US deals: Samsung Galaxy S25 series pre-orders start, there are some options here too

You can’t miss all the coverage of the Samsung Galaxy S25 series launch this week. We posted a pricing breakdown a few days ago, but let’s take another look at the prices retailers are offering and what options there are.

First, Samsung.com has the traditional free storage upgrade, which gets you up to 256GB on the Galaxy S25 and 512GB on the Galaxy S25+ and S25 Ultra. Additionally, you can trade in an old device to lower the price and you’ll get Samsung credits to spend on more stuff. As a reminder, if you pre-refurbish a unit, you’ll have an additional $50 credit. And if you don’t pre-reserve, our link should get you a $50 credit anyway.

Next, let’s look at how retailers like Amazon and Best Buy have structured their deals. There’s no free storage upgrade here, but you do get a gift card from the associated store, which is more flexible than Samsung Credit (which you can only spend on Samsung devices, of course). Note that the Galaxy S25 series is on pre-order, with shipping starting on February 7th.

Did you check out our hands-on review and our two-part camera shootout between the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra? If not, have a look. Okay so – before making a yes/no decision on the S25 series, you should consider the alternatives.

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL will be one of the main rivals of the S25 Ultra. It currently costs less for a unit with 512GB of storage – even with Samsung’s free storage upgrade! The Tensor G4 can’t match the performance of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, but the phone does have a 48MP ultra-wide camera (a camera upgrade to rival Samsung’s own) with a 48MP 113mm periscope and a 50MP main.

On the other hand, the smaller Google Pixel 9 Pro is actually more expensive than the smaller Galaxy S25 when looking at the 256GB model. The Pixel is a little bigger and what we said about the Tensor chip is true. However, this phone has the same cameras as the Pro XL and its 48MP 113mm tele module wipes the floor with the 10MP 67mm module on the Galaxy, the same goes for the 48MP ultra-wide vs the 12MP. Even the selfie camera is better on the Galaxy at 42MP 17mm ultra-wide versus 12MP 26mm.

If you’re willing to lose the tele and selfie cameras and the slightly sharper LTPO panel, the vanilla Google Pixel 9 is slightly cheaper than the Galaxy S25 and offers mostly the same features as the 9 Pro.

Samsung also has its own Galaxy S24 Fe. It’s significantly cheaper – costing just $610 for a 256GB phone – but it’s also larger, with a 6.7” display. It’s not a direct competitor to the S25 or S25+, but offers maybe 80% of the same experience. The display is a 1080p+ non-LTPO panel and is faster than the Exynos 2400e Tensor, though not nearly as fast as the Snapdragon. But the rest is the same and without paying the “new flagship” price.

We have to mention Apple, of course. The iPhone 16 Pro Max 512GB is slightly pricier than the Galaxy S25 Ultra – Apple charges two arms and two legs for the storage upgrade. The Apple A18 Pro actually lags behind in performance on synthetic benchmarks, but is far from slow. The phone’s 12MP 120mm telephoto camera lacks the resolution of Samsung’s 50MP 111mm tele, but Samsung’s One Camera upgrade this generation has the 48mp ultra-wide in place to deal with.

Like with the Pixel, the price of the smaller iPhone 16 Pro is as close to its larger sibling as it is to the smaller Galaxy S25. Still, the iPhone has better telephoto (12MP 120mm vs 10MP 67mm) and ultra-wide cameras (48MP 13mm vs 12MP 13mm). Apple added camera controls and action buttons this generation. Gimmick or actually useful? Either way, at least it’s a new feature unlike the S25, which hasn’t changed significantly since the S22.

You should also consider the Apple iPhone 16 Plus. Some of us insist on having a small phone, while others prefer a larger one. The Plus is about the same size as the Galaxy S25+ and costs about the same. Note that there’s no tele camera of any kind here and the ultra-wide only has a 12MP sensor.

In the US, the list of flagships not made by the Big 3 is short – but OnePlus is hard to ignore. The OnePlus 13 uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip (with slightly lower clocks) and boasts triple 50mp Hasselblad cameras: 50MP main, 50MP 73mm periscope and 50MP ultra-wide. And it breaks the mold with a massive 6,000mAh battery that supports 100W wired and 50W wireless fast charging. None of that 45W charging here!

The OnePlus 13R costs S24 Fe money, but brings to the table a Snapdragon 8 GEN 3 and a 6.78” 1264p+ LTPO display. Its cameras include a 50MP main, 50MP 47mm tele, and 8MP ultra-wide. Naturally, it has a big 6,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging (but no wireless). The IP65 rating is on the low side even for a mid-ranger, but it shouldn’t make much difference in practice.