Samsung has unveiled its latest flagship phones the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra during the company’s first Galaxy Unpacked of 2025. You can watch the recap in the video below.
But I know you want all the information RIGHT NOW. So pay attention to this live blog as we keep breaking down everything from yesterday's announcement.
We want to make your life easy so here's our Samsung Galaxy S25 ultimate guide which we will update as often as possible!
Samsung livestreamed the launch on its official website and YouTube platforms.
Keep an eye on this page and the Ultimate Guide page for all the things you need to know Galaxy S25!
If you already know that you’re going to pick up one of the new Galaxy S25 models, you don’t have to wait just to save some money. All you have to do is head over to the Samsung Galaxy Reserve landing page, enter your information, and voila! You’ll save $50 right off the bat, but will also be able to save an additional $1,250 when trading in your old phone.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at everything that has been leaked or rumored about Samsung’s upcoming flagship phones. Starting out with the Galaxy S25, the rumor mill didn’t really start picking up until the second half of the year.
Before that, a rumor back in June suggested that the regular Galaxy S25 wouldn’t see any meaningful camera upgrades. This would mean that the Galaxy S25 would sport a 50MP main lens, along with a 12MP ultrawide and a 10MP telephoto sensor offering 3x optical zoom.
One of the big questions was whether Samsung would opt to stick with Qualcomm for the Galaxy S25 series, or if we would see Exynos chips. According to a report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Samsung’s production of its latest Exynos SoC ended up with a “lower-than-expected yield.”
Because of this, Samsung would instead rely on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which turned out to be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite. This initial report was corroborated by a separate rumor, which also suggested Samsung would opt for Qualcomm across the board, instead of utilizing its Exynos chips in certain regions.
It wasn’t until September 2024 that we got our first idea of what the Galaxy S25 would actually look like. Honestly, it was rather pedestrian, with the biggest change coming to the rear camera housing, which was said to now sport the same camera rings as what’s found on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
However, this same batch of leaks claimed Samsung will be slimming down the Galaxy S25 a bit, with the following dimensions: “146.9 x 70.4 x 7.2mm, compared to 147.0 x 70.6 x 7.6mm for the S24.” All while still sporting a 6.2-inch display, complete with flat edges and rounded corners.
Shifting gears a bit, if there’s one thing that we’ve complained about for years it’s how far behind the curve Samsung is with charging speeds. While some flagship phones can be recharged in less than an hour, Samsung hasn’t gotten the memo. Unfortunately, after the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus passed through China’s 3C for certification, it seems that the 25W charging rate is here to stay for another year.
Although we obviously haven’t seen any official preorder deals quite yet, you can guarantee yourself some early savings by signing up for Samsung’s Galaxy Reserve program. Only your first name, last name, and email address are required, and signing up will get you a $50 voucher and up to $1,250 of trade-in credit when the Galaxy S25 series goes live. You can also be entered into a sweepstakes to win $5,000. There’s no obligation to buy anything, but the deal ends January 22nd, so act fast!
With the company coming off a rather disappointing launch of its latest foldables, there were questions about what Samsung’s Galaxy S25 sales target would look like. In October 2025, a report surfaced claiming Samsung “expects to produce roughly 22 million Galaxy S25 phones by June 2025 and approximately 11 million could be Galaxy S25 Ultras.”
This would mean that the Galaxy S25 would “account for ~30%” while the S25 Plus is expected to sell a bit better, “as its outlook puts it around 35% to 40% in sales.” As a note, these figures are only for North America and don’t account for global markets.
Switching back to the devices themselves, display analyst Ross Young shared the different colors that we can expect to see with the Galaxy S25 lineup. Coming as little surprise, the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus will share four colors, with the Plus gaining a “Midnight Black” option. Meanwhile, the S25 Ultra is said to be offered in four different shades of Titanium, which include “Titanium Black, Titanium Blue, Titanium Gray, and Titanium Silver.”
In November 2024, Samsung held its most recent earnings call, which provided confirmation that the Galaxy S25 lineup would arrive in the “first half of 2025.” Unsurprisingly, no other details were shared, with the only exception being that the S25 “plans to lead daily innovation by increasing the experience perfection of Galaxy AI and expand sales by strengthening marketing and experience programs.”
Despite remaining fairly cryptic, Samsung also teased a few other devices, such as its Android XR headset and a cheaper foldable phone. Following Google’s announcement of Android XR late in 2024, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that Samsung at least shows off its upcoming headset. Even if it’s done in the same way that the Galaxy Ring was first officially teased.
Less than two weeks after Samsung first confirmed the existence of the Galaxy S25, it was reported that the company was “sending consumer surveys to random customers.” Of note, these surveys were looking for opinions about the “promotional aspect of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S25 series.” Upon completion, you would receive a “10% discount on the Galaxy S25 series on January 5.”
A few days later, multiple leaks began suggesting that Galaxy Unpacked would be held on either January 22 or January 23. Additionally, it was expected that Samsung would host its flagship launch event in San Francisco, following in the same footsteps as the Galaxy S24 launch.
It would have been odd to see pre-orders open on January 5 as it was a Sunday. However, it turns out that Samsung announced Galaxy Unpacked on January 6, just a day after you would’ve received the discount.
What Galaxy S25 preorder deals can you expect?
We’re still waiting for an official look at the Samsung Galaxy S25 preorder deals, but our eCommerce Editor Patrick Farmer has spent the last several months speculating on the offers we can expect when the phones go live.
According to Patrick, if past years are any indication, Samsung will be the first retailer to list its S25 preorder deals online. Be prepared to see some great trade-in opportunities, plus free storage upgrades and exclusive color variants. Carriers like Verizon and AT&T typically follow closely behind Samsung with their own trade-in deals and new customer offers, with offers that might even get you a free phone if you can meet the eligibility requirements. If you prefer unlocked devices, sites like Amazon and Best Buy generally list their stock later in the afternoon with free gift cards and storage upgrades. Of course, this is all just speculation, but we’ll be sure to share the official offers as they go live following Unpacked.
