Samsung S25 Ultra 3 months later: STILL THE BEST?

0:02 Okay, the time has come again to talk about the S25 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max and that and this and just the general state of smartphones. I am going to level with you guys. I'm a little bit confused about smartphones at the moment. And the reason for that is because it's perfectly illustrated by these two phones here. This is the S25 Ultra and this is the Poco F7 Ultra. They both have the same chip in here, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Yes, this one is tuned for Galaxy, but they're pretty much the same. This one costs half as much as this one roughly, which means you're getting kind of the same phone for half the price equally. And people

0:48 don't believe I've done this. I promise I've done this. I've gone from the iPhone 16 Pro Max to the iPhone 16, and I'm not switching back. This is one of the most enjoyable phones I've used in recent memory. What does all this mean for for for phones and for flagships and that sort of stuff? Well, for flagships and the reason for this video really is it means that a flagship phone has to be incredible. It has to be really, really good. And last year I crowned the S24 Ultra the best smartphone ever. I haven't quite said that about the S25 Ultra yet this year, but I've been using it extensively. It has been my second phone for most of this year so far, which I know is not very long, but it's a good kind of 3 months. I've got lots of thoughts. So, basically, if you're

1:33 thinking about buying this, it really needs to be good because the the competition is just overwhelming. And I think people are getting a bit bored of expensive smartphones. A lot of people are switching to the iPhone 16 and they're looking at things like the Poco series because they're just very affordable and they seem to give you pretty much everything you need from a smartphone. So, in this video, let's revisit the S25 Ultra and just ultra ultra and see if it deserves the crown of best flagship ever. Let's start with design. And I think this is the best looking smartphone on the market. You may not agree with me. If that's the case, just get involved in the comments. But whenever I come back to the S25 Ultra from, for instance, the Poco F7

2:19 Ultra, which does look better in yellow, it's still a handsome phone, but it isn't this basically. And that's kind of the difference, I think, between flagships and mid-range phones that you just get a bit more for your money in terms of the look and feel. And every time I pick this thing up, I just think, "Ooh." And yes, I have it naked. I don't put a case on this thing, which is worrying, but that's just my decision because I I want it to look like that. I think it looks great. the display. And yes, I know this is very, very subjective and it's not a 10- bit panel. When was that a thing, etc. I think this is the best display on the market. It's just beautiful. It is okay. Design-wise, we can talk about the S Pen, which I don't think we need anymore, and I I don't think it's going to be here for the foreseeable future. I think next year with the S26, I think we'll still

3:06 get this, but S27 Ultra onwards, I don't think we'll have an S Pen because I just don't think enough people use it. But that aside, yeah, design, display, massively flagship camera system. Now, I have increasingly fewer requirements as a 44 year old dad when it comes to my smartphone camera because all I take photos of basically is my son and selfies of us as a family. And for that reason, it just needs to be fast and reliable and look pretty decent when I've taken the photos. It's as simple as that. Now, the S25 Ultra has an amazing camera system. But you might be wondering what separates a phone like this from a phone like this. Well, it's quite simple. There's two things actually. The first thing is zoom range. So, the 10x on this is probably the most usable 10x I've ever come across on a

3:53 smartphone. The the only other phone that comes close is the X200 Pro from Vivo, but that's very difficult to get hold of in certain parts of the world. For a phone that is you can buy pretty much anywhere. If you want a brilliant 10x zoom, which isn't digital, no, it is digital. It's not optical, the S25 Ultra absolutely smashes it. Now, I can prove this because I took this to what I think is one of the most challenging shooting conditions ever this weekend. It was a monster trucks event in Birmingham in a big indoor arena. Very dark, lots of very harsh lighting, lots of very fast moving objects as well. And it didn't hit perfectly every time. As you can see, there were some some misses. Absolutely. But it did capture the most important shots, you know, the shots of my son, the shots of the cars when they're stationary normally and and also

4:39 some movement. You know, when when some of the trucks were doing their donuts and all that sort of stuff, it it it picked up enough. And most of these were shot at 10x. And I think these look pretty good. Also, this is, I think, the most enjoyable phone to use from a video perspective because it has smooth zoom. This is basically the ability to zoom in and zoom out while you're filming very smoothly. Now, you can still see the switching between the lenses, between the sensors. That's inevitable at the minute. I think at some point Samsung might completely get rid of that, but it's so addictive. And as you can see here, the footage from these monster trucks, it's just it's a really cool way to shoot family events and things and just to get a bit of a different perspective and make it a bit more cinematic. I can't stop using smooth zoom. It's brilliant. Overall though,

