Samsung’s first Galaxy Unpacked event was packed and, following the brand’s tradition, it reviewed all its new features quickly. The Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra have been made official, along with deeper partnerships with Google for new Gemini tricks, a set of new Galaxy AI features, major improvements to content creation, and a sneak peek at what the company is preparing. Google for its Android XR headphones.
It was a lot, and while you can read our live blog from the event, including on-the-ground moments captured by the TechRadar team, here we share the nine most important things we learned from the January 22, 2025 Galaxy Unpacked.
And it all starts, as you may have guessed, with AI.
Galaxy AI gets even smarter and more personalized
Like the Galaxy S24 family, the S25 is all about Galaxy AI, and by 2025, Samsung is doubling the performance of these features and their breadth. It starts with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset for Galaxy, which comes with 12GB of RAM and a dedicated core for AI tasks called the Personal Data Engine.
The idea here is that inside the S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra there is a core that can be dedicated to handling AI tasks and eventually creating a sort of custom LLM for you. One that can learn your habits and the other devices you have and offer 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 having to do much. .
Samsung wants its devices to do more for you: not just the latest Galaxy phone, but also other devices within the ecosystem, like a Galaxy Ring, a watch, or even a connected home appliance. Ideally, it could turn off your TV when your watch tells your phone you’re asleep, or it could recommend that you activate a sleep mode to allow you to stop fatal scrolling on TikTok and hang up your phone.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra aims to offer the complete package
Galaxy Unpacked’s main hardware announcement was the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, aka Samsung’s biggest, baddest new flagship smartphone.
At first glance it doesn’t seem also It’s different than its predecessor, but there are some major design differences worth mentioning. For starters, the S25 Ultra has much bolder camera rings, which now look more like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and are consistent across the Galaxy S25 lineup. The new phone also has a slightly larger screen than the S24 Ultra; 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 overall and weighs 15g less, but the biggest difference is in the corners, which are now rounded instead of sharp (iPhone fans, rejoice).
Under the hood, Samsung’s latest flagship features a 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 offer even better AI and gaming performance. Speaking of which, the S25 Ultra has 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!
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Meet the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: the same great design, careful chip and more AI!
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The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus improve in terms of value
Compared to the Ultra, this year’s new standard models aren’t as exciting, but they are objectively better than their predecessors and feature a number of updates going forward.
Design-wise, you’re looking at the same sleek 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, bringing both models in line with the S25 Ultra, and all three new devices also share the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. There is no Qualcomm/Exynos split this year, which will be good news for European buyers.
Other hardware upgrades for the S25 include a larger vapor cooling chamber, which should facilitate better gaming performance alongside the 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 Samsung Galaxy S25 hands-on review and Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus hands-on review.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is official and it’s incredibly thin
While phone rumors have been talking about an iPhone 17 Air for quite some time, Samsung got ahead of the Cupertino-based tech giant. Just as it teased the Galaxy Ring at the end of January 2024’s Unpacked, Samsung closed out this year’s Unpacked with a glimpse of an ultra-thin smartphone.
The Galaxy S25 Edge shows off several components stacked into a surprisingly thin build for a phone that seemingly promises the Galaxy AI powers of the rest of the S25 line in an ultra-lightweight build. We got a glimpse of it from afar in Galaxy Unpacked, and yes, it’s crazy and super thin, but it still has room for a main camera bump and appears to have matte titanium sides.
Of course, nothing was made official beyond a quick look and a name, but the moment Samsung gives us more information about the Galaxy S25 Edge, we’ll be sure to update you.
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We take another look at Samsung and Google’s Project Moohan headphones
Google and Samsung formally unveiled the Project Moohan Android XR mixed reality headset in December 2024, but it wouldn’t have been an Unpacked without a teaser, right? It was just a brief mention, but Samsung showed off a new look at the upcoming headphones.
The two brands continue to collaborate on the Android XR platform, but also on headphones ready to offer a full range of XR experiences with eye and hand tracking. Samsung again confirmed that the headphones are in the works, although nothing more concrete was shared except that they 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 are ready. It’s safe to say that AR, XR, and smart glasses are still heating up.
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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 fair that people who order the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, or S25 Ultra get a free gift. With the purchase of Samsung’s latest flagship, you’ll get six months of Gemini Advanced at no extra cost, which should let you use all of the phone’s AI capabilities to the fullest without worrying about limits.
The deal also expands the value of the Galaxy S25 line; Gemini Advanced costs $19.99 a month in the United States, so a six-month subscription is worth $120.
S25 series gets the best camera features of the iPhone and Pixel
The race for the title of best camera phone will be tight again in 2025, and Samsung reveals that its S25 clan will get some powerful features that we’ve mostly seen from Apple and Google before.
That includes the ability to record log videos (which is great for color grading) and Samsung’s version of Google’s Best Take for Pixels, which it calls Best Face. This is ideal if your group shots often contain someone with an unfortunate blink moment.
If you prefer to modify and color correct your photos, there is also an equivalent to Apple’s Photo Styles. This allows you to select an image and create a filter based on its appearance, before adjusting its white balance, saturation and grain.
Interestingly, a Gemini Live demo showed a presenter getting some photo editing tips from an AI assistant by talking to him about his dog photo. Snapshots of your furry friend will never be poorly composed again.
While it wasn’t a big part of the keynote, SmartThings had its moment in the sun with the official announcement of new environmental sensing technology and generative AI map visualization tools to help you personalize your smart home, all under the banner HomeAI.
Environmental sensing is arguably the most interesting feature, as it marks the first ecosystem-wide sensor-based technology that will allow your smart home devices to not only detect where you are and what you are doing, but also optimize your environment accordingly.
Doing some push-ups? Well, your cooler might just be watching you, ready to give you personalized advice on how to improve your form or suggest adjustments to your workout duration.
While the second update may seem less exciting, it’s actually part of how environmental sensing can become even more effective. Samsung’s new Gen AI Map View will let you photograph and upload your real furniture to Map View, meaning your Home AI will not only know where the furniture is, but also that the furniture is. This is already possible with the Bespoke JetBot Combo AI robot vacuum cleaner, but Gen AI Map View will open the doors for greater customization and detail.
With Samsung already discussing its vision of bringing devices like the Samsung Galaxy Ring and even the SmartTag 2 into the SmartThings fold, it’s not hard to imagine how smart your Samsung smart home could be about to become.
Both environmental sensing and Gen AI map view will be rolled out throughout 2025 and 2026.
There could be a triple phone in the future
Before closing the presentation with the Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung showed what looked like a roadmap that included a triple phone.
While Samsung didn’t share anything else, it probably shows where Samsung is headed with its line of foldable smartphones. We already have the Flip and Fold, but a new form factor will be needed to push the category further and offer something new. It looks like that type of construction is triple and Samsung might ship it sooner than we expected.
