The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is likely one of the finest telephones in Australia, and in 2025 it’ll be a tough handset to beat as our consideration turns to the Google Pixel 10 Pro and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max coming later this yr. It solely improves upon the perfect cameraphone of 2024, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it continues a pattern set by the S24. In 2025, software program took over the stage nearly completely in San Jose at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked occasion.
Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra obtained a brand new rounded design that makes it look extra like its customary S25 and S25 Plus counterparts. Samsung additionally determined to axe Bluetooth options from the S Pen with the S25 Ultra, which enabled customers to take photographs with the cellphone’s included stylus (tremendous helpful for group photographs and selfies, although Samsung stated it’s not a preferred function). Hardware undoubtedly modified and certainly the cellphone did obtain its annual CPU/GPU efficiency buff – however in 2025, Samsung’s extra serious about software program.
With the launch of One UI 7, Samsung’s app icons, widgets, standing bar and different core software program options have gotten a refresh. They really feel extra environment friendly, space-aware and higher in keeping with the customization that many customers crave from their smartphones. When I first obtained this cellphone, my colleagues and I have been saddened at how restricted the ‘Good Lock’ OS-modifying software had change into with One UI 7, however after toying with the working system, I’ve come to appreciate that I may lastly get by with out it.
Better but, the introduction of the Now Bar and the all-new Now Brief are literally helpful productiveness options that look good on the show, and so they’re my favourite options of the launch.
Whether or not Samsung’s helpful Now Brief web page, which generates an AI-assisted snapshot of the remainder of your day (or subsequent day), successfully encompasses what has change into the favored notion of AI (incorporating using large-language fashions and the like) feels irrelevant. This is a genuinely helpful function and to some extent, I’m disillusioned that it has been tarnished by the ‘AI’ tag that justifiably places a foul style in individuals’s mouths.
To that finish, we are able to ignore the elephant within the room now not – the messy state of affairs that’s AI on a Samsung cellphone. Such telephones are torn between Galaxy AI instruments (a lot of which perform on-device) and Google Gemini, and there’s trigger for concern on this discrepancy.
So let’s chat Samsung’s newest OS polish, its helpful new methods, and its spotty AI-fication.
Hello, lovely
I’ll shortly admit that Samsung’s strategy to UI design up till now hasn’t been my favourite. Coming from iOS in 2022, the Google Pixel vary received me over with the uniform aesthetic that makes it the closest factor to an iPhone on the Android aspect of the fence. Samsung’s telephones, albeit partly resulting from their overstuffing of bloatware with a contemporary set up, are inclined to have a extra tech-savvy aesthetic – displaying extra icons on an area, settings icons always throughout the settings bar (high of the show) and customarily sharing extra info than is critical for an informal consumer.
That does not appear to be the case with the Samsung Galaxy S25 collection and One UI 7. With this launch, refined however sweeping adjustments have been made to the house display screen, together with app icon scale alternative, darkish icons in darkish mode when ‘Color Palette’ is utilized to apps, and expanded folders (which you’ll faucet to open apps with out opening stated folder).
One of my massive reservations about Samsung telephones up till now has been the cluttered Status Bar, displaying oh so many symbols that don’t should be displayed always (for instance, the New Radio icon, NFC icon and Bluetooth icon, to call a number of). These icons have now been relegated to the standing bar solely when accessing the short settings and notifications menu (accessed by swiping down), whereas app notifications proceed to persist on the left of the standing bar (except disabled).
Widgets and lock display screen/notifications menu pop-ups have additionally obtained a glow-up, and at the moment are rounded on the corners and displaying extra info on the house display screen. However, to activate these notification ‘playing cards’ on the lock display screen, you’ll want to take action in your lock display screen settings (switching over from icons to playing cards).
