Samsung’s first Unpacked event of 2025 delivered the Galaxy S25 series – as expected. Although the phones don’t have dramatically improved specs, the company has stuffed them with – you guessed it! – more AI in devices. The latter batch is more contextual and predictive, and some of them even take more advantage of the phones’ slightly upgraded hardware.
Galaxy S25 Ultra
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is still the biggest, best and most expensive of the bunch. It has a 6.9-inch screen and a more rounded edge for a “comfortable grip”. Samsung says it’s “the thinnest, lightest, and most durable Galaxy Ultra device ever,” featuring a titanium body with Corning’s Gorilla Armor 2 for “advanced protection against falls” and resistance to scratches.
Unlike the two smaller models, one of the Ultra’s camera sensors has received an upgrade: its ultra-wide lens is now 50 MP, compared to just 12 MP in the Ultra model. ‘last year.
Like its siblings, the S25 Ultra is powered by a customized version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which allows the trio of phones to process many of their AI experiments on-device. Of course, it’s better for privacy.
Although the phone continued the tradition of including an S Pen (it’s now essentially the long-retired Galaxy Note), Air Commands – which bridged the gap between the two – bit the dust. Samsung told Engadget in a briefing that less than 1% of S Pen customers use the feature. And those who have done so have primarily used it as a camera shutter, which is easily replicated in other ways. Samsung says the removal allowed it to lose weight and increase the durability of the S Pen.
Engadget’s Sam Rutherford got an early look at the Galaxy S25 Ultra and said it “looks like a good phone” and described Samsung’s AI suite as “much more consistent and easier to access,” but also felt the company “could do it.” more for its most expensive non-foldable phone.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra has 12GB of RAM and comes in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage tiers. That’s still a considerable investment, though — starting at $1,300.
Galaxy S25 and S25+
The Galaxy S25 and S25+ have had their RAM upgraded to 12 GB (same as the Ultra), compared to 8 GB in their 2024 predecessors. It combines with the Snapdragon 8 Elite to better manage the many AI features of the telephones. (More in a minute.)
The rest of their hardware is remarkably similar to the S24 and S24+. They still have 6.2-inch and 6.7-inch screens respectively. But Samsung’s new ProScaler AI tool can upgrade images in real time to perhaps compensate for unchanged specs. Samsung claims this can improve the quality of what you see by 40 percent.
Engadget’s Mat Smith tried out the Galaxy S25 and S25+ and praised the “premium, solidly built” slim designs and “vivid, bright and beautiful” displays. However, he was skeptical about the phones’ AI-centric focus. “In just a few years, Samsung has built a substantial collection of artificial intelligence tricks, features and applications,” he wrote. “While some of these have been impressive, like live translation and annotation, others (often involving generative AI) aren’t actually useful – or notable – enough to warrant regular use.”
Storage is also unchanged from the S24 series: 128GB or 256GB in the Galaxy S25 and 256GB or 512GB in the Galaxy S25+. Fortunately, prices are also unchanged. You’ll pay $800 or more for the S25 and $1,000 and more for the S25+.
Galaxy AI
With most hardware upgrades (except the Snapdragon chip) coming this generation, Samsung is leaning heavily on AI features to make you want to spend hard-earned money on the new models . This year, Samsung’s One UI 7 on top of Android 15 combines to create what Samsung calls “a new AI-integrated operating system.” It aims for more personalized and context-aware AI, rather than just a series of one-off tools.
AI plays a central role in the phones’ camera features, with the Qualcomm chip allowing the phones to better analyze noise, leading to what Samsung says is better low-light performance. Audio Eraser is a tool that Samsung says will use AI to remove unwanted noise from videos like wind or a random stranger’s conversation.
Samsung is packaging its new collection of on-device AI tools into what it calls the Personal Data Engine. The series of multi-modal (text, images, video, audio) machine learning agents leads to features like AI Select, which builds on Samsung’s previous Smart Select tool. The new AI-powered version can scan your screen and suggest contextual tasks, like creating a GIF from a YouTube video you’re watching.
You could say the AI-powered Now Bar is Samsung’s answer to the iPhone’s dynamic island. The pill-shaped bar is at the bottom of the lock screen and below the digital clock when the phone is unlocked. It generates a series of context-based reminders. Within the Now Bar is another AI feature, the Now Brief, which generates morning, noon, and evening summaries of information it thinks will be relevant to you.
Samsung’s Sketch to Image tool has been renamed Drawing Assist, and Samsung says the feature is more refined and precise. It also adds an option to import existing images for your prompt. The S25 series also adds an improved version of Google’s Circle to Search (activated by long-pressing the home button). It can now recognize phone numbers, emails and URLs, allowing you to trigger corresponding actions with a single click.
Galaxy S25 Edge
Well, I hope you like being teased because, well, there’s not much to do here. Just as it did a year ago with its big reveal of a render of the Galaxy Ring, Samsung gave Unpacked viewers a tiny glimpse of its “Galaxy Slim” phone, which will instead be called the Galaxy S25 Edge.
The teaser shows a quick look at a phone that is indeed thinner, but the company showed off its vapor chamber, cameras, and metal frame more than the full handset. (And the engineers are going wild.) We also don’t know its price or release date. However, Bloomberg reports that it will use many of the same components as the S25 Ultra but cost less.
Samsung Wallet Updates
The company has added two new payment features: Instant Payout and Tap to Transfer.
As the name suggests, Instant Install is a “buy now, pay later” service that lets you turn your purchases into an offline payment plan experience. It’s completely managed on the device and available for Visa and Mastercard purchases.
Engadget’s Cherlynn Low was informed by Samsung about the service. “It’s not that Samsung plans to become a credit provider and borrow,” she wrote. “Instead, it makes your purchases easier and turns your payments into what the company representative called a “first offline payment plan experience.”
Meanwhile, Tap to Transfer is a peer-to-peer payment service, rivaling Apple’s Tap to Cash. Like the iPhone equivalent, you simply bump phones with anyone you want to pay (or by whom you want to pay). But it’s not limited to Samsung Pay; you can also use it with third-party applications, since it is rather linked to the associated card or account. Like instant payment, it works with Visa and Mastercard.
Galaxy Watch for Kids
The Galaxy Watch for Kids may look like a new piece of gear, but it’s more of a new configuration option for the cellular Galaxy Watch 7 (and likely future wearables). You know, kind of like Apple Watch for Kids.
Samsung, which partnered with Google for the experiment, says parents can set up a child’s watch from their phone and activate their eSim. From there, the child can use the smartwatch without a paired phone. As you might expect, parents can put safeguards in place, like installed apps or Do Not Disturb status during school hours. Location sharing is optional, and Samsung and Google are offering new apps and watch faces aimed at kids to keep things fun.
