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TM Roh of Samsung speaks at a Galaxy Unpacked event in front of Galaxy AI banner

(Image credit:  EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

The new year will be here before you know it, which means one of Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked events will soon follow. And though Samsung has yet to issue any formal Galaxy Unpacked 2025 invitations — or even acknowledge that it’s hosting such an event — it’s pretty clear what’s going to be on the agenda.

Samsung typically turns to its first product event of the year to launch its latest flagship phones. This time around, that figures to be the Galaxy S25 lineup, and we’re already hearing rumors about what’s planned for those new handsets. Beyond that, though, things are a little more up in the air, though there certainly are a few intriguing possibilities when it comes to products that could join the S25 phones at Galaxy Unpacked 2025.

It’s not jumping the gun to start thinking about Unpacked 2025 now. Recent launch events have taken place in the first two months of the year, with the 2024 edition that brought us the Galaxy S24 taking place especially early. Samsung isn’t likely to move up the date any further — not without colliding with the massive CES trade show taking place in early January — but a mid-month event seems like it’s definitely in the cards.

Here’s a closer look at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025, including when Samsung might host its product launch and what it might show off at the event.

When will Galaxy Unpacked 2025 take place?

SAP Center Galaxy Unpacked 2024.

(Image credit: Future)

Samsung hasn’t announced a date for its next product event, but you only have to look at the company’s recent history to figure out when Unpacked might take place. Each year, Samsung seems to move the event forward, starting with a February 7 event in 2022, followed by the 2023 edition on February 1 and last year’s installment on January 17. Most Samsung watchers assume the company will stick with January for 2025 as well.

In fact, a news report out of South Korea claims that Samsung’s next Unpacked event would be around January 23. That’s a Thursday, which would be an usual day of the week for Unpacked. The 2023 and 2024 editions of Unpacked were held on a Wednesday. It’s possible the original report was using the date the event would take place in the Korean time zone; if so, that would mean the event would take place on January 22 in the U.S.

Samsung’s last two January Unpacked events have been held in Northern California — San Francisco in 2023 and San Jose this past year. The report listing a possible event date for Galaxy Unpacked 2025 claims the next edition will take place in San Francisco once again.

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Will I be able to live stream Galaxy Unpacked 2025?

Samsung will almost certainly live stream its next Unpacked event, though it’s way too early to offer any specifics. However, it’s a safe bet you’ll be able to watch Galaxy Unpacked 2025 on Samsung’s YouTube channel.

What will Samsung announce at Galaxy Unpacked 2025?

Flagship phones usually lead the parade of announcements at the first Unpacked event of the year, and 2025 doesn’t figure to be any different.

Samsung Galaxy S25

Leaked render of the Samsung Galaxy S25

(Image credit: OnLeaks)

Samsung is all but certain to announce the Galaxy S25 family at Unpacked, having already confirmed that the new phones will arrive in early 2025. We’re expecting Samsung to offer the same models that usually make up its flagship lineup — a standard phone joined by the Galaxy S25 Plus and the premium Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Samsung has confirmed that it’s going to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite, with leakers suggesting the new Qualcomm chipset will power every model. That’s a departure from this past year when Samsung used a mixture of Exynos and Qualcomm silicon in the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus. (The Galaxy S24 Ultra featured the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 exclusively.) It’s also a big deal because we’ve benchmarked the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset in a Qualcomm-supplied reference device, and it really blew the doors off of our speed and graphics testing. It’s also a more power-efficient chip, too, which could mean big battery life gains for the S25 phones.

On the camera front, the Galaxy S25 Ultra could see an upgraded ultrawide sensor and an improved telephoto lenses that promise smoother zooming. Camera changes on the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus could be more modest.

We’d expect the focus at Galaxy Unpacked to once again fall on AI capabilities. Samsung rolled out Galaxy AI features at the January 2024 Unpacked, and they’ve played a big role in setting apart Samsung’s flagship phones from other handsets. We’ll likely hear about new Galaxy AI capabilities at Unpacked 2025, though specifics have yet to leak out.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim

Circle to Search on Galaxy S24

(Image credit: Samsung)

Samsung’s rumored to be working on another member of the Galaxy S25 family — an ultra-thin version dubbed the Galaxy S25 Slim. So far, the distinguishing feature on this rumored device is that it would be dramatically thinner than other Samsung flagships. With the S24 measuring 7.6mm thin, we’d assume Samsung would try and make this new phone closer to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in terms of size. That foldable phone is 5.6mm thin when unfolded.

