Galaxy S25 specs could crush iPhone 16 - here's why
The new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor is coming to the Galaxy S25 series, and it might be even faster than Apple's A18 in iPhone 16
📱 The Galaxy S25 has the potential to be faster than Apple’s iPhone 16
🤖 That’s all thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is expected to land in Samsung’s next phones
🏎️ Early benchmarks show the new chip outpacing the A18 Pro in multi-core
🐏 Samsung may also include more RAM than the iPhone
📅 We’ll know more when the S25 series is announced on January 22
There’s a real chance the Galaxy S25 will give the iPhone 16 a run for its money in terms of performance.
Samsung is gearing up to announce the Galaxy S25 next month, right after CES 2025 wraps up. We expect to see four new phones in Samsung’s lineup: the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, S25 Ultra, and the mysterious S25 Slim. While the latter will be positioned for tighter budgets, the former three will all be flagships, and they all stand a chance at outpacing Apple’s latest iPhones.
That’s thanks to the chipset we expect to see in all three phones. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is rumored to make an appearance across the S25 series, and if recent benchmarks are any indication, there’s a real chance Samsung might deliver the fastest phones on the market today.
Snapdragon 8 Elite performance seems legit
While there aren’t any smartphones with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite just yet in the United States, that’s not stopping others from running benchmarks on the chip ahead of time. The team at Tom’s Guide recently got their hands on a reference device that they used to run Geekbench 6 benchmarks and compare them to the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro.
The result? The Snapdragon 8 Elite kept up magnificently well. Its single-core scores were about the same as the iPhone, hovering around 3,200-3,300. In multi-core, the 8 Elite was able to beat out the A18 Pro by nearly 2,000 extra points, going from around 8,300 to 10,300. The chip also easily beat out the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that’s included in the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
None of this is surprising, mind you. Qualcomm talked a big game when it announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite back in October. The company’s latest chip has a new octa-core Oryon CPU with two 4.32GHz power cores and six 3.53GHz smaller cores. That gives the chip a 45% single-core and 45% multi-core improvement on the 8 Gen 3, which is insane. RAM is also faster this time around, so everything will feel more responsive than ever.
Plus, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is built on a 3-nanometer process, which means it’ll run more efficiently than any other Snapdragon chip in the past. Qualcomm says it’ll be 44% more efficient than its predecessor.
Galaxy S25 might get the fastest Snapdragon 8 Elite of them all
With the improved performance gains and better efficiency, there’s no question that the Snapdragon 8 Elite will give the iPhone 16’s A18 chip and the 16 Pro’s A18 Pro some serious competition heading into 2025. But where the Galaxy S25 could make the biggest difference is in two key areas: special editions and RAM.
For the past few years, Qualcomm and Samsung have partnered to give Galaxy users an even faster Snapdragon chip. Special “Snapdragon for Galaxy” chips are overclocked compared to the normal version, which means they’re capable of slightly faster performance. No other phone gets this version of the chip besides Galaxy phones.
That could mean the Galaxy S25 will be faster than we think. So far, there’s no confirmation that the Snapdragon 8 Elite won’t get a “for Galaxy” upgrade, but it would be unusual for Samsung to end its partnership with Qualcomm so suddenly and not continue the tradition into 2025. In my opinion, it seems likely we’ll get the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy with the S25 series, making these phones the most powerful on the market not just for Android, but against the iPhone as well.
The specs don’t end there, of course. Samsung is also rumored to be increasing the amount of RAM in the regular Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus to 12GB, which is an extra 4GB over the iPhone 16 series. That means you’ll be able to jump around between apps with ease while your whole phone feels more responsive and snappy. Plus, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is compatible with faster RAM, which could make the S25 a multitasking beast for those who need extra memory while they tackle a million things at once.
For those wondering, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will almost certainly come with 12GB of RAM as well, considering it shipped with that amount last year with the S24 Ultra.
Galaxy S25 review will determine which is fastest
Right now, it looks like the Galaxy S25 series has the potential to be faster than the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, but we’ll need to wait until our full review to determine whether that’s true. We’ll have much more to say on January 22 when the S25 series is unveiled during a rumored Galaxy Unpacked event. Be sure to subscribe to The Shortcut so you don’t miss out.
Max Buondonno is a writer at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop.