Galaxy S25 Series Launched, With Lower Prices In South Africa

• Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: R30 000 256GB R32 000 512GB R35 000 1TB
• Samsung Galaxy S25: R23 500 256GB
• Samsung Galaxy S25: R20 000 256GB

That's a welcome reduction in the launch prices compared to the S24 series, likely the result of an improved rand exchange rate against key currencies as dollar pricing for the S25 line-up is the same as it was for last year's models. The S24 Ultra cost R32 500 at launch, while the S24 was R25 500 and the S24 was R22 500.

The prices of Samsung flagship phones tend to decline in the months following their launch, so unless the rand suddenly heads sharply south, consumers should be able to get their hands on them for even less if they're prepared to be a little patient.

According to Samsung South Africa's vice president for mobile Justin Hume, OneUI 7 has been built from the ground up to be an "AI OS", referring to the artificial intelligence tools that the company is bundling into the software.

Samsung will be hoping consumers find these AI tools useful and that they spur upgrades to the latest models. So far, Apple Intelligence - Apple's marketing term for AI - does not appear to have had a meaningful impact on iPhone sales.

The new phones feature "human-like AI agents" that understand context and can understand natural conversation, according to Samsung South Africa. For example, a user could ask the phone to "find photos of my trip to Italy last year".