Samsung Galaxy Unpacked recap: Galaxy S25 Ultra, new AI features, surprise S25 Edge revealed

Hello from San Jose

Good afternoon! T3's Tech Editor, Mike Lowe, here to kick things off – live from San Jose, which is where the next Galaxy Unpacked event will be taking place this Wednesday 22 January.

I'll be fighting the jetlag to bring you all the latest Galaxy S25 goodies from the ground – before, during and after Unpacked takes place. So expect plenty of live commentary and hands-on imagery from the epicentre of the action...

Slim pickings for the US

Before Mike takes over from the US, it's T3's News Editor, Rik Henderson here to bring you some of the latest information on the new Samsung phones.

We've learned a heck of a lot about the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra handsets over the last few months, with picture leaks, specs, even some confirmed details from Samsung itself. Indeed, we think we know so much about them, there might be few surprises.

However, there's one handset we're not actually sure will appear, regardless of plenty of speculation. It is claimed that the Korean manufacturer will be releasing a fourth S25 handset this year, albeit a little later than the others. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim might be only teased during the event itself – ahead of a rumoured May launch – but we have been told an interesting detail today.

It seems it won't be released in the US nor Canada, but is destined to be a regional device. Those in the UK and Australia will be pleased to learn that it is planned for release in those countries, though, along with further 37 locations.

All the phones exposed

While we'll be just as excited as anyone to see the new S25 family in the flesh, we already have a pretty good idea of what they look like thanks to a number of picture and photo leaks.

One in particular has been particularly illuminating, with the three handsets each shown in what seem to be official press images. And considering the pics were shared by reliable leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) in his newsletter, we can be fairly sure they're genuine.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra in particular sports a tweaked design, with slightly rounder corners this year.

And another thing...

As well as the Galaxy S25 Slim, Samsung might tease another device towards the end of its Unpacked presentation.

Project Moohan was already confirmed during a Qualcomm event at the tail end of last year, with Samsung expected to reveal more details on its first major mixed reality headset in 2025.

That would give the company a great opportunity to tease it in similar fashion to the Galaxy Ring during last year's Unpacked – we might even find out the real name of the Apple Vision Pro rival. After all, we can't go around calling it Moohan. While that word means "infinity" or "limitless" in Korean, it's also a name of an all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant.

Great, now I'm really hungry!

A busy year for Samsung

This Samsung Galaxy Unpacked promises to be a bumper event, but that won't be the end of its major mobile announcements – another rumour has emerged today suggesting the firm also plans to shake up its foldable phone lineup this summer.

As well as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, it is claimed that Samsung will introduce a cheaper clamshell device – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip FE. And it is also said to be launching its first tri-fold handheld in 2025.

That could fold out into a 10-inch tablet, yet still be compact enough to fit in a pocket like a normal phone. It looks like the following months are set to be big for the brand, for sure.

Get money off your new Samsung Galaxy S25... but be quick

Samsung has an amazing offer on its UK and US websites for those pre-registering their interest in any of the new Galaxy S25 models.

UK customers can get a £50 voucher to spend towards a forthcoming purchase, while those in the US get $50 off.

You only have until midnight tonight (21 January) though, with the offer expiring on the day of Galaxy Unpacked itself. So be quick.

Awesome offers?

Mike here, T3's Tech Editor, back in the hot seat to keep the Samsung Galaxy S25 action coming. I'm set up near the SAP Center in San Jose, which is the exact same place where last year's S24 reveal happened – although I'm yet to get my eyes on the venue to see whether there are any big S25 hints on site.

Anyway, ahead of tomorrow's Unpacked event, it's got me thinking about one of the best promotions from last year – by pre-ordering, Samsung would award you double the storage for free. So 512GB would be the base, at no extra cost. I'm hopeful there will be the same promotion for the S25 this year too.

If the rumours are true and the S25 models don't differ vastly from their predecessors then good trade-in deals and pre-order promotions – a freebie bundled in, too, a Galaxy Ring, perhaps? – I think will really help excel the early interest factor. That in addition to the £50/$50 pre-order promo mentioned below in this very blog.

Say hi to more AI

YouTube

Watch On

Unless you've been living under a rock in recent times, you'll have seen the upward tick in artificial intelligence, or AI for short. Well, that's not about to stop – as Samsung says on its own site under its 'Sneak Peek' heading, that "A true AI companion is coming".

To me that suggests that Samsung is going to dig even deeper into voice interaction – and based on the YouTube video above the personal assistant demoed will be intelligent enough to pool together information from multiple app sources at once. That could create some useful interactions with the new handsets.

More about AI as and when the lid is officially lifted at Unpacked tomorrow. I'm convinced it'll be the majority of the presentation, likely pulling together more than just mobile too – as Samsung's smart devices, services and health related products could all benefit.

Back once again...

Hi, News Editor Rik back again to kick us off today.

Galaxy Unpacked will start at 6pm GMT (10am PST) later today and we'll be covering live from the event venue in San Jose. However, there's plenty still to talk about in the build up, so keep checking back to find out the latest on the Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, Galaxy S25 Ultra and any surprises the brand might have up its sleeve.

