What to expect from the Samsung Galaxy S25 event

Time is cyclical. We have already returned to the part of the year when Samsung will announce its new family of flagship devices for the year. The company is expected to announce the Galaxy S25 at a fanfare day in San Jose, CA, on Wednesday, January 22. The maelstrom begins to 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET for those who join us live.

You can follow Samsung’s keynote here at Gizmodo, where we’ll have the news when it hits. Samsung will broadcast the event Samsung.com and his officer YouTube channel.

What to expect from the Galaxy S25

January’s Unpacked event will introduce the Galaxy S25 in two sizes and the Galaxy S25 Ultra, a third phone considered to be Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone due to its bells and whistles. To the dismay of some of you reading, the “bells” are usually included AI software improvementswhich is how every manufacturer on the platform tries to differentiate itself from its Android father, Google.

Everything Samsung will announce about the Galaxy S25 series has been leaked. The phones have already gone through the FCC. Samsung is sticking to the same display sizes as before. The Galaxy S25 will have a 6.2-inch screen, and the Galaxy S25+ will be only slightly larger at 6.7-inches. The huge Galaxy S25 Ultra is still established to be the largest in the line with a 6.8-inch display. Samsung’s schtick this year will concentrate about how much thinner and lighter their phones are ccompared to him iPhone 16 Pro Max.

U The Galaxy S25’s chip will undoubtedly be powerful. Now that the Snapdragon 8 Elite exists, Samsung and Qualcomm will probably collaborate on the chip to ensure that the Galaxy S25 has something to outperform the rest of its Android colleagues—especially where AI is concerned. The phones of this generation should prove that they are powerful enough to perform AI tasks on the device while providing improved camera algorithms, game framerates and streamlined software.

Let’s be honest: it’s all about AI this year for every device maker, whether we like it or not. AI will be a massive part of the keynote as Galaxy AI took over a big part of the show last year. There may be an AI companion that Samsung is trotting out at this month’s Unpacked that stands out from Google’s AI efforts. An interesting escape that he pulled out at the last minute apparently confirms this. It indicates a little command “oi Google Gemini”, which comes to, when translated from Portuguese, “Hey Google Gemini”. This suggests that Samsung and Google remain in agreement on this AI thing, although there is a lot of mention of what Samsung will do to offer something. different. The most significant feature seems to be a daily summary that collects data from your Samsung apps and offers colorful data summaries. This sounds like one of those features that probably requires a ton of commitment to the Samsung device ecosystem if you want to get anything, namely its wearables.

What to expect from the Galaxy S25 camera

There’s not much to get excited about in terms of the camera system on the Galaxy S25 Ultra or the rest of the Galaxy S25 family. It will still be the same slightly saturated camera algorithms, with reds looking their reddest and deep shadows throughout. A leaker has possibly “confirmed” that only the ultra-wide camera of the Galaxy S25 Ultra will receive a significant upgrade this year to enable more detailed wide-angle photography. The primary camera on the Ultra is also expected to have the same 200-MP sensor and super zoom capabilities as the last two generations. If it ain’t broke, why should Samsung try to fix it?

We’re not sure if there’s any truth to the chatter about the 360-degree camera capabilities in the Galaxy S25 Ultra as it competes with the iPhone’s Space Video offerings.

What to expect from Samsung wearables

After the Galaxy S25 smartphones take the stage, Samsung will shift the focus to other sides of its gadget business. Wearables have been a significant focus for the manufacturer, especially since the introduction of the Ring Galaxy. But it seems too early for Samsung to tease anything about the next generation of its finger gadget.

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 in the Galaxy S24 showcase without packaging, but I don’t expect it.

We are more likely to hear about these supposed XR glasses. With this first Unpacked event, Samsung could try to beat Meta to the hype of smart glasses. The company was spotted working with Google and Qualcomm on a prototype for a a pair of smart glasses. Smart glasses were the name of the game at CES 2025, the same way that smart rings stole the show at last year’s annual fair. Samsung is known to ride the hype train at the right time, and this would be the time to present itself as a manufacturer of glasses.

Whatever’s next, “Over the Horizon” (the name of Samsung’s title song; you probably have it as a ringtone on your Samsung phone), we’ve got it covered here at Gizmodo. Tune in very, very soon. It’s almost too soon.