Finally! Samsung’s Australian Galaxy S25 catches up to America’s version in one key way

Australian Samsung fans, rejoice! It’s that time of the year again when the South Korean tech giant reveals its latest range of epic phones and features, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 series certainly doesn’t disappoint.

While it’s a light year when it comes to hardware (except for the chassis changes to the S25 Ultra), it’s a pretty good year for Australian consumers, between a processor shift and a price drop for the top model.

The biggest change comes for the CPU. Historically, Samsung’s Galaxy S range (bar the Ultra) has had a divided CPU release. In the US, China and Canada, the entry-level Samsung Galaxy S model and the more powerful ‘Plus’ received the more powerful Snapdragon chip; last year it was the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

However, in other markets the Exynos 2400 would be used instead, while the Ultra would be the only model to receive the more powerful Snapdragon chipset of the day. This led to, across several tests, less impressive processing performance in international models. That being said, tests to the S24 range last year (performed by Android Authority) revealed better battery life in the Exynos versions, so there was at least one advantage.

Provided that Samsung has closed the gap on battery performance, this is ultimately a win for international users in markets that previously received the Exynos alternative, who will now benefit from the extra processing power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy offers better performance than the standard Elite chip on account of its faster clock speed. The company claims that it delivers a 37 per cent processing boost, a 30 per cent boost for graphics processing and a 40 per cent boost for NPU performance (reserved for AI processes). The company didn’t have anything to say on the battery life front this year, but the S25 range is undoubtedly made up of powerhouse handsets.

But there’s another huge win for Aussie Android lovers, specific to the price of the Ultra. While the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra launched in Australia at the AU$2,199 price point (which was a price rise on top of the S23 Ultra at AU$1,949), the S25 Ultra is shipping at AU$2,149. It’s not the biggest price drop, but it certainly makes the Galaxy S25 a much more attractive phone, and a considerable follow-up to one of the best phones of 2024.

Apart from these things, the Galaxy S25 range is fairly in line with that released elsewhere in the world. The only other feature of note is 5G mmWave, which offers greater transmission efficiency and lower latency than standard 5G (at the cost of needing more base stations across the same area), available in the US model Ultra but not in the Australian version.

MmWave compatibility hasn't really taken off in Australia just yet anyway. The only phones to launch in Australia with MmWave compatibility previously have been the Pixel 6 Pro, 7 Pro and 8 Pro, though the Pro model Pixel 9 devices (excluding the Pro Fold) axed the feature down under in 2024.

Samsung Galaxy S25 preorders are now live and the phones will launch on February 3. Until then, you might want to consider the best phone plans in Australia.

Should I upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S25?

Considering that it's a fairly light year on hardware and software upgrades alike for the Samsung Galaxy S range, it might not be the most exciting year to pick up a new handset, however if your phone is starting to get a bit old and you want something up-to-date, Samsung's top offering is hard to look past.

The Samsung Galaxy S range represents some of the best Android smartphones you can buy in Australia, and now that they each feature a Snapdragon chip (with the notable 'For Galaxy' suffix in the name that indicates that they've been beefed up for Samsung handsets), they've got even more power to set them apart from less powerful, albeit cheaper, rivals.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is obviously the pick if you don't want to spend too much, but upgrading to the S25 Plus will yield a bigger and better screen. If you want the best of the best, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is for you, with its smartphone-leading cameras and its huge display, made all the more attractive by the included S Pen stylus.

We've included some leading Galaxy S25 Plus plans in the table below, with preorder deals available on the 512GB option.

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