Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: Clash of titans

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and you’re thinking of getting that special someone in your life a new smartphone. You can get the new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, the top tier model in the latest line of the flagship Samsung Galaxy series, complete with its trusty S Pen, beautifully rounded corners, and every feature powered by Galaxy AI, including the distraction-free Now Brief and picture-perfect ProScaler. You can also buy them the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, the first XL phone in the Google Pixel series since 2019 for its larger-than-life screen, which comes with a redesigned camera bar .

Both phones run on Android, but they’re worlds apart in terms of appearance and the features they have. Which one will wow your significant other? Let us save you the heart-wrenching, time-consuming dilemma with this side-by-side guide to help you make this important decision.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: specs

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: design and display

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The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra comes in Titanium Black, Titanium Silverblue, Titanium Gray, and Titanium Whitesilver, and it has taken on rounded corners instead of adopting the sharp and pointy edges of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, making the phone look less like a tiny discount store notebook and more like its lower-tier counterparts. The rounded corners also make the phone easier to grab, as they won’t make as much of a dent into your skin as its predecessor may have after holding it for hours. The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, which is painted in Porcelain White, Hazel Green, Obsidian Black, and Rose Quartz Pink, has more rounded corners than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, as well as a redesigned camera bar, satin matte back, and metal frame.

The screens match both of their respectively beautiful curves, and have beautifully different displays to go with them. The Galaxy S25 has a 6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a high resolution of 1440 x 3120 pixels and a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, complimented by the Super Smooth 120Hx refresh rate. The Now Brief feature, where you get news, weather, and social media updates before you even open those apps, really sells it. Meanwhile, the Pixel 9 Pro XL has a slightly shorter 6.8-inch Super Actua display, a slightly lower resolution of 1344 x 2992 pixels, and a 120Hz Dynamic refresh rate with a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. The 400 nit difference in brightness is difficult to believe when the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a higher pixel count and makes every photo and video look like Oscar gold with ProScaler.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: performance

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Nothing puts phones in a fierce competition better than their performance. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is operated by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, helping it run at a frequency of 4.32GHz to enhance CPU and GPU performance to lower the power consumption as you run multiple apps without overheating the phone, making it a massive jump from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. How high the performance will actually be is something we’re still testing, so you might want to wait for the full review of the Galaxy S25 Ultra to find out.

Meanwhile, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL has the Tensor G4 chip, which clocks the speed of phone operation at 3.10GHz. That’s not exactly an impressive operating speed, especially since its vapor chamber is just as big if not bigger than the one in the Google Pixel 9 Pro proper, and it has 16GB of RAM, which should be enough to justify a microchip that runs on an even frequency with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. And even then, the speed will still throttle after a certain point. Samsung takes this slice of the cake for Snapdragon alone.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: battery and charging

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Another thing to consider when choosing between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is how fast the phone should charge. The former phone houses a 5,000mAh battery that supports 45W of fast charging, as well as Fast Charging 2.0, Wireless PowerShare, and Qi wireless charging, while the latter has a slightly bigger battery — 5,060mAh — and only supports 37W wired charging and 23W wireless charging.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL seems to have gotten the short end of the stick in terms of charging speeds despite its battery being close to the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s in size, yet they both have the ability to charge other phones and wearables with reverse wireless charging. In our review of the Pixel 9 Pro XL, we noted that the battery tends to last most of the day, depending on how heavy the usage is. Prolonged screen time plus gaming gives you nearly 10% of battery life left over by the end of the day, while less screen time leaves you with nearly 50% of battery life by the time you go to bed. We don’t have enough data for the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s battery life, but the size of its battery is the same as the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which depletes to 50% after five hours of screen time and gets a full charge in 70 minutes with a 45W adapter. Based on that, it’s safe to assume that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s battery will charge in the same amount of time, if not faster.

Winner: Tie

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: cameras

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This category has both phones vying to be a photographer’s or content creator’s best friend. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s rear camera has two 50-megapixel cameras, one of which is ultrawide with 5x optical zoom, and one 10MP camera with a 3x optical zoom range, plus a 200MP sensor, while the selfie camera has a 12-megapixel lens. The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL’s cameras are almost evenly balanced, with the rear camera bearing two 48MP lens — one ultrawide and the other telephoto with 5x optical zoom — and a 5oMP primary lens, and a 42MP selfie camera.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra’s ultra-wide camera is four times more powerful than that of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which was 12MP and made for an interesting experience of taking great pictures in various lighting conditions, but also frustrating and sometimes frustrating with close-up shots making the main camera trigger focus enhancer mode and dampen the depth of field. The S25 Ultra may give photos and videos a brighter pop of color and better depth of field with how balanced its cameras are, especially with ProScaler enhancing the final results. The Pixel 9 Pro XL’s cameras did considerably well with the balanced optics, especially with the main camera doing as much of the heavy lifting as the secondary cameras of zooming in up to 30x and acting as the macro camera to get the tiniest details looking pretty.

Winner: Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: software and updates

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The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra runs Android 15 and One UI 7 out of the box. The dual software enables everything to run smoothly in conjunction with Galaxy AI and the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The Now Brief helps to organize your life a little faster than you can jot down your to-do list, and the microchip allows every program you’re running to react faster. It will receive seven years of Android updates and security updates from Samsung.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL comes with Android 14, but it can be upgraded to Android 15, which has been out for nearly four months now. The software is relatively user-friendly in terms of what AI can do. When you check the weather on the Pixel Weather app, the AI Weather Report summarizes the forecast in one sentence so you’ll know more about how the day will play out than what the chart tells you. And you can group every screenshot into different folders based on their context. It will also receive seven years of Android updates, along with security patches and occasional feature drops.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra starts retailing at $1,300, and will be available on February 7. The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is available now, starting at $1,099.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: which should you buy?

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Even though our review isn’t out yet, it looks like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is the best phone to invest in, especially if you’re getting it for someone you love. Its processor is more powerful than the one embedded in the previous model, its design makes it look like every other phone with rounded corners, and it produces the best pictures and videos, and saves scrolling time with Now Brief — all courtesy of AI. The color options are great for a premium tier phone, especially Titanium Silverblue.

Now, we understand that some people may want to opt for the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL because it’s a little more affordable than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Sticker shock aside, the camera takes great pictures near and far, the battery life is decent, and the design is a major improvement from its predecessors. Plus, the color options are not as bland as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, even though it has blue. But as far as features go, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is your best bet.

Pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra:

Buy the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: