Android Central Labs
Android Central Labs is a weekly column dedicated to deep dives, experiments, and a targeted look into the tech you employ. It covers telephones, tablets, and all the things in between.
As you step out into the blazing solar this summer time, it is virtually assured that you will have to squint to see your cellphone’s show. Whereas smartphone shows have gotten stupidly vivid in the previous few years, many are nonetheless tough to see in direct daylight.
That is the place the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely is available in. Whereas a few of the greatest Android telephones have brighter shows, the Galaxy S25 Extremely turns the tables by implementing a superb anti-glare layer that makes it lifeless simple to see within the daylight, and that is nice for anybody who spends a whole lot of time outdoor, particularly this time of yr.
However not all is rosy with Samsung’s newest flagship show. Whereas the show excels in a number of areas, lingering issues from the Galaxy S24 Extremely have not been correctly addressed. Let’s take a deeper dive into what makes the Galaxy S25 Extremely so good to make use of exterior and why it is a little bit more durable to get pleasure from indoors.
And with Prime Day proper across the nook, you’ll want to try some Galaxy S25 Extremely offers ā, as some fairly sizzling ones are already dwell.
Consolation is vital
Within the trendy period, all flagship cellphone shows look good. This is applicable to most cellphone specs lately, from efficiency to digital camera high quality, which suggests differentiating merchandise often comes down to at least one or two classes {that a} product is strongest in.
Most show opinions and evaluation focus an excessive amount of on lab checks and never sufficient on the human a part of the equation. Most individuals do not care in regards to the distinction between 97% and 99% shade accuracy, and it is unlikely most individuals will ever discover that distinction anyway, even for those who maintain two telephones subsequent to one another. As a substitute, I wish to concentrate on the human quotient for these show opinions.
Within the case of the Galaxy S25 Extremely, its show is weakest within the consolation class, but it surely has some standout attributes which can be noteworthy. Let’s begin with the optimistic!
Reflectivity
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Samsung’s anti-glare filter, first launched on the Galaxy S24 Extremely, is without doubt one of the greatest issues Samsung has ever achieved for display screen visibility. Within the above photographs, I examine it to the OnePlus 13, our present favourite Android cellphone, and one with larger peak brightness capabilities than the Galaxy S25 Extremely.
Regardless of being a brighter show, the OnePlus 13 is more durable to see outdoor due to the reflectivity of the glass. The Galaxy S25 Extremely is extremely clear and vibrant, whereas it is simply plain tough to see the OnePlus 13. Now, to be clear, I am not choosing on OnePlus right here. Almost each different cellphone in the marketplace is simply as onerous to see, and it is as a result of virtually no different firm makes use of the kind of anti-glare glass the S25 Extremely has.
The one drawback right here is that the majority display screen protectors for the cellphone haven’t got an anti-glare layer utilized, that means all the things that makes the show so seen outdoor will get ruined. Be sure you get one like this official Samsung anti-reflection movie to maintain the show’s greatest attribute from being ruined!
Eye consolation settings
Samsung’s blue mild filter, which the corporate calls “Eye Consolation Protect,” helps block blue mild by decreasing the depth of blue subpixels. This makes the show seem a lot yellower and does a great job of decreasing blue mild emissions.
You possibly can see this in motion within the picture above, which I captured with a microscope utilizing a pure white picture on the display screen. Be aware how the depth of the blue subpixels is notably diminished when Eye Consolation Protect is enabled.
By default, the mode will routinely modify blue mild primarily based on the time of day. Throughout sunlight hours, blue mild might be near the default setting as if the mode had been disabled. At night time, the blue mild might be routinely diminished to assist higher match the circadian rhythm of the human physique, since most pure blue mild solely happens throughout the day from daylight.
Sadly, Samsung’s solely actual eye care answer is blue mild blocking, an issue that you’re going to be taught extra about within the brightness part beneath.
Shade accuracy and depth
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When the Galaxy S24 Extremely first launched, the show was thought of “washed out” by some long-time Samsung followers. Samsung answered by including in a vividness slider and enhancing the colours of the show. These similar tweaks additionally made it to the Galaxy S25 Extremely.
The colour calibration seems to be similar between each telephones, however the Galaxy S25 Extremely does a greater job of retaining colours extra correct when viewing the display screen from an angle than the S24 Extremely does.
