The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: A Giant Leap Backward?
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra boasts top-of-the-line specs, making it a tempting flagship. I purchased one, excited by the promises of a superior Android experience. However, after a two-week trial, I returned it for a smaller model. Here's why.
Why I Ditched the Ultra
The S25 Ultra delivers on its promises: a massive screen, blazing-fast performance, all-day battery life, the latest Android OS with AI features, and excellent cameras – plus the S Pen. My four-year-old Galaxy S21 Ultra finally prompted an upgrade. While the S21 Ultra remains a capable phone, it was showing its age (limited storage, no major software updates). But the S25 Ultra wasn't the solution I expected.
Samsung Galaxy Update Policy: A Quick Note
Most Samsung phones and tablets receive at least four years of OS updates.
The S25 Ultra's Size: A Dealbreaker
Initial leaks suggested improved ergonomics with rounded corners. While true, the S25 Ultra remains excessively large. One-handed use is nearly impossible, and extended use is uncomfortable. The rounded edges are insufficient to match the comfort of the S25 Plus or even the iPhone 16 Pro Max. It's a bulky, heavy device – a characteristic I found undesirable.
The S25 Plus: My Perfect Fit
I exchanged the Ultra for the S25 Plus, a decision I highly recommend considering. While Samsung's lack of design innovation is frustrating (the S25 Plus closely resembles its predecessors), its specs are significantly closer to the Ultra than previous Plus models. This makes it a compelling alternative.
Key Differences: S25 Plus vs. Ultra
Feature | Galaxy S25 Ultra | Galaxy S25 Plus |
---|---|---|
Display | 6.9-inch 3120 x 1440, LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz | 6.7-inch 3120 x 1440, LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz |
Battery | 5,000mAh, 45W Fast Charging | 4,900mAh, 45W Fast Charging |
CPU | Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy | Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy |
Cameras | 200MP Main, 50MP Ultrawide, 10MP & 50MP Telephoto | 50MP Main, 12MP Ultrawide, 10MP Telephoto |
The Ultra's larger screen and slightly bigger battery are negligible improvements. The real difference lies in the camera system, but even the S21 Ultra's impressive zoom capabilities proved more novelty than necessity. While the S25 Ultra's zoom is improved, image quality degrades significantly at higher zoom levels. Both phones share the same 12MP selfie camera.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: A Premium Choice
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus offers a premium experience with a large display, smooth performance, excellent cameras, and all-day battery life, all in a more manageable and affordable package. For me, it's the perfect balance.
My Verdict
The S25 Ultra's size proved insurmountable. The S25 Plus, while less innovative in design, provides a superior user experience. It's fast, takes great photos, and is perfectly adequate until Samsung delivers a design refresh. Now, if only returning the Ultra to AT&T were as straightforward...
The above is the detailed content of Why I Returned My Galaxy S25 Ultra for a Cheaper Model. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro: Strong upgrades to the mid-range phone market Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro are officially released and they are expected to be the leader in the mid-range smartphone market. The two phones have significantly improved on the Phone (2a), focusing on improving the camera system, design and performance. Design and Durability The (3a) series continues the design style of the previous generation, but is more refined in terms of details. The upgraded glass back cover, more optimized symmetry and finer processing all enhance the texture of the phone. In addition, the IP64 dust and waterproof rating also enhances the durability of the phone. In terms of camera system, (3a

All modern phones look the same, but it wasn't always like that. Android has produced some of the most innovative, unique, and outright odd phones over the years. These are the weirdest. 10 LG G5 (20

1Password launches new location-based features to facilitate users to access relevant data. This feature allows users to associate data stored in 1Password apps such as passwords, PINs, and codes with specific physical locations. When the user is close to the specified location, the 1Password mobile app displays relevant information. Users can assign a single physical location to any item in their 1Password account. Just select the item in the app and click on the "Add Location" option. When the user is in a specified geographic area, the 1Password mobile app's home screen displays the associated item. The app also provides map views for easy setting and viewing of locations. This feature is designed to improve convenience,

Amazfit Active 2 Smart Watch Review: The Perfect Combination of Fashion and Health The Amazfit Active 2 impressed me with its stylish look and 10-day long battery life. Not only does it look beautiful, it also has almost perfect synchronization with mainstream fitness apps such as Google Fit and Apple Health. Although notifications are sometimes a little direct, Active 2 can really push you to focus on your health and living habits. Amazfit Active 2 Rating: 9/10 Active 2 is designed for groups that focus on fashion and health, combining excellent looks and functions. BioTracker Technology Essence

Galaxy S25's Now Bar: Improved dynamic information display, but still needs to be improved Samsung's new One UI 7 update based on Android 15 brings a lot of features, and one of my favorites (although slightly rough) is the "Now Bar" on the Galaxy S25. This week, Samsung unveiled a much-needed update that improved the Now Bar's capabilities, which could be a warm-up ahead of the full release of One UI 7 next month. What is the Now Bar on Galaxy Phone? Unless you have a Galaxy S25 or are running a new One UI 7 beta, you may not know much about the Now Bar. It's similar to the movement of Apple

Google unveils exciting new Android and Pixel features! From AI-powered scam detection to enhanced live location sharing, this update brings a wealth of improvements to your Android experience. AI-Powered Scam Detection in Google Messages: Google M

Google Maps Timeline Data Mysteriously Vanishing for Users Many Google Maps users are reporting the inexplicable disappearance of their location history from the Timeline feature. This issue, which has escalated recently, leaves users with empty tim

Make full use of ADB: Three major reasons to help you enable Android debugging bridge immediately Have you heard of ADB (Android Debug Bridge) and been suggested to enable it on your Android phone? This article will provide you with three good reasons why you should enable ADB immediately. ADB allows you to wirelessly mirror your phone screen to your computer via scrcpy. You can use better-adb-sync for file synchronization and track progress between your Android smartphone and your computer. It also allows you to easily capture your phone screen and transmit it wirelessly to your computer. 1. Wireless mirroring of the mobile phone screen to the computer The latest macOS and iOS updates allow you to mirror your iPhone screen to your Mac computer. But in A


Hot AI Tools

Undresser.AI Undress
AI-powered app for creating realistic nude photos

AI Clothes Remover
Online AI tool for removing clothes from photos.

Undress AI Tool
Undress images for free

Clothoff.io
AI clothes remover

AI Hentai Generator
Generate AI Hentai for free.

Hot Article

Hot Tools

Atom editor mac version download
The most popular open source editor

VSCode Windows 64-bit Download
A free and powerful IDE editor launched by Microsoft

MinGW - Minimalist GNU for Windows
This project is in the process of being migrated to osdn.net/projects/mingw, you can continue to follow us there. MinGW: A native Windows port of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), freely distributable import libraries and header files for building native Windows applications; includes extensions to the MSVC runtime to support C99 functionality. All MinGW software can run on 64-bit Windows platforms.

SublimeText3 Linux new version
SublimeText3 Linux latest version

mPDF
mPDF is a PHP library that can generate PDF files from UTF-8 encoded HTML. The original author, Ian Back, wrote mPDF to output PDF files "on the fly" from his website and handle different languages. It is slower than original scripts like HTML2FPDF and produces larger files when using Unicode fonts, but supports CSS styles etc. and has a lot of enhancements. Supports almost all languages, including RTL (Arabic and Hebrew) and CJK (Chinese, Japanese and Korean). Supports nested block-level elements (such as P, DIV),
