Samsung Galaxy S25 series rumors and leaks: Everything we know so far

Update: November 14, 2024 (5:16 PM ET): We’ve updated our Galaxy S25 series rumor hub with a rumor about the launch date and processor.

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series launched in the middle of January 2024, arriving a little earlier in the year than the last couple of generations. Along with it, the company introduced Galaxy AI, a titanium frame, new camera tricks, and a number of other features. But now that the Galaxy S24 launch has come and gone, it is time to start thinking about the next iteration in the series. How will the Galaxy S25 series set itself apart from its predecessor? What new features will Samsung come up with for the next generation? Will 2025 finally be the year we see a major shift in the Galaxy S design philosophy? Here, we’ll break down everything we know so far about the Galaxy S25.

Will there be a Samsung Galaxy S25?

Samsung releases a new Galaxy S series phone on an annual cadence, and there’s no reason to believe it will stop at the Galaxy S24. But if that’s not enough to convince you, there have already been plenty of leaks and rumors about the incoming family of handsets that we’ll get into later on. Obviously, nothing is official until Samsung announces it. The company could always suddenly decide to shut down development, but that is extremely unlikely given how profitable its smartphones are. We would say it’s less of a question of whether Samsung will release a Galaxy S25 and more of a question of when it will launch in 2025.

To help bolster our confidence, we recently spotted a leaked codename for the Galaxy S25 series: “paradigm.” This adds fuel to the fire that we’re expecting the Galaxy S25 series to land on schedule.

Further, at the Samsung Developer Conference in October 2024, Samsung mentioned that the stable version of One UI 7 will be released “next year with the new Galaxy.”

While this does not explicitly mention the Galaxy S25, Samsung historically releases some form of software update whenever it launches a new flagship. Given the history of the lineup, the first flagship expected in early 2025 is the Galaxy S25 series.

So yes, there will very likely be a Galaxy S25.

What is the most likely Samsung Galaxy S25 release date?

• Galaxy S22 — February 9, 2022
• Galaxy S23 — February 17, 2023
• Galaxy S24 — January 31, 2024

The Galaxy S24 lineup launched in January, and although we are approaching a year since its release, there’s not a whole lot of concrete information on the release date of the next generation. As such, Samsung could announce the launch date in the coming weeks, but for now, they have remained silent.

We can join some dots, though, thanks to One UI 7’s release date. Public betas for One UI 7 are expected before the end of 2024 for the Galaxy S24 series. Samsung also officially mentioned that One UI 7 stable will launch in 2025 along with the next Galaxy. Presuming that Samsung doesn’t intend to run the One UI 7 beta program for several months, it indicates that we’ll likely see the Galaxy S25 in the early parts of the year.

This is corroborated by the fact that the South Korea-based firm usually launches its Galaxy S phones near the beginning of the year. For the last three years, the release date has fallen in the months of January and February. We assume Samsung will keep the same cadence for the Galaxy S25. Unfortunately, we’ll need to wait to find out the exact date.

However, a rumor posted by leaker Abhishek Yadav suggests that Samsung is planning a launch on January 5, 2025. Yadav points to a description in a survey to corroborate this claim. However, we’ll take this rumor with a grain of salt as something like this could be easily faked.

A conflicting leak from multiple tipsters suggests that Samsung will hold its launch event on January 23, 2025. They also add that the event will be located in San Francisco and the rumored Slim variant could make a surprise appearance.

What rumored specs and features could the Samsung Galaxy S25 have?

Even before the Galaxy S24 launched in January 2024, we were hearing rumors about the Galaxy S25. Now that it has been a while since the release of 2024’s Galaxy phones, the rumor mill for next year’s phones has picked up a lot of steam. These rumors and leaks span the gamut from the SoC to the design and more. Let’s take a moment to break down all of the available information.

Galaxy S25 models

It stands to reason that the Galaxy S25 series will consist of the Galaxy S25, the Galaxy S25 Plus, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra. After all, Samsung has used this naming convention since the Galaxy S20 series.

Tipster Yogesh Brar made a rather interesting claim on August 16, though. The leaker claimed that Samsung could be thinking about a name change for the Plus and Ultra models. More specifically, Brar asserted that the Galaxy S25 Ultra could become the Galaxy S25 Note, while the S25 Plus could become the S25 Pro.

We’ve previously seen Apple offer the iPhone 15 Pro, which has more features than the iPhone 15 Plus. So we’re guessing an S25 Pro could be a more feature-packed offering than an S25 Plus. But this is just a rumor for now, so you shouldn’t hold your breath for this change.

