Samsung’s first Galaxy Unpacked event was packed, and keeping with the brand’s tradition, it went through all of its news in a zippy fashion. The Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra were all made official, alongside deeper partnerships with Google for new Gemini tricks, a bevy of new Galaxy AI features, major improvements to content creation, and a tease of what the company is cooking up with Google for its Android XR headset.
It was a lot, and while you can read through our live blog of the event – including on-the-ground moments captured by the TechRadar team – here we’re sharing the nine most significant things we learned from the January 22, 2025, Galaxy Unpacked.
And it all starts with, you guessed it, AI.
Galaxy AI is getting even smarter and more personalized
Just like the Galaxy S24 family, the S25 is all about Galaxy AI, and for 2025, Samsung is doubling down on the performance of these features and their breadth. It starts with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, which comes with 12GB of RAM and a dedicated core for AI tasks dubbed the Personal Data Engine.
The idea here is that inside the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra is a core that can be dedicated to handling AI tasks, and eventually create a sort of personalized LLM for you. One that can learn your habits and the other devices you have and serve helpful AI – in the form of Bixby, Gemini, or the new Now Brief functionality – to help you get things done faster or complete them for you without you needing to do much.
Samsung wants its devices to do more for you – not just the latest Galaxy phone, but other devices within the ecosystem too, such as a Galaxy Ring, watch, or even a connected appliance. Ideally, it could turn off your TV for you when it your watch tells your phone that you’re asleep, or it could make a recommendation to turn on a sleep mode to let you stop doom scrolling on TikTok and put the phone down.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra aims to deliver the complete package
The headline hardware announcement from Galaxy Unpacked was the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, aka Samsung’s biggest, baddest new flagship smartphone.
At first glance, it doesn’t look too dissimilar to its predecessor, but there are some important design differences worth mentioning. For starters, the S25 Ultra has much bolder camera rings, which now look more like they do on the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and are consistent across the entire Galaxy S25 lineup. The new phone has a slightly bigger display than S24 Ultra too; it now measures 6.9 inches, up from 6.8 inches on last year’s model, which is an increase made possible by a 15% thinner bezel.
The S25 Ultra is also thinner than its predecessor more generally, and it weighs 15g less, but the biggest difference comes to the corners, which are now rounded rather than sharp (iPhone fans, rejoice).
Under the hood, Samsung’s latest flagship boasts a For Galaxy version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which is more powerful than the S24 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and should deliver even better gaming and AI performance. Speaking of which, the S25 Ultra gets a larger vapor cooling chamber than its predecessor, and you’ll also get instant access to some new Galaxy AI features like Now Brief and Audio Eraser.
For our first impressions of this new best Android phone contender, check out our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review. Your move, Google and Apple!
@techradar Meet the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: same great design, beware chip and more AI!
The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus step things up in terms of value
Compared to the Ultra, this year’s new standard models aren’t all that exciting, but they are objectively better than their predecessors and boast a host of future-facing upgrades.
Design-wise, you’re looking at the same fancy new camera rings as on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and both the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus are 7% thinner than last year’s models.
The big news for these two phones is the RAM capacity: it’s now 12GB instead of 8GB, which brings both models in line with the S25 Ultra, and all three new devices also share the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. There’s no Qualcomm/Exynos split this year, which will come as good news for European buyers.
Other hardware upgrades for the S25 include a larger vapor cooling chamber, which should facilitate better gaming performance alongside that 8 Elite chipset, and on the software front you’ll get instant access to some new Galaxy AI features like Now Brief and Audio Eraser.
For an early look at both devices, check out our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S25 review and hands-on Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is official, and it’s crazy thin
While the phone rumor mill has been talking about an iPhone 17 Air for quite some time, Samsung beat the Cupertino-based tech giant to the punch. Just like it teased the Galaxy Ring at the end of the January 2024 Unpacked, Samsung closed out this year’s Unpacked with a glimpse of an ultra-thin smartphone.
The Galaxy S25 Edge shows various components stacking together in a shockingly slim build for a phone that seemingly promises the Galaxy AI powers of the rest of the S25 lineup in an ultra-light build. We got to see it from afar at Galaxy Unpacked, and yes, it’s crazy, and super thin, but still has room for a main camera bump and seems to boast matt titanium sides.
