Titanium. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a titanium frame, and its successor went back to aluminium. That is not the reason to buy it, but it is a fair summary of the situation: the newer Ultra is better in ways you can measure and the older one is better in a way you can hold, and the older one is now about Rs. 43,000 cheaper. On 22 October live listings for the 12GB + 256GB model sat between Rs. 91,000 and Rs. 97,000, against a Rs. 1,29,999 launch price. Same 5,000mAh battery, the same 4 rear cameras by megapixel count, a built-in S Pen on both, and the same 7-generation update promise, started a year earlier. Buy it. Unless faster charging is worth Rs. 43,000 to you, this is the Ultra to own.
What Rs. 43,000 buys you, and what it does not.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra launched in India in February at Rs. 1,39,999, and Samsung raised it in September. On 22 October its 12GB + 256GB model listed between Rs. 1,34,000 and Rs. 1,40,000. The S25 Ultra's lowest listing sat about Rs. 43,000 under the S26 Ultra's lowest. Here are the rows that changed, from Samsung's specification and independent spec sheets:
And what did not change: the 5,000mAh battery, the 200MP main camera's resolution, the 50MP ultra-wide, the 10MP 3x telephoto, the 12MP front camera, the 6.9-inch QHD+ screen, a built-in S Pen, and the 7-generation update promise. The S26 Ultra is the better phone. It is not Rs. 43,000 better for most people, and that is the argument in a sentence.
Everything the Ultra name promised in 2025, at a 2026 discount.
The camera range. 4 rear cameras, and 3 of them stabilised: a 200MP main, a 3x telephoto for portraits, a 5x periscope for the stage at a college fest, and a 50MP ultra-wide. The iQOO 15, about Rs. 8,000 cheaper, has 1 telephoto. This has 2.
The screen. 6.9 inches of QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED at 1 to 120Hz, with Gorilla Armor 2 on the front, an anti-reflective glass-ceramic that cuts the glare you fight under a tubelight or the afternoon sun. The 2,600 nits is a peak figure, not what the screen holds all day.
The S Pen. Built into the body, for notes, signatures and precise editing. It lost the Bluetooth remote tricks of older Ultras, so no clicking it to take a photo, but the writing is the part people use, and Samsung told one reviewer that fewer than 1% used the remote features at all.
The years. 7 Android upgrades, which by our count runs to Android 22, and security updates until 31 January 2032. Android 17 began rolling out to the S25 family in India on 6 October. Bought today, that is more than 5 years of patches still to come.
45W, 15W, and a heavy pocket.
The charging is the honest weak spot, and it was a weak spot at launch too. 45W gets you to about 65% in half an hour with an adapter you buy separately, which is slow beside many phones at half this price. Wireless is 15W, and there are no magnets built in, so a magnetic charger needs a case. 5,000mAh is a fair battery for a phone this size, not a big one, and the S26 Ultra did not change that.
It is also big and heavy: 218g and 77.6mm wide. And the 12GB of memory is the same on every Indian variant, which is fine today and a question for year 6.
At about Rs. 90,000.
The iQOO 15 is about Rs. 8,000 cheaper, with a 7,000mAh battery, 100W charging and a newer chip, but 1 telephoto and no pen. Inside Samsung, the Galaxy S25 keeps the chip and 7 upgrades in a small body for just under Rs. 60,000 at both large retailers, without the periscope or the S Pen. The newer Galaxy S26 Ultra is the one to buy if 60W charging and the privacy screen are worth the gap. And if you want Google's software in a big phone, the Pixel 10 Pro XL sits at about Rs. 1,25,000. For 8,000mAh and a 200MP periscope, OPPO's new Find X10 launched on 22 October at Rs. 1,39,999.
- You want 2 telephotos, 3x and 5x, plus an ultra-wide
- You write, sign or sketch on your phone
- You keep a phone 5 years or more
- You were going to buy the S26 Ultra and can live with slower charging
- Fast charging matters to you every single day
- You want the biggest battery this money buys
- You want a light phone, or a small one
- The only listing you can find is near Samsung's own Rs. 1,14,999
Buy. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is the rare flagship whose successor makes it a better deal rather than an old phone. The S26 Ultra kept the battery, the camera resolutions, a built-in pen and the screen size, and changed the chip, the charging, 2 apertures, the frame and added a privacy screen. Those are real improvements. At about Rs. 43,000 apart, they are not the ones most buyers would pay for. Between Rs. 91,000 and Rs. 97,000, the S25 Ultra is a complete camera phone with a pen, a titanium frame and patches to 2032. If your day lives on the charger, spend the difference. Otherwise, buy this one.
Same battery and megapixels as the S26 Ultra, and a pen too. About Rs. 43,000 less.
We have not used this phone. This review is based on published specifications and live retail listings checked on 22 October 2026.
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