Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (2025)

Just when you think a $2,000+ flagship couldn’t fumble the basics… my Galaxy S25 Ultra has completely lost wireless charging after the latest software update. I’ve tested it across multiple Qi-certified pads—including Samsung’s own Duo Fast Wireless Charger—and it’s a no-go. No charge. No response. Just a very expensive slab of glass and… Read more

frustration. Tried everything: ✅ Restart ✅ Safe mode ✅ Cache wipe ✅ Factory reset ❌ Still broken Charging estimates jump around like a caffeinated kangaroo, and some pads flash error lights like they’re trying to warn me off. This isn’t a one-off—others are reporting the same. And yet… radio silence from Samsung. For a device marketed as the pinnacle of mobile engineering, this kind of regression is unacceptable. If it’s a software bug, fix it. If it’s hardware, own it. But don’t leave loyal users in the dark while our chargers gather dust.

I’ve been using Samsung phones for about two decades and was excited to upgrade to the S25 Ultra. The phone itself is undeniably powerful — the screen, speed, and especially the camera are impressive. However, in terms of day-to-day experience, it doesn’t feel like a major leap from my previous S22 Ultra. Where things really fell apart for me,… Read more

though, is support — or lack of it.

I was excited to use my new Rexton Reach hearing aids, which have worked perfectly with previous Galaxy models. To my surprise and dismay, the S25 Ultra doesn’t support them properly. Despite Samsung stating that the phone supports ASHA (Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids) and LE Audio, there are no visible settings for either under Bluetooth or accessibility menus. There’s no mention of Auracast support on their website either.

I contacted Samsung support expecting some clarity, and what I got was a mess — generic responses, bot-like interactions, and zero actual help. After being promised an answer within 48 hours (as the issue was supposedly escalated to a level 3 technician), it’s now been three weeks with no meaningful update. Just automated responses and more confusion.

I’m hugely disappointed. A premium phone at this price point, especially from a long-standing brand like Samsung, should not have compatibility issues with medical-grade devices — let alone fail so spectacularly in offering proper customer support.

Pros: Beautiful display Fast performance Excellent camera system

Cons: Very minor upgrade from S22 Ultra No visible settings for ASHA or LE Audio despite claims of support No Auracast support listed in the specs Poor customer service and lack of clarity around hearing aid compatibility If you rely on hearing aid compatibility or expect quality support, proceed with caution.

Edit: I would like to add that discovering this incompatibility issue required significant time and financial investment - 10 hours and $264 in audiology fees, to be exact. Living in a rural area, accessing these services was particularly challenging. While I understand this isn't Samsung's direct responsibility, I believe more accurate specifications on their website and better support would have greatly benefited me in avoiding this costly and time-consuming experience.

Further Edit: After spending considerable time investigating the issue in collaboration with both my audiologist and Rexton, I believe the problem may indeed be related to Rexton. However, I still stand by my review because I never received a clear answer from Samsung. The support team has been largely unhelpful, offering nothing more than the manual and basic troubleshooting steps. Anything beyond that seems to be outside their expertise.

The promised 48-hour response window has now stretched to over three weeks, and there has been no real resolution or follow-up. After decades of being a loyal Samsung customer, this has been incredibly disappointing, especially since it’s the first time I’ve ever needed to reach out to support.

I also suggest that Samsung includes detailed Bluetooth hearing aid compatibility in their specifications, specifically for ASHA, LE Audio, Auracast, and ADPR. This would help avoid confusion and streamline the support process for customers with hearing aids.

Introduction: It’s been about 3 years since my review of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Truth be told, I had no intention of upgrading the S22 in 2025 and was considering a change, to an Apple iPhone in 2026. In later January, early February 2025 I noticed the back of the flip case to my S22 Ultra was pushed away from the screen on one side. I… Read more ·  2

thought I had bent the phone for a second, until I saw that the seam on one side of the phone had come apart.

I believed the glue to the side had simply unstuck itself and waited until the weekend of the following week to see if I could superglue it together.

Much to my horror and surprise, the other side of the phone had also come apart and it was then that I realised that the battery had expanded. I also realised I had just ‘dodged a bullet’, in that the battery could have exploded and / or set alight from continually charging it.

