Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Battery Review: Same 5000 mAh, Surprisingly Long Usage

After this Galaxy S25 Ultra battery review, you can rest assured that you can immediately choose Samsung’s newly launched flagship model without having to worry about usage time, even though the capacity does not increase.

Instead of increasing the battery capacity like many Chinese phones, Samsung decided to keep the battery capacity on the Galaxy S25 Ultra the same while trying to make the device thinner and lighter than its predecessor. The result is a 6.9-inch phone that weighs only 218g, providing a comfortable user experience.

Although the capacity remains the same, the device significantly improves usage time, which surprises me with its battery-saving ability.

Galaxy S25 Ultra Overview

Samsung introduced the Galaxy S25 Ultra as the flagship phone of the new S series a few days ago. The phone features the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, which boasts an extremely high clock speed of 4.47GHz. Manufacturers built this chip using a 3nm process, but it only has large cores, meaning it prioritizes performance over maximum energy efficiency.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Battery Review

The fact that the Snapdragon 8 Elite only has large cores makes me worried about its ability to save energy in very light tasks such as watching videos, surfing the web, and using daily tasks.

Regarding the battery, the Galaxy S25 Ultra still features a 5000 mAh capacity and supports 45W fast charging. Unfortunately, I don’t have Samsung’s 45W charger to test the charging time, but it will likely be the same as previous generations.

In addition, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 6.9-inch screen, which is 0.1 inches larger than the S24 Ultra, slightly impacting the device’s battery life.

Galaxy S25 Ultra battery test conditions

To test the battery, I used the Galaxy S25 Ultra for a few days to stabilize it, and my system settings were as follows:

  • Performance Profile: Standard (there are 2 options, Standard and Light), this is the option for higher performance.
  • Game Booster: Performance Mode, 120Hz display in-game.
  • Screen resolution: FullHD+ (Galaxy S25 Ultra has 2K+ resolution, but I set it to FullHD+ by default, which is enough to use).
  • Screen brightness: Turn off auto brightness and adjust the brightness bar to 50%.

In addition, the ambient temperature I tested for the Galaxy S25 Ultra was quite cool, only fluctuating around 18 – 25 degrees Celsius, depending on the time of day. The device does not use a case or any stickers on the back. This is also an essential factor significantly affecting the device’s battery life. If used in an environment with a higher temperature and wearing a case makes the battery hotter, the battery life will be affected.

S25 Ultra battery test with PCMark

PCMark is a widely used battery test. It simulates light daily tasks such as web browsing, watching videos, browsing files, etc. PCMark runs from 100% battery charge until there is 20% battery remaining, then automatically stops.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Battery Review

The result surprised me quite a bit. The Galaxy S25 Ultra lasted up to 16 hours, meaning it only consumed 5% of the battery per hour.

In addition, in the AnTuTu V10 test, the Galaxy S25 Ultra lost 7% of its battery after 1 test, which is quite a lot. Still, it should also be added that in this test, the processor is always running at almost maximum level, so it consumes battery, understandably.

Perform lightweight tasks

To test the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s battery life, I used a familiar light task: surfing Facebook and TikTok simultaneously and watching YouTube videos.

The result is quite interesting. After fully charging, I surfed Facebook and TikTok for over 20 minutes, and the battery dropped to 99%. I tried it again a few times because the first battery percentage is usually much more substantial than the remaining battery percentages.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Battery Review

As a result, each hour of social media use on the Galaxy S25 Ultra only uses an average of 5 – 6% battery with 50% screen brightness.

Meanwhile, when watching a Full HD HDR 60 fps video on YouTube for 1 hour in full-screen mode (i.e., no black border), the Galaxy S25 Ultra only uses about 4% battery per hour. That also means if you only watch YouTube content over Wi-Fi, you can watch all day.

This result shows that despite having all large cores, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy optimizes energy efficiency for light tasks.

Gaming on Galaxy S25 Ultra

To continue testing the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s battery life, I tried two games: Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile.

With PUBG Mobile, I set the frame rate to 120Hz. After 1 hour of playing S25 Ultra, the battery used 16%, ideal for a 6.9-inch phone with a 5000 mAh battery, a 120Hz screen, and games at 120fps. After an hour of playing the game, the position behind the camera was only slightly warm.

With Genshin Impact, I did not hesitate to set the graphics to high, 60fps, as shown in the picture. With this “hardware killer” game, it is unsurprising that the Galaxy S25 Ultra consumes significantly more battery, 21% after 1 hour of playing. The back of the device is near the camera, and the screen warms up, but it is not hot or uncomfortable.

Final line

The above tests show that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is excellent at surfing the web, surfing social networks, checking emails, or doing light work all day long at high intensity without needing to charge.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Battery Review

When playing moderate games like PUBG, the Galaxy S25 Ultra can still be played continuously for 5-6 hours, a perfect number. With hefty games like Genshin Impact and high graphics settings, the Galaxy S25 Ultra can respond for more than 4 hours.

However, most Galaxy S25 Ultra buyers will not or rarely continuously play heavy games for hours like that. If the primary purpose is to play games, gaming phones are more worth buying, and they are also more affordable than the S25 Ultra.

Therefore, the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s battery life has met most of the intended users’ needs. Compared to the previous generation Galaxy S24 Ultra, this year’s generation has had significant improvements that can be felt in battery life.

Also see: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Hands-On: First Impression

The Galaxy S25 Ultra starts at $1,299.99 for the 256 GB model and $1,419.99 for the 512 GB variant. The Galaxy S25 series is available for pre-order until February 3 in the UK and February 7 in the USA.

Amazon.com offers a $200 gift card with purchases, while Amazon.co.uk includes a free memory upgrade worth up to £249.

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