This Week at Mark Ellis Reviews

👉 My honest Samsung S25 Ultra thoughts, more smartphone AI opinions from yours truly and my report from a trip to Barcelona to see the latest tech from Philips.

TOP STORY

Samsung S25 Ultra review: THE PERFECT PHONE?!

The S25 Ultra is a divisive thing. There are equal groups of people screaming about how it is only a spec bump, and others hailing it as a polished iPhone killer. And I think it can be both of those things.

You can watch my review for more, and read some further thoughts below, but here are my thoughts in brief:

• It is Samsung’s best-ever phone, period.

• The AI features are fine, but I honestly don’t care about them enough for it to matter

• The hardware is spectacular and the camera software has noticeably improved

If you can’t watch it right now, then you can read my review here.

What My Audience Really Thinks About AI on Smartphones

Can you tell that I’ve been thinking a lot about AI this week? Well, I went ahead and asked my audience to see if their opinions matched mine. I sort of already knew the answer but that alone speaks to the general grey mood that surrounds smartphone releases these days.

It’s not that AI on smartphones is inherently offensive, it’s just that nobody really asked for it. And now that it has arrived, it’s sucking innovation and attention out of other areas like hardware and software which many of us value more.

Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G review: you get a lot for under £350 these days

If you’re sick of S25 Ultra stuff this week (I wouldn’t blame you!) then Max took a look at the very interesting Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G. I say interesting because it costs a mere £349 and comes with a load of impressive hardware. Here’s the low down:

• There’s a price-defying display with 3000 nits peak brightness

• The camera system produces pretty photos in the right lighting but struggles in low light

• It is one of the comfiest phones you’ll ever hold

Essential Tech News

OPINION

Why I gave the S25 Ultra 5 stars

I don’t award five-star reviews very often on markellisreviews.com. That would be silly - so few products are as perfect as five stars suggest they are. In fact, I’d be lying if I said the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra was perfect, because it isn’t.

It’s expensive. There’s way too much focus on AI in the accompanying marketing. The ecosystem, in my opinion, isn’t as good as Apple’s. The camera system still, occasionally, misses the mark in terms of shutter speed (although the instances are now rare, and on par with every other smartphone on the market). But regardless of this, I absolutely love the S25 Ultra. In my opinion, it is the pinnacle of flagship smartphones. And, yes, that means it beats the iPhone 16 Pro Max to that title - just.

I’ve made my feelings on AI very clear over the last few months, but I have a genuine concern that the amount to which it is focused on by smartphone brands is in danger of overshadowing the devices they’re working so hard on perfecting. It’s hard to know what else Samsung can do with its S-series devices - and I do not envy the research and development team in that regard. But I’d love the device itself to be given a bit of breathing space amongst the constant barrage of AI stuff. Because we live in a golden age of smartphone hardware - it is utterly mindblowing how capable these devices are.

My full review of the S25 Ultra is now live on YouTube, and I’ve got lots more content about that phone on the way, including a comparison with its arch-enemy this weekend (which will feature my first-ever blind camera comparison - exciting!). Oh, and of course, I’ve had a ramble about it on this week’s tech diary video - if you fancy giving that a watch 😉

TOP FINDS

What I watched on YouTube this week…

Despite the usual bumper-packed week of work stuff and a much-needed long weekend with the family, I’m happy to report that I still managed to put in some watch time!

❤️ Our homes burned down (Colin and Samir) - For those who don’t know, Colin and Samir have been running their YouTube channel for many years with a focus on helping creators perfect their craft. To hear that they were both impacted so terribly by the Palisades fires is heartbreaking, particularly considering that both are about to embark on the best journey in the world - fatherhood. This video certainly puts everything into perspective.

🔌 New Tesla Model Y: What have they done? (carwow) - I was fortunate enough to visit the exact same showroom featured in this video and which housed the brand-new Tesla Model Y (check out my Instagram for the resulting short video!). As always, however, carwow shows how this stuff is done.

📺 Joe Rogan Experience #1788 - Mr. Beast (PowerfulJRE) - this interview is actually a few months old, but it’s yet another fascinating insight into the mind of Mr Beast. And just how much of his life has been dominated by YouTube.

🎸 Producer Reacts To Crazy Instagram Musicians (Rick Beato) - If you have any appreciation for musicianship, please watch this. Draw-dropping (particularly the girl on the piano).‘GRAM OF THE WEEK

Philips’ latest TVs unveiled at TP Vision Live!

I headed out to Barcelona to check out the new products released by Philips.

Of particular interest were the new Ambilight OLED+ TVs and an enticing-looking pair of mid-range headphones. You can read more details about what I saw here!

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. We’re nearing 200,000 subscribers on YouTube and to celebrate we’re planning a huge giveaway, so keep your eyes peeled. We’ve also opened up our super-friendly Discord server to Newsletter subscribers which you can join here for free! Looking forward to seeing you there 🙂

Until next week.

~ Mark