You’ve seen the screenshots. The ones where the Samsung S25 Ultra AnTuTu score climbs so high it basically makes last year’s flagships look like graphing calculators. We’re talking about a device that has officially crossed into the territory of "overkill" for most humans. But after spending weeks with the device and digging into the raw benchmark data, there is a massive gap between what the numbers say and how the phone actually feels when it's burning a hole in your pocket during a Genshin Impact session.
Samsung didn't just iterate this time. They went for the throat.
The Raw Power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy
Let's get the big numbers out of the way because that's why you're here. In a cold-start, "perfect conditions" run, the Samsung S25 Ultra AnTuTu score consistently hits between 2,800,000 and 3,100,000 on AnTuTu v11. For context, the S24 Ultra was hanging out around the 1.8 to 2.1 million mark. That is a staggering jump.
This isn't just a bump in clock speed. This is the first time we're seeing the custom Oryon cores in a mobile handset, specifically the "for Galaxy" variant of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Samsung worked with Qualcomm to push the prime cores up to a dizzying 4.47GHz. It’s basically a laptop chip squeezed into a titanium frame.
But here is the catch. Benchmarks are a sprint. Real life is a marathon.
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While the GPU (the Adreno 830) is a literal beast that crushes ray-tracing tasks, it generates a phenomenal amount of heat. If you run AnTuTu three times in a row, you’ll watch that 3-million-plus score tank. Thermal throttling is the ghost in the machine here. By the third run, the score often dips closer to 2.4 million as the phone tries to keep from melting its own internals.
What Most People Get Wrong About These Scores
People love to compare the S25 Ultra to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but AnTuTu is a weird place to do that. Since AnTuTu handles Android and iOS differently, the "overall" score isn't a 1-to-1 comparison. However, if you look at the GPU sub-scores, the S25 Ultra is currently embarrassing almost everything else on the market.
- CPU Performance: The Oryon cores are incredibly fast at opening apps, but they’re also power-hungry.
- GPU Graphics: This is where the 2026 flagship shines. It handles rasterization loads better than some mid-range gaming PCs from five years ago.
- Memory Speed: With LPDDR5X RAM, the "MEM" portion of the AnTuTu score is what makes the UI feel so buttery.
- UX Score: This measures "user experience" through scrolling and app simulations. It’s high, but frankly, you won't notice the difference between "fast" and "very fast" in a Twitter feed.
The Real-World Performance Gap
If you’re a gamer, the Samsung S25 Ultra AnTuTu results actually matter. If you’re just someone who uses Instagram and sends emails, these numbers are a marketing gimmick.
I’ve seen the phone hit 60fps on Call of Duty Mobile without breaking a sweat, but the real test is sustained load. In the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test—which is a better indicator of long-term gaming than a single AnTuTu run—the S25 Ultra can lose nearly 40% of its peak performance after 20 minutes of heavy use.
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Is that bad? Kinda. But the "throttled" version of the S25 Ultra is still faster than the "peak" version of most other phones.
"The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy starts so fast that even when it throttles, it stays ahead of the pack. It’s like a Ferrari that has to slow down to 100mph because the engine is hot—it’s still faster than your Honda." — Paraphrased from internal testing notes.
Why the 12GB vs 16GB RAM Debate Matters
There’s a lot of chatter about the RAM configurations. In some regions, Samsung stuck with 12GB, while others got the 16GB "Performance Edition." In AnTuTu, that extra 4GB of RAM adds about 50,000 to 80,000 points to the total score. Does it matter for your daily life? Probably not today. But in two years, when Galaxy AI is running three different background processes to "optimize" your life, you might wish you had that extra overhead.
What Really Happened With the Cooling System?
Samsung claims they increased the vapor chamber size by over 20%. Honestly, it was a necessity. Without it, the Snapdragon 8 Elite would be unusable. Even with the massive cooling plate, the phone gets toasty. We measured the back of the device at 43°C (109°F) after a full benchmark suite. It’s not "burning" hot, but you'll definitely feel it through a thin case.
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Comparing the S25 Ultra to the Competition (Early 2026)
| Device | Average AnTuTu v11 Score | Chipset |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung S25 Ultra | 2,917,000 | Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | ~1,950,000 (Cross-platform est) | A18 Pro |
| Xiaomi 15 Ultra | 3,050,000 | Snapdragon 8 Elite (Standard) |
| OnePlus 13 | 2,980,000 | Snapdragon 8 Elite |
Notice the Xiaomi and OnePlus scores? They often beat Samsung in raw AnTuTu numbers. Why? Because Samsung’s "for Galaxy" chip is tuned for short bursts of extreme power, but their software (One UI 8) is much more aggressive about cutting power to save battery and prevent overheating. Samsung is playing the long game; they don't want your battery degrading in six months because you ran too many benchmarks.
Actionable Takeaways for Potential Buyers
If you are looking at the Samsung S25 Ultra AnTuTu scores to decide on an upgrade, here is the ground truth:
- Upgrade if you’re on an S22 Ultra or older: The jump from the Gen 1 or Gen 2 chips to the 8 Elite is massive. You will feel the difference in every tap and swipe.
- Stay put if you have an S24 Ultra: Unless you are a professional mobile gamer or a benchmark enthusiast, the 20% real-world speed increase doesn't justify the $1,300 price tag.
- Check your RAM: If you have the option, go for the 16GB model. AI features are notoriously RAM-heavy, and as One UI evolves, that 12GB base model might start to feel the squeeze sooner than you’d think.
- Manage expectations: No phone maintains 3 million points for long. Expect the device to run warm and expect the "peak" performance to be reserved for short, intensive tasks like video rendering or initial game loading.
The S25 Ultra is a beast of a phone, and while the AnTuTu numbers are fun for bragging rights on Reddit, the real value is in the stability of the software. Samsung has built a device that is more powerful than it needs to be, which is exactly what a "Ultra" phone should be. Just don't expect it to stay at its record-breaking peak for more than a few minutes at a time.
To get the most out of your S25 Ultra, go into the "Advanced Features" menu and ensure "Enhanced Processing" is toggled on for gaming, but keep it off for daily use to preserve the longevity of that 5,000mAh cell.