Samsung Galaxy S25+ vs. Galaxy S24+ | Infinium-tech

So, you’ve decided you want a shiny new Galaxy flagship and that you won’t settle for the smaller, more compact, vanilla model? Presumably, the Ultra is either superfluous or too expensive for you, so enter the Plus family. Historically, these have been the least popular among Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup, which we could never quite understand. The Plus has always offered a lot of value and arguably a better-rounded specs sheet than the vanilla, with fewer compromises like battery and screen size.

Last year was a big year for the Plus model – the Galaxy S24+ got its QHD+ display resolution back, plus LTPO tech. It also got a larger battery and 12GB of RAM across the board for better performance and longevity. Speaking of which, Samsung promised seven major OS updates for it.

All of this has naturally been carried forward to the Galaxy S25+. The new model also has a shiny new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which is more powerful and efficient than last year’s chip and offers better connectivity. However, not much has changed since the S24+, raising a valid point – which one do you actually get? Let’s look into it.

Table of Contents:

For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor’s assessment in the following text.

Size comparison

The two phones are very similar in size, which is natural given that they share what is almost certainly the same 6.7-inch display. Both are actually quite compact for the display diagonal on offer, in our opinion and don’t weigh too much, given the 4,900 mAh onboard battery.

Having said that, the new Galaxy S25 has seen a slight reduction in both overall size and weight. It measures 158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm and tips the scale at 190 grams, compared to the S24+’s 158.5 x 75.9 x 7.7 mm and 196 grams. It’s a small reduction that technically results in smaller display bezels and a better screen-to-body ratio, but it is hardly noticeable in practice, even when you compare the two side by side.

In terms of materials and construction, the two phones are identical. Both have an Armor Aluminum 2 middle frame sandwiched between two sheets of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. These materials are not quite as premium as the ones used in the Ultra models but are still top-notch.

Both phones come with IP68 ingress protection, which should allow them to stay submerged in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes.

Display comparison

As far as we can tell, both phones use exactly the same display. The S24+ was a big display upgrade over the S23+, and Samsung has decided to simply carry forward the same panel for the S25 generation.

It is still an excellent display all around. It offers QHD+ resolution, which results in an extremely sharp picture with a density of around 513ppi. The display is also 120Hz and supports LTPO tech for dynamic refresh rate adjustment. We do wish they carried over the anti-reflective Gorilla Armor Glass from the S24/S25 Ultras.

Even as things stand, the displays on these two phones get pretty bright. It’s not industry-leading or anything, but it is more than plenty for the phone to be comfortable outdoors, even in sunshine. Any difference in the max brightness figures we have measured across the two phones merely comes down to variance. Again, the two have essentially the same display.

Battery life

The Galaxy S25+ and S24+ have the same battery capacity at 4,900 mAh. That’s pretty great, given their overall size and it is quite close to what the Ultra offers in terms of battery.

Still, in our standardized testing, the S25+ did notably better than its predecessor. Since both have the same displays and batteries, that can only mean that the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset is more efficient and does a better job of energy use.

Charging speed

Both phones support Samsung’s 45W fast charging tech, which is basically Power Delivery with PPS. Given the identical batteries, it is no surprise that the two phones charge at the same rate.

Any observable difference in test numbers simply comes down to variance and is inconsequential. The S24+ and S25+ are far from industry-leading when it comes to charging speed, but they still hold their own fairly well, in our opinion.

It is also worth noting that Samsung tweaked the charging behavior with the S25 generation. Now, 45W charging is achievable with a 3A cable and charger, whereas the S24 generation and older required a 5A cable/charger to get to the top charging speeds. This considerably widens your options for fast charging.

Speaker test

The two phones also have identical speaker setups. These are of the hybrid variety, with a dedicated bottom-firing speaker and the earpiece handling the second channel.

The output out of both is surprisingly balanced and also pretty clean, especially in mids and vocals. Bass is lacking, but that is true for almost every phone.

Both phones get pretty loud and managed to score a VERY GOOD loudness rating in our testing.

Performance

Seeing how the S25+ and S24+ are a generation apart, it only makes sense that they would use different chipsets. Last year, the Galaxy S24 generation was getting an Exynos 2400 chip in most of the world with select few markets getting a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

This is not the case this year, as every S25 model has a Snapdragon 8 Elite. It is also the “premium” variant of the chipset with a higher-clocked 2×4.47 GHz Oryon V2 Phoenix L CPU cores.

In terms of memory, both models have two tiers, with 12GB of RAM and one rocking 256GB of storage while the other has 512GB. Samsung uses UFS 4.0 storage chips, and unfortunately, storage is non-expandable.

Both phones have the same basic connectivity options, like dual-SIM 5G and eSIM support. They even share some of their more advanced extras like Ultra Wideband (UWB) support and a 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Type-C port with display output (DP 1.2) via USB Alt mode, mainly used for Samsung DeX.

There are some differences in connectivity, though, and all of them are in favor of the newer S25+. It supports tri-band Wi-Fi 7, while the S24+ is stuck on Wi-Fi 6e (still tri-band). The S25+ also has newer Bluetooth 5.4, as opposed to 5.3 on the S24+.

