The Samsung Galaxy S25 and other upcoming Androids look likely to cost even more than their predecessors

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Pricey but powerful

Samsung Galaxy S24 hands on handheld back straight
The Samsung Galaxy S24 (Image credit: Future | Roland Moore-Colyer)

For a while now, we’ve been hearing that the chip set to power most of 2025's best Android phones could be seriously expensive, and now there’s yet more evidence of this – suggesting that in turn the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 line might cost more than their predecessors.

According to leaker Digital Chat Station posting on Weibo (via Android Authority), the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will cost about 20% more than its predecessor.

Now, we’d take this with a pinch of salt, but this is a leaker with a good track record, and we’ve heard a similar claim about the price of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 elsewhere. On top of which, Qualcomm itself has previously said the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is likely to cost more than the 8 Gen 3.

How much of a dollar increase 20% would be though is less clear. Today’s leak suggests that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will cost around $190 / £140 / AU$275, but a previous leak – which also pointed to a 20% increase on last year – said the price would be roughly $240 / £180 / AU$345.

Qualcomm Snapdragon

(Image credit: Qualcomm)

Price bumps for many of the best Android phones

Still, an increase of some amount is looking likely, and there’s every chance that price bump would be passed on to consumers, meaning the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, the OnePlus 13, the Sony Xperia 1 VII, and other Android flagships could all cost more than their predecessors.

Interestingly, today’s leak mentions that the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 will also cost about 20% more than the previous flagship MediaTek chipset. Now, that still means a lower total price than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. But it also means that even if companies considered switched to MediaTek to reduce costs, they might not be able to keep the costs down by as much as a MediaTek chipset usually would.

Still, the good news about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 at least is that it might be a tremendously powerful chipset, with an early Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra benchmark suggesting it might even have the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro beat.

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James Rogerson
James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.