Last month, Samsung unpacked its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S25 series. The company sent me two: the midrange S25+ and the top-tier S25 Ultra, while AT&T loaned me an Ultra on their network. (The Samsung models are on T-Mobile.)

The Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus should be two of the best and most exciting phones of the year — but I barely care about them.

Samsung’s Galaxy S-series is in its software era. Maybe the whole smartphone industry is, too, save for a few phones with hinges (Samsung’s included). But overall, we have exited the hardware-driven innovation cycle and are firmly in the midst of a software-based one.