Samsung’s AMOLED panels on each the Galaxy S24 Extremely and Galaxy S25 Extremely exhibit shade banding that is not seen on most different trendy flagship telephones. The principle drawback is that Samsung continues to make use of 8-bit panels of their telephones regardless of the complete trade switching to 10-bit as the usual.
For the check, I used an 8-bit and 10-bit gradient comparability picture discovered on GitHub. On the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s panel, there’s little to no distinction between the 8-bit and 10-bit gradients. The OnePlus 13 exhibits further colours all through all of the gradients, though the inexperienced gradient confirmed up greatest on digital camera.
Many customers have complained about shade banding on wallpaper and different photographs, even ones taken with the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s digital camera, since that digital camera can seize 10-bit photographs. And whereas Samsung completely must improve their shows to 10-bit to maintain up with the pack, I wish to commend them for not stooping to utilizing shade dithering to faux 10-bit shade. Another firms, like Xiaomi, use shade dithering to faux deeper colours and it is painful for some customers due to the flickering pixels.
Brightness and dimming
Every little thing this cellphone tells you about its brightness ranges is a lie. Setting the brightness slider at 100% by no means truly means 100% brightness underneath any circumstance.
Regular “100%” brightness, like most telephones, does not come near the marketed peak brightness. That is usually reserved for the devoted “daylight mode” that will get activated when a vivid mild, just like the solar, shines on the display screen’s mild sensor. We are able to drive this by holding a flashlight as much as the show and measuring the nit output. Even in daylight mode, the show tops out at round 2,000 nits.
At regular 100% brightness, this quantity sits at round 800 nits, which is surprisingly low for a contemporary cellphone. Further brightness mode brings this quantity as much as round 1,500 nits, which is nearer to an anticipated worth from “100% brightness,” however that is not the largest drawback with this show’s brightness capabilities.
As a substitute, that comes right down to Samsung utilizing Pulse Width Modulation (PWM dimming) to regulate brightness. This implies there isn’t a time limit the place the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s show hits its most brightness potential, the way in which the Galaxy S24 FE’s show does, for instance.
Worse but, Samsung continues to be utilizing a really low frequency 480Hz PWM fee for the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s show. Telephones just like the Honor Magic 7 Professional use 4320Hz PWM dimming and, even then, Honor’s telephones solely use this at low brightness to maintain colours correct and pixels evenly lit.
Regardless of all this, the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s show nonetheless suffers from mura, an impact meaning pixels are usually not evenly lit throughout the complete panel.
At 20% brightness, a grain sample is clearly seen on the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s show. Whilst you can see it at various ranges of brightness, it is most seen at low brightness ranges and was an issue even again when the Galaxy S24 Extremely launched. Whereas we thought Samsung had mounted this within the S25 Extremely’s show, clearly the issue has not gone away.
Examine it with the OnePlus 13’s show above on the identical flat gray background on the similar brightness stage, and you will see the distinction. The OnePlus 13’s pixels look evenly lit throughout the board, whereas the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s have a transparent “soiled” or grainy sample.
Some individuals are extra delicate to this than others, and the impact tends to be worse on some colours than others. In different phrases, your mileage might differ relying on what you do and the way a lot this impact annoys you.
Good, however not one of the best
Whereas the Galaxy S25 Extremely represents the greatest Samsung cellphone the corporate has ever made, that does not imply that each element is one of the best the corporate has to supply. The show on the Galaxy S25 Extremely shines significantly vivid exterior, the place the anti-glare filter makes it extra simply seen than some other cellphone I’ve ever used. It is a good spot of engineering that I want extra telephones would copy!
However whereas blue mild management and shade accuracy are good, Samsung’s continued use of 8-bit panels means shade banding is extra widespread on the Galaxy S25 Extremely than on some other competing cellphone on this value vary. Luminance consistency and brightness administration are additionally mediocre, with noticeable grain at low brightness and low-HZ PWM dimming in any respect brightness ranges.
Whereas the show seems to be good on the floor and does an ideal job of highlighting the strengths of AMOLED ā vibrant colours, deep blacks, and no ghosting ā the standard of the panel Samsung is utilizing leaves so much to be desired for a $1,300 cellphone. Even funds Android telephones provide higher dimming strategies and sooner PWM charges, native 10-bit depth, and no mura.
Does this imply the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s show is unhealthy? No, by no means, however there’s loads of room for enchancment on the Galaxy S26 Extremely.
