Last year, maximum screen brightness became the new dividing line between smartphone manufacturers. Apple proudly declared that the iPhone 15 would achieve 2,000 nits brightness, and Google surpassed it with the 2,400 nits Pixel 8 Pro.

This year, the Galaxy S24 Ultra achieved 2,600 nits before Google reached 3,000 nits with the Pixel 9 Pro. Apple, on the other hand, only reached 2,000 nits with the iPhone 16 Pro. Now, despite earlier rumors that Samsung will not achieve 2,600 nits with the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra, the company seems likely to compete with Google.

There have been so many leaks of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra that we already have a good idea of what the device will look like, but Android Authority has some extra brittle through leaked files from the device under test Android Authority is trying to unearth some of the extra frailties via leaked files from devices undergoing testing. The most interesting of these is that the S25 Ultra can apparently achieve 3,000 nits in high brightness mode, just like the Pixel 9 Pro (it actually says “lux” instead of “nits”, which is probably a typo given the numbers involved).

It's still a far cry from the ridiculous 4,500 nits figure that OnePlus introduced with the OnePlus 12, but still very useful for using the phone in bright, sunny conditions.

Another interesting finding from the leaked information: after its successful introduction on the Galaxy A55, the S25 series will support seamless A/B updates. This is a nice feature that allows the phone to download important firmware updates in the background before applying them upon reboot, saving you long periods of time when your phone is powered on but unusable.

But it's not all good news. The site found a string that declares “ro.bluetooth.finder.supported=false,” so it appears that the S25 Ultra does not support the “Find My Device” feature when powered off like the Pixel 9. This means that if a thief grabs your phone and then immediately shuts it down, you will not be able to track their movements in real time.

A few other pleasant details have also been confirmed in the leaked files. For example, the screen will retain the same 3,120 x 1,440 resolution as the S24 Ultra, and the battery will retain its 5,000 mAh capacity. Excitingly, according to an Android Authority survey, the phone will feature UFS 4.0 storage for faster file transfer speeds.

All of this should be confirmed really soon. According to the latest leaks, Samsung is planning its next Unpacked event for Wednesday, January 22, and it seems that not only the three Galaxy S25 phones, but also the rumored Galaxy S25 Slim and Galaxy Ring 2 may be shown off. January 7 for a global release, so it is likely that two of the best Android phones of 2025 will be going head-to-head as soon as possible.