Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra is the first Android phone in years that is genuinely making iPhone users reconsider their loyalty, and in the United States β where iPhone holds 57% market share β that matters enormously. Early sales data suggests the S25 Ultra is pacing 40% ahead of its predecessor in US pre-orders.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip delivers performance that matches and in some tests surpasses Apple's A18 Pro. The camera system β with a 200-megapixel main sensor, periscope telephoto, and AI-powered computational photography β is the best mobile camera ever benchmarked at DxOMark, scoring 7 points above the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Battery life is the headline story. Under real-world US usage conditions (mix of LTE, 5G, browsing, social, maps), the S25 Ultra averaged 42 hours between charges β nearly double the iPhone 16 Pro Max's 23 hours. For American commuters and travelers, that difference is significant.
Samsung has also deeply integrated Google Gemini into the Galaxy AI suite, giving the S25 Ultra the most capable on-device AI of any phone currently sold in the US.
