This year, Samsung moved its annual Galaxy S series Unpacked event from February to mid-January. It wasn't clear if Samsung would keep that schedule going forward, but a new leak claims that January Unpacked events are here to stay.
The Korean site FN News (via Jukanlosreve) claims that Samsung will hold a Galaxy Unpacked event on January 23 next year in San Francisco.
At the first Unpacked event of the year, Samsung is expected to launch the next generation Galaxy S25 series, including the base Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus and the flagship Galaxy S25 Ultra. According to FNN, Samsung will also debut the much-rumored Galaxy S25 Slim.
Previous reports suggested that Samsung wouldn't release the Slim until April. However, it's suggested that the Slim might be more of an experiment by Samsung with a launch of limited qualities to see how people respond to the device.
FN News is not a site from which we typically see rumors; however, Jukanlosreve has proven reasonably accurate with leaks.
What we expect to see
Samsung confirmed that the Galaxy S25 series would arrive in early 2025 during the Q3 earnings report while also discussing more foldable devices. That report says the S25 "plans to enhance the Galaxy AI experience to drive innovation in everyday life."
We're not sure what new Galaxy AI features Samsung will bring to the S25 series. One Samsung executive suggested equipping the Bixby personal assistant with generative AI capabilities.
That said, Samsung is expected to launch its Android 15-based One UI 7 alongside the S25 lineup. Samsung announced in October 2024 that "the new Galaxy" would launch with the UI upgrade. One UI 7 is expected to considerably overhaul Samsung's Android skin. We'll know more about One UI 7 in late November when the beta is scheduled to be released.
We expect some design tweaks, but it sounds like Samsung is focusing on software upgrades over hardware ones.
The S25 series should feature rounder corners on the handsets, a slightly larger display on the S25, a rounder back panel on the S25 Ultra and every phone to run on Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite processors.
The S25 and S25 Plus are unlikely to see camera upgrades from the S24 versions, though there are rumors Samsung will use new camera sensors. The Ultra might get more camera upgrades with the ultrawide and secondary telephoto lenses tipped to both use 50MP sensors, a massive hike over the current 12MP and 10MP on the S24 Ultra. The S25 Ultra might also get a new telephoto camera with “variable capabilities."
Assuming the rumors are true and Samsung holds Galaxy Unpacked on January 23, Tom's Guide will be there to test out the latest Samsung smartphones in person and get all the latest news on Samsung's announcements.
