With the rumored Galaxy S25, which we looking forward to seeing during the Samsung’s Unpacked event on Wednesday, Samsung has an opportunity to continue the way it was taken with Galaxy S24.

Last year’s Galaxy S phones came with a mix of practical and forward-looking changes, such as longer battery life on the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus and Galaxy AI in all models. I also hope to see improvements in AI, along with improvements in more mundane but critical elements such as phone cameras, displays and charging speeds.

Given Samsung’s emphasis on AI, there is a strong possibility that the Galaxy S25 will come with new Galaxy AI features. Samsung said something very important during its developer conference in October, where it challenged its innovation A UI 7 software update that will debut in the S25 lineup. Otherwise, it will likely include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor (at least the US variant of the phone) and usual design and camera upgrades. There are also rumblings of a new slimmer version of the Galaxy S25 coming next year, according to ETNews.

Samsung’s current Galaxy AI features show promise, but I want the next iteration to have a bigger impact on the overall phone experience. Current features feel very focused on specific use cases that may not come up often, such as language translation and photo editing.

Besides more useful AI tools, I would like to see faster charging and other optimizations in the main elements of the phones such as the camera and display.

Read more: Why Google’s New Android VP Says ‘People Don’t Want to Hear About AI’

More impactful features of Galaxy AI

For now, Galaxy AI and other non-Samsung generative AI features feel like the beginning. Samsung started by applying generative AI to obvious and practical use cases, such as removing objects from photos, interpreting text conversations and real-time conversations in phone, create polished images from rough drawings, and preview videos in slow motion and save the results.

What I really want is a more thoughtful rethinking of how basic tasks are done on our phones that make using them easier and easier. Of all the AI ​​features available in Samsung phones so far, Circle to Search This idea is embodied at its best by cutting out the middle step of launching Google to search for something. More of this, please!

I want new AI tools to help manage the endless stream of notifications, data and media on my phone. the Pixel 9 The new Screenshots app in the lineup, which allows you to search within the content of your screenshots, is a good example of this, as are the notifications and text message summaries of Apple Intelligence, which recently launched as part of the company’s iOS 18.1 update. Although they are far from perfect, message summaries have become one of my favorite new features Apple Intelligence.

Sally Hyesoon Jeong, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics and head of the framework research and development team, explained that the next update of Samsung’s mobile software may be consistent with this theme. During the company’s developer conference, he said that One UI 7 will be better equipped to understand your purpose and “reduce complexity,” although he did not reveal specific details about the software.

That direction is also consistent with previous comments that Patrick Chomet, Samsung’s executive vice president and head of customer experience, produced by CNET part of the software company’s approach.

“(You don’t) have to go into settings, or you don’t have to look for the next action,” he said in in a previous interview when talking about how the company wants to make the software on Samsung phones smarter. “You may not need to open (an) app.”

As I wrote in my review, I think Samsung missed a chance and would have given the Galaxy S24 Ultra exclusive Galaxy AI features not available on cheaper models. This not only helps justify its high price but reinforces the Ultra in the phone name. Let’s see if it takes a different approach next year.

Changing the way we use our phones is no small feat. Given how much we rely on them for basic tasks, asking consumers to adopt a new way of doing things can be more disruptive than helpful if done the wrong way. I don’t expect Samsung to change the entire operating system in a few months, but I would like to see a step in a new direction, similar to Circle to Search.

Read more: What I Learned After Swapping My Apple Watch for Samsung’s Galaxy Ring

Faster charging

I’m glad that Samsung has increased the battery life of the Galaxy S24. Now, it just needs faster charging. The Galaxy S24 supports 25-watt wired charging, while the Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 Ultra support 45-watt wired charging. That was the year, at least since the Galaxy S20 generation.

With companies like OnePlus offering super fast charging, I’d like to see some progress from Samsung. the OnePlus 12for example, offers 80-watt charging in the US and 100-watt in the UK, enabling my colleague Andrew Lanxon to fully charge the battery in just 26 minutes.

Samsung, it’s time to step up.

Reduced glare throughout the lineup

One of the most underrated features of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the Corning Gorilla Armor on the screen for reducing glare and reflections. With the screen being arguably the most important part of the phone, any improvement is welcome. My colleague Lexy Savvides was particularly taken with the S24 Ultra’s antiglare screen, it is known that it is easier to see than the iPhone 15 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra on a sunny day in San Francisco.

This coating is only available on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Since screen quality is so important in a phone, there’s a strong case to be made that Samsung should extend it to all Galaxy S25 models. The Ultra’s giant screen, S Pen and more sophisticated camera are more than enough to separate Samsung’s super high-end phone from the rest of the line.

Read more: Don’t Buy a New Phone Just for AI. At least Not yet

Camera upgrades

Samsung is making a splash with the The Galaxy S23 Ultra 200-megapixel main camera when it debuts in 2023. Megapixels only tell part of the story when it comes to photography. Factors such as sensor size, pixel size and aperture, along with the image signal processor on the chip, are just as important as the number of megapixels when it comes to determining how good a camera is. what your phone can do.

Samsung has made improvements in these areas as well over the years, but now that it faces new competition from Xiaomi, it needs to work harder if it wants to be the king of photography. on the smartphone.

the Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a large image sensor that’s bigger than what you’ll find on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which enables it to achieve impressive shots with a wide dynamic range that CNET’s Andrew Lanxon called which are some of the best images he has ever seen from a phone. A larger sensor enables a camera to capture more light for better image quality, reducing the need for noise reduction.

I would also like to see more practical editing features. I enjoy the iPhone 16’s Photographic Styles feature, which applies an effect to an image that is adjusted to the scene. I am not saying that Samsung should launch its own version of Photo Stylesbut I want to see new tools that can enhance the beauty of your photos that do not involve using generative AI to change the content of the photo.

Overall, I hope that Samsung will level up the camera, display and charging speeds, while introducing new software features that make its phones feel more intuitive than before. Samsung usually releases new Galaxy S phones in the first quarter of the year, so we expect to hear more in the coming months.