Time is cyclical. We are already back to the part of the year when Samsung is supposed to announce its new family of high-end devices for this year. The company is expected to announce the Galaxy S25 with much fanfare in San Jose, CA on the 1st Wednesday, January 22. The vortex starts at 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET for those joining us live.
You can follow Samsung’s keynote here on Gizmodo, where we’ll have news as it arrives. Samsung will broadcast the event on Samsung.com and his official YouTube channel.
What to expect from the Galaxy S25
January’s Unpacked event will showcase the Galaxy S25 in two sizes and the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the third phone considered the ultimate Samsung-flavored smartphone due to its bells and whistles. Much to the chagrin of some of you reading, “bells” usually include AI software improvementswhich is how each manufacturer on the platform tries to differentiate itself from its Android father, Google.
Everything Samsung will announce about the Galaxy S25 series has been leaked. Phones have already gone through FCC. Samsung is sticking to the same screen sizes as before. The Galaxy S25 will have a 6.2-inch screen, and the Galaxy S25+ will be only slightly larger at 6.7 inches. The huge Galaxy S25 Ultra is still set to be the largest in the line with a screen of 6.8 inches. Samsung’s joke this year will focus about how much thinner and lighter his phones are calong with the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The The Galaxy S25 chip will no doubt be powerful. Now that it is Snapdragon 8 Elite there is, Samsung and Qualcomm are likely to collaborate on the chip to ensure that the Galaxy S25 has something to outperform the rest of its Android counterparts—especially when it comes to AI. Phones in this generation will have to prove they are powerful enough to handle AI tasks on the device while delivering improved camera algorithms, in-game frame rates and streamlined software.
Let’s face it: this year is all about artificial intelligence for every device manufacturer, whether we like it or not. AI will be a big part of the keynote as Galaxy AI took up a large part of the show last year. There may be an AI companion that Samsung is unveiling at this month’s Unpacked that differs from Google’s AI efforts. An interesting leak who pulled out at the last minute seems to confirm this. It refers to the small command “oi Google Gemini”, which, when translated from Portuguese, means “Hey Google Gemini”. This suggests that Samsung and Google are still in cahoots on this AI thing, though there’s plenty of mention of what Samsung will do to offer something different. The most notable feature seems to be the daily brief which collects data from your Samsung apps and offers vivid data summaries. This sounds like one of those features that will probably require a big commitment to the Samsung device ecosystem if you want to get anything out of it, or rather its wearables.
What to expect from the Galaxy S25 camera
There’s not much to get excited about about the camera system in the Galaxy S25 Ultra or the rest of the Galaxy S25 family. It will still be the same slightly saturated camera algorithms, with reds looking reddest and shadows deep everywhere. A leaker may have “confirmed” that only the ultra-wide camera of the Galaxy S25 Ultra will receive a significant update this year to allow for more detailed wide-angle photography. The primary camera on the Ultra should also have the same 200MP sensor and super zoom capabilities as the last two generations. If it’s not broken, why would Samsung try to fix it?
We’re still not sure if there’s any truth to the chatter about the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 360-degree camera capabilities as competing with the iPhone’s Spatial Video offerings.
What to expect from Samsung wearables
After the Galaxy S25 smartphones take the stage, Samsung will turn its attention to other sides of its gadget business. Wearables have been a significant focus for manufacturers, especially since their introduction Ring Galaxy. But it seems too early for Samsung to tease anything about the next generation of its finger gadget.
If the Galaxy Ring is mentioned on Unpacked, it will be to promote its availability in larger sizes. Samsung could also announce the second generation of the ring later this year, as it did with the Galaxy S24 Unpacked display case, but I don’t expect that.
We have more chances to hear about these alleged XR glasses. With this early Unpacked event, Samsung could try to beat Meta in the smartglasses space. The company has been spotted working with Google and Qualcomm on a prototype for a pair of smart glasses. Smart glasses were the main topic at CES 2025, in the same way that smart rings stole the show at last year’s annual show. Samsung is known to ride the hype train at the right time, and this would be the time to introduce itself as a glasses maker.
Whatever is next, “Over the Horizon” (the name of Samsung’s theme song; you probably have its ringtone on your Samsung phone), we’ll be covering it here at Gizmodo. Get involved very, very quickly. It’s almost too soon.