Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra – 5 of the biggest expected…

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra – 5 of the biggest expected upgrades

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could land in just a couple of months, with leaks pointing to a January 22 announcement. So there’s probably not long to wait, and thanks to other leaks we also have a good idea of what to expect from this phone.

While not everything is likely to be upgraded, there are five big upgrades that have been rumored. If they all happen, then the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will be a far more powerful phone than its predecessor, with better cameras and a refined design.

We’ve detailed those five upgrades below, so you can see for yourself what to expect from Samsung’s upcoming flagship.

1. A power-packed Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset

The one upgrade you can count on every year with a new Galaxy S model is a new chipset providing more power to the phone, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a major or exciting improvement.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is widely rumored to be equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which itself promises huge performance increases on the previous chipset – the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Benchmarks suggest the Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers true laptop power in a phone, and early Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra benchmarks are certainly promising, delivering multi-core scores that are even higher than those achieved by the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

2. A new ultra-wide camera

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

Samsung’s Ultra phones always rank among the best camera phones, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could push the line’s photographic capabilities to new heights.

In particular, the ultra-wide camera could get a big boost, with leaks suggesting the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have a 50MP ultra-wide snapper, up from just 12MP on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

So that’s a huge improvement in terms of megapixels, and could bring a previously slightly neglected camera closer to the performance of the S25 Ultra’s main sensor.

That would also notably help it rival the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s ultra-wide camera, which got a similar upgrade from the 12MP of its predecessor to 48MP.

3. A bigger screen

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

One upgrade that’s literally ‘big’ could be the screen, as leaks suggest the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have an enormous 6.9-inch display. Or more precisely a 6.86-inch screen that would be marketed as 6.9 inches.

That would be up from the 6.8 inches of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, so not a huge increase, but this would still leave you with a more expansive canvas than on the S24 Ultra or most other Android phones.

As with some of the other rumored upgrades, it would also bring the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra more in line with the 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max.

4. A curvier design

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

A well as a bigger screen, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra might also have a curvier design, with more rounded corners than the current model.

That should help it fit in more with the rest of the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, and coupled with rumors of smaller bezels and a lighter build, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could look and feel noticeably better than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

5. More RAM

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra playing Call of Duty Mobile (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

One final upgrade the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra might get is more RAM. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a respectable 12GB of RAM, but one leak suggests the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could have up to 16GB.

It’s worth noting that an early Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra benchmark only mentioned 12GB of RAM, so if this rumor is right it’s possible that only some configurations will have 16GB.

But a boost to 16GB would make sense, especially now that AI is becoming a focus, as extra RAM could help speed up on-device AI tasks. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, then, might be the AI phone to beat in 2025.