Samsung can only make one good Galaxy S variant every year

Put down the pitchforks. I know that Samsung Galaxy S phones are good Android phones, excellent even, but hear me out for a second. Every year, as Samsung rolls out the red carpet for its three new flagship phones, there’s always that one model that jumps out to me as “most improved” or “the biggest standout.” The other two? Just fine, but nothing to talk about compared to their predecessors and their siblings in the same series.

It’s almost as if Samsung has a finite research and development resource for its phones (which is likely the case), and every year, it takes a big spinning wheel, writes the name of the three phones, spins it, and decides which one is getting the biggest love and focus (which is my exaggerated view of what happens in the R&D backroom). Obviously, the Ultra would always command some attention, but it’s not the clear standout every year. The regular S and the Plus have had a turn, too, in sharing the spotlight.

Allow me to back up this whacky theory.

The Galaxy S20: What more could you want?

First, let’s rewind the clock back to the Galaxy S20, the first series that introduced the S lineup as we now know it: regular, Plus, and Ultra. This was the first time we saw an Ultra Galaxy S, but as with any first-generation product, it wasn’t a real winner. The impressive specs on paper didn’t translate well in real life, and the new 108MP camera had autofocus issues and aggressive image processing.

Instead, the regular Galaxy S20 stole a lot of hearts because of how much it improved over the Galaxy S10 with its 120Hz display, 12MP camera, 5G support, and bigger 3,880mAh battery. I remember looking at the specs of that S20 compared to my Pixel 4 XL and envying that better display, microSD slot, and better zoom camera. My colleague Robert echoed my feelings by asking, “What more could you want?” in his Galaxy S20 review. The S20 Plus was good, too, but it was basically just a larger S20 with an underutilized DepthVision camera.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra-refined

One year later, the Galaxy S21 Ultra fixed the sins of its predecessor while adding support for the S Pen for the first time. Note lovers had a proper phone to turn to after the series’ death, and the S21 Ultra had a nice 120Hz display, an improved 108MP camera sensor, two telephoto lenses, and a very premium build. This was a real standout and the first time the Ultra was worthy of its name and promise, so much so that we summed it up as Ultra-refined in our S21 Ultra review. I almost bought one, even though I was firmly in the Pixel camp, but I really wanted that camera and those zoom lenses! My Pixel 5 was the total opposite of everything that Ultra stood for.

At the same time, the S21 and S21 Plus received a refreshed design, too, but their specs remained more or less the same. Samsung even switched the S21 back to a plastic back instead of the premium metal on the S20. With no significant improvement there, all eyes were on the Ultra, and deservedly so.

A Galaxy S22 Plus all-rounder to beat

With the Galaxy S22 series, the larger Plus, which had been the most neglected phone of the bunch so far, was due a neat bump. And a bump it got. A brighter display, a new 50MP main camera, a refreshed design with flatter sides, and 45W charging meant that this was no longer just a larger Galaxy S phone; it was a more powerful one, too. The Galaxy S22 Plus stood on its own, finally, despite the price increase. At the time, we said the S22 Plus was the all-rounder Android phone to beat.

The smaller Galaxy S22 received similar upgrades (camera, display, glass back), but the battery life was so pathetic that it negated everything good about that phone. We were yearning for a good, small phone then, and the S22 delivered on almost all of it, but no one could really recommend it unless you walked around with a power bank. A shame, really.

As for the Ultra, this was the first time we got the integrated S Pen. Galaxy Note fans also had fewer things to complain about, but for everyone else, this was the beginning of the Ultra being unwieldy and not really for the masses. It felt like you had to compromise to get the best features, which is why I think the Plus was the real standout here, even if Samsung wished it would’ve been the Ultra.

Also, can we talk about that Dark Green color? Bring it back, Samsung, please!

The Galaxy S23 was a giant among smaller phones

Things aren’t that straightforward in my mind with the Galaxy S23 series. I know the Plus just wasn’t “it” here. It had had its time in the spotlight with the S22 Plus; the S23 Plus just felt like it received a few nips and tucks but nothing outstanding.

