We're not convinced by Samsung's lazy attempt to make the S25 Ultra stand out

It's no secret that the past few generations of Samsung's flagship camera phones haven't exactly been radically different: the Galaxy S25 Ultra is tough to distinguish from last year's S24 Ultra (and even the S23 Ultra before that). One way you can tell the two phones apart is how the camera rings sit around the rear-facing camera lenses. On the new phone there's a small gap between the base of each ring and the rear panel of the phone, making it seem like the lenses are floating slightly (yes folks, this is Samsung's idea of design "innovation"!).

It's a questionable design choice though, as these gaps seem like magnets for dust and crumb build-up, while also making the rings look like aftermarket addons. Some have also criticised them for looking fake, presumably meaning a 'real' camera ring must therefore be integrated into the rear panel of the phone? Then there's the potential issue of whether the gaps could make the camera rings more vulnerable to popping off if something were to catch underneath them.

The Camera Rings are Fake! (Galaxy S25 Ultra Durability Test) - YouTube

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Well, to find out, YouTuber JerryRigEverything has put an S25 through a durability torture test that included seeing how much force it would take to separate the phone's camera rings from the lenses. Using a sharp knife blade, it turns out that the rings are glued on pretty darned well, as it took way more force to pry them off than you'd expect them to be subjected to in normal use. It's worth watching the whole video to see how tough the rest of the phone is, as its screen and frame are tested for scratch and bend resistance, although some of the destruction inflicted on the phone can be painful to watch!

Though we can conclusively say there's nothing wrong with the build quality of the S25 Ultra's camera rings; where one person may see them as 'floating', another could quite easily find the new look a bit cheap. It's now clear that these camera rings are no longer integrated into the rest of the phone's rear housing, making them look like stuck-on accessories from a cheap marketplace website that rhymes with emu. Beauty may ne in the eye of the beholder, but I'm not sold on this particular design.

Story credit: @JerryRigEverything