This year's first major tech event seems to be brewing. But Samsung is still being tight-lipped about it. All eyes are on Samsung as it is set to launch the Galaxy S25 series by January 22, according to most recent reports, which gave us a tease into this year's Unpacked banner. We haven't received any official confirmation from the tech giant yet, but following recent launches, the event is expected to take place in California, in tandem with the launch at the company's home ground, South Korea.
For more about what we expect from this year's flagships, you can check out our ultimate Galaxy S25 guide. For more on Galaxy Unpacked, continue below.
How to watch this year's Galaxy Unpacked
While a lucky few get to attend the event in person and soak in all the Galaxy magic, Samsung will livestream the launch on its official website and YouTube platforms. The company has done this in the past, and we expect the same this time around. While we don't have a link for you yet, be sure to keep an eye out for one closer to the launch and hit on the "notify me" button to give yourself a heads-up before the live stream begins.
So what can we expect from the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event, and will Samsung's new offerings be just as exciting as the previous ones? Let's dive in.
Samsung Galaxy S25, Plus, and Ultra
Samsung is celebrating a milestone with the S25's launch—15 years since it introduced the first Galaxy device. We expect the new series to have significant hardware and software changes compared to previous models.
According to several leaked renders, the Galaxy S25, Samsung looks to be keeping it uniform with the design language across all three models, much like what Apple does with its iPhones. To everyone's relief, the phones are expected to have flat sides all around, completely flat front and back glass, and rounded corners, unlike the usual sharp square corners. But the Ultra version still seems to be keeping it a bit more edgy.
When it comes to cameras, which Samsung prides itself on every year, the new flagship devices are expected to receive some upgrades. Earlier this year, the phone was rumored to be ditching the ISOCELL GN3 sensors and going all-Sony. However, more recent rumors suggest that isn't the case, and Samsung will stick with the same cameras on the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus. On the other hand, the Ultra could have a f/1.7 aperture and a 23.2mm focal length. The sensor's maximum resolution will be 4080×3060, with a 200MP camera.
The flagship phones are said to come out of the box with the new One UI 7, which we will get to in a bit. Additionally, Samsung is loading this series with more AI and new parental control features into the OS.
The Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus are rumored to launch in Midnight Black, Sparkling Green, Sparkling Blue, Silver Shadow, and Moon Night Blue colorways. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is expected to launch in seven different colors: Titanium Black, Titanium SilverBlue, Titanium Gray, Titanium WhiteSilver, Titanium JetBlack, Titanium JadeGreen, and Titanium PinkGold.
You may be asking, "But how much will all of this cost?". This flagship series could be quite pricey, with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite likely to power the Galaxy S25 series, bringing "astonishing levels of performance" that may require Samsung to hike the price up.
There have also been rumors about a Galaxy S25 Slim, although it's unclear if we'll see this at Unpacked or a later launch.
One UI 7
The One UI 7 beta arrived in eligible Samsung S24 devices just in time for Christmas, making it "the best version of One UI Samsung has made in a very long time," according to Android Central's Nick Sutrich.
The UI has a new and improved notification bar; pulling down on the right side of the status bar brings up a full screen of quick toggle buttons and sliders while swiping down on the left side of the status bar brings up notifications. Ring a bell? (See iPhone.)
Secondly, the beta version finally has a native vertical app drawer, something Galaxy users have wanted for years, although users can reset it to the horizontal version if it doesn't work for them. The app drawer has a scroll bar on the right for quickly moving between apps.
The next major display change users would notice is the multitasking UI, which finally allows you to see more than one app tile at a time. Samsung showcases its apps in a 3D carousel so users can quickly spot the next app on their scroll list.
Other updates on the OS include new icons, updated fonts, a new battery indicator, and an array of new widgets to dig your nails into. We can also expect plenty of new AI features and updates to Samsung's Galaxy AI suite.
Android XR
Another exciting thing that could be unveiled at this year's Unpacked is something Android developers and Samsung have been collaborating on— creating a wholesome XR experience with the Samsung headset dubbed project Moohan (meaning infinity in Korean).
"Imagine being in the world that understands you and responds to your every interaction," said Samsung's head of mobile R&D, Won-Joon Choi, at a recent live demo event.
Android XR will enable mixed reality interactions in the virtual world and the real one. The video example showed a person wearing a prototype Samsung VR headset while watching YouTube. Another live demo of Project Moohan's integration with Gemini showed its conversational multimodal abilities.
The headset that looks a lot like Apple's Vision Pro comes with a Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 and is set to debut in 2025 "with more devices to follow," according to Qualcomm.
We still don't have the specifics as to how much it would cost and what kind of abilities it will come equipped with out of the box. However, we might get a quick glimpse of some hardware at Unpacked. The Korean news outlet Yonhapnews indicated that Samsung might be showcasing a sneak peek of its first-ever smart glasses. It could be a short video or an image reveal—likely similar to the way the Galaxy Ring was shown off at the 2024 Unpacked Event.
It's unclear if the reveal will be the Project Moohan hardware or another product in development. That said, we're hoping we get a better idea at the upcoming Unpacked event.
https://t.co/M9g0P1IJOpDecember 3, 2024
More Galaxy Ring news?
While there's a lot of chatter about Samsung unveiling the Galaxy Ring 2, it seems highly unlikely, as it announced the first version of its ring just six months ago. However, what we might see is an array of new ring sizes—14 and 15—that may become available.
It's unclear if Samsung has any other tricks up its sleeve for its smart ring, so we'll have to wait and see what the company has in store and if it is planning any updates and feature additions.