Up to this point, we had only seen unofficial renders of Samsung’s 2025 flagship trio, but two days before Thanksgiving, that all changed. In a post on Reddit, someone seemingly managed to get their hands on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, showing it off in a brief video.
The video doesn’t really reveal too much, as it only shows off half of the phone. But it did practically confirm that Samsung would be opting for a flatter design all the way around. It also revealed that the rear cameras would feature a black ring, similar to what we first saw on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Just hours later, more supposed real-world images of the Galaxy S25 Ultra surfaced. Although it was unclear whether these were from the same person who posted the video on Reddit, these images offered a clearer picture of what to expect.
On the bottom, the layout remains unchanged, with the S Pen in the bottom-left corner, followed by the speaker, USB-C port, and SIM card tray, in that order. Two other images showed off the notification that appears when the phone is plugged in, along with a close-up of the thinner bezels.
That wasn’t everything that was shown off, as the leak also provided a few screenshots of One UI 7. At this point, Samsung had not yet released the first beta for Galaxy S24 owners, so it was kind of interesting to see what was in the cards. Unfortunately, the only major change we could see was with the redesigned
The next day, we received an early Christmas present courtesy of the FCC. All three models of the Galaxy S25 were found in the FCC database, providing confirmation of a few key details. With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it was discovered that along with continuing to include an S Pen, Samsung was again sticking with 45W wired charging speeds. Other confirmed features included Bluetooth, dual-band Wi-Fi, 5G connectivity, GNSS, and NFC.
As for the Galaxy S25 Plus, there wasn’t anything really of note here, as it features the “same connectivity specifications as its Ultra sibling.” This includes the 45W wired charging speeds, which doesn’t really come as much of a surprise.
There was one more surprise, but it was with the “regular” Galaxy S25, and it’s not great. According to the FCC certification, the entry-level flagship would be limited to 9W wireless charging, a downgrade from the 15W speeds found on the Galaxy S24.
By this point, we had a pretty good idea of what the Galaxy S25 lineup is going to offer in terms of design. However, there’s only been a bit of speculation as to the performance of Samsung’s 2025 flagship devices.
When different S25 models began appearing in benchmarking apps like Geekbench, we assumed that it was reliant on an unannounced Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. However, this really just turned out to be the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which Qualcomm debuted in late October.
In mid-November, leaks and rumors began suggesting that not only would all three models be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, but that this would also apply to global units. Previously, Samsung released its Qualcomm-powered flagship phones in North America and a few other regions, while the rest of the world got Exynos chips.
Even before that, the Galaxy S25 Ultra made an appearance on Geekbench, powered by Qualcomm’s latest SoC. The benchmark results showed that the S25 Ultra with 12GB of RAM managed a Single-Core score of 3069, along with a Multi-Core Score of 9080.
What was a bit surprising was that the OnePlus 13 actually outscored the Galaxy S25 Ultra with scores of 3,236 and 10,049. That might seem disappointing until you see that the S24 Ultra offered scores of 2,308 and 7,283. Needless to say, the Snapdragon 8 Elite offers an incredible boost in performance over its predecessor.
Speaking of performance, there’s a pretty good chance that the Galaxy S25 Ultra might have a gaming advantage over some of the other Snapdragon 8 Elite phones. A leaked screenshot seemingly revealed that Game Assist will get an upgrade, as one of the bullet points says “Upscaling lets you play games limited to 60Hz at 120Hz.”
Apparently, this is possible thanks to the Galaxy S25 making use of “Qualcomm’s AFME 2.0 (Adreno Frame Motion Engine) technology, which boosts game performance through frame interpolation.” Essentially meaning that you’ll be able to enjoy upscaled games without sacrificing performance or battery life.
Good morning AC Fam! We're just over 24 hours away from the event tomorrow!
We thought we’d be kicking off today by talking more about the trio of Galaxy S25 devices expected at Unpacked. However, just yesterday, another leak cropped up that suggests Samsung might not actually release the Galaxy S25 Slim in the U.S. Instead, it appears that despite reportedly coming to at least 39 regions, the U.S. is not included on the list.
It’s unclear why this might be the case, but the latest leak does corroborate some previous rumors suggesting the U.S. would be left out. On one hand, Samsung probably doesn’t want to upset the “status quo” too much. On the other hand, it would have been cool to see a slimmer Galaxy S25 model, especially if the rumors were true about Apple releasing a slimmer iPhone.
Things haven’t been the same for Samsung ever since the Galaxy Note 7 battery catastrophe. While other OEMs continue to push the limits of charging speeds on smartphones, Samsung rarely ever introduces substantial improvements. For the most part, it does seem that this trend will continue with the Galaxy S25 lineup.
We hoped this would change with the Qi2 wireless charging standard announcement. However, none of Samsung’s 2024 phones included Qi2 charging, but it appears that won’t be the case with the Galaxy S25 series. However, it is rumored that Samsung will make its 2025 flagship lineup Qi2-compatible as long as you purchase a separate case.
Samsung again is opting against making any changes to the internals related to charging, despite some of the benefits that Qi2 brings. Instead, if you want to enjoy things like MagSafe accessories and magnetic charging, then you’ll supposedly need to buy the case separately.
It turns out that Santa forgot a present for everyone, and instead delivered it on the day after Christmas by way of Dbrand. The popular phone skin and case maker opened pre-orders for Galaxy S25 accessories, including skins, cases, and even screen protectors.
