specs, price, release date, AI features

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

The release of the S25 comes after a year in which Samsung’s smartphone shipments were under pressure from Chinese players and Apple.

Samsung’s S25 series comes in three variants — S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra — as was the case with previous flagship launches.

The starting prices are as follows:

• Galaxy S25: 799 dollars
• Galaxy S25+: 999 dollars
• Galaxy S25 Ultra: 1299 dollars

Samsung will begin accepting 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 suite of artificial intelligence features — on S24.

With the S25, Samsung introduced additional AI applications aimed at making the phone more like a digital personal assistant.

Samsung’s latest devices can multitask on demand. 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 could ask the AI ​​app to find nearby pet-friendly restaurants and send to a specific contact. All these actions will be performed by the device in several applications.

Samsung said the feature supports third-party apps like Spotify and Targetowned by WhatsApp, as well as its own i Googleuser applications.

The AI ​​application can also change settings on the phone when the user requests it.

Samsung’s latest features highlight how the South Korean tech giant and some of its rivals are doing racing to create artificial intelligence on devices more like personal assistants that cater to a person’s usage habits and preferences.

Last year, Apple started with the introduction of Apple Intelligenceits suite of AI features for the iPhone.

Device makers see AI as a way to differentiate their hardware from the sea of ​​competitors. Samsung, for example, hopes the technology will help revive sales of its premium products.

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

“However, this is far from a unique problem for 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 up-to-date 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 data from International Data Corporation. Samsung was the second player in terms of shipment volume after Apple.

Meanwhile, the Chinese players XiaomiTranssion and Vivo have increased market share, with aggressively priced devices that boast solid specs.

CCS Insight’s Wood concluded that the S25 series is “suitable for the growing number of consumers who have phones that are three or four years old,” but “is unlikely to get people to upgrade sooner.”

To launch its latest AI features, Samsung i Qualcomm ran on a custom processor. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is exclusive to Samsung, and the South Korean giant claims it’s the fastest processor ever in a Galaxy device.

Fast, low-power processors in smartphones are key to handling heavy AI workloads without draining the battery.

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

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