Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus VS Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Both phones share a strong foundation: an IP68 waterproof rating, a French Repairability Index of 8.5, and identical operating temperature ranges. Neither is ruggedized, and neither folds — so on protection credentials and durability philosophy, they are evenly matched.

Where they diverge meaningfully is in physical footprint. The S25 Ultra is larger in every dimension — 162.8 mm tall vs 158.4 mm, 77.6 mm wide vs 75.8 mm, and 8.2 mm thick vs 7.3 mm — resulting in a volume of 103.6 cm³ compared to the Plus's 87.6 cm³, roughly an 18% larger overall body. That extra bulk comes with a notable weight difference: 218 g vs 190 g. In practice, 28 extra grams may sound minor, but sustained one-handed use or extended reading sessions will make the Ultra feel noticeably more fatiguing over time.

The S25 Plus has a clear ergonomic edge in this group: it is lighter, slimmer, and more compact, making it the better choice for users who prioritize comfortable daily handling. The Ultra's larger frame is not an inherent flaw — it is the expected trade-off for a bigger device — but purely on design manageability, the Plus wins.

At the core, these two displays are remarkably alike: both are OLED/AMOLED panels running at 1440 x 3120 px, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling, and a peak brightness of 2600 nits — meaning color vibrancy, scrolling smoothness, and outdoor legibility are effectively identical between them.

The most meaningful difference is screen size — 6.9″ on the Ultra vs 6.7″ on the Plus — and its knock-on effect on pixel density. Counterintuitively, the Plus actually edges out the Ultra with 513 ppi vs 498 ppi, because its same-resolution panel is packed into a smaller area. In practice, both exceed the threshold where individual pixels are indistinguishable to the naked eye, so sharpness will not be a perceptible real-world differentiator. The larger Ultra screen is simply more immersive for media consumption and multitasking. The glass protection also diverges: the Plus uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2, while the Ultra steps up to Gorilla Armor 2, which is engineered for enhanced scratch and glare resistance — a tangible, if subtle, daily durability advantage.

On display specs alone, this is close to a tie, but the S25 Ultra holds a narrow edge thanks to its larger canvas and superior Gorilla Armor 2 protection. Users who prioritize screen real estate and long-term scratch resilience will favor it; those who want a slightly sharper, more pocket-friendly panel lose almost nothing by choosing the Plus.

Under the hood, these two phones are nearly identical: both run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip built on a 3 nm process, pair it with 12 GB of DDR5 RAM at 5300 MHz, and share the same Adreno 830 GPU, memory bandwidth, cache hierarchy, and 8.2W TDP. For everyday tasks, gaming, and AI workloads, the real-world experience will be indistinguishable between them.

The benchmark picture is genuinely mixed, which makes this group harder to call cleanly. The S25 Ultra posts higher Geekbench 6 scores — 3057 single-core and 9846 multi-core vs the Plus's 2721 and 9435 — suggesting a modest CPU performance edge, possibly due to thermal tuning differences in the larger chassis. Yet the S25 Plus records a significantly higher AnTuTu score of 3,050,000 against the Ultra's 2,207,809, a gap that likely reflects variance in testing conditions or software optimization rather than a true hardware difference, given the identical silicon. Neither result should be taken as a definitive ceiling. On storage, the Ultra's 1 TB base configuration is a tangible, practical advantage over the Plus's 512 GB for power users dealing with large media libraries or local AI model files.

Declared winner on paper is nuanced: for raw CPU throughput the Ultra has a slight Geekbench edge, and its double the storage is a meaningful differentiator for heavy users. The S25 Plus, however, is no slouch — the shared silicon guarantees near-parity in day-to-day performance. Users who don't need the extra storage headroom will find the Plus fully competitive here.

This is the spec group where the gap between these two phones becomes most pronounced. The S25 Plus fields a capable triple-camera system anchored by a 50 MP main sensor, while the S25 Ultra goes considerably further with a quad-camera array led by a 200 MP primary sensor — a fourfold resolution advantage that translates to dramatically more detail for cropping, large-format printing, and computational photography. The Ultra's wider main aperture of f/1.7 vs the Plus's f/1.8 also means slightly more light captured in low-light scenes, though the difference is marginal at this level.

Telephoto reach tells a sharper story. The Plus tops out at 3x optical zoom with a maximum focal length of 67 mm, whereas the Ultra extends to 5x optical zoom and 111 mm — nearly double the reach. For wildlife, sports, or distant subjects, that gap is genuinely meaningful in the real world. The Ultra also gains a fourth dedicated 50 MP telephoto lens and adds laser autofocus on top of the phase-detection system already shared by both phones, improving lock speed in challenging conditions. One nuance worth noting: the Plus starts at a wider minimum focal length of 13 mm vs the Ultra's 24 mm, making the Plus slightly more versatile at the ultra-wide end.

