Samsung’s big Galaxy S25 launch is just around the corner. The first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 is set to take place on January 22nd at 1pm ET in San Jose, California, where Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” (borrowing the slogan) is scheduled to be announced. What will happen? Well, aside from a few sure bets and a few possible leaks, only those who took a blood oath under an NDA know for sure. However, the most likely products and features are:
Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra
Galaxy S24 Ultra (Sam Rutherford, Engadget)
Just as Apple unveils its latest iPhones at its first fall event, Samsung typically unveils its flagship Galaxy S flagship at its first Unpacked Shindig of the year. There is no doubt that the Galaxy S25 smartphone will be present at this event. And given Samsung’s recent trend of launching three-tier flagships: Standard, Plus, and Ultra, we’re sure to see it again. (Samsung could technically change the brand name, but a three-tier lineup is virtually guaranteed.) There’s even an FCC certification (first spotted by 91Mobiles) to dispel any doubts.
The degree of certainty drops sharply when we examine a mobile phone’s capabilities in detail. The subtle redesign, with rounded corners, flatter edges, and thinner bezels, is likely based on a leaked video posted on Reddit and images from popular tipster Ice Universe. However, this generation is not expected to lead to any drastic changes in aesthetics, even with Samsung hiring a former Mercedes-Benz designer.
Qualcomm
At least in the US, the phone is virtually guaranteed to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which the chipmaker revealed in October. (Qualcomm also lists Samsung among the companies that will launch devices with this processor “in the coming weeks.”) Like nearly all flagship processors these days, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is available on-device. It is built for generative AI and works with Samsung’s Galaxy AI Dengeki. In recent models.
We don’t know if the company will split its S25 processors into Snapdragon (US and other markets) and Exynos (other markets), but Ice Universe claims this generation will be all Snapdragon. That’s probably a good thing, considering the clear difference in performance and battery life often favors Qualcomm.
The phone runs Samsung’s One UI 7 on top of Android 15. This is because Samsung announced in October that its user experience (based on Android 15) would be released on the upcoming Galaxy S flagship. The beta version is already available on Galaxy S24 smartphones.
samsung
Samsung is rumored to continue using its last-generation OLED displays (made with M13 organic material) instead of the brighter and more efficient M14 OLED panels used in the iPhone 16 Pro and Google Pixel 9. . Logic tells us that Samsung wants the best home-made screens in their products. The best phone, especially if your competitors are already using it. However, they may continue to use cheaper panels to keep material costs down. Maybe a better display doesn’t lead to better generative AI (which pretty much every tech company is into right now), but the latest Qualcomm chips may have calculated that they do. .
Speaking of AI, expect Samsung to spend a possibly painfully long portion of the event on generative AI features. Last month, the haphazard DigiTimes reported that the Galaxy S25 series would come with an “AI agent that provides personalized clothing suggestions and traffic information.” Who knows what that will actually look like, but I’m not sure I want to know.
Galaxy S24 Ultra (Sam Rutherford, Engadget)
On the camera side, Ice Universe claims (via Android Headlines) that it’s been “confirmed” that only the ultrawide sensor will be upgraded on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, upgrading from 12MP to 50MP on last year’s model. . According to the leaker, the S25 Ultra will have a 200MP main sensor, 10MP 3x zoom, and 50MP 5x zoom.
Samsung plans to add the Qi2 wireless charging standard to its new flagship products. This comes straight from the mouth of the Wireless Power Consortium (also known as the Wireless Power Consortium). However, leaker chhunvn8888 (aka “yawn”) says that Samsung phones will not have built-in magnets for Qi2’s native MagSafe for everything except name charging. Instead, the leaker states that Samsung will sell a first-party case with a Qi2 magnetic ring that will enable it. (Gotta move your accessories, baby!)
Rumors are swirling that the Galaxy S25 Slim, which has, you guessed it, a slimmer design, will join the trio at some point this year. Apple is also rumored to be working on this. However, given that the FCC certification appears to only cover the three familiar flagship models, that phone may not arrive until later this year (if it’s in the pipeline at all).
Galaxy Ring 2, Samsung XR, AR glasses
Galaxy Ring (Sam Rutherford, Engadget)
DigiTimes reported in December that Samsung would show off (or maybe just tease) the Galaxy Ring 2 and augmented reality (AR) glasses at January’s Unpacked event.
According to a Taiwanese publication, the Galaxy Ring 2 will come in two more sizes in addition to the nine sizes of the original model, which was just released in July. The second generation of wearable health trackers is said to add new AI features (surprise!) and updated sensors for more accurate measurements. The Galaxy Ring 2 is rumored to last longer than the current model’s up to seven days.
DigiTimes also claims that Samsung’s AR glasses (which the company has confirmed are in development) will look like regular prescription glasses and weigh around 50g. It says the futuristic glasses will use Google’s Gemini AI, which is in line with what we already know about Samsung’s partnership with Google and Qualcomm on Android XR. But given the lack of supply chain rumors regarding the glasses, the mention at the event could just be a teaser, like the grand reveal of the first Galaxy Ring’s stinking renders at Unpacked 2024. is high. .
We also know that Samsung is working with Google and Qualcomm to develop an Android XR (augmented reality) headset, codenamed Project Moohan. The “lightweight” and “ergonomically designed” headset features a “state-of-the-art display,” pass-through video, and natural multimodal input. Google’s rendering shows a wearable reminiscent of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro.
Project Muhan (Google / Samsung)
Google only recently started offering developer kits and APIs for the platform, so a glimpse of it in Unpacked is unlikely to include an impending release or a deep dive into its hardware. It’s probably low.
Engadget has complete coverage of Samsung’s first Unpacked event of 2025. Details will be published on January 22nd.
