What to expect from the Samsung Galaxy S25 event

Time is cyclical. We’re already back in the part of the year when Samsung is set to announce its new lineup of flagship devices for the year. The company is expected to announce the Galaxy S25 phone on a day of fanfare in San Jose, California Wednesday 22 January. The storm begins 10am PT / 1pm ET For those joining us live.

You can follow Samsung’s keynote here at Gizmodo, where we’ll have the news as it comes out. Samsung will broadcast the event on Samsung.com And its official YouTube channel.

What to expect from the Galaxy S25

The Unpacked event in January will introduce the Galaxy S25 in two sizes and the Galaxy S25 Ultra, a third phone that is considered the quintessential Samsung-flavored smartphone given its features. Bells and whistles. To the dismay of some readers, “bells” are usually included Artificial intelligence software improvementswhich is how each manufacturer on the platform tries to differentiate itself from its Android parent, Google.

Everything that Samsung will announce about the Galaxy S25 series has been leaked. The phones have already gone through Federal Communications Commission. Samsung is sticking to the same display sizes as before. The Galaxy S25 will have a 6.2-inch display, and the Galaxy S25+ will be slightly larger at 6.7 inches. The massive Galaxy S25 Ultra It is still defined To be the largest in the lineup with a 6.8-inch screen. Samsung schtick this year You will focus Over the thinner and lighter its phones ccompared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

the The Galaxy S25 chip will undoubtedly be powerful. Now that Snapdragon 8 Elite If it exists, Samsung and Qualcomm will likely collaborate on the chip to ensure the existence of the Galaxy S25 Something To outperform the rest of its colleagues in the Android system, especially with regard to artificial intelligence. Phones in this generation will have to prove they are powerful enough to run AI tasks on-device while offering improved camera algorithms, gaming frame rates, and simplified software.

Let’s be honest: It’s all about AI this year for every device maker, whether we want it or not. AI will be a big part of the keynote given that Galaxy AI took over a large portion of the presentation last year. There may be an AI companion Samsung is rolling out at Unpacked this month that differentiates itself from Google’s AI efforts. that Interesting leak What happened at the last minute seemed to confirm this. It stands for the little command “oi Google Gemini”, which when translated from Portuguese comes out as, “Hey Google Gemini”. This suggests that Samsung and Google are still in cahoots on this AI thing, though there are plenty of hints about what Samsung will do to deliver something. various. The most important feature seems to be the Daily Summary which collects data from your Samsung apps and provides colorful data summaries. This seems like one of those features that will likely require a significant amount of commitment to Samsung’s hardware ecosystem if you want to get anything out of it, specifically wearables.

What to expect from the Galaxy S25 camera

There’s not much to get excited about regarding the camera system on the Galaxy S25 Ultra or the rest of the Galaxy S25 family. The same camera algorithms will still be a little oversaturated, with reds appearing redder and shadows deep throughout. A leaker may have confirmed that only the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s ultra-wide camera will get a significant update this year to enable more detailed wide-angle photography. The Ultra’s primary camera is also slated to have the same 200-megapixel sensor and ultra-zoom capabilities as the last two generations. If it’s not broken, why is Samsung trying to fix it?

We’re still not sure if there’s any truth to the chatter about the 360-degree camera capabilities on the Galaxy S25 Ultra as if it were to compete with the iPhone’s spatial video offerings.

What to expect from Samsung wearables

After the Galaxy S25 smartphones take the stage, Samsung will shift the spotlight to other aspects of its hardware business. Wearables have been a big focus for the manufacturer, especially since the introduction of Galaxy Ring. But it seems too early for Samsung to be teasing anything about the next generation of its finger-dwelling devices.

If the Galaxy Ring is mentioned in Unpacked, it will be to promote its availability in larger sizes. Samsung may also announce a second-generation Ring later this year, as it did with the Galaxy S24 unpacked display, But I don’t expect that.

We have more chance of hearing about these supposed XR glasses. With this early Unpacked event, Samsung may be trying to beat the Meta to the smart glasses hype. The company has been spotted working with Google and Qualcomm on a prototype of the device A pair of smart glasses. Smart glasses were the name of the game at CES 2025, in the same way that smart rings stole the show at the annual trade show last year. Samsung is known to ride the hype train at the right time, and this would be the right time to introduce itself as an eyewear manufacturer.

Whatever’s next, “Over the Horizon” (the name of Samsung’s theme song; you probably have a ringtone for it on your Samsung phone), we’ll cover it here at Gizmodo. Tune in very, very soon. It’s almost too late.