The S25 Ultra still has an S Pen, but Samsung removed Bluetooth features that allowed you to use the stylus like a magic wand. Samsung says few people used those features, and on balance, it’s no great loss. But it’s the principle more than anything that stings.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra does all of the right things you want from a high-end smartphone, but its redesign annoys me.

I had one of the first Samsung Galaxy Note smartphones. In the past few years, though, I've gotten accustomed to smaller phones (Google's Pixel 7a, iPhone 15 Pro) that fit in the back pocket of my favorite jeans.