In doing so, Dbrand provided further confirmation of the expected design of the Galaxy S25 series. Seeing as there were rumbles that Samsung might be looking to alter the rear camera design, this won’t be the case. We also were able to essentially compare high-resolution graphics of the Galaxy S25 Ultra next to the S24 Ultra, confirming the rounded corners and flattened edges.
One of the last leaks in 2024 revealed that Samsung might be introducing car crash detection in the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This came in the form of “leaked code strings,” which mention a “Car Crash Detect Wakeup sensor.”
Surprisingly, Samsung has already been including the necessary sensors in its phones, but the feature has yet to be made available. Instead, the company has fallen behind both Google and Apple, for one reason or another. Notably, if Car Crash Detection does come to the Galaxy S25 series, it seemingly will only be available on the Ultra model.
It was only a few hours into the New Year, but that didn’t stop the Galaxy S25 Ultra from making an appearance on Geekbench. These specific results were from the international model, and even the scores fell short of expectations.
More importantly, this lent further credence to the rumors that Samsung would rely on a Snapdragon 8 Elite “for Galaxy.” What made this apparent was that two of the cores were clocked higher compared to the “regular” Snapdragon 8 Elite.
After seeing how much focus was put on various AI features on mobile devices in 2024, we expect things to ramp up even more in 2025. The Galaxy S25 series will be one of the first to lead the charge, with one rumor suggesting that Samsung and Google will include Gemini Advanced for free.
There is expected to be a “catch” as the duration of the free trial wil depend on which Galaxy S25 model you decide to purchase. So if you opt for the standard S25, it’s said that three months will be included. This gets bumped up to six months with the Galaxy S25 Plus, and a full year when buying the S25 Ultra.
The first week of the year was when the rumors and leaks really started to pick up, as further confirmation was provided regarding the price, processor, and color options. It started with Gizmochina receiving images of the Galaxy S25 and S25 Ultra using Spigen Crystal Flex cases. More importantly, these images gave us a glimpse at the blue color options for these models.
That same day, @ishanagarwal24 claimed that the European S25 series will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. Plus, Agarwal revealed the price of the Galaxy S25 with 512GB of storage will come in at €1,079.
Lastly, it was suggested that Samsung would include 12GB of RAM on all three versions. Previously, the Plus and Ultra models would feature more RAM, with the entry-level device being equipped with a bit less.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra 256GB: $1,299.99 From $349.99 with trade-in | $799.99 without at Samsung
The Galaxy S25 series is swiftly approaching, but if you don’t want to wait, it’s worth noting that Samsung has been dropping an impressive number of Galaxy S24 deals lately. For instance, you can grab the powerful Galaxy S24 Ultra directly from the source and save up to $750 with a trade-in. Pair that credit with $200 off select colors and your potential discount increases to $950.
All of the leaks, rumors, and speculation culminated in Samsung officially announcing Galaxy Unpacked on January 6. The invitation didn’t reveal anything about the Galaxy S25 lineup, but there will be an obvious focus on AI:
"The next evolution of Galaxy AI is coming and it’s going to change the way you interact with the world every day. The new Galaxy S series is about to set the bar once again for mobile AI experiences now and into the future."
Just a couple of days later, Qualcomm kind of let the cat out of the bag regarding what processor the S25 will use. On its surface, the official Snapdragon account on x.com sharing a post from the Samsung Mobile account might seem harmless.
What this did was essentially remove any possible repeat of what Samsung did with the Galaxy Tab S10 lineup. For reference, the Tab S10 Plus and S10 Ultra are powered by MediaTek chipsets, marking the first deviation from Snapdragon processors in years.
You know you’re getting close to a phone launch when the new wallpapers are leaked. Max Jambor of AllAboutSamsung shared two high-resolution wallpapers “depicting a stylistic ‘S’ pattern.”
Although only two wallpapers were shared, it’s possible that each unique Galaxy S25 colorway has a wallpaper that matches the phone’s color. Nevertheless, if you want to make your current phone feel like the Galaxy S25, just download one of the wallpapers and start customizing.
We’re less than 24 hours away from Galaxy Unpacked, but you don’t need to worry about missing out as Samsung is live-streaming the Galaxy S25 unveiling. The event kicks off at 1PM ET over at both Samsung.com and the official Samsung website, so you can follow along with us.
Android Central’s very own Michael Hicks will be on the ground in San Jose, but the rest of us will be watching with excitement. If you want to learn more about Galaxy Unpacked, along with what else to expect, we’ve got you covered.
Pivoting back to the leaks and rumors, we’re particularly interested in seeing whether Samsung will make any changes to the camera system. Thanks to leaker IceUniverse, it seems that three out of the four cameras will remain the same. However, IceUniverse claims that there will be a new 50MP telephoto entering the mix, offering a 5x optical zoom.
Not only that, but they continue on, stating that the “S25 Ultra has improved the quality of night video.” It appears that these improvements will be reliant on the Snapdragon 8 Elite, meaning that there’s a good chance some changes won’t be trickling down to the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Again keeping with the Ultra, another rumor surfaced suggesting Samsung would be removing the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capabilities from its latest S Pen. In doing so, features like Air Actions and the ability to use the S Pen as a remote shutter would no longer be available.
Unfortunately, the rumor didn’t reveal any specific reasons as to why Samsung would make such a decision. Others opined that it could be a way for Samsung to cut down on costs, which could be the case if the company were to keep pricing the same with the latest models. Something else worth noting is that removing BLE from the S Pen could provide an additional “15 to 20 minutes” of battery life to the S25 Ultra.
Frankly, we couldn’t believe it took until the second week of January before someone leaked the entire spec sheet for all three models. Yet here we are, as @OnLeaks and Android Headlines revealed everything there is to know about the entire Galaxy S25 lineup.