I went to JB Hi-Fi and got a deal for a new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, 512 GB drive. I (checked the amount of files on the S22 Ultra and found I had only used 212 GB of 1 TB, so I could not really justify the need for a 1 TB version of the S25 Ultra.

The following week I spoke with a work colleague who informed me that I should have sent the S22 Ultra to Samsung for a faulty device repair.

So, off to the Samsung shop I went and dropped it at the Doncaster kiosk.

It just so happened my S22 Ultra faulted a week after my Wife’s Samsung flip 4 screen decided to delaminate itself.

We decided to request a repair for both at the Samsung kiosk.

The girl at the kiosk was decidedly uninterested but did the paperwork for us. A week later we were contacted by Samsungs authorised repair company, wanting $110.00 to replace the battery of the S22 Ultra and $690.00 to replace the screen on the Flip 4.

I informed them that this request was for a faulty manufacturing issue and not simply a request to pay for a repair, even though my S22 Ultra was 3-years old and the Flip 4 was 2 years old.

The repair company asked if I wanted to escalate the matter to Samsung for a repair, which I did.

A week later we were contacted a quite surly female Samsung member of staff, who acted as if she was doing us a favour, almost as if it was coming out of her pocket.

We then received text messages from Samsung, stating that as a ‘show of good faith’, they would repair both phones free of charge.

For us, it was not about showing good faith, it was about a company standing by their product, especially after the notorious battery issues Samsung phones suffered from in the past.

This weekend we picked up our phones from the Samsung kiosk and to our surprise, we found that Samsung had replaced the battery on the S22 Ultra but replaced the screen, battery, case, hinge and a lot of other parts on the Flip 4.

Both phones are like new.

Now, this is what I call ‘standing by your product’, right?

Call it a show of good faith or simply providing good customer service for products you make, the effect is the same.

I am keeping my S25 Ultra and will use the S22 Ultra as my overseas travel phone.

My Wife hates the S25 Plus, calling it a ‘man’s phone’ and is back using the Flip 4.

Setting Up the S25 Ultra (A Refined Kind of Ultra):

Transferring files and setting up from old phone to new phone via the Samsung Switch app is an absolute breeze. This really makes upgrading an easy and smooth experience.

I don’t transfer my photos and videos to the new handset, but back them up via the PC and start fresh with the new handset.

When I got the S25 Ultra, I immediately looked for a Samsung flip phone case online, to find there were none, so no cool way to view information on a smaller window on the front of the phone, while you protect the screen with the flip cover. I went with Otter React Folio cover and the Belkin ScreenForce screen protector.

The Otter case is excellent, with a magnetic screen cover that holds in place when not using the phone. The Belkin screen protector is by far the best screen cover I have ever installed and have had on a smart phone (very highly recommended!) The Belkin screen protector comes in a kit, where you place the phone handset in the perfectly shaped plastic tray-receptable, which holds it in place as you put on the screen protector. It looks like I had the screen protector installed by a professional in a store.

Visual Language of the S25 Ultra:

The screen of the S25 Ultra is .1 mm wider than previous models but it is also completely flat. When you compare the S25 Ultra side-by-side with the S22 Ultra, the S25 Ultra looks flatter and more like an iPhone. No curved edges is simply better for screen protectors and for overall screen experience.

The updated apps and themes on the S25 Ultra give it a more premium feel.

The pen on the S25 Ultra is more finely machined and fitted. The USB C, speaker ports and buttons are more refined, again, more like a premium iPhone.

Daily Usage:

Multi-tasking between apps and functions is much more fluid and super-fast on the S25 Ultra and you can see and feel the improvement with the new processor.

I find the swipe up and down test on a web page give you an idea how the handset renders a cascading web page and the ability of you to be able to view it clearly, when you quickly scroll the page up and down.

I find moving between apps noticeably faster with no stalling. Screen Experience:

It is only when you play high resolution video such as via the YouTube app that you can tell the difference between the screens of the S22 and S25. Colours are more vibrant on the S25.

The blacks are properly black on the S25, making colours really pop. Objects in the foreground really stand out from the background. The screen is more visible in strong outdoor light.

The overall experience is more like my LG 4K tv experience and the lack of screen edge curve makes a far better viewing experience.