The S25 Ultra holds a clear and decisive camera advantage in this group — more lenses, a far higher-resolution main sensor, longer zoom range, and an extra autofocus system. The S25 Plus is no weak performer, but for users who prioritize photographic versatility and telephoto capability, the Ultra is the stronger tool by a considerable margin.

Running identical versions of Android 15, the two phones share an overwhelming majority of software features — from split-screen multitasking and picture-in-picture, to on-device machine learning, dynamic theming, and a comprehensive suite of privacy controls. For most users, the day-to-day software experience will feel essentially the same across both devices.

Three features, however, are exclusive to the S25 Ultra in this dataset: cross-site tracking blocking, Wi-Fi password sharing, and focus modes. Of these, focus modes stand out most practically — they allow users to restrict notifications and app access during specific activities like work or sleep, a meaningful quality-of-life tool for managing digital attention. Wi-Fi password sharing simplifies handing off network credentials to others without revealing the password directly. Cross-site tracking blocking adds a layer of browsing privacy the Plus does not offer. None of these are transformative, but together they represent a modest but real software edge.

The S25 Ultra holds a narrow advantage in this group purely on feature count, with three useful additions absent from the Plus. That said, the gap is far from decisive — the core Android 15 experience, privacy architecture, and productivity toolset are identical. Users who rely on focus modes or frequent Wi-Fi sharing will genuinely appreciate the Ultra's extras; for everyone else, the difference is unlikely to influence a purchase decision.

Charging architecture is completely identical across both phones: 45W wired fast charging, 15W wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging — meaning fill times, pad compatibility, and the ability to top up accessories like earbuds will be indistinguishable in practice. Neither device ships with a charger in the box, and neither has a removable battery, so both sit squarely in the same category of modern flagship trade-offs.

The only numerical difference is battery capacity: 5000 mAh on the Ultra vs 4900 mAh on the Plus — a gap of just 100 mAh, or roughly 2%. In real-world usage, a difference this small is well within the margin of day-to-day variability and will never be perceptible to a user. It is worth noting, however, that the Ultra's larger battery must also power a bigger display and a more complex camera system, so identical longevity between the two is not guaranteed — though that falls outside what the provided specs can confirm.

On the specs available here, this group is effectively a tie. The 100 mAh advantage the Ultra holds on paper is statistically negligible, and every other battery spec is a perfect match. Neither phone differentiates itself meaningfully in this category.

Audio is the rare spec group where there is simply nothing to separate these two phones — every single data point is identical. Both omit the 3.5 mm headphone jack, deliver stereo speakers, and carry 3 microphones for voice capture and noise reduction during calls and recordings.

On the wireless audio codec front, both support aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC — covering the key high-resolution Bluetooth audio standards used by most premium wireless headphones today. LDAC in particular allows near-lossless audio streaming at up to 990 kbps, which is meaningful for audiophiles pairing either device with compatible headphones. Neither phone supports aptX Adaptive or aptX Lossless, so users dependent on those specific codecs will find the same limitation on both.

This group is a complete tie — there is no differentiator, however minor, between the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra in audio hardware or wireless codec support. The choice between these two phones will rest entirely on other spec groups.

Connectivity credentials are a perfect match between these two phones: both support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, 5G, NFC, and USB 3.2 Type-C, with identical download and upload speed ceilings and the same dual-SIM plus dual-eSIM configuration. The sensor array — gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer, compass, and GPS with Galileo — is also identical, meaning location accuracy, motion sensing, and navigation performance will be indistinguishable between them.

The one hardware differentiator in this group is significant for a specific audience: the S25 Ultra ships with an included stylus, while the Plus does not. For note-taking, sketching, annotating documents, or precise on-screen input, a built-in stylus is a genuinely useful productivity tool that cannot be replicated by a finger — and having it included rather than as an optional accessory matters. SAR radiation values differ slightly between the two models but show no consistent directional pattern across head and body measurements, and neither exceeds regulatory limits.

The S25 Ultra has a clear edge in this group, and it comes down entirely to the stylus. For users who have no interest in pen input, the two phones are functionally identical in connectivity and features. But for anyone who values handwriting, drawing, or precision touch — the Ultra is the only option here.

The miscellaneous spec group offers the least differentiation of any category in this comparison. All four data points — video light, sapphire glass, curved display, and e-paper display — are identical between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, with both sharing the same yes/no outcomes across the board.

The one shared feature worth noting is the video light, present on both devices, which allows the flash to function as a continuous light source during video recording rather than just a single-burst strobe — a practical convenience for content creators shooting in low-light environments. The absence of a curved display on either phone reflects a flat-screen design choice consistent with the physical dimensions already described in the Design group.

This group is an unambiguous complete tie. With only four specs and zero divergence between the two models, nothing here should factor into a purchase decision either way.