We won’t list out all of the specifics here, but this massive leak corroborated much of what had been leaked. This includes the standard Galaxy S25 being upgraded with 12GB of RAM, along with the 50MP 5x telephoto lens coming to the S25 Ultra. By now, the only thing that we were missing was pricing and availability.
Actual specs only tell a portion of the story when it comes to new phones being released. A lot of what makes a phone actually good is when the hardware and software work together to provide an excellent experience. So while @OnLeaks might have spilled the beans from the spec basket, tipster Ahmed Qwaider filled in some more of the gaps about some of the S25 Ultra’s potential features.
Qwaider explained that Samsung will be leaning heavily on AI for some of its new camera features, including one called “Auto Eraser.” Considering that Samsung phones already offer a Magic Eraser-like feature, this leak suggests it will let you “remove annoying sounds in the video.”
Not only that, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra is really shaping up to be the phone for professionals, as Samsung Qwaider goes on to claim that it will be able to record “Log” video. The simplest comparison that I can make is that recording Log video is equivalent to taking pictures in RAW. The end goal is to give the photographer more control when editing, hoping to provide pictures and videos that are more true to life.
When you consider how closely Samsung and Google work together, one can’t help but wonder if Bixby will ever just kick the bucket for good. Gemini is taking over everywhere, including Samsung’s own devices, yet Bixby just keeps hanging around.
A little over a week ago, Samsung published a short video teaser with the title “A true AI companion is coming.” The clip is only 17 seconds long, so there’s really not much to dissect here. However, the only mention of anything is the Galaxy AI logo appearing on screen, with no sign of either Bixby or Gemini.
What the video does do is suggest that you’ll be able to string together several requests when using Galaxy AI. If this comes to fruition, it would open the door to so many possibilities, adding fuel to the fire of excitement as we near Galaxy Unpacked.
Okay, folks. We’re just hours away from Galaxy Unpacked where everything about the Galaxy S25 lineup will be officially revealed. With that in mind, you have even less time to maximize your savings if you’re planning to upgrade.
Samsung’s Galaxy Reserve program is still up and running, giving you a $50 coupon right off the bat. On top of that, if you’re trading in your old phone, you’ll be able to save up to $1,250! All you have to do is enter your email and lock in your savings before time runs out!
The big day has arrived, and in just a few short hours, Galaxy Unpacked will kick off, with the Galaxy S25 series officially unveiled. The event is being held in San Jose, and we’ll have boots on the ground to give us an idea of what things were like.
If you weren’t (or can’t) attend in person, but still want to watch the event unfold live, then you’re in luck. Galaxy Unpacked will be live-streamed over at Samsung.com and on the official Samsung YouTube channel. And if you need more details about the event, we’ve got you covered.
When in doubt, count on tipster Evan Blass to reveal a bunch of info about new devices, as they shared two promotional images. The first was of the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus, while showing off the rumored Navy color.
The other promo image was for the Galaxy S25 Ultra by itself, revealing the camera cluster, part of the S Pen, and the “Now Brief” widget on the Lock Screen. This is expected to be a key feature of One UI 7, after Samsung officially announced it in a blog post back in December 2024.
With the “Now Bar,” you’ll be provided with quick access to “your everyday actions and most-used apps” right from the Lock Screen. Samsung goes on to explain a scenario where you’re traveling, and your phone will suggest creating a folder “of your essential apps,” letting you know when you need to head to the airport, and “even provides a curated travel playlist.”
Pivoting back to Galaxy AI, while we are expecting a lot of new and exciting features, some “old” ones are likely to get an upgrade. This includes Samsung’s Sketch to Image, which is apparently set to become “multimodal.”
This isn’t actually a leak or rumor, as we learned about the potential upgrade in a Newsroom post from Samsung directly. In the post, Samsung says “users will soon be able to sketch using an S Pen, speak their drawing into being using ‘Voice Commands,’ or write a description of their image for the AI to create.” Plus, it appears that you won’t be limited to just one method, as Samsung also suggests you can use a combination of input methods in order to get the desired generated image.
At some point today, we suspect that Samsung will open the floodgates for those who want to be first in line to get one of the new Galaxy S25 models. Until last week, not much was known about when the trio of phones would actually be released, at least in India.
According to a rumor from Ishan Agarwal, Samsung will begin delivering its latest phones “around Feb 3rd,” with sales to commence on February 9. This is about two weeks away, and we won’t be surprised if this is the same schedule kept for many of the other regions where Samsung will be selling its latest flagship devices.
Shortly after sharing a couple of promotional images, Blass was back at it, as they then shared supposed renders of all of the colors for each different Galaxy S25 model. According to Blass, all three phones will have four different colors to choose from.
In addition to the color options, all this did was provide even further confirmation of the previous leaks and rumors. However, it’s also worth mentioning that 9to5Google reports these might not be all of the colors, as there are usually a few “Samsung Store Exclusive” options whenever a new flagship phone is launched.
In what felt like was inevitable, OnLeaks in partnership with Android Headlines got their hands on a leaked promo video for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The video covers a variety of aspects surrounding AI and the various Galaxy AI features that are expected to arrive. These include things such as improved Night Video recording, Now Brief, Audio Eraser, and much more.
Of note, Android Headlines points out that while four phones are shown off toward the end of the video, none of them appeared to be the Galaxy S25 Slim. This leads further credence to the speculation that Samsung would be holding off on announcing the Slim until later this year.
Just a couple of days ago, two more leaks emerged, giving us some fuel for the speculation fire ahead of Galaxy Unpacked. The first report, coming from FnNews in Korea, stated that “Samsung Electronics is freezing the domestic release price of the 256GB model of its next-generation flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S25 series.”
The second report came from Gizmochina, echoing that of FnNews, with the difference being that Samsung was also expected to “freeze” pricing in Europe. Although a similar report has not yet come out regarding the Galaxy S25 prices in North America, it’s probably a safe bet that Samsung would also apply the freeze in other regions.
Currently, we’re about an hour and a half away from Unpacked, at which point, we’ll shift gears and offer our thoughts as the event goes on. Until then, we figured it would be a good idea to share something other than just leaks and rumors. Given the sheer amount of information that has supposedly been “revealed,” some of us felt strongly enough to share our opinions on various topics.
First up, Senior Content Producer Nick Sutrich was the first on the team to spend some time with the One UI 7 beta on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Throughout the piece, Nick shares his thoughts on everything from the multitasking UI to the animations and everything in between. I won’t give everything away, but it paints a pretty good picture of what we can likely expect to find in the Galaxy S25 series.
I have to admit, I was rather surprised to see that anyone had any strong opinions after it was rumored that Samsung was going to release a “Jet Black” Galaxy S25 Ultra. Usually, the opinions fall along the lines of “Hey, the ink cartridge is running out.”
Yet, AC Contributor Brady Snyder takes us on a journey explaining why this lonely S25 Ultra color could end up being one of Samsung’s biggest headaches. It’s a rabbit hole that I didn’t expect anyone to go down, nor did I ever come to the same realization as Brady.
Speaking of rabbit holes, we would be remiss if we didn’t talk about some of the problems that make it impossible to enjoy the latest and greatest phones. Unfortunately, this includes last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, as Samsung’s displays are one of the biggest offenders when it comes to PWM dimming and flickering LEDs.
However, Nick doesn’t stop there, as the past year has taught us that there are a few more issues with the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s screen that he hopes are fixed with the S25 Ultra. Again, I’m not going to spoil the surprise, but it’s well worth the read.
Next up we have Senior Editor of Accessories, Namerah Saud Fatmi, sharing her thoughts on some of the rumors surrounding whether the Galaxy S25 series will actually adopt the Qi2 wireless standard. These rumors started in December 2024, but suggest Samsung could make a rather surprising decision with the implementation.
Namerah shares why she feels Samsung adopting the standard is so important, not just for those who buy the S25, but also for the market on the whole. It’s clear that Samsung is a trendsetter, but for one reason or another, is seemingly dragging its feet which leaves us scratching our heads asking why?
It wouldn’t be an Android flagship phone launch without some love from Jerry. Earlier this month, Jerry offered up his take on the Galaxy AI Subscription Club, following a report from ET News. In that report, Samsung is rumored to be expanding this new “Club” to include more devices (like the S25 series) in the company’s home of South Korea.
Jerry also clears up the confusion that appeared in several articles that incorrectly suggested Samsung was set to introduce a subscription for its phones. That’s not the case, as it’s instead a subscription for AI features and services that Samsung currently offers in its smart appliances line. This is definitely a fun read from Jerry, and he comes to a surprising conclusion that I’d genuinely never suspect.
Okay, we’re 15 minutes from showtime, which is just enough time for you to check out Nick’s retrospective take on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and how it’s held up over the past year. This is kind of our way of saying “au revoir” to 2024 and “aloha” to 2025.
Plus, it might help those on the fence about upgrading to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, as you might even be better suited to a discounted S24 Ultra if you have an older phone. Or perhaps, dare I say, the OnePlus 13 or Pixel 9 Pro.
Alrighty folks, it’s go time! Michael’s in person at Galaxy Unpacked in San Jose, while the rest of us are watching along online and can’t wait to see what Samsung has in store for 2025.
Stay tuned, as we’ll be sharing our live reactions throughout the course of the event, along with any thoughts or opinions that might have after the event comes to a close and we’ve had a few minutes to process.
And just like that! Galaxy Unpacked 2025 is officially underway!
The Galaxy S25 series is officially official, and you can check out everything that our team has been working on over at the Galaxy S25 Ultimate Guide. This is your one-stop shop for everything and anything Galaxy S25 written by the team here at Android Central.
It will constantly be updated as new articles are published, so stay tuned for our reactions, opinions, and much more!
Now that the cat’s out of the bag, Nick and I were fortunate enough to check out the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra. As such, we have shared our hands-on impressions with the latest devices.
- Samsung Galaxy S25: Your Ultimate Guide
- Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus hands on: Levelling the playing field
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on: The most AI-driven phone today
It shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Samsung is kicking off Galaxy Unpacked talking about AI, complete with AI agents which is something that I'm pretty darn excited about.
New Gemini Live features are coming soon to the Galaxy S25 series. Again, this isn't much of a surprise, but we're also hoping these eventually make their way to even more phones.
Along with our hands-on impressions, the Galaxy S25 series isn't the only thing being announced today. Qualcomm and Samsung also introduced the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, with the two companies working together to create a custom version of the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite chip.
The Galaxy S25 lineup with One UI 7 also brings Now Bar and Now Brief, two features that are intertwined and rely on Galaxy AI to enhance your experience. With Now Bar, you'll see live updates from different apps, such as seeing the live score of your favorite team's game.
Now Brief lives on your Home Screen as a widget, and when opened, it provides an overview of your day. But it's not limited to just one update per day, as it's updated throughout the day, tailored to what you've been doing.
Say goodbye to Smart Select, and say hello to AI Select. It's available in the same place on the slide-out bar, and is able to analyze pretty much anything that's on your screen. This even includes things like video and audio.
AI on the Galaxy S25 series is now multi-modal, and with the natural langauge recognition, you can just talk to your phone like you would with a person. Thanks to AI Agents, just ask your phone to perform a series of tasks, and it will take care of everything for you. Just like a "true AI personal companion."