The other two phones were a lot more improved this time around. No more Exynos, a bigger battery, and an improved cooling system made the Galaxy S23 a real standout. For the first time since the Galaxy S20, the smaller S phone was an excellent phone I could recommend to my friends who didn’t want a large phone without mentioning any big asterisks. In his Galaxy S23 review, our own Ryan called it “a giant among smaller phones.”

As for the Ultra, it got a new 200MP camera and some low-light camera improvements, and the S Pen received many new features, making it an integral part of the experience. In my opinion, it wasn’t as much of a standout as the Galaxy S23, but at least it didn’t feel like Samsung was phoning it in with this upgrade. Many of us felt the same at Android Authority, including my colleague Dhruv who said the S23 Ultra is king of the hill, but the S23 had his heart.

The Galaxy S24 Plus stood on its own

Being the neglected one the previous year, the Galaxy S24 Plus took a turn and was the real standout in 2024. Despite the good S22 Plus, it still felt like the “Plus” was often the forgotten child of this series, as if it was an afterthought for Samsung that just needed to shoehorn something between the smaller phone that everyone would buy and the ultra-premium one that it could point to as its ultimate flagship. With the S24 Plus, the middle child grew up, got out of its parents’ house, and went into the world on its own. An excellent display and a thinner and lighter design versus the S23 Plus; these were so good that my colleague C. Scott said you should buy the S24 Plus instead of the Ultra.

Speaking of the Ultra, this was the first Galaxy S phone that I’ve personally owned in a few years, but I think I should’ve skipped a year (more on that later). Yes, Galaxy AI is fun to play around with, and the new 5x telephoto lens is better than the low-resolution 10x zoom, but the phone is so large, the corners so sharp, and the rest of the specs weren’t all that improved. Its baby brother, the Galaxy S24 was a good phone, too, with many of the improvements received by the Plus, but the Plus really stood alone in the spotlight thanks to that display.

A Galaxy S25 Ultra that doesn’t feel like jamming LEGO in our palms

And finally, we come around to this year’s Galaxy S25 series. This time, there’s no debate about it: The regular Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S25 Plus are near copy-pastes of last year’s phones. We have to dig in to find really minor changes that make no impact whatsoever. It feels like Samsung is phoning it in with these two models as if it put all of its efforts into refining the Ultra and adding some AI features that the release deadline snuck up on them, and someone remembered the other two phones last-minute. “Uh, guys, what about the S25 and S25 Plus?” Then everyone looked at each other, shrugged, and scrambled to make two “new” phones.

Look, if you have a Galaxy S24, don’t buy a Galaxy S25. Same for the Plus. As a matter of fact, if you want to buy a new Galaxy S25 or S25 Plus now, just go find a Galaxy S24 or S24 Plus on discount somewhere and get that instead. They’re essentially the same phones.

The Ultra is where the real improvements are. They might not look like much, but Samsung has finally designed its Ultra to be held by human hands. Gone are the sharp corners that dig into my palm each time I hold the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The phone still looks gargantuan, but it’s significantly lighter, and I no longer feel like I am sacrificing comfort to get the best Samsung phone around. The display is larger, the bezels smaller, the ultrawide camera is improved, and our early tests show the shutter lag could finally be reduced! Of course, I would’ve liked to see even more hardware enhancements (charging speed, battery size, better cameras), but compared to the regular S25 and S25 Plus, it’s not even a question: This is the standout in 2025.

Which brings me back to my whacky theory: Can Samsung just not improve all three of its phones every year? Why do we need to wait for the next cycle to see a better Plus or regular S? The cynic in me just wants Samsung to be bold, for once, and come out saying, “We’re only releasing a new Ultra this year. For the Galaxy S and Plus, see last year’s phones. We’ll upgrade them next year.” That’d be the real green thing to do, right? Right?! Not a new recycled box and slightly more recycled materials.

Original wheel of fortune image by Vectorportal.com, CC BY