Of course, nothing more than a quick look and a name was made official, but the minute Samsung gives us more information on the Galaxy S25 Edge, we’ll be sure to update you.
@techradar
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We got another look at Samsung and Google’s Project Moohan headset
Google and Samsung formally unveiled the Project Moohan Android XR mixed-reality headset in December of 2024, but it wouldn’t have been an Unpacked without a tease right? It was only a brief mention, but Samsung did indeed show off a fresh look at the forthcoming headset.
The two brands are still partnering on the Android XR platform, but also on the headset poised to deliver a complete range of XR experiences with eye- and hand-tracking. Samsung again confirmed the headset is in the works, though nothing more concrete was shared except that it will integrate with the existing Samsung ecosystem.
Separately, speaking to Bloomberg, Samsung’s TM Roh confirmed that the brand is also working on glasses with Google, and that the two companies want to ship them as soon as they’re ready. It’s safe to say AR, XR, and smart glasses are still heating up.
@techradar
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You’ll get 6 months of Gemini Advanced with an S25, S25 Plus, or S25 Ultra
Considering Samsung highlighted a number of new Gemini features during Galaxy Unpacked, it’s only right that folks ordering the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, or S25 Ultra are getting a freebie. With the purchase of Samsung’s latest flagship, you’ll get six months of Gemini Advanced at no additional cost, which should let you use all the phone’s AI capabilities to the fullest without worrying about limits.
The deal also stretches the value of the Galaxy S25 lineup; Gemini Advanced is $19.99 a month in the United States, so a six-month subscription is just short of $120 in value.
The S25 series are getting the iPhone and Pixel’s best camera features
The race for the title of best camera phone is going to be tight again in 2025, with Samsung revealing that its S25 clan will get some powerful features we’ve mostly seen from Apple and Google before now.
That includes the ability to shoot log video (which is ideal for color grading) and Samsung’s take on Google’s Best Take for Pixels, which it’s calling Best Face. That’s ideal if your group shots usually contain someone with unfortunate blinking timing.
If you prefer to tweak and color grade your still photos, there’s also an equivalent of Apple’s Photographic Styles. This lets you select a picture and create a filter based on its look, before fine-tuning its white balance, saturation, and grain.
Interestingly, a demo of Gemini Live showed a presenter getting some photo editing tips from an AI assistant by talking to them about their dog photo. Snaps of you furry friend will never have poor composition again.
While it wasn’t a huge portion of the keynote, SmartThings had its moment in the sun with the official announcement of new ambient sensing technology and Generative AI Map View tools to help you personalize your smart home, all under the banner of Home AI.
Ambient sensing is arguably the most exciting feature, marking the first ecosystem-wide sensor-based technology that will allow your smart home devices not only to detect where you are and what you’re doing, but also optimize your environment accordingly.
Doing some press-ups? Well, your refrigerator might just be watching you, ready to give personalized tips on how to improve your form, or suggest adjustments to the duration of your workout.
While the second update might sound less exciting, it’s actually part of how ambient sensing can be made even more effective. Samsung’s new Gen AI Map View will allow you to photograph and upload your real furnishings into Map View, meaning your Home AI will not only know where the furniture is, but also what the furniture is. This is already somewhat possible with the Bespoke JetBot Combo AI robot vacuum, but Gen AI Map View will open the gates for even more personalization and detail.
Given that Samsung is already discussing its vision of bringing devices like the Samsung Galaxy Ring and even SmartTag 2 into the SmartThings fold, it’s not hard to imagine just how intelligent your Samsung smart home might be about to become.
Both ambient sensing and Gen AI Map View are set to roll out throughout 2025 and 2026.
There might be a tri-fold phone in the future
Before closing out the keynote with the Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung showed off what looked like a roadmap that included a tri-fold phone.
While Samsung didn’t share anything further, it likely shows where Samsung is heading with its foldable smartphone lineup. We already have the Flip and Fold, but there will need to be a new form factor to push the category further and deliver something new. It seems that tri-fold is that build type, and Samsung might ship it sooner than we expected.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