For the first time on a Samsung Galaxy phone, you can long-press the Side Button and activate Google Gemini by default. Until now, Samsung left the default as Bixby, forcing you to jump through a bunch of hoops if you wanted to change it.
Something else that's new with Gemini on the Galaxy S25 is the ability to interact with Samsung's native suite of apps. This is a massive, and I'm really hopeful the floodgates open, allowing third-party developers to get on board.
Oh that's nifty. You can ask Gemini Live to review your photos and suggest any edits.
Plus, Google and Samsung are including six months of Gemini advanced with every new purchase.
The phones have finally been revealed, and the Galaxy S25 preorder deals are coming in hot! While we wait for the official February 7th release date, you can order the phones directly from the source and enjoy up to $900 off when you trade in an old or broken device, plus you’ll get up to $300 of free Samsung credit to use on cases and other S25 accessories. Ordering from Samsung also means that you get access to some exclusive color variants not available anywhere else.
- Samsung Galaxy S25: Up to $500 of instant trade-in credit, plus $50 free credit from Samsung
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: Up to $700 instant trade-in credit, $100 voucher at Samsung
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Up to $900 instant trade-in credit, free $300 voucher at Samsung
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is the "1st 3nm processor for Galaxy smartphones." Samsung says it's NPU is 40% faster for "faster and more seamless experiences."
Samsung also claims it's up to 5x faster in both CPU and GPU performance. While ProScaler aims to let you enjoy HD content, which is the same technology that Samsung uses in its TVs.
I'm surprised that Samsung is actually partnering with a variety of game developers. I would have guessed that the number would be much lower.
Whether it's really about gaming or just to avoid issues, the new vapor chamber is rather impressive. And for mobile gamers, Samsung says that ray tracing performance has been improved by about 80%.
We won't know for sure until we can get the S25 Ultra in hand, but 31 hours of video playback is bonkers. Now I wonder how long it will last while emulating Switch or Windows games through Winlator.
Ooohhhh it's camera time.
Virtual Aperture uses "advanced software" to widen the aperture or narrow it to capture the foreground and background.
Samsung is also including a variety of LUTs for your images, but you can also create your own custom version to fit your tastes.
Okay, so we didn't know about this, but "Best Face" analyzes the pictures you've taken and then picks the "best" one, which is great for group photos where one person happened to blink or yawn at the wrong moment.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra now features a 50MP ultra wide lens, offering high-resolution macro photography, or even just fantastic wide-angle images.
Another major change to the camera system is that you can record videos in the Log format. It's essentially the same as snapping photos in RAW, giving you more flexibility when editing, which includes color-grading.
Here's another fantastic new feature: Audio Eraser. You can finally get rid of background noise from videos, whether they are recorded on your phone, downloaded from the internet, or if your friend sent you something.
Samsung's currently talking about all of the different ways that your Galaxy devices, will keep track of your health. Some of the new features include Vascular Load, tracking Health Records, and quite a bit more.
Samsung says it's implementing even deeper Matter support into its SmartThings ecosystem including intelligent device interoperability. The company showed off how you can ask Gemini to turn off your TV when you fall asleep, which will then use your connected smart watch to determine when you actually fall asleep.
The company also talked about how it's using a private block chain to ensure communication between devices and the cloud is kept as private as possible.
Samsung is doubling down on recycled materials in its new phones, noting that every single external component now contains recycled materials. The company says it has saved 150 tons of nets from entering the ocean as trash since its recycled program began in 2022.
Samsung just teased the Galaxy S25 Edge by showing a blown apart phone on stage. While the company didn't reveal much, it showed off a rather slim looking phone, leading us to believe this is the rumored Galaxy S25 Slim. It's thought that this phone will launch sometime this Summer with a notably slimmer and lighter design than current Galaxy S25 phones bear.
We've got a few pictures of the Galaxy S25 Edge live and in person thanks to our man on the ground, Michael Hicks. Here, Samsung is showing how much thinner the phone is than other models in the Galaxy S25 line. It's a bit difficult to appreciate it from a distance but you can still get an idea here.
Samsung has the Galaxy S25 Edge dangling from a thin metal support to prove a point. While the company hasn't revealed specs yet, it's clear this phone is a lot lighter than what we're used to in modern flagships.
Samsung's "Project Moohan" Android XR-powered headset also made an appearance on the show floor at Unpacked 2025 today. They're not letting anyone try it on but this is the first time they've publicly shown off the headset like this, giving you an idea of the size and shape of Samsung's upcoming Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro rival.
Samsung talked a bit about Android XR today and how it would be utilizing the newest Android platform for its upcoming mixed reality headset. The company said we'd be learning more about it later this year, which follows previously established expectations. The headset is said to be packing cutting-edge technology without the Apple Vision Pro price tag, plus the polished look of Android XR on the software side of things.
While we expect the headset to have motion controller support like a Meta Quest 3, we don't yet know if Samsung will be shipping the headset with controllers in the box.
Samsung put together a nice little infographic on all the main specs for the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus. The company specifically pointed out that all the new Galaxy AI features are available across the entire Galaxy S25 lineup, so there's no need so spend an extra few hundred bucks just to get everything.
And here's the same type of spec infographic for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It's a nice breakdown of all the features and specs Samsung thinks are the most important, including the upgraded CPU/GPU/NPU performance, Corning Gorilla Armor 2, AI features like Now Bar and Audio Eraser, and plenty more.
It's official: The Galaxy S25's S Pen does not include Bluetooth Low Energy support. This means that Air Commands are gone forever, and users cannot use the S Pen as a remote camera shutter anymore. Samsung said it removed the feature because only 1% of Galaxy S Ultra users used it and it was contributing to extra weight and battery usage. Does this affect your decision to upgrade, or are you in the 99% of users who apparently didn't use it?
