I didn’t love the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, so why am I still using it?

And yet, as we roll into March, I sit here with the Galaxy S25 Ultra still taking up a (substantial — it’s a big phone) amount of space in my pocket. Despite feeling like Samsung needed to give me more to keep me locked in a One UI world, I haven’t returned to any of the Android phones outlined above. So what gives? What exactly is keeping me on this phone? Well, to my surprise, it’s actually a few different elements.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra might not be exciting, but there’s plenty to like about it anyway

And it all starts with Samsung’s display

By far, the biggest thing keeping the Galaxy S25 Ultra in my hand is the display. No, I’m not making another big phone joke — two in as many paragraphs would no doubt be overkill. Rather, I’ve just found that, in a world where practically every flagship on the market has a great screen, Samsung’s able to put the S25 Ultra just over the top.

Look around at Samsung’s competition. Over the past six months, I’ve praised the panels on the Pixel 9 Pro, the OnePlus 13, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. All three of those phones have excellent screens; real top-of-their-class stuff. If you’re shopping for a television, a monitor, or even a laptop these days, you really have to pay attention to the maximum brightness levels of every product you see. Not true for flagship smartphones; even setting maximum HDR ratings (which, frankly, always feel like cheating), I can’t think of a single modern $1,000 smartphone that doesn’t adequately beat back direct sunlight.

And yet, none of them have Gorilla Armor. Samsung’s anti-glare finish might not sound exciting on paper — although, I don’t know, I was pretty intrigued when I first heard about it with last year’s S24 Ultra — but it manages to leave a pretty big impact day-to-day. It’s not quite on par with something like TCL’s NXTPAPER screens, which basically manage to combine everything I love about E Ink with the refresh rate of a traditional LCD. What it does do, however, is make everything feel a little easier on the eyes, all on a smartphone with specs you can actually trust to deliver.

At the risk of repeating myself, the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 6.9-inch panel simply is Samsung’s killer feature. Unlike the slim bezels on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung’s palm rejection is quite good; I can’t think of any frustrations I’ve had while typing or playing rounds of Balatro. And unlike last year, the screen doesn’t come attached to a heavy device paired with sharp corners. It’s a massive screen that somehow manages to feel much more manageable than its predecessor.

While I wouldn’t say I love Samsung’s overall design language here, I’ve warmed up to it since my initial knee-jerk reactions in January. Sure, it’s very “peak smartphone,” borderline brutalist in the way it’s a true brick of glass and metal and screen. And yet, there’s something almost utilitarian about it that I’ve come to admire. It’s a Star Trek communicator designed by Ernő Goldfinger. It’s not necessarily attractive; it just is. It’s display and camera and S Pen built into a chassis that only exists because it must.

It’s hard to fault Samsung for sticking with what works

Even if I’d love to see a more exciting launch in 2026

Okay, maybe I’m getting a little carried away; I’d still like Samsung to really consider adding some fun or joy back into its designs. Likewise, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has its fair share of turn-offs — again, read my review to learn all about my Galaxy AI headaches. The very nature of my job as Phones Editor at AP means I’ll undoubtedly have to say goodbye at some point. The S Pen is, frankly, completely lost on me; I just can’t find a use for it in my daily life. I’ve never been a good notetaker, and I almost always prefer the feeling of a good pen on paper.

The camera system also lacks the sort of pop I’m looking for in my photos. Believe me, my recent complaints towards the Pixel could easily be levied towards Samsung’s far-more-disappointing camera system, as it doesn’t have the same sort of reliability Google offers to fall back on. Samsung could easily pack the 1-inch sensor I’ve been begging for any Android OEM to bring to the US for the very first time in a smartphone. Instead, the only hardware change this generation was a new ultra-wide camera. Forgive me for not getting excited.

Basically, despite finding plenty to enjoy about the S25 Ultra outside of its review period, none of this changes my final thoughts. In my review, I gave it a final score of 7.5, and for whatever scores are worth (not much in the grand scheme of things). I stand by every word of my conclusion, along with my larger feelings about Samsung’s obvious ambivalence towards pushing the envelope on its mobile efforts. If this company is going to continue representing Android to millions of users, it needs to be a little more imaginative.

But if this piece represents an addendum — or maybe an epilogue — to my thoughts on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, I’m glad I’m leaving it on something of a high note. Put aside the failures of Galaxy AI, the lackluster appeal of Gemini in its current state, the uninspired nature of One UI 7 and its Apple-inspired Now Bar, and what you’ll find is a smartphone with some pretty good attributes. There’s a killer base here; Samsung just needs to think outside the box to make 2026 a little more exciting.