Samsung
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S24 Ultra: Performance Comparison
Samsung Galaxy flagship phones are performance-focused, especially the Ultra model, next year, S25 Ultra will fill this role with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. In the meantime, we’re getting closer to the launch event and now, we have an early Geekbench result to observe a few performance aspects of this upcoming device.
Flagship phones offer plenty of features, upgrades, and improved software. All of these rely on the chipset to make things work. Each year Qualcomm adds new process technology and core architecture to boost performance.
Samsung has been using a dual-chipset architecture (Exynos+Snapdragon) for years. But Exynos’ past failure in a bug-free experience has led to an outcast from flagship devices. Therefore, the company is now relying on Snapdragon chipsets.
Performance is a crucial selling point and also important to compete against Apple and Chinese Android rivals. The new flagship must also bring significance over its predecessor to give customers some reasons to upgrade from their existing devices.
To anticipate this story, we’ll compare the early Galaxy S25 Ultra Geekbench score against the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Both of these scores will be early benchmarks and not after-launch scores.
Before we move ahead, let’s take a quick look at the single and multi-core.
1. Single Core – It is used for tasks that rely on a single thread of execution such as web browsing, video streaming, and running low-resource consuming apps.
2. Multi Core – All processor cores work together to launch and run high-resource-consuming apps or system programs such as gaming, video editing, and app multitasking.
Galaxy S24 Ultra – Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
The S24U equipped SD 8 Gen 3 chipset is built with TSMC’s enhanced 4nm technology, which is the same as the past two chipsets. It offers up to 30% CPU performance increase and up to 20% power efficiency.
Its single large core goes up to 3.3GHz and the new generation of Adreno GPU has 25% improved graphics and power efficiency.
This phone on Geekbench recorded 2234 points for single core and 6807 points for multi-core. The benchmark recorded four core clusters
- 2 Cores clocked at 2.27 GHz
- 2 Cores clocked at 2.96 GHz
- 3 Cores clocked at 3.15 GHz
- 1 Core clocked at 3.30 GHz
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Geekbench Performance Score with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset (Source – Geekbench)
Galaxy S25 Ultra – Snapdragon 8 Elite
This new chipset uses TSMC’s 3nm process technology with 2nd generation Oryon CPU. The CPU has 4.32 GHz max speed, 45% improved performance, and 44% power efficiency compared to Gen 3. Its new Adreno GPU uses sliced architecture with 40% more graphical performance and efficiency.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra on Geekbench achieved 3148 points for single core and 10236 points for multi-core. The chipset has two core clusters:
- 6 Cores clocked at 3.53 GHz
- 2 Cores clocked at 4.47 GHz
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Geekbench Performance Score with Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset (Source – Geekbench)
Difference:
The new chipset scored far more than the Gen 3. That sums up a 31+ percent increase in single-core and a 30+ percent increase in multi-core performance.
That’s a big difference and we can give the credit to the new CPU core and the 3nm processing technology for this performance upgrade.
iPhone 16 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will compete against iPhone 16 Pro Max, the latest top-end phone from Apple’s campaign. This features the new A18 Pro chipset processed with second-gen 3nm process technology. Similar to Snapdragon, this chip also focuses on AI and extensive task handling.
These are the Geekbench score for the iPhone 16 Pro Max:
- 3409 points on single-core
- 8492 points on multi-core
The iPhone’s single-core performance is dominant over the Galaxy S25 Ultra. However, the Samsung flagship flips the situation in multi-core with big numbers.
The difference between the two devices comes as the following:
- Apple is 261 points (7.96%) better in Single Core performance
- Samsung is 1744 points (18.62%) better in Multi Core performance
That means, Samsung could provide faster and more efficient performance with the SD 8 Elite chipset in multi-core including all resource-intensive applications. Also, single-core results should not be a big problem in providing a superior user experience.
Unreleased devices
The Geekbench results for Galaxy S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra are recorded prior to their final release. However, it’s noted that the S24 Ultra score didn’t change much after launch. So, we can expect, the S25 Ultra to maintain this Geekbench score even after launch but we’ll have to see what happens.
Conclusion
This comparison for Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra shows that Snapdragon 8 Elite has achieved a new milestone in performance compared to the 8 Gen 3. Not only that, the phone will also collide with the iPhone 16 Pro Max with new capabilities. Hence, the S25 Ultra will be an exciting flagship to tune in. Read more about this upcoming smartphone in our archive.