As for the software experience, both phones come with a very similar One UI experience and the promise of a whopping seven major OS updates. However, the S24+ is already a year into its support cycle and is currently waiting to get One UI 7 and Android 15 – the combo the S25+ is launching with. So, it is fair to say that the S25+ has a small leg up in the software department. Plus, Samsung might not deliver some of its newer AI features to the S24 generation. That remains to be seen.

Benchmark performance

It comes as no surprise that the S25+, with its newer Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, offers better burst performance. In fact, the performance uptick is rather impressive.

Looking at our sustained performance and thermal-throttling testing, we have to say that the S24+ handles heat slightly better with less jarring dips in performance and less total performance loss, which is interesting considering the S25+ has a bigger vapor chamber. Still, even with its greater performance loss over time, the S25+ ends up with more raw power than its predecessor.

Camera comparison

The Galaxy S25 and S25+’s camera hardware appears unchanged and comes straight from last year’s S24 and S24+. That’s both a good and a bad thing since this particular rear camera setup has proven itself to be quite reliable and full-featured, even if a bit underwhelming by today’s flagship standards.

It’s worth pointing out that Samsung still hasn’t fitted an ultrawide camera with autofocusing capability on anything but the Ultra model, which we consider unacceptable at this price point.

On a more positive note, the selfie camera remains a highlight here with autofocus and better-than-average overall quality.

Image quality

The main camera on both phones produces clean 12MP stills with a good amount of detail, wide dynamic range and punchy, yet not over-the-top colors. The image quality is just like last year.

Samsung has what we would consider pretty mature but also quite laid-back processing. That means that sharpness leaves a bit to be desired, especially when you shoot inside and not in broad daylight.

We may have praised these photos 2-3 years ago, but the industry is moving rapidly, and this sort of fine detail rendition is no longer class-leading. Contrast is generally great, though some more challenging scenes can come out looking a bit flat.

Generally speaking, the S24+ seems to be doing a bit more sharpening and processing than the S25+.

The 2x crop zoom photos are more than decent. Sure, you get a bit more noise and grain, but that is to be expected from a digital crop. Samsung generally achieves lossless-quality zoom.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

Samsung Galaxy S24+: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

The 3x telephoto photos are fairly decent but not a standout feature of either phone. The 3x telephoto unit matches the main camera’s processing in terms of colors, contrast, color temperature, etc. The detail is solid, perhaps better than expected, given the 10MP to 12MP upscale action. The grain is there in the shadows if you go looking for it, but it’s not getting in the way. Dynamic range and colors are great.

The ultrawide camera is not what we would consider industry-leading by any stretch of the imagination. Its photos aren’t terribly sharp. On the positive side, the dynamic range is surprisingly wide for this type of camera. The contrast is also solid. The colors are very well-matched to the other cameras.

Like many other phones, the S25 and S25+ have an automatic night mode and a dedicated mode in the camera app. The automatic night mode does a pretty good job on its own, but it is a bit lax, and you can get a bit different results by using the manual night mode. The following samples are all taken with automatic night mode.

Regular nighttime photos have a laidback processing and good highlight retention but not very bright shadows. There is plenty of noise, too. The color rendition is nice.

With the 2x photos, rendition is largely comparable to that of the standard 1x, but expect a slight drop in sharpness and a further increase in noise.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

Samsung Galaxy S24+: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

The low-light photos from the dedicated 3x telephoto are much better. You get plenty of detail and great colors.

The ultrawide camera looks good in low light (for this sort of camera). The dynamic range is on point, and the overall processing seems to match the main camera’s.

Video quality

It comes as no surprise that 4K videos from both phones are excellent. Sharpness and detail are great, the dynamic range is wide, and the color rendition is very pleasant.

Even 2x digital zoom videos look excellent all around. Samsung has nailed the ‘lossless’ part.

The 3x telephoto camera produces detailed, sharp videos with good dynamic range and colors. They are also very well matched to the main camera.

The same goes for the 4K ultrawide videos. They are quite good for this sort of camera and are well-matched to the main camera in terms of colors and overall rendition.

The main camera remains very competent in low-light conditions. The same goes for the 3x telephoto, which is kind of impressive given that this is a very small telephoto. The ultrawide struggles pretty badly in low-light conditions. Detail is a bit lacking, and dynamic range isn’t ideal.

Below, we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length so it’s easier to compare to one another.

Samsung Galaxy S25+: 0.6x • 1x • 3x • low light

Samsung Galaxy S24+: 0.6x • 1x • 3x • low light

Verdict

Unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S24+ are very similar devices. Both are well-rounded flagship-grade phones with perfectly decent specs and features.

These are all pretty solid reasons to go for the cheaper Galaxy S24+. You get essentially the same display, the same stereo speaker setup, and probably most crucially of all, the exact same camera setup. The S24+ should be next in line to get the One UI 7 and likely all of the new Galaxy AI features associated with it.

However, there is no denying the fact that the Snapdragon 8 Elite inside the Galaxy S25+ is much more powerful than its predecessor. You also get better battery life with the newer model, more varied fast charging options and better connectivity. Also, if you plan on keeping your phone for a long time, the full seven-year software support promise sounds quite enticing.

While the decision is ultimately yours, we are kind of leaning towards the S24+ on this one. Perhaps next year, Samsung can shake things up a bit more and bring more of an upgrade to the table.