Another Galaxy S25 Slim rumor tips the new phone to adopt a 200MP main camera, matching the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s marquee hardware spec. That could suggest a phone that’s closer in price to the $1,299 Ultra than the $799 standard model. Other details, like what chipset Samsung would use, are less clear at this stage.

The Korean paper tipping a January 22/23 date for Galaxy Unpacked 2025 also claims that the S25 Slim will appear at that event. That runs counter to other Galaxy S25 Slim rumors that claim the phone will debut later in the spring or early summer at a separate event.

Galaxy Z Flip FE

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6 in-hand with outer display showing

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

Rumors of cheaper Samsung foldables have swirled around for a while now. At one point last year, we had heard talk of a Galaxy Z Fold 6 FE that was supposed to debut alongside Samsung’s regular foldable and then later on in either 2024 or at the 2025 Unpacked event.

Talk of a cheaper version of the Galaxy Z Fold has died down, but rumors of another lower-cost foldable have risen to take its place. Samsung could have a Galaxy Z Flip FE in the works with an ideal of offering a cheaper version of its $1,099 foldable flip phone.

There are few concrete details about the Galaxy Z Flip FE, other than the assertion that it’s going to show up at some point in 2025. Like the Galaxy S25 Slim, though, most of the rumors suggest a launch date later in the year and not at the Unpacked event in January. Still, it’s a potential new model that’s on our radar.

One UI 7

Samsung presenting One UI 7.

(Image credit: Samsung)

Let’s talk about something that’s almost certain to be at Unpacked 2025, if only because it’s already been linked to the Galaxy S25 launch. Samsung’s long-awaited One UI 7 interface based on Android 15 is expected to launch with Samsung’s new phones, so the software could get some face time at Unpacked, particularly if there are new features to highlight.

Samsung has only teased One UI 7 so far, promising new interface elements and more integration of Galaxy AI into daily activities. Rumored additions include a notification summary feature and an expanded version of the Circle to Search tool Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S24.

We could find out what’s in One UI 7 ahead of Galaxy Unpacked and the S25 launch. Rumors claim a beta will arrive at some point in November.

Galaxy Ring 2

The Samsung Galaxy Ring in a user's hand with blue painted fingernails

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

The original Galaxy Ring just started shipping in July so it’s probably too soon for a sequel, even if rumors have the Galaxy Ring 2 arriving early than originally thought, which we take to mean ahead of July 2025 and the one-year anniversary of the first smart ring’s release.

Samsung previewed the first Galaxy Ring at Unpacked 2024, so it’s possible that the company could make time for an update, especially in the context of any new health tracking features it wishes to show off. Otherwise, Galaxy Ring 2 rumors a thinner model with longer battery life and unspecified new capabilities.

Mixed reality devices

galaxy unpacked 2023

(Image credit: Samsung via YouTube)

Back at Unpacked 2023, executives from Qualcomm and Google appeared on stage to announce a partnership with Samsung on a mixed reality platform that would presumably result in new hardware like a headset. By the Unpacked event this summer, Google and Samsung were promising a 2024 debut for the platform, with reports immediately focusing on a mixed-reality headset built by Samsung and powered by Qualcomm’s chips.

That headset’s been pushed back to a 2025 release, with one report claiming it could debut in March. Even if that date is accurate, we could get a preview during Unpacked 2025, especially since some details about specs have surfaced via a patent filing.

Samsung could have a different mixed reality surprise up its sleeve, too. Earlier this fall, Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon suggested that the trio was looking at the possibility of smart glasses, though that project may not be as far along as the rumored headset.

More from Tom’s Guide

Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide. He’s been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He’s been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he’s been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.

[ For more curated Samsung news, check out the main news page here]

The post Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025: Likely dates, Samsung Galaxy S25 launch plans and more first appeared on www.tomsguide.com

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