SALTZMAN: Hands-on with Samsung’s AI-powered Galaxy S25 smartphones

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The funny thing about AI is you don’t think you want it in your life – until you realize all the extraordinary tasks it can do for you.

Consider it a super powerful personal assistant at your beck and call, to help you get more done in less time, personally and professionally.

While Samsung, Google (Pixel) and others began to bake artificial intelligence into their respective devices in 2024 – including Apple’s own spin on AI called Apple Intelligence, which debuted last fall – the just-unveiled Galaxy S25 family house Samsung’s next-gen Galaxy AI platform, as well as upgraded Google Gemini features, give these new smartphones a noticeable edge over the competition.

In other words, Samsung has been doing AI for a while now, and it shows.

First, what’s new with the hardware?

Having just played around with the new phones at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked launch event in San Jose, I can assure you AI is the real story here – opposed to the hardware.

That said, it would be remiss not to start with some of the specs.

With preorders open now and available to take home Feb. 7, the three new phones, now with rounded corners, are as follows:

– The Galaxy S25 (from $1,288.99) features a 2-inch Full HD+ display with smooth 120Hz refresh rates, and an upgraded 50-megapixel ultrawide lens camera. It weighs 162 grams.

– The beefier 6.7-inchGalaxy S25+ (from $1,438.99) has a better-looking Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED display (also with 120Hz refresh rates) and a more efficient AI image processor called ProScaler (to significantly enhance photos). The Plus model weighs 28 grams more than the Galaxy S25, at about 190 grams.

– The top-of-the-line model is the 6.9-inchGalaxy S25 Ultra (from $1,918.99), with an AMOLED 2X QHD+ 120 Hz screen and also benefits from ProScaler image processing. Unlike Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+, it’s built with Corning Gorilla Armor 2 for added durability, along with Samsung’s first-ever 50-megapixel ultrawide lens (adding to last year’s 50-megapixel 5x telephoto lens), and superfast charging with a 5,000mAh battery. An embedded S Pen (stylus) is included, but no longer supports Bluetooth (for wireless features found in its predecessor). This larger device weighs 218 grams.

Really, not too different than last year’s models.

All three models are powered by a specially-designed Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor, all of which have a performance boost of 40% in NPU (neuroprocessing unit) for AI tasks, compared to last year’s model, says Samsung, as well as a 37% improvement in CPU (the main engine that drives a device’s performance) and a 30% upgrade in GPU (graphics processing), which is especially important for gaming.

OK, so what’s with the AI features?

Across the board, the Galaxy S25 series introduces an enhanced AI-powered operating system that can deliver incredibly intuitive and helpful experiences that can be highly personalized, too. Simply press and hold the new side button on the right of the Galaxy S25 (all models) and you can use your voice, type a prompt, or select from a list of on-screen options.

Some impressive examples of new things you can do:

Cross-app support: Galaxy S25 now supports AI tasks across both Samsung and Google apps, as well as many third-party apps. Press and hold the side button and then verbally ask something like “Find the Buffalo Bills schedule and add it to my Samsung Calendar” so you don’t miss a game. Or say “Move my 3 p.m. meeting to 4 p.m. and text the update to Mary Smith.” You get the idea.

Summarize video content: You may recall you can record phone conversations over the phone (or a business meeting in a conference room) and ask your device to not only transcribe the audio into text but also send you a summary. New this year is the ability to do the same for third-party content, such as a YouTube video. For instance, press and hold the side button and tap for the AI to summarize a 45-minute video game review and send the summary of the review to your Samsung Notes. What a time saver.

New ‘Circle to Search’ features: Last year saw the introduction of Google’s “Circle to Search,” which lets Samsung (and Google Pixel) users press and hold the Home button, and then draw a finger (or stylus pen) around anything on a phone’s screen, such as a cool landmark in a social media post or an actress in a Netflix show, and the phone will instantly do an online image search and tell you relevant info. This works in any app and you don’t need to leave the app to perform this task. With Galaxy S25, images can also recognize and extract phone numbers, email and URLs on your screen, letting you call, email or visit a website with a single tap. It also supports audio across any app, so tap the audio button and it can tell you the song that’s playing, say, in a TV show you’re watching on your phone.

‘Now Bar’ widget: Starting with the Galaxy S25, receive tailored insights and updates directly to your lock screen based on your usage patterns and frequent searches. For example, sport fans will automatically see their favourite team’s real-time scores and other updates during games, and other info, right on the lock screen. Also seen on the Now Bar are proactive suggestions based on your regular activity, such as suggesting you leave for the office 15 minutes earlier because of traffic detected or inclement weather. Samsung says all personalized data is kept private and secured by Knox Vault on the device itself (and not uploaded to the cloud).

Gemini Live: With a real-time spoken conversation with the AI on your device, Gemini Live lets you ask for information like, “Pull up the last email from my boss in Gmail and tell me the location of our offsite meeting tomorrow,” and you’ll hear the answer. Or ask, “Look up a good recipe for beef stew and add the ingredients to my shopping list.” Or ask, “What icebreaker games should we play tonight at our dinner party?” Or, Gemini Live can recognize and interpret images and videos, so you can verbally ask for more info tied to a photo of a dog you’re looking at, such as, “What’s the life expectancy of a Great Dane?”

Cool, no?

THAT’S A WRAP!

While Apple users may not be tempted to switch operating systems – people rarely jump ship from iOS to Android or the other way around – those who like Android should be beyond impressed with the new Samsung Galaxy S25 family.

If my early hands-on time with the devices is any indication, Samsung AI and Google Gemini together in one device are a venerable powerhouse. If you’re curious, this AI combination is also better than iPhone’s Apple Intelligence – for now.

Quite simply, the Galaxy S25s are smarter smartphones.

While the hardware isn’t vastly superior to last year’s offerings, the added power (even for mobile gamers), attractive screens, stellar cameras and long battery life all add up to a pocket-sized mobile companion you can confidently lean on.

– Marc Saltzman is the host of the Tech It Out podcast and the author of the book, Apple Vision Pro For Dummies (Wiley)