shaping

The verdict of the jury of the Xataka NordVPN Awards 2025 has been clear. In a year where competition has been fierce in the premium segment, with Apple renewing its commitment to iPhone 17 and Chinese brands like Alive or Oppo pushing the limits of photography, there has been a traditional winner: The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has won gold in the most coveted category. Prima facie, may seem like a conservative decision. And the Galaxy S25 Ultra is not a disruptive mobile; It doesn’t make a huge leap in performance or photography. However, his victory responds to a reality that we verified during our analysis: a perfect balance. It is not a victory resulting from chance or a specific success, but the culmination of a strategy that the Korean firm began five years ago. While other manufacturers lurched in search of wow effect every twelve months (and even less), Samsung decided that its ‘Ultra’ surname already had a defined identity: the super high-end customer is not looking for experiments—faster charges, sensors with better numbers, higher capacity batteries—but rather certainties. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has not reinvented the wheel, but has made it roll better than anyone else: these are the technical and experience reasons that make it the king of 2025. Something with which I can’t agree more. When the screen matters (and a lot) If you have used a Galaxy S24 Ultrayou know the pain. Those rectangular corners that dug into the palm of the hand were the price to pay for having the largest and most spectacular screen. With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung has smoothed over that roughness. It’s not just that the corners have been softened: it’s that the phone has lost a few grams. It may seem like a smaller figure on paper, but in the hand, the difference between one and the other is very noticeable. Maintaining the 6.9-inch screen and 5,000 mAh battery while reducing weight (and a little thickness) is the kind of change that justifies the award. Of course, perhaps after saying goodbye to those corners he has lost one of his identifying marks at first glance: now he looks like the rest of his younger brothers. That does not mean that it is at this point that the maturity of the concept is appreciated: it took Samsung years to correct the course from those curved screens, beautiful, but not entirely comfortable. The S25 Ultra is the recognition that usability must come before pretty aesthetics, even in the premium segment. And if that means sacrificing the visual identity of the extinct ‘Note’ in favor of ergonomics, then too. On the other hand, the anti-reflective treatment of its predecessor already seemed like a game changer. This year, it is maintained, and its screen is also improved with more mature brightness management. They are one of those small details that matter: I don’t need 6,000 nits if I have a panel that eliminates reflections and it offers me very pure blacks in broad daylight. This panel does not seek to win on the technical sheet, but on experience. And there is a technical detail that we often overlook but that makes a difference in everyday life: visual fatigue. Although Samsung remains conservative with PWM Dimming (492 Hz vs. 2,000+ Hz for the Chinese competition), the panel calibration and automatic brightness management in One UI have reached an exquisite point. Let’s not forget that we still have a real Quad HD+ resolutionsomething that many rivals they have sacrificed dropping to 1.5K to save battery or increase the refresh rate. Samsung has not made that sacrifice, and it is appreciated. Power without anxiety and mature chambers It was easy for Samsung to deliver high-end performance: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has given way to a Snapdragon 8 Elite who plays in another league. Although in synthetic stress tests the mobile can suffer considerable throttling, in real use – editing video or playing demanding titles like ‘Genshin Impact’ – this drop in theoretical performance is imperceptible. Samsung has prioritized system stability over raw benchmark numbers: I confirm that it is the right decision for a productivity device. My biggest fear was that the power of the new chip would eat up the battery, the reality has been the opposite. Getting to the end of the day with half the battery is possible: Samsung has shown that optimization can improve autonomy. Now, it goes without saying that to continue winning our super high-end award, the South Korean will have to join the new trend in batteries: those of silicon-carbon. This year it has not been, but next 2026 forces Samsung to take the leap that other manufacturers are experiencing. And what if it becomes notable: mobile phones with 7,000 mAh batteries and more are flooding the Android market. In the photographic field, this is where the philosophy of refinement is most noticeable. Do you miss a radical change in camera hardware? Sometimes, although if you value consistency more, not so much. The Galaxy S25 Ultra solved the Achilles heel of its predecessor: the ultra wide angle. By raising the resolution to 50 MP with a new sensor, this camera finally does not clash with the rest. Furthermore, the recording in LOG and AI noise removal are quite useful tools for content creators. An aspect in which it approaches the high level of the iPhone in video recording. No, it is not the most exciting camera of the year, but it is one of the few that does not leave you lying around: whatever photo you want to take, it offers very consistent results. Samsung has got the point of its photography. A software to match Finally, part of the prize is also for the Android software: Gone are the days of Touchwiz as well as the first versions of One UI that did not achieve the promised user experience. One UI 7 has turned AI from a curiosity into a complete tool suite; and in … Read more