The S25 is a full photographer's bag in one phone – here's 5 essential things to know

Phone photography has become the default option for millions of us around the world in recent years, and with good reason. Our phones are unrecognisably impressive photographically compared to just a decade ago.

Few phone brands can match Samsung, though, and it seems to manage to push through new camera innovations each and every year with the launch of new flagship phones. Its latest flagship, the Galaxy S25, continues that streak, with features that let it basically replace a photographer’s bag completely, all in a pocketable phone.

1. Scene Optimisation is a director of photography just for you

TL;DR: Point-and-shoot convenience with instant adjustments.

We’ve seen a huge resurgence in point-and-shoot cameras over the last few years, with people loving their convenience, and the S25 has a genius system to replicate that ease of use. Its Scene Optimisation feature uses Galaxy AI to instantly appraise the scene you’re photographing, before auto-adjusting brightness, contrast, and saturation to give you the best possible shot right off the bat.

This means that, although the options are there, if you don’t fancy twiddling with settings and dial, you can just, well, point and shoot. It’s perfect for amateur photographers in training – concentrate on your compositions and don’t worry about much else.

2. High resolution zoom lets you get crazy close from afar

TL;DR: You get incredible zoom without needing a bulky lens.

When you think of what a pro photographer needs to lug around, nothing’s bigger than a ginormous zoom lens – but the Galaxy S25 does incredibly well at replacing it. It can use full optical zoom up to 3X for a massive jump in clarity, but has software zoom that can go way beyond this.

Using AI to perfectly sharpen your zoomed images, you’ll be blown away by what it can produce, even when it’s impossible to actually get close to what you’re shooting. If you’ve ever been to a huge gig and left with shots that make the act look like fleas, you’ll know how huge a bonus this could be.

3. Night shoots pose no obstacle

TL;DR: Night-time shots look amazing without effort.

A few years ago, even great phones could struggle hugely once night fell, with weak flash and noisy final pictures. Take the Galaxy S25 out for a night on the town (or a night in the wilderness) and you’ll be amazed we ever had it so tough.

It brings the benefits of years of work from Samsung on low-light photography, perfectly compensating for a lack of light with longer exposures and some computational wizardry. This works just as well in a dimly-lit city as it does if you’re trying to capture a starry night sky¹.

4. Slow-mo videos to last a lifetime

TL;DR: You can add slow-mo moments to videos filmed at full speed.

Phone cameras are now some of the best video cameras out there, and the Galaxy S25 is no exception, but its Galaxy AI Instant Slow-mo² feature deserves special praise. Gone are the days of taking a video only to realise that something amazing happened too fast to really be noticed.

Now, you can just pick any existing video in your camera roll and quickly turn part of it into slow-motion, regardless of how you filmed it. It’s jaw-dropping from the first time you test it out, and it means that spontaneous moments are never missed. You’ll absolutely want to watch Samsung’s video explainer on YouTube to get a sense of how impressive it can be.

5. Generative edits make photo regret a thing of the past

TL;DR: Add whole new elements to your photos, or remove bits.

We’ve all been there – we see something amazing, then check our photos later to realise a stranger was photobombing it, or we didn’t quite get what we wanted in the frame. Samsung’s Galaxy AI Generative Edit³ tool makes that sort of anxiety a relic, and lets you easily erase unwanted objects or people, expand a photo to fill more space, or add whole new elements just using text descriptions. All this means you don’t need to stress about getting the perfect photo the first time.

Find out more about what the Samsung Galaxy S25 can do on the Samsung website

One last thing. If you have somehow missed the buzz throughout the internet tech sphere, Samsung has recently launched their latest foldable wonder – the Galaxy Z Fold7. With major hardware upgrades, such as a 200MP camera sensor, an impossibly svelte 4.2mm thin unfolded chassis, and stunning (2184 x 1968) 8” main display, there’s a lot to get excited about. Visit the Samsung website to find out more specs and pre-order details.

¹ _{Results may vary depending on light condition, subject and/or shooting conditions.}

² _{Samsung account login is required. Available on Samsung Video Player and Samsung Gallery. May not be available on certain video file types. Accuracy of results not guaranteed.}

³ _{Samsung account login is required. Requires network connection.}