Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra S938B Titanium Gray 512GB

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is a performance and camera beast with a stunning anti-reflective display and the unique S Pen. It's one of the best phones on the market, scoring in the top percentiles for camera, display, and performance. At $1040, it's a serious investment, especially since you'll need to buy a charger separately. Buy it for the unmatched camera zoom and productivity tools, but skip it if you want a compact phone or faster charging.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite inside this thing is an absolute monster. In our database, it lands in the 98th percentile for overall performance, which puts it in a dead heat with the best gaming phones and well ahead of last year's flagships. Apps open before your thumb leaves the screen, and heavy multitasking with DeX or split-screen apps doesn't make it break a sweat. The 12GB of RAM is plenty for keeping dozens of apps alive in the background, and the UFS 4.0 storage means loading massive games or transferring 8K footage is stupidly fast.

Gaming is where this chip really flexes. We're seeing sustained frame rates in Genshin Impact and Call of Duty Mobile that rival dedicated handhelds. The vapor chamber cooling is significantly larger than the S24 Ultra's, so it takes longer to heat up and throttles less aggressively. You can genuinely play for an hour without the phone turning into a hand warmer. For emulation fans, this chipset chews through PS2 and Switch titles without a hiccup. It's one of the most capable mobile gaming rigs you can buy right now, even if the boxy shape isn't the most ergonomic for long sessions.

The elephant in the room is the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Apple's giant has a slightly more refined titanium feel and a more cohesive video workflow if you're deep in the Apple ecosystem. But Samsung wins on zoom versatility, the S Pen, and that anti-reflective screen. The iPhone still can't match Samsung's 10x optical reach, and the S25 Ultra's display is noticeably less mirror-like outdoors. If you're not tied to iMessage, the Samsung is the more flexible tool.

On the Android side, the OnePlus 13 is the value king, offering a Snapdragon 8 Elite and insanely fast 100W charging for less cash. But its camera system, while good, isn't in the same league as Samsung's 200MP beast. The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is another strong contender with Google's computational photography and a clean software experience, but its raw hardware and zoom reach don't match the Ultra. And then there's the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is now a generation old but still a fantastic phone if you can find it at a discount. It gets most of the same camera and S Pen experience for less money, though it misses the new 50MP ultrawide and the Snapdragon 8 Elite. If you want a phone that folds in half, the S25 Ultra is not your phone.

At $1040, the S25 Ultra sits in a weird spot. It's not the most expensive phone you can buy, but it's far from cheap. For the sheer amount of hardware you're getting, a titanium frame, a 200MP camera system, the S Pen, 512GB of storage, it actually feels like a decent deal compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max which starts with half the storage at a similar price. Samsung's pre-order deals and trade-in offers usually knock a few hundred off, so the effective price is often lower.

Where the value proposition gets shaky is when you look at something like the OnePlus 15, which offers comparable performance and faster charging for less money. But OnePlus doesn't have the S Pen, the seven-year update promise, or Samsung's more polished software ecosystem. You're paying a premium for the complete package and the peace of mind that comes with it. If you plan to keep this phone for four or five years, the cost per year is actually pretty reasonable for a device that's still going to feel fast in 2029.

Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra is basically the phone equivalent of a fully loaded toolbox. It's big, it's heavy, and it's packed with more features than most of us will ever fully use. This isn't a phone for someone who just wants to scroll social media and send texts. This is for the person who wants a 200MP camera in their pocket, a display that can blind you in a good way, and enough horsepower to edit 8K video on the go. The S938B model we're looking at is the international unlocked version, rocking the Snapdragon 8 Elite and a generous 512GB of storage.

What's interesting this year is how Samsung has refined the formula rather than reinventing it. The titanium frame feels fantastic, the anti-reflective screen is a genuine usability upgrade outdoors, and the new 50MP ultrawide camera finally brings the secondary sensors up to the standard of the main shooter. It's a slab of glass and metal that screams capability, even if it's not exactly a design revolution. At $1040 for the 512GB model, it's priced right in the thick of the flagship fight.

But let's be real, the Ultra line has always been about excess. The S Pen is still tucked inside, the zoom range is still ridiculous, and the spec sheet reads like a wish list. If you're the type who uses their phone as a primary computer, a professional camera, and a portable theater, this thing was built for you. If you just want a phone that fits in a small pocket, well, keep reading.

If you prioritize compactness and one-handed comfort, look elsewhere immediately. This phone's compact score is a dismal 63.6, and it feels every bit as large as the numbers suggest. The sharp corners dig into your palm, and it's a two-handed device for almost everything. The Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 folds down to half the size and is a much better fit for anyone who misses phones that actually fit in a pocket.

You should also skip this if you're not going to use the S Pen. It's a core part of the value proposition, and if it just sits in the silo gathering dust, you're carrying around extra weight and paying a premium for a feature you ignore. A standard Galaxy S25+ or a OnePlus 15 will give you a very similar core experience in a lighter, cheaper package without the stylus.

If you're a power user who wants the absolute best camera system in a phone, period, the S25 Ultra is the one to beat. The 200MP sensor combined with the new 50MP ultrawide and dual telephoto lenses gives you a level of creative control that no other slab phone matches. Add in the S Pen for precise photo edits or quick notes, and you've got a device that genuinely replaces a small camera and a notepad. This is the phone for people who will actually use all the features they're paying for.

For everyone else, the decision is trickier. If you mostly consume content, play games, and take casual photos, you can save a few hundred bucks and get 90% of the experience with a OnePlus 15 or even a base Galaxy S25. The Ultra's size and weight are real daily annoyances if you're not actively benefiting from the S Pen and the zoom cameras. Think hard about whether you'll actually use the stylus and the 100x zoom before you commit to carrying this slab around.