Prepare for photo fun

Image 1 of 3

As usual, Samsung's next-gen flagship Android phones have leaked more often than a cardboard roof, and that seems to be continuing right up to their launch.

The latest is a series of alleged "marketing images" posted by serial leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks). 9to5Google has reposted some from his newsletter and, of genuine, they reveal a few additional details on AI features coming with the new handsets.

Photos will be particularly enhanced, it seems, with a new ProScaler feature tidying up your images and better selfie taking. There will also be an Audio Eraser tool to clean up unwanted ambient noise in video captures.

You can see all the marketing grabs in the gallery above.

Android 15... at last!

As part of the launch of its new handsets, Samsung will start to roll out Android 15 to Galaxy phones at last – in the form of its much-lauded One UI 7 software update.

Putting aside the fact that Android 16 is now just around the corner, One UI 7 could be the single biggest feature update Samsung has ever produced. And it'll be coming to existing Galaxy phones in the coming weeks, too.

We're yet to find out what devices will get it (the Samsung Galaxy S24 family is a shoo-in, of course) and the exact timescale is yet to be confirmed, but you can expect your compatible device to be running the software before the end of March at the latest.

Would you be enticed by a slimmer phone?

This is Max Freeman-Mills, Staff Writer for the Tech section taking over the blog for a bit. I'm primarily curious about the persistent rumours that Samsung is working on an extra handset this year – the Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim.

With phones increasingly becoming fairly uniform in their thickness, I'm extremely interested to see whether that bold name actually means a genuinely thinner phone. The fact, as Rik mentioned yesterday, that it might not be available in the US is another interesting aspect, and sounds like a confusingly fragmented release plan.

We should learn more about this later today when the event takes place, although I personally wouldn't be shocked if it didn't appear at all. These sorts of rumours (combined with an absence from the leaked images) make me a little dubious.

AI that actually helps?

I'm dubious about AI features on my phone – and the way Apple's had to roll back its AI summaries of news announcements underlines exactly why. Still, one of the rumoured additions to Samsung's slate of features sounds intriguing.

Apparently set to be called "Insights", it'll give you a daily summary of everything you should know about when you wake up. That might include meetings that would otherwise have slipped your mind, but it could also give you health alerts or workout reminders, all of which sound useful. Still, I can't help but suspect that I'd turn it off after a week, so our mileage may vary (if it's real).

Marginal gains?

As we get closer to Samsung's live stream, the question will start to get more pressing – how major will the upgrades be this year? It's always a bit of a toss-up whether each level of Samsung's phones will be redesigned totally, upgraded a little, or left as it was.

That means we could get a gobsmacking new camera feature on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, for instance, but it could just as easily result in a tiny change to its camera setup that doesn't affect all that much. I'm always particularly curious about whether we'll see meaningful design changes. I don't use a Galaxy phone myself, but their designs have been getting nicer and nicer in recent years, and I'd love to see more curved edges and less squared-off corners in the Ultra particularly.

Thanks for the memories

Afternoon all, it's Mat Gallagher here covering while other team members grab some food. Well, it seems Mike's earlier prediction about the return of double memory for pre-orders could be right – at least in France.

Earlier today Phone Arena picked up a piece on French website Dealabs that Samsung will offer free upgrades for the pre-order period. While this is just a rumour, and could be region-specific, the fact that something similar was offered last year, makes this likely to roll out for US and UK as well.

Playing the pre-order game

The aforementioned memory-doubling deal, if it really does come back around, raises the perennial issue of whether buying one of these phones on release day is the smartest play. If you take the Galaxy S25 Ultra as your lodestar, it's never an easy equation.

After all, if you take a look at a price tracker (like CamelCamelCamel) for the Galaxy S24 Ultra here in the UK, it doesn't take a genius to see a trend. The phone's launch price only held for a matter of weeks, and by May 2024 you could pick it up for a couple of hundred pounds below that price.

So, if you really want some extra storage (and the deal does come through), is that something worth paying when you could wait a couple of months and save hundreds? You'll have to do that arithmetic yourself, but Samsung has certainly helped make pre-ordering feel more competitive thanks to the bonus.

What's the next blockbuster camera feature?

Whenever Samsung unveils its new handsets, there's a question over what sort of camera tech it'll squeeze in. After all, this is the phone maker who made it easy to take pics of the moon (never mind any subsequent controversies over that one).

So, what will we get this time around? Depending on what leaks you read, we could be expecting anything from a total overhaul to more minute changes, but it's fairly likely that even an unchanged camera array would still be extremely competitive given how far Samsung has pushed things in recent years. Still, I'm hoping that we see some interesting new tech.

Where's thing thing actually happening, then?

A launch can increasingly feel like an all-digital event nowadays, as companies release glitzy presentations and press releases to tell everyone that they can order whatever the device might be. Samsung's still pressing ahead with an in-person presentation, though, and we've got boots on the ground right there.

