Samsung is rumoured to ditch the squared design for the Galaxy S25 Ultra and bring back curves, similar to the Galaxy Note 7 or Galaxy S21 Ultra.
It's a strange move considering rumours suggest the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 will have a squared-off design.
We now know that Samsung is going to be announcing its new folding phones on 10 July at Galaxy Unpacked. There's been no shortage of leaks surrounding the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, but we're already heard about the next phone to come after that, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
It looks like there's going to be a change in design for the 2025 flagship Android phone. It's believed that the next-gen Galaxy Z devices will be squared, but Samsung could head in the other direction for Galaxy S and bring back more curves.
That's not uncommon ground for Samsung. There's been a recent trend of squaring off the frames and offering a flat display, with that trend likely to be inspired by the Apple iPhone to a certain degree. But now a reliable leaker of Samsung details has claimed that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will be more rounded.
The news comes from UniverseIce on X / Twitter, who has a good track record with such leaks. "It's really rounded!" the leaker says, before adding in another post that the S25 Ultra will be as rounded as the ill-fated Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
For those who don't remember, the Galaxy Note 7 was the one with the battery problem that was completely recalled.
I can confirm 100% that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will not crush your palm again.It's really rounded! pic.twitter.com/rKf8TmCoAsJune 27, 2024
Samsung moved to a squarer design when it retired the Galaxy Note family. That saw the Galaxy S22 Ultra offering the S Pen for the first time, as the defacto replacement for the Galaxy Note. But it seems that the S Pen is going to continue within the body of the Galaxy S25 Ultra too, so despite the change in design, you're not going to lose the stylus.
Previously, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra – the first phone to launch with the Ultra name – was quite rounded, and that was a really great phone from a design point of view.
What to expect from the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
We know that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is coming, because it's already been listed with various authorities. There are rumours that the 6.9-inch display will get a massive brightness bump to 3,000 nits.
It's also been suggested that there's going to be an upgrade to the camera system, this time focusing on the secondary cameras rather than just the main camera. That might mean that the ultrawide and 3x telephoto cameras get a quality boost for even better photo performance.
It doesn't take a genius to suggest that we're going to be looking at Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy to power these devices. In fact, rumours have suggested that much as Samsung might want to equip some of the Galaxy S25 range with Exynos, it just might not have the yield from its fabrication process to make that happen. That might mean that the whole Galaxy S25 family is Snapdragon powered, globally.
We wouldn't expect Samsung to launch the Galaxy S25 Ultra until late January 2025. We're likely to see an expansion on the Galaxy AI skills that made their debut on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and that might equip the phone with a range of skill not defined by the hardware.
Samsung's aim will be to make the Galaxy S25 Ultra the best phone there is and I suspect there are going to be a lot more leaks before we get to launch day.
