Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Design Leak: Specs Surpass iPhone 16 Pro(0)

Next year's Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is expected to feature a thinner, lighter body and significant camera upgrades, according to a new report.

Updated on 12 September with a rendering of the controversial new Galaxy S25 Ultra and details on battery life.

Let's start with the camera: The ultra-wide-angle camera is expected to see major improvements, allowing it to take more detailed photos and videos, while possibly enabling new shooting modes that go beyond the iPhone.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra—Big Camera Improvements

According to the well-known tipster Ice Universe, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will receive an all-new 50-megapixel ultrawide camera featuring a brighter F/1.9 aperture lens. This upgrade represents a significant improvement from the 12-megapixel version found on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and should dramatically increase detail in ultrawide photos, especially in close-up macro shots.
The increase in resolution would also potentially enable 8K video recording from the ultrawide lens for the first time, although there’s no guarantee Samsung would enable this option.

The report expects the new 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor to retain the dimensions of the 12-megapixel Galaxy S24 Ultra version, meaning each pixel will shrink from 1.4µm to 0.7µm in size. Smaller pixels often cause increased noise and grainier images, but Samsung could mitigate this by enabling an optional lower-resolution mode to boost performance in low-light shots. Furthermore, enlarging the lens aperture to F/1.9 (up from F/2.2 on the Galaxy S24 Ultra) would capture around 34% more light with each shot, further boosting image quality, especially in darker scenarios.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra’s upgraded ultrawide camera would bring Samsung into line with Apple’s recently announced iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, which also feature upgraded ultrawide cameras, up from 12 megapixels to 48 megapixels. However, unlike Samsung, Apple hasn’t widened the lens aperture, which remains at F/2.2. Also, note that the iPhone can’t currently record 8K video despite the new higher-resolution sensors in the iPhone 16 range.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra—Thinner And Lighter Than iPhone 16 Pro Max

The same tipster also expects the Galaxy S25 Ultra to be significantly smaller and lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra, at only 8.2mm thick compared to the 8.6mm thickness of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The overall dimensions of the Galaxy S25 Ultra are given as 162.8mm by 77.6mm by 8.2m, and weighing 219g, down from the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 233g.

If these leaked dimensions turn out to be accurate, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will be both thinner and lighter than Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max.

You can expect Samsung to launch the Galaxy S25 series in January 2025, so plenty of time remains for further updates.

The report goes on to claim that despite its smaller size, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will retain the same 5,000mAh battery capacity and 45W fast charging found in all Galaxy S Ultra models since the 2022 Galaxy S22 Ultra. However, Samsung is expected to upgrade the processor to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which the report claims will be more efficient than the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and will offer a significant increase in battery life compared to this year's Galaxy S24 Ultra.