Liking what you see? The Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra are all up for preorder right now until February 7th. We've rounded up the best Samsung Galaxy S25 deals that are available right now including unlocked models and deals from your carrier of choice.
Every year, Samsung releases a handful of exclusive phone colors you can only get by ordering off the company's website. This year, we're looking at a rather dashing gold color, a flashy coral, and a suave dark grey for the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus.
The colors you can get through other stores and carriers are limited to cool tones like "Icyblue," so if these warmer hues are more your style, head to this link to order one from Samsung. The company is offering some terrific deals and excellent trade-in values, too, so bring an old phone along for the ride and see how much you can cut off the price!
Galaxy S25 Ultra customers get to pick from four very blue and grey colors in store or at their favorite carrier, but more options await when you buy direct from Samsung. We got to see the three Samsung.com-exclusive colors which include Pinkgold, Jetblack, and Jadegreen. Yes, Samsung clearly likes to smash two words together and call them a color, and these are looking mighty sharp compared to the other ones available.
Personally, I'm really loving that Jadegreen color and you can only get it if you head over to the Galaxy S25 Ultra Samsung site and order direct from Samsung. Samsung almost always has the best trade-in deals, as well, so you'll be getting hundreds off the latest flagship and a choice of colors you can't get anywhere else.
We're taking a closer look at the Galaxy S25 Edge on display here at Samsung Unpacked 2025. The phone is significantly thinner than the Galaxy S25 models Samsung has on sale right now, coming in at just barely thicker than the USB-C port by the looks of things.
Of course, that means the camera module protrudes quite a bit as Samsung won't want to sacrifice camera quality just to make a thinner phone. Would you buy an ultra-thin Galaxy S25 model?
Here's a closer shot of the Galaxy S25 Edge next to a standard Galaxy S25 model. Again, Samsung is going for a seriously thin phone that reminds us a bit of the iPhone 6 days when companies kept pushing things thinner and thinner. Thankfully, Samsung has Armor Aluminum and other tricks up its sleeve to avoid Bendgate happening all over again.
We don't yet know the exact composition of materials used on the Galaxy S25 Edge but can safely assume that Samsung will be making its thinnest phone ever with an extra-strong build.
If you’d rather preorder one of the phones through your carrier, Verizon has you covered. Make your purchase before February 7th and the Big Three carrier will give you a Samsung Galaxy S25 or S25 Plus for FREE when you process a trade-in and add a line with the Unlimited Ultimate plan. Pick up the super-powered Galaxy S25 Ultra instead and Verizon will hook you up with $1,000 over 36 months when you meet the eligibility requirements.
To make the deal even sweeter, the carrier will also hook you up with a free Galaxy Watch 7 or Tab S9 FE, just for kicks. There’s a good bit of fine print involved, but if you can make it work for you, it’s one of the best Verizon deals around.
Samsung talked about AI Agents during the Galaxy S25 launch, but what is that? And why should we care? Well, it turns out it might be exactly what we've always envisioned when we talk about AI assistants. Android Central's Jerry Hildenbrand explains Agentic AI in his latest article, breaking down this new-ish tech and explaining why it's a pretty cool deal.
Durability is the name of the game, and the Galaxy S25 series looks and feels pretty sturdy, especially with Gorilla Armor 2 on the S25 Ultra. But what about water and dust resistance? Well, while phones like the OnePlus 13 are rated for IP68/IP69 (in case your phone finds itself in a running dishwasher), the entire Galaxy S25 series is only rated for IP68.
Still, that's nothing to scoff at, and it should be quite enough to keep your Galaxy S25 from spazzing out in the rain or if you drop it in water. Find out more about what the Galaxy S25 water resistance rating means.
Did you miss out on Galaxy Unpacked today? Well, fear not because we have a roundup of the biggest announcements and reveals at Galaxy Unpacked 2025. It covers... well, exactly as it says! From the Galaxy S25 to the new AI features, and we even got live, in-person looks at Samsung's upcoming Project Moohan XR device and the rather elusive Galaxy S25 Edge.
Read about it all in our round-up, or you can scroll through our live blog. It's up to you 🙃
Samsung says the Galaxy S25 series is Qi2 ready, but there's a limitation — you'll need to buy a case that has the requisite magnets to unlock the standard. The Galaxy S25, 25+ and S25 Ultra don't have magnets within the chassis, with Samsung instead relying on accessories.
Samsung is listing S25 magnet cases on its website that bring Qi2 charging to the devices, and it is introducing a 3-in-1 charging dock to charge your Galaxy Watch, phone, and earbuds at the same time.
Good news if you're looking to buy the Galaxy S25 series outside the U.S. Samsung has confirmed that all global models of the S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra are powered by Qualcomm, and there isn't an Exynos version this time.
While Samsung went with Qualcomm on all S24 Ultra models globally last year, the standard S24 and S24+ came with Exynos 2400 instead, and they didn't quite have the same battery efficiency and were prone to heating issues. This year, all models of the S25 and S25+ run Qualcomm hardware in all global markets, and Samsung is even using a customized version that's overclocked, so it is technically faster.
The Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra are now available globally, and as is always the case, Samsung has generous trade-in offers going up to $900. The base model of the S25 still starts with 128GB of storage, but all three variants come with 12GB of RAM as standard — you can thank Galaxy AI for that.
