Samsung Galaxy S25 Reddit Verdict: Great Phone, Real Trade-offs

I have the s25 I just don't like that our max is 256 GB, you can get the same phone for less going back to s23, s24.

The size/weight is a huge benefit. Having it in my jeans pocket is ideal. I love the dolby atmos audio and the video quality. Music and video is amazing. Its a very dependable device, no lags/bugs or weird app closures. Ive not used the camera a great deal but for what an average consumer needs, its perfectly fine.

I am using a s25 base model. It is more than enough for day to day use for me. It is small in size and easier to use. Camera is also great. Specially the portrait. You get same AI features and that makes it stand on top of other brands when it comes to AI (photo edit) even though it is a base model of S25 series.

It's a great little powerhouse of a phone. The battery life is average, I'm a casual user but on my heavier days Im left with 15ish%. Mostly with social media/YouTube/browsing etc. The weight/size is unmatched tho, so if that's your priority I don't think you'll find a better phone with the same performance. Check them out on eBay, got mine for like $450 (256gb) and that was a few months ago.

My daughter has that phone. She uses it all the time. She hasn't had any issues. She's had it since it was released and hasn't had any issues. No overheating or battery problems. I'm assuming the battery lasts pretty long because she always forgets to charge her damn phone.

I don't think other android stand a chance against s25 other than batteries, also I am using it from last 14 days, I see heating issue.

As someone who went from a Pixel 6a to a Galaxy S22 Ultra, I can say I haven't minded the OneUI skin from Samsung too much. I really liked the pure Android experience and was hesitant, but the recent versions of OneUI don't feel overly intrusive like the early days of skins.

S25 owner here (SM-S931U1). The S25 is the better "small, stable, cool-running" phone — great thermals, solid battery for its size, long software support, and no major overheating issues so far. Its only real drawbacks are the single SIM slot and Samsung's AI features, which you can mostly disable.

If he's saying his usage is comparable to the way he used a different device and the battery life / charging is significantly worse, I'm not sure what the question is here because it seems like the comparative assessment is pretty clear; the battery life is a compromise relative to the other device.

Love my s25. Drawbacks: Battery is meh. Cameras are good not superlative. Doesn't charge fast enough (25w charging ftl). Love the performance, form factor, weight, connectivity.

How is 11 hours of usage and 1.5 hrs to charge such a negative? It's fine, not great. I don't see how someone who doesn't spend all day on his phone would have a problem with that?

If you have money, buy Ultra. Battery, camera better. Bigger screen. But if you okay being average user, get s25. Its one of the best compact phone with decent camera and okay battery.

Performance will be the same on all 3. The SoC is the same. Camera quality on the S25 and S25+ will be the same. Same cameras. The Ultra has a better lense. I have the S25 and S25+. I just recently after almost 9 months switched to the S25+ from the base S25. Battery life has been roughly the same to be honest.

Unbox mine yesterday and the battery is waouh. I don't know how i did to survive with my s21fe.

Honestly, no problems for me, and that's something. I suppose the problem would be One UI bloatware, but nothing that a little ADB can't fix. Battery is good, although I come from an S23 and before that, Pixel Phones. So maybe I'm used to having shitty battery and I don't know. It's really gud phone.

Have the S25 256gb since July/August and I'm very happy with it. Only downside is that the battery life could be better (I get around 6h SOT in light performance mode) and it can get pretty hot with some intensive stuff. Other than that, everything is fine, performance is brilliant, AI stuff is there but it's not intrusive, it's just a button in the corner and it's very easy to just ignore and don't use.

Complaint: It's not much different from my old S23. Still a fantastic phone, though.

I absolutely looooove the UI of the Samsung. I love the size. But, you're right about the camera. It's slightly off from the iPhones. I also noticed my playback come out baggy on some social media sites.

I have the base s25. Love it. Small and easy to use. The ultra has better cameras but is huge and very uncomfortable to use with one hand when walking, shopping, or at night lying in bed. The s25 is the first phone I can use comfortably anytime. Even holding it while lying in bed does not require an effort.

I think battery life is okayish, and night time captures are meh. Apart from that this shit is goated.

I have s25+ (upgraded from s24) and i get about 5-6.5 hrs screen on time with it. Idk how people are getting 9+hrs. Ive never even gotten 7hrs SOT. And i have tried everything like low performance mode, fhd resolution, low refresh rate etc. Besides this, everything is fine. CPU is beast! Editing videos and transcoding is super fast. Cameras are okay too. Nothing extraordinary but just good enough. Never had any issues with thermals or any heating issues.

