Skip to main content

The Galaxy S25 will fix a big mistake Samsung made with the Galaxy S24

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in Titanium Gray in hand.
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends
galaxy unpacked 2025
This story is part of our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025 coverage
Updated less than 3 days ago

We’re still a little bit away from when Samsung is expected to launch the Samsung Galaxy S25 in January. At the moment, we’re anticipating Samsung’s latest foldables — the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 — to arrive on July 10 during a Samsung event in Paris. However, a new leak from Ming-Chi Kuo has tipped some details about the Galaxy S25 specs.

As expected, the Samsung Galaxy S25 will pack the latest and greatest hardware with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. According to Kuo, Qualcomm will be the sole supplier of the S25, unlike the previous year, when it only supplied 40% of the chips for the S24. That means there will not be different Qualcomm and Exynos models scattered across the global market, which should reduce the performance difference experienced by users. The Exynos 2500 may simply not be ready to ship due to a lower-than-expected 3nm yield.

Recommended Videos

Qualcomm will likely be the sole SoC supplier for the Samsung Galaxy S25 (vs. 40% for the S24), as the Exynos 2500 may not ship due to Samsung's lower-than-expected 3nm yield.

In addition to the significant increase in supply share, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will see a price…

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) June 17, 2024

Please enable Javascript to view this content

That’s not great news for Samsung’s in-house chips, but it is great news for Qualcomm, which will benefit from the increased market share and Samsung users who value the reliably powerful performance offered by Snapdragon chips compared with what you typically get on Exynos. It’s also good news for TSMC, which is the exclusive supplier of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

While we don’t have a frame of reference to compare the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 with the yet-to-be-released Exynos 2500, we do know that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 outperformed both the Exynos and Tensor chipsets of its generation in benchmark tests.

Illustration of Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Snapdragon X Elite, Qualcomm S7 Pro Sound Platform, and Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 chips.
Qualcomm

There is a big downside here, though. This leak from Kuo essentially confirms that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be 25-30% more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which could translate to a hundred dollars or more of a price increase when the Galaxy S25 finally comes out.

However, we’re still many months away from when the Galaxy S25 is expected to launch, so there’s no need to panic just yet. There’s always a chance that Samsung may choose to eat some or all of the cost of the new chips rather than hike prices. After all, with phones like the S24 Ultra that is already upward of $1,000, there’s only so much you can increase the price without dramatically reducing your potential market.

Ajay Kumar
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ajay has worked in tech journalism for more than a decade as a reporter, analyst, and editor.
Samsung Galaxy S25 users are not loving the new magnet case
The The back of the Galaxy S25 Ultra Magnetic Charging Cover attached to the phone and the box

The Samsung Galaxy S25 has been out for less than week, and with its release comes a wave of new cases to help protect your new phone. However, there's one phone case that's getting more flack than the others: Samsung's official Magnetic Wireless Charging Case.

The company released the clear magnetic phone a few days ahead of the launch of the Galaxy S25, and its owners are not too happy about the case's functionality -- or apparent lack thereof. The case, which takes after the MagSafe cases designed for the iPhone, is currently sold out on Samsung's website, but it has received 2.5 out of 5 stars based on four mixed user reviews on its page.

Read more
iFixit calls the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra “the most repairable Galaxy in years”
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Although Samsung has a history of taking a more consumer-friendly approach to repairing devices, it hasn't always been an easy task. And in some cases, Samsung doesn't take the friendliest view of third-party components. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has taken a step forward, as iFixit has dubbed it the "most repairable Galaxy phone in years" in a recent press release. Here's why.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra uses four small tabs to hold the battery in place. If you need to remove it, you just pull those tabs up and the battery releases with ease. It's a much simpler method than iPhone's electrochemical release, but there's still a long journey ahead before Galaxy phones are as repairable as they should be.

Read more
When can you buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge?
Galaxy S25 Edge TV and sign at Galaxy Unpacked 2025

With the Samsung Galaxy S25 series now available, the company's attention is turning to its next handset, the Galaxy S25 Edge. The phone is expected to be a game-changer and will likely be marketed against Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 Air. Now we know better when the Samsung phone could be released.

According to tipster Max Jambor (via Android Headlines), the new phone should be available for purchase during the year's second quarter. Previous rumors suggested the phone would be available sometime around April, so the tip seems to confirm this.

Read more