5:26 the camera system on the S25 Ultra I think is the best on the market. It has the best AI features as well. I won't go into those now, but it really, really does. And because of that, it absolutely smashes Apple into a cockt very average. This does have some competition with the likes of Poco and some other Xiai phones and Huawei and a few others. But if I had to take a phone to another monster trucks event, I'd take this. And if you're a dad or a mum, you'll know exactly what I'm saying. Before we carry on, just a very quick word from today's sponsor, which is RoboForm. If you're still storing all of your usernames and passwords in your head or in a spreadsheet, or worse

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6:57 best news is, guys, I've got an awesome deal for anyone who clicks the link in my description. Go and check it out. Performance. Now, this is a flagship phone, which means it's going to offer you the best performance going. So, if you do lots of very complicated things with your smartphone or you're a gamer, if you're a proper smartphone gamer, of which I'm not. I'm neither of those things, by the way. I'm a regular user. If you're more than regular, then this is the best phone to get. It really is. I think that, you know, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a powerful phone. This has a very powerful chip in it. But there's something about the S25 Ultra and that Snapdragon 8 Elite. I'm not going to go into the benchmarks, but if you look at the benchmarks, this is very, very impressive. The battery life as well is really good. Really, really good. Just

7:44 like every Android smartphone, it lasts a comical amount of time on standby, which means it's better than the iPhone 16 Pro Max in that regard. But even under fairly heavy use, it's great. No problems with battery. AI, it's the best on the market. If you want the ability to remove things from photos or get help with your text messages in terms of the tone, all that sort of stuff. And you know, there's so many things in Galaxy AI. I won't go into all of it now. I've covered this in other videos, but there are so many things you can do with Galaxy AI and most of it is very polished because Samsung got there before Apple and lots of others. It sets the standard in all those regards. Yeah, performance, battery, AI flagship. A couple of weeks ago, I asked you guys to send me questions about the S25 Ultra, and you duly obliged. I've not read any

8:29 of these, by the way, so my answers are going to be completely off the cuff. The first one is I would like to know why it's a superior phone in every way imaginable. Yet I keep going back to my iPhone. Only you can answer that. But my hunch is it's it's the same reason that I keep going back to the iPhone myself and it's the Mac. I bet you've got a Mac. And if you have a Mac, the iPhone makes sense. That's how they get you. It doesn't mean that the Samsung ecosystem is worse because it isn't. It's just it's what you like. And if you like it, if you if you're into the Mac, you get an iPhone. Has it taken over as your primary phone or is the iPhone still the primary daily? Yes, as I've mentioned in this video, the iPhone 16e is my main phone. I do have two SIM cards. So, I have my main SIM card and I have my secondary SIM card. My secondary SIM card goes into the phone that I'm reviewing at the time. This one, the

9:15 main SIM card, I've had for years, and yes, it's still in an iPhone, but this is my second phone all the time, unless I'm reviewing something else. And when I've finished reviewing something else, like the Poco for instance, I always go back to this. I'm weird. I I'm a reviewer. I do do not take my use case and the way that I use my phones as what you should be doing because you you shouldn't. As an S22 Ultra user, could you go over the key points on why I should upgrade? Can I remember? I can't remember the S22 Ultra exactly specifically with all the different specs and things. Um, what I would say with any question like this is if that phone is getting on your nerves, if the battery is dying, if you're not happy with the camera system, if there's just something a bit sluggish about it, then go for the S25 Ultra because it's a huge

10:02 upgrade in that scenario. If you're happy with the S22 Ultra, I wouldn't bother. I really wouldn't. If it's doing the job for you, do you really need to upgrade and spend more money? I don't know. Unless you're out of contract, etc. In terms of the specifics, I mean, this has got a better camera system, 100%. It's got a much better chip as well. Definitely. The battery life, in fact, it's better, isn't it? Yeah. Upgrade. What is there to know? Now, this wasn't a question, by the way. Smartphones have quickly become boring. That's not a bad thing. It just means the technology has matured and major advancements are rare. I completely agree. Why do Jack Russell skip when they run? Do they skip? Um, is it worth the upgrade over the S24 Ultra? No. I'd like to know if you're giving it away. No. Right. Going back to the question that I posed at the start

10:48 of this video, is the S25 Ultra deserving of the flagship title, and should you buy it over a mid-range phone? Well, yes and yes, but there are obviously lots of different things to take into account here. The mid-range smartphone market is amazing, which means you need a very specific reason to spend over £1,000, over $1,000 on something like this. It might be the camera. It might be the performance. It may be something that I haven't thought of. But that is where I want to turn this over to you. Let me know in the comments why you would go for a flagship like the S25 Ultra. I'd love to know. I find this I find it absolutely fascinating. This is the best smartphone I've ever used. There you go. I've said it. It It just is. It's better than where is it? The the iPhone 16 Pro Max. And it's several notches above mid-range

11:35 phones for the reasons I've mentioned in this video. But I love this thing. But flagships. Get involved in the comments, guys. And if you've enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up. And if you haven't hit that subscribe button yet, you know where it is. See you next time.