Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S22 Ultra preview: Could that be a sensible upgrade? – Ultra-Sim

Table of Contents:

Design and Size

Surprisingly few changes

This change will eliminate one of the few design distinctions that most Galaxy Ultra phones have held above the regular flagships in the previous years. Not sure that we are ready to part ways with the bold appearance of the Galaxy S Ultra flagship, but Samsung seems dead-set on the new design.

Aside from the shape change, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will mostly retain the rest of the design cues: flat front and back Gorilla Glass panels, the beloved S Pen Stylus, IP68 water- and dust-resistance, as well as the titanium frame are here to stay.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S22 Ultra was the first Galaxy Ultra phone with an S Pen. It also debuted the straight corners that are about to go mostly extinct, as well as the curved front and back display panels, an echo from a bygone smartphone era. It also was an IP68-rated device with pretty decent resistance against the elements. The frame was made of aluminum. 

But in the essence of things, the two devices are very alike and will share a ton of common Galaxy DNA.

Size-wise, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will be more compact in all dimensions: it will be thinner, shorter, narrower, and lighter than the Galaxy S22 Ultra despite both featuring similarly sized displays and batteries, which is a major win, no matter how you look at it. 

We expect that Samsung will provide a balanced selection of standard colors and a few fun ones. The Galaxy S22 Ultra was available in Phantom Black, White, Burgundy, and Green. Not a terribly exciting selection, that’s for sure. 

Display Differences

As we mentioned, both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Galaxy S22 Ultra will employ similarly sized 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED displays, with the same QHD+ resolution, 120Hz maximum refresh rate, and HDR support. 

Of course, the Galaxy S22 Ultra screen is slightly curved, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra will employ a flat screen, so you will get the impression of slightly more usable display area.

The big difference, however, could be the peak brightness of the two displays. The Galaxy S25 Ultra, being the newer phone, will surely achieve a much higher peak brightness than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which was released a little ahead of the beginning of the Brightness War. 

Both phones will also share another characteristic: the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, which will enable quick and effortless biometric authentication. 

Performance and Software

Welcome, 3nm!

The Galaxy S25 Ultra will use Qualcomm’s newest top chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. 

The Snapdragon 8 Elite will bring major gains in performance and efficiency, which could translate to better battery life. But managing heat could be a problem, especially since 3nm chips seem to produce a lot of heat, which doesn’t really play well with the limited cooling capabilities of smartphones. 

There should be at least 12GB of storage on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, though 16GB of RAM are also likely. The reason for that could be the high hardware requirements for on-device artificial intelligence. 

We expect 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB of storage. 

Memory-wise, we expect up to 16GB of RAM in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, as well as 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB UFS 4.0 storage versions. The Galaxy S23 Ultra also comes with similar storage options, but has only 12GB of RAM. 

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with 8GB of RAM on the entry-level 128GB version, but you also get 12GB RAM in the 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB versions. It’s possible that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will employ a similar setup: 12GB of RAM on the entry level 256GB version and 16GB of RAM in all others. 

When it comes to software support, we can expect the next Galaxy S25 Ultra to receive seven years of major Android updates and security updates, which is great. 

Camera

Pretty different camera setups

Unsurprisingly, we expect the Galaxy S25 Ultra to improve things drastically, even despite the potential lack of major upgrades. This could be achieved via software and image-processing enhancements. 

Battery Life and Charging

So many years, yet so little has changed

If you’ve been hoping that Samsung will deliver anything apart from a 5,000mAh battery, you’re in for a rude awakening. Just as all devices ranging from the Galaxy S20 Ultra to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, we are getting a standard 5,000mAh battery. 

Even though the battery size of the Galaxy S25 Ultra will match the Galaxy S22 Ultra, we expect significantly better battery life thanks to the improved efficiency of the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. 

We also expect 45W wired charging on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which matches the Galaxy S22 Ultra. That’s another area in which we are seemingly getting no upgrades. Wireless charging, however, could be faster as rumors put 25W Qi2 wireless charging in the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Specs Comparison

* – All Galaxy S25 Ultra specs are preliminary and subject to change

Summary

Many years have passed, but the differences between the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Galaxy S25 Ultra might be countable on a single hand. 

There are two ways to interpret that: either Samsung has nailed it from the first time, or it is massively dropping the ball when it comes to upgrades and evolution. 

Still, we might see vastly improved battery life, performance, and potentially greater camera image quality with the newer device, along with potentially many new AI features. 

Does this mean that Galaxy S22 Ultra should abstain from upgrading? 

It’s hard to say given that most of the specs are still a subject to change, but if you are still satisfied with your Galaxy S22 Ultra, then you might want to be cautious when it comes to upgrading to the Galaxy S25 Ultra.