Samsung Galaxy S25 goes big on AI: these are our favourite 6 features

The Samsung Galaxy S25 series has landed, and with the trio of new phones all packing the same processing power (Snapdragon 8 Elite), 12GB of RAM and OneUI 7 interface, there’s very little to differentiate the three. Physical size and price point are the only real differences.

It means you’ll be treated to a fantastic array of features, premium design and stunning displays no matter which of the three you opt for.

Unsurprisingly, Samsung is going big again on AI, with the new Galaxy S25 devices delivering a veritable buffet of smart features – some new, and some given a polish from the S24 series.

There’s a lot to like, but from our exclusive briefing and hands-on time, here are our five favourite Galaxy S25 features so far:

1. Samsung Galaxy AI’s Now Brief and Now Bar are actually useful

Samsung wants to give you a supremely personalised AI experience with the Galaxy S25 series, and that starts with the Now Brief and Now Bar.

The Now Bar resides on your lock screen and can deliver pertinent information, depending on the time of day and your usage habits. If your favourite team is playing it will show you the live score, if you have a timer running, the countdown will be shown here, plus it can also show what songs are playing.

You may be familiar with the Now Bar, as it arrived with the beta release of One UI 7 back in December 2024. With the S25 family, however, it’s getting a few additions as Samsung adds support for some more of its own apps, the Google apps and a few third-party additions, including Spotify (and more to be announced soon).

Something else you may spot displayed in the Now Bar on the lock screen is the new Now Brief. This personalised summary of your day uses Galaxy AI to collate the information most relevant for you into a visual presentation and spoken report.

Your Galaxy S25 will deliver a Now Brief in the morning and at lunchtime. The morning brief can tell you what’s on your schedule for the day, the weather forecast, how well you slept (if you’re using devices to track it) and even suggest the best route to work for your first appointment based on current traffic and transit patterns.

You’ll get a second brief in the middle of the day, which can notify you of any updates to your schedule, news, and transport information, including suggesting adjusted leaving times to ensure you get to your next appointment on time. At the end of each day you’ll get a recap brief which can contain information such as the number of steps taken, pictures snapped, and a look at the next day’s activities.

The more you use your Samsung Galaxy S25, the better the Now Bar and Now Brief will be as it learns your usage patterns, preferences and habits, providing you with the right information at the right time.

2. The OLED you’ve been looking for

Rumours ahead of the Galaxy S25 launch suggested Samsung may use the same M13 OLED panels from the Galaxy S24 series in its new handsets. This would be an attempt to offset the cost of Qualcomm’s pricier Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset which sits at the heart of these phones.

The good news is this isn’t the case, with Samsung following in the footsteps of the iPhone 16 Pro and Google Pixel 9 series by adopting the M14 OLED displays in its new handsets.

What does all this mean in practical terms? Well, the M14 panels are brighter and offer 20-30% higher efficiency than the older M13 panels, which should result in excellent visibility in sunlight as well as solid battery life.

Plus, Samsung included a new pro-scaler feature on the Galaxy S25 phones, which can upscale everything on screen by up to 43% for sharper, higher res content. This should make viewing older, lower res pictures and video far more enjoyable.

3. AI eraser tool

AI eraser tools for our images have been around for a few years and they continue to improve. However, the Samsung Galaxy S25 series may boast the best version of this picture editing tool we’ve seen to date.

During our early hands-on time with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, we were blown away by the object removal and touch-up capabilities of Samsung’s latest flagship phone.

Not only did it successfully remove people crowded around a kitchen counter, but Samsung’s AI editing tool managed to convincingly draw the end of the counter which had been blocked by said bodies – and it even added a small pot plant to the surface as if it was actually there in real life. Not to mention the other background detail was also recreated to an impressive standard.

4. Videography for the pros

Samsung is keen for Galaxy S25 owners to leave their bulky DSLR and mirrorless cameras at home, with the introduction of LOG (Logarithmic) video capture via the new Pro Video mode in the camera app.

Switch to this mode and you’ll be able to shoot in the LOG video format. This captures video that makes the most of the camera’s dynamic range – but produces footage that looks flat or desaturated, so it needs editing after capture to look its best.

While for many users LOG video capture may be a feature which is unnecessary and thus rarely – if ever – used, for those in the cinematography world it’s set to be a powerful addition to Samsung’s flagship fleet.

Another string to the Samsung Galaxy S25’s pro-video bow is zebra striping. This is a tool – also used by professional videographers – that indicates areas of overexposure live, while shooting video. The idea is to prevent areas that are clipped or “blown out”, so no detail is lost.

5. The Samsung Galaxy S25 is future-proofed until 2032

If you do buy a Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus or Galaxy S25 Ultra you can be safe in the knowledge that your phone is future-proofed for the years to come.

That’s because Samsung has committed to seven generations of OS updates and seven years of security updates for all three phones. That means you’ll have the latest software and security all the way until 2032.

It matches Google’s update promise on its Pixel series of handsets, while iPhone owners get five years of updates guaranteed – although in recent years we have seen Apple exceed the five years and continue support for another year or two.

6. The Samsung Galaxy S25 is the same price as before

Many expected a rise in the Samsung Galaxy S25 price as reports swirled ahead of launch around the increased cost of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset used inside the handset.

However, Samsung looks to have swallowed those increased costs, as the Galaxy S25 series launched at the same price as the Galaxy S24 trio did a year before. Sure, they’re still expensive devices, but it’s refreshing to see prices frozen rather than going up.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 series prices with their associated storage sizes are as follows:

• Samsung Galaxy S25: £799, 128GB | £859, 256GB | £979, 512GB
• Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: £999, 256B | £1099, 512GB
• Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: £1,249, 256GB | £1349, 512GB | £1549, 1TB

Check prices at Samsung