Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Galaxy S22: Here's why I think you shouldn't upgrade

Another January means another set of Samsung flagship smartphones. The Galaxy S25 series lays down the marker of what we can expect from 2025, and of course, the conversation immediately turns to whether these phones are worth getting. I don’t think an annual upgrade cycle for flagships should be a thing anymore, especially for everyday buyers. Unless you want to always rock the latest and greatest, upgrading your phone every year, or even every two or three years, isn’t necessary anymore.

I’ve used the Galaxy S22 Plus and other Samsung flagships for work over the years, so while I haven’t gotten my hands on the Galaxy S25 yet, I believe I can make an informed decision now unless our hands-on testing shows something drastically different. Of course, I recommend waiting for our complete review. But as you might have guessed from the title and the intro, I think you can safely hold on to your Galaxy S22 for at least another year, if not longer. Here’s why.

Not enough is different

The Samsung Galaxy S25 gets the latest and greatest processing package in the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, so a three-year-old phone is understandably not going to be a match in terms of pure speed. The S25 goes one step further and bumps the RAM up to 12GB from the 8GB on the Galaxy S22. But the latter’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor is still more than capable. And while the significant performance increase is great, it may not be as noticeable with everyday use, depending on how you use your phone, of course.

Everything else more or less remains the same. When it comes to dimensions, there’s less than a millimeter of difference across the board, and the S22 is only a touch heavier. However, the Galaxy S25 has a slightly larger display at 6.2 inches compared to the S22’s 6.1-inch screen. The camera hardware has, unfortunately, not seen an upgrade since the Galaxy S22. Samsung is relying on AI smarts and processing to make the S25’s camera shine, but a lot of these features should make it back to the older phone. The display resolution and refresh rate, built-in storage, and IP rating also stay the same.

In terms of design, the Galaxy S22 was just before Samsung settled into the now familiar functional look that you get with the Galaxy S25. It’s not a huge difference, but I actually prefer the camera bump-style housing on the back of the S22. It’s at least a distinct look compared to everything else that has followed, including the S25, that you’d find difficult to pick out of a lineup of recent Galaxy S and even some Galaxy A smartphones.

The battery gets a 300mAh increase, but charging remains as slow as ever. We’ll have to run the S25 through our battery tests, but it’s unlikely to offer significantly better battery life than the Galaxy S22, even when taking battery degradation on the older phone into account.

The Galaxy S22 will get software updates for the next two years

Another reason why I think it’s okay to hold on to the Galaxy S22 is Samsung’s software promise. It’s not as impressive as the vaunted seven years of major OS upgrades you’ll get with the Galaxy S25. But the S22 will get at least Android 17 two years from now and another year of security updates after. Admittedly, the availability of the latest versions may start to take a while as Samsung prioritizes newer releases, but losing software support isn’t yet a reason to leave the Galaxy S22 behind.

One factor to consider is that the Galaxy S22 may not have enough processing power to offer all the Galaxy AI features coming to the Galaxy S25. I don’t use them much, though, so it’s up to you whether the latest AI smarts are something you really want.

The Galaxy S25 Plus might be worth upgrading to, though

While I’ve covered the base models, the story is a little different with the Galaxy S25 Plus. Most of it is the same – a slightly larger display but similar dimensions, a larger battery, and identical cameras, but, of course, a far more powerful processor. However, the big difference comes with the display resolution. Since the Galaxy S24 Plus last year, Samsung bumped the resolution to QHD+, while the S22 Plus has an FHD+ screen.

The base storage of the Plus phones has also increased from 128GB to 256GB. I’m always looking for more storage and much prefer a higher resolution screen, especially with its larger size. If I had the Galaxy S22 Plus, I might consider upgrading to the Galaxy S25 Plus for these reasons. But that’s really it. If you’re happy with your phone now, it might be better to hold out for the S26 and beyond.

The Galaxy S25 is good, but the Galaxy S22 is good enough

Given no constraints, who wouldn’t want to constantly upgrade their phone to the latest and greatest available? The S25 has its advantages, of course. It’s much faster, has a bigger battery, and will get more AI features. And the S25 Plus’ higher resolution display is tempting for me. But the fact that it’s essentially just these points of difference between phones that are three years apart is why I think it’s absolutely okay to hold on to the Galaxy S22 for another year or so — unless Samsung offers an excellent trade-in deal, which they are known to do.