Even though the Galaxy S25 offers the best One UI 7 experience overall, it's losing out to the Galaxy S24 in one aspect. Namely, the Galaxy S24 running One UI 7 beta firmware integrates the media player with the Now Bar and the media player widget more seamlessly.
Here's how it works on the two devices. The Now Bar in One UI 7 beta for the Galaxy S24 can be minimized into a small pill-shaped interactive button in the status bar. Tapping it brings up the media player widget.
Comparatively, Galaxy S25 users get the media playback Now Bar on the AOD and lock screen, just like Galaxy S24 users do, but they don't enjoy the functionality of the pill-shaped interactive media player button in the status bar.
Furthermore, in One UI 7 beta for the Galaxy S24, the media player widget can be conveniently accessed directly from the notification panel. In One UI 7 for the Galaxy S25, this feature is missing.
Samsung's best Galaxy S25 offers
Thankfully, the next firmware update for the Galaxy S25 will port these Now Bar and media player widget quality-of-life improvements over from the beta program (via @UniverseIce). The premium S25 flagship won't be left behind the S24.
As to when this will happen, time will tell. The Galaxy S24 series is poised to receive the stable One UI 7 update in early April, and it's safe to assume that the Galaxy S25 series will get its next firmware update around the same time.
It's also worth noting that the other Galaxy phones shipping with One UI 7 out of the box, i.e., the Galaxy A 2025 series, have the same shortcomings regarding the Now Bar as the Galaxy S25. Likewise, they may be fixed with future firmware updates.