There is one other thing, when you are viewing certain videos from my home CCTV system with the S25 Ultra screen: it seems you get a slightly wider viewing angle. It is almost as if the S22 Ultra slightly cropped the edges of the picture by a tiny amount.

This makes the S25 Ultra viewing experience just a little bit more engaging.

I do feel this is something to do with have a flatter screen with less curved edges.

Connectivity:

I have found more Apple device similarities with the S25 Ultra, in that the connectivity to Wi-Fi and a variety of devices to be much stronger and quicker. I have not had a single miss when traveling on the underground, connecting to my home Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connection to my car: - all is super quick.

Software and Hardware Changes/Upgrades:

There are some changes from the S22 Ultra. There is a whole suite of Galaxy AI assist and features. To be honest I use none of them, but I am enjoying using Google lens for transcribing documents in other languages on-the-fly.

Again, I turn off all the health and Bixby apps and features.

The little bar notification at the bottom of the screen was annoying, with its greetings. I don’t need my phone reminding me what time of the day it is. However, you can use it with your music player, to control the play/pause and move forward/backward functions, which is really handy.

The Pen:

Same as for the S22 Ultra, as is for the S25 Ultra; if I was going to write a note, I would rather simply type it, right?

Over the past 3 years I have not found one legitimate use for the pen with the S22.

Speakers:

Again: pretty good but, still need better base.

Cameras:

I have found the stabilisation a lot better with the S25 Ultra at normal zoom range, however the x100 range is still difficult to hold and the picture still wanders.

Also, the pictures, albeit somewhat better than the S22 Ultra are still very grainy at x100.

I did some indoor medium light test shots and found at 23 mm wide angel, the shots were somewhat unfocused, even when touching the screen to focus on an area.

Recently I took some pictures in medium to low light outdoors and found shots at the wide-ultra-wide 13-19 mm, ISO 40 and F1.9 range very well rendered. The texture on a variety of surfaces could clearly be detected, with very nice colour and no blowout of highlights.

I also went to an evening open-air concert at the Myer Music Bowl and found on the whole the camera system did really well in the low light.

One thing the camera system did have trouble with was the blue-white stage lights, causing a blue burnout type of effect or a blue haze effect. This was around the ultra-wide angle 13 mm, 1920x1080 FHD, HEVC AAC 30fps.

These may have been due to the strobe effect and may also have been due to the fact the lights were a mixture of LED and laser.

I had not been to a concert for a while and found the light setup for this concert to be much more focused and intense, with LED-laser-like accuracy.

I took a total of 25 videos of the concert and went through all of them, finding the camera system did better video with lights coloured red, yellow or green.

Overall:

I do love the S25 Ultra. It is a solid premium experience in every respect.

Once you have set it up to your ‘taste’ and disabled some of the gimmicky bloatware apps and features, you can get on with your normal daily usage.

I have watched and read reviews about the S25 Ultra, with some of them referring to this iteration as being a ‘safe’ upgrade to the S24 Ultra, incremental with nothing ground-breaking.

They would be right.

However, I had a 3-year gap between handsets, so the changes are a bit more obvious.

The main change I picked out was the viewing / screen experience being more immersive and just simply being that much nicer.

Looking for the Right Price:

What also really helped with going with another Samsung handset, was the great deals you can get at JB Hi-Fi.

This made the purchase a little more palatable.

Lastly:

The overall improvements between the S22 Ultra and the S25 Ultra with a 3-year gap are not big. They are safe and sensible and for the most part, where it counts.

I do think it is time for Samsung to look at other hardware components that would make Samsung stand apart from other smartphone manufacturers, like a better sound-speaker system and a better camera system.

If I were to score the Samsung S25 Ultra, I would give it 95 out of 100, same as I did for the S22 Ultra (indicating an expected graduating improvement: screen, CPU, etc).

I was considering deducting a few points for the lack of Samsung flip phone cover but that would not be fair, as I am comparing S22 and S25 handsets and not the cover.

Also, I believed the S22 Ultra was going to last me 4-5 years, before I would need to upgrade the handset, as I remember Samsung promising support for all the new software updates for several years.