There have been mumblings of a fourth Galaxy S25 model, however. Recently a device with the model number SM-S937 appeared in the GSMA IMEI database. It’s believed that this fourth model could be a Galaxy S25 Slim, which may take inspiration from the Galaxy Z Fold 6 SE. But as of now, we’re still believing that there will be vanilla, Plus, and Ultra models in the Galaxy S25 lineup.

Design

The design of the Galaxy S series has hardly changed in the last few generations. That’s why we were excited when leaker Revegnus said that Ilhwan Lee, a former Mercedes-Benz designer, has been tasked with making the Galaxy brand feel “fresh” and that design changes are expected.

Despite this news, in September, reliable tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer (aka OnLeaks) shared a look at what the Galaxy S25 Ultra could look like, and…it’s very similar to the past three years. The renders disclosed by the leaker do showcase a slightly new design that more resembles Sony’s Xperia flagships, but it’s hardly an overhaul:

The device appears to have flat sides and rounded corners, and Samsung’s signature camera setup is on the back.

We’ve also seen dummy leaks of the Galaxy S25 Ultra by leaker xleaks7 that corroborate the phone’s rounded corners.

The dummy phone looks as large as ever in the hands, with the unit measuring 162.82 x 77.65 x 8.25 mm, making it slightly taller, narrower, and thinner than its predecessor’s 162.3 x 79 x 8.6 mm dimensions.

We’ve also seen a clear case leak for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which shows the S Pen location near the bottom right edge of the device.

Tipster Ice Universe initially claimed that we may still see some changes to the texture of the camera setup shown in the leaked renders but then backtracked on those changes. Do note that details like the camera lens housing can be changed fairly easily late in the development stage.

Meanwhile, more leaks from Hemmertoffer and Android Headlines have given us possible glimpses into the designs of the standard Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus models.

As per the leaks, the standard S25 appears to be getting a size reduction across the board compared to its predecessor, the S24. The rumored dimensions are 146.9 x 70.4 x 7.2mm, which is noticeably smaller than the S24’s 147 x 70.6 x 7.6mm dimensions. Interestingly, this shrinkage doesn’t seem to impact the display size, which is expected to remain around 6.17 inches and likely marketed as 6.2 inches.

There are a couple of other noteworthy tweaks. The camera setup is now rumored to feature rings around the lenses, similar to what we’ve seen in leaked renders of the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Additionally, the bezels appear to be getting slimmer, while the flat sides are here to stay for another year. We can expect the Galaxy S25 Plus to also come with the same aesthetics with a slightly bigger screen size, as seen in Hemmerstoffer’s renders below:

Tipster Ice Universe also posted images comparing mock-ups of the Galaxy S25 Ultra to the Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16 Pro Max. This gives us a better idea of the thickness of Samsung’s phones. The leaker also posted images comparing the S25 Ultra to the S24 Ultra, revealing a thinner and lighter metal frame for the new phone.

Strangely enough, the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus are tipped to offer rather curious individual camera cutouts that look a bit like Super Mario warp pipes. We do have concerns about lint and dust gathering under the lip of these cutouts. Check it out in the Ice Universe image below.

Leaker Ice Universe also shared an image of screen protectors intended for the Galaxy S25 series. The screen protectors compare the display sizes side-by-side and showcase the updated rounded display design for the top-end Ultra variant.

The leaker followed up with two images showing screen protectors on October 16. The first image (below, left) seems to show the Galaxy S25 Ultra screen with a privacy screen protector, while the second picture apparently shows protectors for all three variants.

Curious about the Galaxy S25 line’s colors? Well, Ice Universe claimed on October 19 that the S25 Ultra would be available in Black, Green, Blue, and Titanium. These aren’t expected to be the only hues, but the tipster said they didn’t know the online-exclusive colors just yet.

Meanwhile, display analyst Ross Young claims that the official names for the colors on the base and Plus models will be Moon Night Blue, Silver Shadow, Sparkling Blue, and Sparkling Green. There may even be an additional color, Midnight Black, for the Plus. Young also mentions that the Ultra will be available in Titanium Black, Titanium Blue, Titanium Gray, and Titanium Silver.

Only two weeks after Young leaked the color names, we got our first look at what could be the Sparkling Green and Sparkling Blue colorways from leaker Tarun Vats. Sparkling Green appears to be a light green color, while Sparkling Blue is a greyish-blue hue.

