fiance's much nicer camera set up with my ultra and i was pleasantly surprised at how nice everything came out.