All this to say the Galaxy S25 ($800), Galaxy S25+ ($1,000), and Galaxy S25 Ultra ($1,300) are powerful, reliable, and well-equipped smartphones. They're excellent upgrades if you're coming from a three or four-year-old device. They're just not otherwise interesting or exciting.

Samsung calls this phone Ultra because everything is supposed to be ultra. But the regular S25 and S25 Plus have a lot of its best specs and features and cost much less.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is expensive, but it's also good at everything, even if its cameras and battery life can't quite beat some of the best alternatives