If you've been holding out on upgrading to one of the best phones, a new report offers another reason why you should consider a new handset, and it may be for a reason you haven't really considered — faster download and upload speeds.
That's the conclusion that network testing firm Ookla reached after running network speed tests on the Galaxy S25 series, along with the last four generations of Samsung flagship.
The takeaway? Today's Galaxy flagships deliver much faster connectivity, thanks to improvements in both the phones' chipsets and modems. And one U.S. network carrier in particular stood out for delivering the fastest speeds.
The data from Ookla should be interesting to anyone mulling over a new Samsung phone purchase, whether it's the already available Galaxy S25 models or the upcoming Galaxy S25 Edge release. And it also offers a look at which phone carriers are providing faster 5G speeds right now.
Galaxy S download and upload speeds
For its report, Ookla tested download and upload performance across the last five generations of Galaxy S phone, from the current Galaxy S25 Ultra, dating all the way back to the Galaxy S21 Ultra released in 2021. Tests were conducted on the networks of all three major U.S. carriers — AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.
When running Ookla's speed text, the Galaxy S21 Ultra's fastest download speed was 269.34 Mbps, which it reached on T-Mobile's 5G network. The Galaxy S25 Ultra posted a top speed of 442.69 Mbps on that same network — a 64% improvement over the four-year-old Ultra model.
Even more recent releases lagged behind the Galaxy S25 Ultra, with the S23 Ultra and S24 Ultra posting respective download speeds of 334.22 Mbps and 358.7 Mbps on T-Mobile.
Ookla also tested upload speed numbers for its report, with the Galaxy S25 Ultra reaching speeds of 23.72 Mbps on T-Mobile's network. That's a 57% improvement over the Galaxy S21 Ultra's 15.08 Mbps result. The Galaxy S25 Ultra improved upon the S24 Ultra upload speeds by 23%.
The Galaxy S25 models benefit from Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite system-on-chip, which has been optimized specifically for Samsung's phones with a faster core CPU. But that chipset also comes with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 5G modem for fast connectivity.
Even though all three Galaxy S25 models feature the same Qualcomm chipset, you'll get faster connectivity from the larger phones in Samsung's lineup. The Galaxy S25 Ultra posts the fastest download and upload speeds of the current models across all three networks.
On T-Mobile's network, download speeds for the Galaxy S25 Ultra were 9% faster than what the Galaxy S25 Plus produced. The Galaxy S25 Ultra was also 12% faster on downloads than the Galaxy S25.
Which carrier should you choose?
You might notice that we've been referring to performance numbers on T-Mobile's network. That's because in Ookla's testing, T-Mobile consistently produced the best results for both upload and download speeds. (One exception: The Galaxy S23 Ultra's best download speeds were on Verizon.)
Looking specifically at download speeds from a Galaxy S25 Ultra, the 442.69 Mbps result was 40% faster than the 315.12 Mbps result on Verizon's network. AT&T brought up the rear with 216 Mbps download speeds.
That's relevant data if you're not only considering a new phone but a switch to a new carrier as well. Lots of factors determine who the best phone carrier is, but Ookla's new report would certainly suggest that T-Mobile has the edge on 5G download and upload speeds.
While Ookla's results spotlight the current Galaxy S25 lineup, it could also prove to be relevant for the upcoming Galaxy S25 Edge.
While Samsung has yet to disclose any official specs for that phone, rumors suggest that the phone maker will use the same Snapdragon 8 Elite system-on-chip found on the other Galaxy S25 models. That would mean the same X80 modem that delivered such impressive speeds here.
We should find out very soon what silicon Samsung is using in the Galaxy S25 Edge, along with the other specs of the ultra-thin addition to the S25 lineup. Rumors point to a May 13 release for the phone.
More from Tom's Guide
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
