The big launch of the Samsung Galaxy S25 is just around the corner. the first Galaxy Unpacked event in 2025 confirmed for January 22nd at 1PM ET in San Jose, CA, where Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” (to borrow 14-year-old marketing slogan) will be revealed. What exactly happens at the faucet? Well, except for a few sure bets and a few LIKELY leaks, only those who swore a blood oath under an NDA know for sure. But here are the most likely products and features we will see.
Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra
As Apple unveiled the latest iPhones in the its first fall eventSamsung usually launches its mainline flagships with its Galaxy S first Unpacked shindig of the year. You can bet the farm that’s there Carry On will be Galaxy S25 phones at this event. And given Samsung’s recent trend of launching three tiered flagships – standard, Plus and Ultra — you can bet we’ll see that again. (Samsung may technically change the brand names, but the three-layer lineup is almost guaranteed.) There’s even a FCC certification (first found through 91Mobiles) to remove any doubt.
The degree of certainty drops suddenly once we dig into the phones’ parts. A subtle redesign with rounded corners, flat edges and thinner bezels appears likely based on a leaked video Posted on Reddit and pictures from renowned tipster Ice Universe. But it is not expected that the generation where Samsung hiring a former Mercedes-Benz designer lead to drastic aesthetic changes.
At least in the US, the phone is almost guaranteed to be used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which the chip-maker revealed in October. (Qualcomm even listed Samsung is among the companies launching devices with that processor “in the coming weeks.”) Like nearly every flagship processor these days, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is built for on-device generative AI , which corresponds to The Samsung Galaxy AI blitz in recent models.
We don’t know if the company splits the S25 processors between Snapdragon (US and other markets) and Exynos (everywhere else), but Ice Universe has MANILA it’s all Snapdragon in this generation. That’s a good thing, given what has always been an attractive performance and battery life variation that favors Qualcomm.
The phone will run A UI 7 by Samsung on top of Android 15. We know this because Samsung said in October that its user experience (based on Android 15) launch of the next Galaxy S flagships. It is now in beta for Galaxy S24 phones.
Samsung is rumored to stick with last-generation OLED displays (made of M13 organic materials) instead of the brighter and more efficient M14 OLED panels used in iPhone 16 Pro and Google Pixel 9. Logic suggests that Samsung wants the best homemade screen on the best phones – especially when its competitors already use it. But it can stick to cheaper panels to lower the bill of materials. Perhaps it is calculated that better performances do not make for better generative AI (the obsession of almost every tech company today), while the latest Qualcomm chip.
Speaking of AI, it is expected that Samsung will spend a probably painfully long part of the activity on the generative parts of AI. The hit-or-miss DigiTimes reported last month that the Galaxy S25 series will include “an AI Agent that provides personalized clothing suggestions and transportation information.” What this looks like in practice is anyone’s guess, but I’m not sure I want to know.
In front of the camera, Ice Universe Claims (through Android Heads) it’s “confirmed” that only the ultra-wide sensor will see an upgrade on the Galaxy S25 Ultra — to 50MP from 12MP on last year’s model. The leaker says that the S25 Ultra will retain a 200MP main sensor, 10MP 3x zoom and 50MP 5x zoom.
Samsung will do add the Qi2 wireless charging standard to its new flagships — and that’s straight from the horse’s mouth (aka, the Wireless Power Consortium). However, leaker chunvn8888 (aka “yawn”) States Samsung phones do not have built-in magnets for native Qi2 MagSafe in all but name charging. Instead, the leaker says Samsung will sell a first-party case with a Qi2 magnetic ring to do just that. (Gotta switch up the accessories, baby!)
There are rumors boisterous about an alleged Galaxy S25 Slim with – you guessed it – a slimmer design that will join the trio at some point this year. That’s Apple also rumored to be working. However, since FCC certifications only appear to cover the familiar trio of flagships, that phone (if it’s in the pipeline) may not arrive until later in the year.
Galaxy Ring 2, Samsung XR and AR glasses
DigiTimes reported in December that Samsung will show (or maybe just tease) the Galaxy Ring 2 and augmented reality (AR) glasses during the January Unpacked event.
The Taiwanese publication says that the Galaxy Ring 2 will add two more sizes to the nine from the original modelwhich was launched only in July. The second-gen wearable health tracker is said to add new AI features (surprise!) The Galaxy Ring 2 is also rumored to last longer than the current model at a maximum of seven days.
DigiTimes also claims Samsung’s AR glasses – which the company has confirmed that it works – looks like a regular prescription glass and weighs 50g. It says futuristic glass will be used Google’s Gemini AIwhich is consistent with what we already know about Samsung partnership with Google and Qualcomm on Android XR. But given the lack of supply chain rumors surrounding the glasses, it’s likely that any mention of the event will amount to little more than a teaser, a big reveal of… a smell Translate for the first Galaxy Ring in Unpacked 2024.
We also know that Samsung is co-developing an Android XR (extended reality) headset – codenamed Project Moohan – with Google and Qualcomm. The “lightweight” and “ergonomically designed” headset features a “state-of-the-art display,” passthrough video and natural multi-modal input. Google translations show a wearable reminiscent of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro.
Since Google just started offering a developer kit and API for the platform, any look at it Unpacked is unlikely to include an imminent release or a deep dive into its hardware.
Engadget has full coverage of Samsung’s first Unpacked event of 2025. More to come on January 22!