The devices cost the same as last year in the U.S., U.K., and most other global markets, and here's an overview of what each model costs around the world:
- Samsung Galaxy S25 12GB/128GB: $799 / £799 / €899
- Samsung Galaxy S25 12GB/256GB: $859 / £859 / €959 / ₹80.999
- Samsung Galaxy S25 12GB/512GB: €1,079 / £980 / ₹92,999
- Samsung Galaxy S25+ 12GB/256GB: $999 / 999 / €1,169 / ₹99,999
- Samsung Galaxy S25+ 12GB/512GB: $1,119 / £1,099 / €1,289 / ₹112,000
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 12GB/256GB: $1,299 / £1,249 / €1,469 / ₹129,999
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 12GB/512GB: $1,419 / £1,349 / €1,589 / ₹141,999
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 12GB/1TB: $1,659 / £1,559 / €1,829 / ₹165,999
Don't like using cases with your phone? The Galaxy S25 Ultra has Corning's Gorilla Armor 2 protection, delivering much better resilience against tumbles. Corning says the device can withstand tumbles of up to 2.2 m on a surface similar to concrete.
In the past, shatter resistance meant the glass wouldn't hold up as well against scratches, but that isn't the case with Gorilla Armor 2 — Corning is touting four times increased resistance against any kinds of scratches in regular use. The best part is that the glass retains the anti-reflective coating that debuted last year, so you don't get any glare when using the device outdoors. All in all, a solid upgrade, but it's limited to the S25 Ultra — the S25 and S25+ retain Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
Samsung is positioning AI as the key differentiator with the Galaxy S25, with Galaxy AI seeing the debut of over a dozen new features. Agentic AI is a new trend among phone brands, and Samsung is taking the lead in this area.
Another interesting tweak is that Gemini is installed out of the box on the new phones, and it is the de facto assistant instead of Bixby. To get a rundown of all the new AI features coming to these devices, be sure to go through our hands-on post.
You probably know by now that Samsung removed Bluetooth Low Energy support from the Galaxy S25 Ultra's inbuilt S Pen. However, you may not know that this change may affect the S Pen Pro you already have. Early Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra testers are finding that they can't pair their S Pen Pro with the new Galaxy flagship. In fact, the official S Pen Pro compatibility list from Samsung does not include the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
This could be a disappointment for Galaxy S25 Ultra users for people who liked the S Pen Pro's multi-generational compatibility, device switching, SmartThings Find support, retractable tip, and more.
The collaborations between Samsung and Google for the Galaxy S25 series just keep coming. Today, Google announced that the Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup — along with Pixels — would be some of the first smartphones to get an upcoming Identity Check feature in One UI 7. When Identity Check is turned on, Google explains that "your device will require explicit biometric authentication to access certain sensitive resources when you’re outside of trusted locations."
Identity Check will roll out to One UI 7 devices, including the Galaxy S25 series, "in the coming weeks."
Aside from a brief teaser and dummy models at Galaxy Unpacked 2025, we don't know a whole lot about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. However, renowned tech insider Mark Gurman is reporting that the Galaxy S25 Edge will come to the U.S. after all, and in the first half of this year. Gurman also claims it'll be cheaper than the $1,299 Galaxy S25 Ultra. What would it take for you to make the ultra-slim Galaxy S25 Edge your daily driver?
A new way to purchase Samsung Galaxy phones is arriving with the Galaxy S25 series. It's called the "New Galaxy Club," and the way it works is simple. You buy a Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, or Galaxy S25 Ultra as you normally would. Then, you can optionally pay an additional monthly fee. It's $8.33 per month for the Galaxy S25 Plus or Ultra, and $6.20 per month for the Galaxy S25.
After 12 months of payments, subscribers can upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S26 series and are guaranteed a 50% MSRP trade-in credit toward their next phone. Alternatively, Samsung will pay your remaining phone installments. The New Galaxy Club perks also include Samsung Care+ included.
So, it's not necessarily a bad deal, but it is a big ask for customers to pay a subscription fee on top of the price of their new Galaxy S25 smartphone.
Conscious about your battery health? Samsung appears to have finally added battery health data to the Galaxy S25 series. You'll be able to view the battery's current status, cycle count, battery health percentage, and more in the Settings app.
Finally! You can now see your Battery Health, including the Cycle Count on the Galaxy S25 Series 🔋 pic.twitter.com/xTb5ECkRL4January 23, 2025
The list of included data adds the battery's manufacturing date and first used data, helpful for keeping track of usage and for resale. This matches functionality that Google, Apple, and other brands have added to flagships in recent years.
All Samsung Galaxy S25 models have the same 12GB of RAM this year, or do they? As it turns out, the leaks suggesting the Galaxy S25 Ultra might be offered with 16GB weren't entirely incorrect. While the 12GB variant of the Galaxy S25 Ultra is sold in the U.S. and most other regions, there's a 1TB/16GB configuration available in Taiwan, South Korea, China, and Hong Kong (via Android Police). It's a mystery as to why this powerhouse configuration isn't sold in North America.
There's an app missing from the Samsung Galaxy S25: Samsung Messages. Now, this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, since Samsung also pulled it from the company's set of default apps on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 last year. However, the move firmly reinforces that Google Messages is the future for Samsung's flagship phones, including the Galaxy S25 lineup. Here's to hoping this means Samsung will continue to reduce One UI's bloat atop Android over time.
If you're planning on buying a new Galaxy S25, you'll want to take a look at some protection for your phone. As pretty and tough as these phones are, you're gonna want to keep them safe from drops with a case and/or screen protector.
Fortunately for you, we have you covered (pun intended) with our collections of the best Galaxy S25 cases and screen protectors you can find right now! Check them out below for the phone you plan to buy. You'll also want to look into a MagSafe case to take advantage of magnetic wireless charging!
- Galaxy S25 cases
- Galaxy S25 screen protectors
- Galaxy S25 Plus cases
- Galaxy S25 Plus screen protectors
- Galaxy S25 Ultra cases
- Galaxy S25 Ultra screen protectors
Also, keep in mind that if you're coming from the Galaxy S24 series, the cases may or may not fit the newer phones due to a difference in dimensions. We also have you covered there in case you want to check if your Galaxy S24 case will fit the Galaxy S25.
