Despite Google's advances with its Pixel devices, Samsung Galaxy smartphones remain the best for business users, and after a couple of years of the iPhone serving as my daily driver, it's time to get back to my Android roots with the S25 Ultra. While I write about mobile technology on ZDNET, I work for a private engineering firm and use my smartphones daily for business.
AI is a focus for Samsung, Google, and Apple, and several elements of Samsung's implementation will certainly take the S25 Ultra to the next level, so check out the various AI-focused articles on ZDNET. Beyond AI, let's look at why I think the S25 Ultra is the best smartphone for the enterprise.
Samsung launched the S24 Ultra with a new anti-reflective Gorilla Glass Armor display that reduced reflection by up to 75%. This anti-reflective display made it easier to read in all lighting conditions. With the S25 Ultra, Corning and Samsung again worked together to develop a Gorilla Glass Armor 2 display that continues with an anti-reflective surface.
Also: Best Samsung smartphones of 2025
In addition to improved readability, Samsung reports that the company has seen a 60% lower rate of screen repairs, thanks to the durability of the Armor display. This durability is fantastic for businesses that need their phones to perform at all times in all conditions. The Armor display technology is also highly scratch-resistant to help ensure you can count on your phone to perform.
We have seen a couple of new phones outside the US launch with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, featuring fantastic benchmark performance. Qualcomm and Samsung worked closely together to incorporate a Samsung custom application processor solution in the S24 Ultra, so we look forward to seeing how well this flagship processor performs. It is possible this version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite will outperform others.
While Samsung removed the Bluetooth capability of the S Pen (check out my article on all of the features no longer available to S25 Ultra users), it is still an extremely useful tool for business users. Sliding out the stylus and quickly capturing notes on the lock screen is tough to beat and may help you collect your thoughts at all times.
The new AI Select function provided on S25 devices through OneUI 7 is made a bit easier to use thanks to the S Pen and the ease of selecting content on the screen to perform this action. The Air View function, where you can see your calendar details and message details while simply hovering over the display, can save you precious seconds.
I'm personally a major fan of the summarization and note-assist functions that are easier to perform with an S Pen. The AI integration with the S Pen means that I will always buy the Ultra version of a Galaxy S series device.
Samsung is incorporating Knox with EAL-6 (Evaluation Assurance Level), which is the highest level of security for mobile device chipsets. In addition, Samsung is incorporating post-quantum cryptography in the S24 Ultra. I honestly don't know many of these security details, but thankfully, Samsung fully explains them for those of us on the fringes of mobile security.
Mobile tech enthusiasts like me tend to upgrade our phones every year or two, but the phones today are so powerful and capable that you can safely upgrade them on a less frequent basis. With a Samsung S25 Ultra, you can relax knowing that Samsung will provide you with up to seven years of major Android and regular security updates. I would love to hear a story of someone actually keeping a phone that long to see if this is a theoretical or practical period for software support.
Samsung confirmed that there is nothing new with Samsung DeX in the S25 Ultra this year, but that doesn't mean DeX isn't an extremely valuable asset for Samsung smartphones. It is a secure and easy way to have your smartphone serve as your primary computing platform.
I am currently attending the Samsung Unpacked event in San Jose, and I was able to quickly and easily connect my S24 Ultra to the large screen display in my hotel room to use a big-screen DeX computing experience even while traveling with just my phone. DeX remains one of those superhero functions of a Samsung device that far too few take advantage of.
One way to make it even more secure is to connect your S25 Ultra to a pair of XR glasses, like the Viture Pro or Xreal Air 2 Ultra, to work in a DeX environment in the glasses so that others around you cannot view your work.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a powerhouse of a smartphone, and if you want a phone that is built to get work done, then this is a serious contender.