The next generation of Samsung flagships is almost here – we expect official news on the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra by the end of the month – and I suspect that this year's most consequential Galaxy upgrade will do nothing with the looks of the has to do with new phones.
It's easy to get excited about the prospect of cutting-edge technology when a phone maker announces a new flagship model, but in reality we've generally seen progress in key components and features slowing year-on-year in modern smartphones – at least those that you can see.
For its part, the Samsung Galaxy series has had roughly the same form factor for half a decade. The Google Pixel series has focused on stabilizing performance in each version. and the iPhone 16 is Apple's first truly novel cell phone in years.
We expect a range of slightly improved specifications for the S25 range in January, particularly for the base model S25 and its identically equipped big brother, the S25 Plus; Both will miss out on the high-end upgrades intended for the S25 Ultra. For the two “standard” models, the latest S25 spec predictions suggest a little more RAM, a slightly larger screen and possibly a little more storage options. Cameras and battery sizes should remain the same. It's hardly Christmas, is it?
However, there is one category where we expect to see a significantly bigger improvement this year, and it's not one you can see – at least not without ripping your phone in half (which TechRadar famously advises against).
Every single Galaxy S25 model is expected to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the latest in Qualcomm's line of premium mobile chipsets. Put simply, this could fundamentally change performance and immediately put Samsung in pole position in the performance race with Apple. Let me explain why.
Elite by name, elite by nature
For those who don't know, the Snapdragon 8 Elite follows the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 – already one of the most powerful mobile chipsets ever produced – and improves (by Qualcomm's own standards) that chipset's single and multi-core performance by 45% ; it also offers significantly improved energy efficiency.
When TechRadar's US mobile editor Philip Berne ran preliminary benchmarks on the 8 Elite, he found that Qualcomm's latest attempt almost doubled the results achieved by the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro.
Keep in mind that at an expected price of $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, the base model S25 will compete with the iPhone 16 and its less powerful A18 chipset, rather than the iPhone 16 Pro. If these benchmarks translate into real-world performance, the race between Apple and Samsung could be like chasing a Dodge Charger on foot (according to our Google Pixel 9 Pro test, Google's Tensor chipsets aren't quite in the conversation yet) . .
What does this mean for the average user? Essentially an even faster Galaxy phone – faster loading times, smoother app switching and expanded AI capabilities. “Benchmarks aren’t everything,” Qualcomm told us at the Snapdragon Summit last year, and while the 8 Elite’s benchmark results are extremely impressive indeed, as noted, Qualcomm is equally keen to highlight the tangible, real-world benefits of its latest chipset.
With rumors of a massive AI push from Samsung this year, we could see the S25 range join our list of the best AI phones thanks to this increased hardware performance, which should allow users to improve productivity and generative AI from Samsung to make better use of it. Additionally, the S25 and S25 Plus are expected to launch with 12GB of RAM, 4GB more than the previous generation, giving these new phones even more scope for AI and multitasking.
We don't even have to wait for the release of the S25 series to see the Snapdragon 8 Elite in action – the first global phones with the new chipset arrived in December 2024 in the form of the Asus Rog Phone 9 and Rog Phone 9 Market professional gaming phones. In our Asus Rog Phone 9 Pro test, the latter achieved a 5/5 score for performance due to its exceptional consistency, improved gaming performance and excellent graphics performance. It is up to Samsung to optimally align the S25 series to the needs of everyday users.
When it comes to performance, Samsung has never lagged – in our Galaxy S24 review, we found the company's latest basic flagship hot on the S24 Ultra's heels in terms of performance – but the gains that the Snapdragon 8 Elite could prove to be a true superlative and may even give S24 users a compelling reason to upgrade this year.
Apart from that, most of the above statements are still based on rumors for now. So be sure to stay tuned to our Samsung phones coverage for the latest official information we receive from Samsung.