Cameras

One of the first pieces of information to leak about the S25 Ultra was the camera specs. Early rumors were very conflicted, with some claiming massive overhauls (such as going with a simple, triple-lens setup) and a big upgrade for the primary 200MP lens. However, as the year has gone on, most of those early rumors have been shot down. The most recent info points to a few upgrades for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but not a complete overhaul.

Ice Universe posted a load of apparent Galaxy S25 Ultra camera specs on Weibo on May 27. They claimed that the Ultra phone would stick with a 200MP main camera and 50MP 5x periscope telephoto zoom but would switch to a 50MP ultrawide lens. Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t see a 50MP 3x telephoto camera to match, as the tipster says the Ultra phone will retain the current 3x 10MP telephoto lens.

Leaker Sperandio4Tech also posted info on sensor upgrades for those two upgraded lenses. Allegedly, the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s ultrawide lens could get “a new version of the 1/2.76-inch JN1 sensor.” Meanwhile, the 3x telephoto lens could get “a new 1/3-inch Isocell sensor.”

On June 27, we finally got a closer look at what is likely to be the sensor for the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus, as the company announced several new sensors, but it was the ISCOELL GNJ that caught our eye. The GNJ has a sensor that’s roughly on par with the main camera sensor in the S24 and S24 Plus at 1/1.57 inches versus the 1/1.56-inch sensor found on the two S23 handsets. The new sensor also sports one-micron pixels, much like the sensor used on the S24 and S24 Plus. Leaker Ice Universe also mentions that Samsung decided to “continue using the same sensor on the S25 and even the S26,” indicating that we may not see a whole lot of change on these.

Processors

Some of the biggest Galaxy S25 rumors so far have related to the processors. Samsung brought back its tradition of offering the Galaxy S series with a Snapdragon processor in selected markets and an Exynos chip for the rest of the world with the S24. This was after the much-welcome shift in 2023 of abandoning Exynos and offering Snapdragon processors for all handsets around the world.

In September 2024, a Korean outlet reported that the Galaxy S25 series would exclusively use Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chips, which could be good news for folks who don’t like the Exynos/Snapdragon split. The website also suggested that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy chip is “specialized” for the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

If Samsung does go all-in on Snapdragon, the Galaxy S25 could get a nice speed boost. Tipster Digital Chat Station claims that chips will hit 4GHz. This would be a notable improvement from the Gen 3 processor, which is capable of reaching 3.3GHz.

However, a conflicting report says Samsung is hoping to improve its Exynos 2500 chip yields so it can once again offer multiple chip configurations depending on the market.

Furthermore, one leak claims the company could also utilize a MediaTek Dimensity SoC for select models. This seems less likely and it’s important to mention the sourcing is a bit questionable with this one, so a grain of salt is necessary. Google’s DeepMind team also hinted at a MediaTek flagship for a future Samsung phone, but then labelled the text as erroneous. Still, it seems likely Samsung isn’t happy paying Qualcomm’s high pricing for its chips and is actively looking for other options.

Korea’s Hankyung outlet reported on October 18 that the Galaxy S25 series would only use Snapdragon processors. Furthermore, Samsung was listed as one of the adopters of the Snapdragon 8 Elite (previously known as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4) when Qualcomm announced the chip.

Leaker Ice Universe seems to agree that the Galaxy S25 series will adopt Snapdragon silicon across the board. The tipster adds that this will be the case for all models worldwide. They also claim that the chip will be a Snapdragon 8 Elite.

Features

For OS updates, Google uses an A/B strategy that allows the user to continue using their device as the update progresses in the background. This method is known as a seamless update and Samsung has long avoided applying Google’s seamless update strategy to its phones. As a result, Galaxy users have to wait for an update to finish before they can start using their device again. However, a rumor from chunvn8888 suggests that Samsung is planning to go the seamless route with the Galaxy S25 series. This would make the Galaxy S25 series the second model in the company’s collection to support this type of update, the other model being the Galaxy A55 5G.

Other specs

Moving on to the display, not much is currently known about display specs outside of the rumor that the series could go bigger. However, Samsung has been working on next-generation OLED displays that would allow fingerprint scanning anywhere on the screen and allow multiple fingerprints to be scanned simultaneously. At the time, the CEO of Isorg, Dieter May, predicted that Samsung would be ready to deliver these displays by 2025.