The main launch event is taking place in San Jose, California – and T3's Tech Editor Mike Lowe is there to see it in person, and to make sure that our readers get the best access possible to all the big announcements and launches. Of course, he won't be going solo, with the rest of the team on-hand here in the UK to help keep the news flowing to you as well.

A sunny S25 morning in San Jose

Good morning one and all from myself, Mike Lowe, back on to the live blog. The sun is shining in San Jose so here's to a sunny Galaxy S25 launch – with the show now only a couple of hours away! I'll be keeping you posted throughout, so stay tuned for every key update.

Live from SAP Center

It was 'elbows out' to get into SAP Center, where it's a full crowd – hence the high-up shot above, from the god seats!

We're just minutes away from Samsung kicking off the show – with Galaxy AI, as shown on the event screen, clearly being a main focus of the presentation.

It's all about AI!

Samsung big boss, TM Roh, takes to the stage to introduce One UI 7, Samsung's software, with AI integrated. There'll be more partnering with Google, too, with Gemini integrated on the power button – meaning Bixby is taking a back seat.

Personal yet private

"As AI becomes more powerful, it must also become more personal," says TM. Samsung is doubling down on Knox Vault, ensuring privacy is maintained – both on device and in the cloud.

Now Bar and Now Brief

Here are the two big integrated AI features: Now Bar and Now Brief.

The latter gives you daily briefings, based on your usual behaviours – which Samsung's Personal Data Engine 'learns' by understanding your routines over time. It can create a 'knowledge graph' based on users' individual behaviours in relation to their apps.

The Now Bar, meanwhile, presents your most-used open apps in small quick-glance widgets on your Lock Screen.

Conversational intelligence

The relevance of voice is also being brought to the fore. With Gemini integrated, you can talk to your Galaxy S25 device in a conversational manner. Say you want to find an image of a specific friend, wearing a certain item, at a given date – you can just ask for that and the on-device AI search will return the results you want. Even when offline.

Google x Samsung

All this Gemini integration is possible thanks to Google collaboration – with the Galaxy S25 series being the first device where Gemini can function across both Samsung's native apps and Google's own too.

Gemini Advanced comes for free – for six months only – with 2TB of cloud storage as part of that package. When that expires, however, do note it's a pricey monthly fee – at £18.99/$19.99. I know this, as I've got such a subscription!

Out with the Exynos...

After all that AI chat, it's time for some hardware – although you can already read my hands-on first impressions reviews of the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S25 on the site (see links above).

What's interesting about the S25 series is that all models, all around the globe, will feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip – there's no use of Exynos anywhere, as was the case with the S24.

The chip is 'made for Galaxy', meaning it's overclocked, so the most powerful that you'll find in any current flagship. And that's on all models – whether S25, Plus or Ultra.

Ultra is the ultimate

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is more advanced than its S25 and S25 Plus siblings, however, with Corning's Gorilla Armor 2 coating for the best protection.

It's also a redesigned handset, with a marginally slimmer design despite a larger screen – now 6.9-inches – owed to bezel reduction.

The cameras also get a boost, with the wide-angle upping resolution to 50-megapixels compared to its predecessor.

Cameras get the AI treatment

The next-gen ProVisual Engine is aboard all three S25 devices, bringing more advanced AI to the suite of photography features.

It even adds "more depth and control in your photos, with virtual aperture". I've seen this in action, where you can adjust background blur (when shooting in Expert Raw) to give a different bokeh effect.

Other Galaxy favourites get upgrades, too, from low-light (Nightography) to best picture modes and more.

If you like to shoot high-end videos for colour-grading after shooting then LOG has been added too. It shoots in 10-bit HDR, an upgrade over 8-bit from the last generation.

Let's get Healthy

Time for a Samsung Galaxy Health update. The app can monitor your sleep, recovery – both physically and mentally – to provide an Energy Score. Using intelligent algorithms, Health can prompt suggestions to improve your wellbeing.

There's more coming, too, with smart home integration to, for example, make for better sleep – if that means adjusting the heating or lighting of your smart home products.

Later there will be nutrition, heart health and mental wellbeing updates too. Vascular load will track how your cardiovascular system is being impacted. It'll be possible to monitor your antioxidant index, too, by tracking beta-keratin levels. And there'll be a monitor your mood feature called Mindfulness.

Sustainability goals

The environmental impact section is here! Samsung has expanded use of recycled devices, with the S25 and S25 Plus even offering recycled Armor Aluminum – meaning these handsets have recycled materials incorporated in every external component.

This Unpacked also marks the beginning of a circular battery supply chain, to reuse batteries from previous Galaxy products. That means extraction of cobalt, so that up to 50% is used in new batteries – minimising the impact of raw material requirements.

Livin' on the Edge!

Well, the rumours were true, and in that classic 'one more thing' final moment, Samsung revealed that the Galaxy S25 Edge will also be part of the line-up... which surely is the much-rumoured 'S25 Slim' model? There's very little information about it otherwise, but I'll be sure to seek out more at Unpacked...