Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra / Google Pixel 9 Pro

The Samsung Newsroom release is dated 23 January Korea time; the event was 22 January in US time.

Samsung notes memory options may vary by market and usable storage is lower because of preloaded software. There is no card slot.

There is no card slot; storage and colour options vary by region.

Samsung quotes 40% NPU, 37% CPU and 30% GPU gains over the previous generation. This version is tuned for Galaxy with higher clocks than the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite.

It is the same chip as the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL; there is no performance difference.

The vapor chamber spreads heat from the chip into the body, helping clocks hold longer in extended gaming.

The viewable area is smaller than the diagonal because of rounded corners and the camera hole. Refresh that drops to 1 Hz saves power on static content; Vision Booster adjusts tone mapping in bright light.

It is a higher-resolution panel in the same body as the Pixel 9; 495 ppi renders text and photo edges more sharply. Because the corners are rounded, the visible area is slightly smaller than the measured diagonal.

Used on the front only. Corning says it survived drops of up to 2.2 m onto a concrete-like surface in internal lab tests; this is not a durability guarantee for any given phone.

Titanium is used only on the frame, excluding the volume and side keys.

Per Samsung, 3× and 5× are optical; 2× and 10× are “optical quality” zoom made by sensor cropping. OIS is optical image stabilisation.

Log records a flat profile for colour grading; results depend on the editing workflow. Audio Eraser can reduce layers such as voices, music, wind and crowd separately in videos.

Video Boost processes recorded video on Google’s cloud servers to improve colour, lighting and stabilisation, so the result is not available immediately and an internet connection is needed. 8K and Super Res Zoom Video are only available with Video Boost on.

The 45 W adapter is sold separately. Samsung quotes up to 31 hours of video playback. Wireless PowerShare charges earbuds or a watch from the back of the phone.

According to Android Central’s one-year report, the phone received One UI 8 (Android 16) ahead of schedule.

5G/LTE availability depends on market and carrier.

Water resistance is not permanent and may diminish over time.

Google notes the protection can diminish with wear, repair or drops and that liquid damage voids the warranty.

Colour availability varies by country and carrier.

The LTPO panel drops as low as 1 Hz for static content and the always-on display to save power, and rises to 120 Hz when scrolling. Google notes 120 Hz is not available in every app.

HDR brightness is measured with the whole screen lit and peak brightness with only 5% lit; the peak applies to small bright areas in sunlight.

The finishes are the reverse of the Pixel 9, which has a glossy back and a matte frame. The aluminium in the housing is 100% recycled.

Pro controls allow full 50 MP capture; the Pixel 9 only saves binned 12.5 MP photos. Optical quality is offered at 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x and 10x.

Magnification beyond 5x is done in software; Google says 10x still gives near-optical quality. A multi-zone laser (LDAF) sensor assists focusing.

The battery matches the Pixel 9’s capacity. Figures come from pre-production tests in the US using a median user profile.

No charger is included. 37 W wired charging is only on the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL.

The UWB chip measures distance and direction to compatible devices and tags with centimetre-level precision; the standard Pixel 9 lacks it.

The rear temperature sensor measures surface temperatures of objects through the Thermometer app; the standard Pixel 9 lacks it.

The period counts from the first sale date on the US Google Store. Satellite SOS works only in the US.

The size matches the Pixel 9; it weighs 1 g more.