We learned a little more information on this front in October with a report claiming that Samsung won’t be using its best OLED panels for its 2025 flagship. Instead of using OLED displays made with M14 organic materials, like the Pixel 9 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro, the entire series will use M13 organic materials. The difference here is that M14 materials are 20-30% brighter and more efficient than M13 materials. They also have a 10-20% longer lifespan. This move is believed to be a cost-cutting measure for the company, one that will unlikely trickle down to the consumer.

On to battery specs, it’s possible Samsung could be planning to use stack technology for the battery in the S25 series, according to a report from The Elec. This tech is commonly used in electric vehicles, but it appears Samsung’s research and development department is considering bringing it over to smartphones. Stacking refers to the way cells in the battery are arranged, which can lead to a higher energy capacity inside a smaller volume. According to the report, the arrangement could provide a 10% improvement in energy density.

Meanwhile, a report from GalaxyClub says the standard Galaxy S25 could have the same 4,000mAh capacity as the Galaxy S24. This isn’t bad news, but it might be disappointing for anyone hoping to eke out a bit more juice from the Galaxy S25.

As for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, tipster Digital Chat Station says to expect a 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charging. This was later confirmed through a Chinese regulatory listing, which shows that the phone supports 45W charging with 15V and 3A specifications.

The same listing also suggests that the Galaxy S25 Ultra could feature satellite connectivity, something that was anticipated on the Galaxy S24 but never happened. What about the Galaxy S25 Plus? Well, GalaxyClub reports that you can expect the same 4,900mAh capacity as the S24 Plus.

In a reply to a social post from Samsung, tipster Ice Universe claims that the base Galaxy S25 will once again have 8GB of RAM. Presumably, the leaker is suggesting that only 8GB of RAM will be available, regardless of the configuration. If true, this would mean the S25 will have the same amount of memory as Samsung gave the S24 and S23. However, the latest Android Headlines report strongly suggests that the base Galaxy S25 model will start with 12GB of RAM this year, possibly to allow for better handling of AI tasks. Ice Universe also mentions that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will have 16GB of RAM. Samsung tipster CID mentions that the Galaxy S25 series could have 12GB RAM for the standard and Plus variants and 16GB for the Ultra.

While it is possible we won’t see a change in the amount of memory, the storage story could be different. Samsung Semiconductor released a roadmap for the next generation of UFS. That roadmap states the company will release UFS 4.0 4-lane CS in 2025 before jumping to UFS 5.0 in 2027.

Based on the roadmap, UFS 4.0 4-lane CS will double the read/write rates of the current UFS 4.0 standard. The additional speed will provide a number of benefits, like faster load times and more efficient on-device AI applications.

What might the Samsung Galaxy S25 price be?

• Galaxy S22 — $799 (base), $999 (Plus), $1,199 (Ultra)
• Galaxy S23 — $799 (base), $999 (Plus), $1,199 (Ultra)
• Galaxy S24 — $799 (base), $999 (Plus), $1,299 (Ultra)

When it comes to pricing, Samsung has stayed fairly consistent over recent years. For the last three years, in fact, the base and Plus models have remained at $799 and $999, respectively. The only price change that happened during this time span was with the Ultra model, which went up by $100 in 2024.

The good news is that there’s not enough information to suggest a price increase for any model. On the other hand, the bad news is that there’s also not enough information to suggest that Samsung won’t implement a price bump. If we had to guess, however, we believe the cost will be the same as it was in 2024.

To add some weight behind our claim that we won’t see price increases, Apple’s prices for the iPhone 16 series — an accepted rubric for Samsung’s pricing — remained unchanged this year. This heavily suggests we won’t see changes from Samsung for Galaxy S25 pricing, at least in the US.

However, one major concern is the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which is more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. So we’re not completely convinced that a price hike is out of the question, especially if the Galaxy S25 series is Snapdragon-only.

Should you wait for the Samsung Galaxy S25?

Unless you’re dead set on getting the latest and greatest from Samsung, there’s not really any reason to wait. The exception to that is if you’re not in immediate need of a new phone. In that case, it might be worth waiting to see how the Galaxy S25 series pans out.

If you need something now, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 ($859.99 at Amazon), Galaxy S24 Plus ($1119.99 at Amazon), and Galaxy S24 Ultra ($1419.99 at Amazon) can likely serve all your needs. Likewise, you have your choice of perfectly capable non-Samsung handsets that range anywhere from premium to budget-tier and everything in between. For example, the Google Pixel 9 Pro ($999 at Amazon) is a solid device that has great cameras and neat AI features powered by Gemini. There’s also the Nothing Phone 2 ($599.99 at Nothing) if you want a flagship smartphone that won’t hurt your wallet.