For people like me, who now have slowed down their handset upgrading, as it is not based on a 24 month phone plan anymore; I think Samsung should be prepared to give the users the same experience you get with Apple devices and that no matter what year of manufacture, as long as the hardware can use or handle the new software updates, the look and feel of a 3-5-year-old handset should be the same as a brand new handset.

Look to Windows 11 and MacOS as an example; when you upgrade your PC to the latest OS, each of your PCs operate exactly the same, no matter what age the PC is.

Last Word (Company, Consumer, Trust & a Robust Product):

With the cost of living being very much on the forefront of a consumer's major purchases, like house, car and essential devices, such phones; manufacturers should be making their products last longer and better value for money.

When I bought the S22 Ultra outright in 2022, I did it with the fact that Samsung stated they were going to support this handset with software updates for many years.

I just did an online search and found the following:

'The Samsung Galaxy S22 series smartphones will receive Android software updates for up to four years. This means the phones, including the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra (among other models), will be updated through to the Android 16/One UI 8.' (androidcentral.com)

'Samsung had made a huge announcement today regarding software updates. The company has confirmed at its Unpacked event that it will now provide four years of Android OS upgrades to select devices. As you'd probably expect, the new Galaxy S22 series is on the list. There are a few existing devices that have also been given this benefit. It's great to see that Samsung is forging a new path for Android OEMs.' (sammobile.com)

So yes, Samsung; we are paying attention to what you say and my expectations were that I could keep and use my new S22 Ultra handset for at least 4 years.

Samsung do say the following:

'Smartphones Warranty Period: 24 Months

Special Conditions: This warranty period does not apply to batteries and accessories which are dealt with exclusively under Part II, paragraph I (B)' (https://www.samsung.com/au/support/warranty/)

and:

'1. Statutory Guarantees

Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.

The ACL contains statutory guarantees that apply to goods sold by Samsung Electronics Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 002 915 648) (Samsung) in Australia. These guarantees require:

Goods to be of acceptable quality, that is, fit for the purpose for which goods of the same kind are commonly supplied, acceptable in appearance and finish, safe and durable, based on what a consumer would reasonably expect given the nature, price and description of the goods. The goods should also be free from defects that were not obvious or drawn to the consumer's attention at the time of purchase; Goods to be reasonably fit for a purpose disclosed, either expressly or by implication, and relied upon by the consumer;

Goods to be the same as their description, sample or model;

Samsung to ensure repair facilities for the goods are reasonably available for a reasonable period after the goods are supplied;

The seller to have good title to the goods;

The consumer to have the right to undisturbed possession of the goods; and The goods to be free from any security, charge or encumbrance not disclosed or known to the consumer.

These guarantees may continue to apply after your Samsung express warranty (where applicable) has expired.

Nothing in your Samsung express warranty (where applicable) or in any other material produced by Samsung purports to modify or exclude the statutory guarantees, or other legal rights, under the ACL that are unable to be so modified or excluded. For further information on the Samsung express warranty'

There is more information on this page, under sections 2 and 3: (https://www.samsung.com/au/australian-consumer-law/)

It helps with 'trust' and 'customer loyalty'; in that you are doing more for us and in return we, the customer, are willing to part with our hard-earned income for you.

I did find the Samsung repair experience somewhat unpleasant. It was not the people at the authorised repair company, they were lovely and very understanding.

No, it was the tone and demeanour of conversations with Samsung staff and the wording of their text messages that I found somewhat distateful.

It made me feel that all the belief and trust I put into the major brand hung on the goodwill and humour of this company, if not the individual case mananger, to make a singular decision, whether to do the right thing or not.

My perception went from 'Samsung is a great company with great products', to 'Samsung sells products and may or may not stand by them and do the right thing by the consumer.'

I think what will make Samsung stand head-and-shoulders above other brands with similar electronic device offerings, is to say say openly and firmly 'We stand by our products and we WILL look after our loyal and trusting customers.

5 years for a smart phone to last is not a big ask. 24 months is simply not long enough.

Look back to history: TV's, hi-fi components, speakers and washing machines were built to last and did for decades.

I can think of only a few global electronic manufacturing companies now that openly have this as their business mantra; that will provide service and repair for straightforward manufacturing failures, regardless of the age of the device.

I bet you can to.

This has been another Ant review. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have in compiling it.