Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S24 Ultra

Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Ultra sit one generation apart, and with the older model now heavily discounted they are one of the most common "should I pay more for the newer one, or save with last year's?" decisions in the Android world. The honest answer is that they are far more alike than different: the S25 Ultra is a careful refinement rather than a reinvention. Here is how they compare, drawn from independent expert reviews of each, with current UK prices.

At a glance

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (around £649.00) is the lighter, faster, more AI-focused phone, with an upgraded ultra-wide camera and the latest chip. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (around £498.50) does most of the same things for noticeably less money, keeps one handy S Pen feature the newer model drops, and remains a superb flagship. Unless you specifically want the newest silicon and the lighter body, the older phone is the value pick.

Check the Galaxy S25 Ultra price on Amazon · Check the Galaxy S24 Ultra price on Amazon

Design and weight

Both phones share the same premium recipe: a titanium frame sandwiched between toughened glass, flat sides and an integrated S Pen. The S24 Ultra was the model that introduced the titanium chassis, and it is a substantial device at 232 g and 8.6 mm thick, measuring 162.3 mm tall by 79 mm wide.

The S25 Ultra trims that down. It sheds around 14 g to reach 218 g, slims slightly to 8.2 mm, and adds gently rounded corners that make it more comfortable to hold day to day, though some reviewers found its flatter edges a touch sharp. It is fractionally taller and narrower. Neither is a light phone, but the S25 Ultra is the more manageable of the two in the hand.

Display

The screens are close cousins. The S24 Ultra uses a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel at 1440 x 3120, with HDR10+ and a peak brightness measured at 2600 nits — easily readable in direct sun thanks to its anti-reflective coating. The S25 Ultra nudges the size up to 6.9 inches with the same sharpness and a 120 Hz LTPO refresh; reviewers measured around 1445 nits in everyday SDR use and up to 2356 nits in HDR. Both are among the best displays on any phone, and in normal use you would struggle to tell them apart.

Performance and software

This is a clearer win for the newer phone. The S24 Ultra runs the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with 12 GB of RAM and was, at launch, the most powerful phone its reviewers had tested — it still runs demanding games at maximum settings without complaint, and its titanium frame keeps heating well contained. The S25 Ultra steps up to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, again with 12 GB of RAM, for more headroom and, crucially, more on-device AI.

Software is where the gap will widen over time. The S25 Ultra ships with One UI 7 and a deeper set of Galaxy AI features tied into Google's Gemini, while the S24 Ultra launched on One UI 6.1. Samsung has committed to years of updates for both, so the S24 Ultra will receive many of the same features, but the newer phone leads on AI today.

Cameras

Both share the same headline 200-megapixel main sensor, and in good light their photos are very close. The meaningful difference is the ultra-wide: the S24 Ultra pairs its 200 MP main camera with a modest 12-megapixel ultra-wide, while the S25 Ultra upgrades that to a 50-megapixel unit for much more detailed wide shots and better close focus.

The telephoto setup is otherwise similar — both offer a 5x optical zoom alongside a 3x lens, and both are excellent for long-range shots. Note that this generation of Ultra settled on a 115 mm (5x) periscope with a brighter aperture in place of the longer 10x reach of the older design, a trade Samsung has stuck with. The S25 Ultra's biggest gains are in processing and video rather than raw hardware, so the S24 Ultra remains a superb camera phone; the newer model is the better one, but not by the margin the spec sheet implies.

Battery and charging

Here the two are effectively identical. Both carry a 5000 mAh battery — Samsung kept the same capacity across the generations — and both cap wired charging at 45 W, which reviewers of the S25 Ultra noted is now beaten by some rivals. Real-world endurance is strong on both, comfortably a full day and approaching two with lighter use. There is no reason to choose between them on battery.

The S Pen

One genuine regression counts in the S24 Ultra's favour. Its S Pen retains Bluetooth, so you can use air gestures and remote-shutter tricks. Samsung removed that Bluetooth radio from the S25 Ultra's stylus, so while both still write and draw beautifully, only the older phone offers the remote features. For a small group of power users, that alone is a reason to prefer the S24 Ultra.

Price and verdict

At the time of writing the Galaxy S25 Ultra is around £649.00 and the Galaxy S24 Ultra around £498.50, though both vary by seller and storage, so it is worth checking the current figures before you buy.

Buy the Galaxy S25 Ultra if you want the lightest, fastest version with the best ultra-wide camera and the deepest AI features, and the price premium does not put you off. It is the better phone overall — just not dramatically so.

Buy the Galaxy S24 Ultra if value matters: it is around £150 cheaper, does almost everything its successor does, keeps the S Pen's Bluetooth tricks, and remains a genuinely top-tier flagship. For most people, last year's Ultra is the smarter buy — you are giving up a little weight, a little speed and some ultra-wide detail to save a meaningful chunk of money.