It’s the little issues that add up, surrounding the introduction of two massive issues. The Now bar comes first; it’s a multi-function widget that seems contextually on the backside of the lock display screen. I actually love the way it expands when tapped whereas taking part in music, shows timers and the way it communicates Google Maps information. It’s nice having it so low on the display screen, so it’s extra accessible one-handed. It feels extra intuitive than Apple’s Dynamic Island which it appears impressed by.
Moreover, Now Brief is a genuinely helpful addition to the One UI suite of options. In the morning, at mid-day and at evening, the cellphone will produce a ‘Now Brief’ rundown of upcoming occasions (together with climate experiences, journey info and calendar notifications) and a recap of your final a number of hours (together with sleep information, missed calls and photographs taken).
It’s a useful gizmo for placing all of your contextually acceptable alerts within the one spot to your evaluate, and it pains me that it’s not even extra helpful. I’d love for it to drag info from extra apps – recommending me to proceed listening to a podcast, choose audiobook or hold watching a Disney+ collection. The finest it’ll do on these fronts is advocate you a Spotify playlist or push you within the course of YouTube Shorts.
I’d additionally prefer it to be rather less… mistaken? After waking up one morning, it advisable me a ‘liquid EDM’ playlist. I’ve been identified to l hearken to the odd EDM track right here or there, however it looks like a wild style to get up to.
But it’s in Now Brief that we strategy the cluttered state of Samsung’s AI suite.
Samsung’s AI confusion
And then there’s Google Gemini. On One UI 7 and the S25 vary, Gemini has changed the default Google Assistant (Bixby who?), and whereas I do like Gemini as a digital assistant, its coexistence with these different AI instruments is probably complicated to an informal consumer.
That being stated, Samsung has added cross-app actions to the S25 vary with Google Gemini. You can ask Gemini to carry out a fancy collection of instructions, equivalent to discovering the data on a number of companies on-line to be added to your Notes app, and will probably be completed so fluidly (as demonstrated by our mates at Tom’s Guide). The solely third-party apps presently supported are Whatsapp and Spotify, however this superior time-saving function genuinely has the potential to assist get stuff completed shortly.
Erring on the essential aspect, I believe we’re being a bit liberal with what we’re appropriately calling an ‘AI function’. For instance; Google Circle to Search continues to be certainly one of my favourite options of Android telephones in 2024. It’s supposedly underpinned by AI, however it’s unclear how AI truly elements into the perform of this software. After all, it’s principally a simple-to-access spin on Google Lens with help for on-screen circling.
Similarly with Now Brief, it’s not clear simply how a lot of it advantages from so-called AI options. A day-to-come or day-passed snapshot is just a splash display screen displaying your upcoming occasions, climate alerts, a smattering of content material suggestions and well being figures from all through the day.
It might sound bereft to criticize AI options on the benefit of being ‘AI-powered’, however I’ve one main concern. Since the launch of the Galaxy S24 vary, Samsung has famous that it could, ultimately, begin to cost for its AI options. At the time of writing, the official firm tagline is:
“Fees might apply for AI options on the finish of 2025. Certain Galaxy AI options require [a] Samsung and Google Account. [An] web connection could also be required to make use of some options. AI Features can be offered freed from cost till the tip of 2025 on supported Samsung Galaxy gadgets.”
My concern is that entry to a few of these genuinely helpful options can be paywalled alongside the AI instruments that many individuals received’t truly get any use from.
I’ve no drawback paying a subscription for a genuinely helpful services or products if I’m truly getting worth from it. Between Circle to Search and Now Brief, I now have two AI options that I like.
And I don’t assume I may sensibly pay for both.
Samsung must steer fastidiously
While Samsung has spent a good period of time beautifying its working system, its AI software program is beginning to change into a special story altogether. No doubt persons are utilizing such options at their very own discretion, however to this point there hasn’t been vital AI software constructed into One UI (or any cellphone OS for that matter).
On the intense aspect, One UI 7 brings with it a pleasant aesthetic refresh, and in a {hardware} lull yr, it’s the perfect I may have needed from Samsung.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 vary is out there now.