Best phone I've ever had. I doubt I will upgrade until S28 honestly.

No complains, didn't heat up even under direct sun while gaming. The only cons is that using data drains battery much faster than normal which is not very much of a con since this is in every phone basically.

Came from the S23, everything is better except the cameras, which are significantly worse! The camera falls apart when there is not enough light and becomes grainy all over. I would say the camera is midrange at best, so if it is not a priority for you, go for it.

Battery was not that great. 2 hours of SoT for 10 hours of use. Thermals were okay, though I ran into issues where I couldn't open Google Maps due to heat, but that was on rare occasions when using Android Auto. Camera SUUUUCKS for video, especially with HDR enabled. Photos are good, but video absolutely not acceptable.

I have been using the base for the past two years. Its my favourite out of the line up. I tried the 25 ultra and now the edge (which is a great phone btw). I always come back to the base s25. Lightest and smallest flagship. You wont regret getting one.

S25 base is the best sized Android phone for small hands.

Having just gone from pixel7 to s25 I have actually really enjoyed the experience. I like that if I limit background usage and set it to ultra power savings with access to my music, audio books, navigation, and camera my estimated battery life at 35% was 1day 14 hours.

I came from an Iphone 15 to the s25. The s25 is a wonderful phone, a lot of features, good picture quality, better battery performance than my iphone 15 and it has a better screen. The downsides about the s25 is only the integration with apple's macbook.

I've been using it for a year and it hasn't gotten hot even once, only when charging, but that's normal, otherwise it works great. I wouldn't change it.

I can live with the samsung UI, what I cannot live with is carrier bloatware. Unlocked phones only. I love my S25. 12g ram, 256gb, snapdragon elite for $600 felt like a good deal to me. If it will last me 6 to 7 years like my S9 did I'll be pleased. Its also not gigantic, I can't deal with the ultra/+ models.

For a long time, I was a Samsung Galaxy user. My last Samsung phone was the S24. I chose it for the same reasons you mention: low weight and size. However, I found the battery life lacking, even on flight mode and power saving mode. Necessitating 2x10k mAh power banks (300g) to even survive a 5-6 day trip with minimal use.

It heats like crazy... s25 is a hunk of shit... took it back 2 days later the plus. Base model is trash and a waste of money.

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the battery life. I am a battery anxiety kind of guy and I really haven't had to worry about it much at all. Yes it takes forever to charge but when you're getting 8+ hours of screen time with mixed use it's a tradeoff that is well worth it especially from such a small cell.

I switched from iphone 15 base to s25 base a few days back. While s25 is veryy smooth, fast as compared to 15, the charging speed is quite low. Also it heats up on heavy duty uses/charging. Found 15's cam to be better than this.

I have had a similar change from OnePlus to Galaxy s25. I have instant regret. The phone is significantly hotter than my OnePlus. If there is an update processing in the background, the phone heats up to a point where it is almost painful to hold. This feels like a safety issue.

This is the first time in the history of owning smartphones that I have switched from an iPhone 8 to an S25. I have been using an iPhone since the 3GS model and never thought that I would make the switch to an Android platform phone. So, now I have had my s25 for about 5 weeks.

Unlike all the previous phones, I cannot stream a podcast, play Sirius xm app, play music on YouTube while simultaneously reading newspaper apps or Facebook. Ive disabled video autoplay, ive disabled notifications, nothing works. Sometimes ill get it set up to where I can stream audio and scan other sites, and the next day it defaults back.

Base S25 here. Love the size. I can't handle a huge phone like the Ultra. My phone is fast, great display and takes great pics.

I have the plus model because the ultra was just too high of a price tag for me. I have literally no complaints. Upgraded from my base model 23. I'm enjoying the extra storage and bigger battery. It's a flawless device.

I had the S25 Ultra for 2 weeks and it would start at 100% then be at 30% by the end of the 8 hour work day.

The build quality on the small S25 still feels a bit "hollow" by comparison to iPhone. It's frustrating that Samsung keeps the premium materials exclusive to the Ultra while the base model feels like the "forgotten sibling" in terms of hand-feel. That said, the form factor is a total dream for one-handed use, even if the 25W charging is a total joke in 2026.

6 months down the line, I am really loving the phone and the battery optimization has just gotten better.