Specifications, price, release date and AI features

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday launched its latest flagship smartphone — the Galaxy S25 series — touting a custom chip and enhanced AI features.

The S25 release comes after a year in which Samsung's smartphone shipments came under pressure from Chinese players apple.

Samsung's S25 series comes in three variants – S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra – as has been the case with previous flagship launches.

Starting prices are as follows:

• Galaxy S25: $799
• Galaxy S25+: $999
• Galaxy S25 Ultra: $1,299

Samsung will start taking pre-orders for the S25 series on Wednesday and the devices will go on sale on February 7.

Last year, Samsung launched Galaxy AI – its own set of artificial intelligence features – On S24.

With the S25 phone, Samsung revealed additional applications for artificial intelligence with the aim of making the phone more like a personal digital assistant.

Samsung's latest devices can perform tasks across multiple apps when prompted. For example, a user can ask the phone to find the schedule of their favorite football team and add it to their calendar. Or the user can ask the AI ​​app to find nearby pet-friendly restaurants to send to a specific contact. All these actions will be performed by the device via multiple applications.

Samsung said that the feature supports third-party applications such as Spotify and deadOwned by WhatsApp, in addition to its own application and GoogleApplications.

The AI ​​app can also change settings on the phone when prompted by the user.

Samsung's latest features underscore the way the South Korean tech giant and some of its competitors are taking it The race to create artificial intelligence on devices More like personal assistants that cater to a person's usage habits and preferences.

Last year Apple Started rolling out Apple IntelligenceAI feature set for iPhone.

Device makers are looking to AI as a way to differentiate their devices from the sea of ​​competitors. Samsung, for example, hopes that this technology will help revive sales of its advanced products.

“At a time when improvements to hardware capabilities and product design are largely incremental, Samsung is doubling down on its AI story. There are some smart improvements built into the Galaxy S25 lineup, but they are unlikely to be enough to attract consumers,” Ben Wood said. “They are rushing to upgrade their phones prematurely,” CCS Insight head of research, told CNBC.

“However, this is not a problem unique to Samsung. Apple faces the same challenges with the iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence. AI is a boon for someone who needs an upgrade, but it's not enough to move the needle for consumers who already have a relatively recent phone.”

Samsung's smartphone shipments fell 2.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year as its market share shrank, according to International Data Corporation figures. Samsung was the second player in terms of shipment volume after Apple.

Meanwhile, Chinese players XiaomiTranssion and Vivo have increased their market share, as the higher-priced devices feature strong specifications.

CCS Insight's Wood concluded that the S25 series is “well-suited for the growing number of consumers who have a three or four-year-old mobile phone” but “is unlikely to prompt people to upgrade sooner”.

To power the latest AI features, Samsung and Qualcomm I worked on a custom processor. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is a Samsung exclusive with the South Korean giant claiming it is the fastest processor ever in a Galaxy device.

The fast but low-power-consuming processors inside smartphones are vital to ensuring that heavy AI workloads can be managed without draining the battery.

Samsung also talked about other hardware changes including an improved camera on the S25 Ultra model and a new design.

The S25 series now features rounded corners instead of the more angular design of its predecessors.