S25 ultra UI

[antbaz]

Anyone else played with an s25 ultra yet? 1st the shape, feels very much like a cheaper A range phone.

2ndly and more importantly the new UI. New over animated app icons feel very much like cheaper Chinese competitor brands. To get to the quick setting you have to swipe from top right corner now (You know that feature everyone absolutely hated when iphone did it? Yeah, good job samsung you did it even worse.) 

And finally the lack of Bluetooth in the S pen.

Maybe it's just me but after playing with the phone for an hour it didn't feel in anyway premium like it's predisessor the 24 ultra.

Very very let down by the new s25 range.

[Sebin369]

Same here, that's why I haven't upgraded to s25 ultra. I don't know why they have downgraded s pen

[Sirfoxelot]

I Pre-ordered mine as a replacement for my S23 Ultra.
Disappointed in the S-pen downgrade and the loss of 10x optical zoom, replaced with 5x (although this might be compensated by the larger sensor).

Not too fussed by the icons in One UI 7 as I normally add a theme and new icon pack anyway.

An increase in RAM would have been nice.

Will see how the phone is when it arrives.
It's going to be interesting to see how the newer processor handles intensive tasks like video editing which I do on the S23U.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hello 👋 @antbaz and may I take this opportunity to extend a Warm Welcome to the Samsung Community Forum. 

I appreciate your viewpoint in regards to the new flagship phone's. 

It's not going to be everyone's cup of T ,and to be honest there's always something that's taken away or added that some won't be happy with. 

Many will buy the phone I'm sure. 

If i can be of any further help please don't hesitate to ask  😎 

[Babishko]

I have to say that I am genuinely quite excited about the S25 Ultra. Firstly I like the looks. To me it looks modern and fresh. The difference in benchmark scores between it and the S24 Ultra defy belief. And the S24 Ultra is a powerful device.
Video is my thing I must say, and to see the S25 Ultra having the ability to shoot Log, with on device colour correction, makes me so happy. The 8 Elite aided low light noise reduction on video is what I have long been asking Samsung to focus on. I am even happier with this. The new f1.7 50Mp Ultrawide is a Godsend for video with it's superior light gathering ability and better noise reduction and 8K recording ability. I can't forget the new smooth zoom bar when recording video. Yes, for me the S25 Ultra is all I could have wished for. I can't wait to pick one up as my new contract phone, and compare it to my S23 Ultra on every level. 👍

[antbaz]

Just to be clear, I am a massive fan of samsung phones. I have had the s23 ultra, fold 4 and 5 and only skipped on the s24 ultra. And although I know the S25 ultra is a very strong competitor in the phone market, I just feel it's lost some of it character. I was happy to see the S24 loose the curved screen (cheaper to replace if you drop it like I did with me s23U 🤦 ) I'm disappointed to see the rounded corners and flat edges and will certainly miss using the S pen to take photos from a distance. It is a great phone and still very impressive. Just doesn't feel as unique and stand out as previous models

[LayinLRGPipe]

Shape is much better. Coming from a S23 Ultra, the screen is slightly bigger but feels 20% smaller in your hand. They made the right choice with the rounded edges, reduces the grip size considerably and offers better comfort.

App icons? Get a theme dude. They're like 3 dollars.

There is an actual settings app and you can place it on your home screen. 

S pen Bluetooth... never used it on my S23. I don't think many people did tbh with you. 

Sounds like you don't need a premium phone if those are your biggest takeaways.