Samsung Unpacked 2025: Live updates on the Galaxy 25 launch, Galaxy AI and more

Thanks again for your time joining us on our coverage of Samsung Galaxy Unpacked today. If you'd like, you can always keep scrolling down this page to relive the liveblog — I certainly do that because I love seeing my own words. But if you prefer a neat little summary to recap with, we have a roundup article that should save you some time! From the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S25 series, to Galaxy AI and Google's Gemini, to the surprise tease of the Galaxy S25 Edge, there's plenty to catch up on. Stay tuned for our deeper testing and reviews of these devices, and we hope to see you again soon.

Read more: Everything Samsung announced at the Galaxy S25 launch event

Sam, who's our unofficial Qi2 beat reporter, has been lamenting the sad state of Qi2 support on Android devices for awhile. Despite the standard being announced about two years ago, there has only been one phone that actually has magnets and supports the Qi2 spec. Imagine our curiosity quickly giving way to frustration when we found out that, despite some clever wording, the Galaxy S25 series doesn't actually have magnets onboard that can help align it and lock on to wireless chargers. That MagSafe-like feature was arguably the most appealing update with Qi2.

As said in our piece, "Qi2 ready" is a far cry from "Qi2 certified."

Read more: The Samsung Galaxy S25 doesn't fully support Qi2 on its own

Something that may have not gotten a lot of attention during Unpacked, and yet which intrigues me more than any of those Galaxy AI announcements, is Samsung Wallet. The company shared at a briefing with media that two updates are coming later this year: installment payments (aka Buy Now Pay Later) and "tap to transfer." Both of these are familiar to those on iOS, since Apple's had these features for awhile, with Tap to Cash being more recently released in iOS 18. But crucially, Samsung's Tap To Transfer is supposed to work with other digital wallets, so you won't be limited to just people with Samsung phones.

Read more: Samsung borrows from the Apple Wallet playbook with layaway and tap-to-send for Wallet

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has a report with more information on the Galaxy S25 Edge, specifically around availability. According to Gurman, Samsung plans to launch the ultrathin device "in the first half of this year." It will reportedly have most of the same internal components as the S25 Ultra, and Gurman's source said that while the company "hasn't settled on a price," the Edge will be cheaper than the Ultra.

Though there are barely any actual details on the Galaxy S25 Edge, we've managed to piece together what we've learned from the lilting voiceover narration by Paul Bettany and the dark, blink-and-you'll-miss-it video footage of the super slim device. Those of us who've been around awhile will know that this is far from the first time Samsung has used the word Edge to name a device. An obsession, perhaps? You don't say...

Read more: Samsung teased a very slim phone called the Galaxy S25 Edge

That sneaky little tease that Samsung previewed of the Galaxy S25 Edge at the end of Unpacked? That's been accompanied by what appears to be very limited in-person showcases at various satellite events. We're seeing reports of the S25 Edge on display at events in Paris and Asia.

Now that the main event is over, it's time for me to shout out some noteworthy little nuggets of news that might have gotten glossed over during the keynote. For instance, Samsung quietly did away with the Air Commands on the Galaxy S25 Ultra's onboard stylus. You remember those, right? The feature that allowed you to remotely trigger the camera with the S Pen or do... some other things. I don't blame you if you don't recall, since Samsung itself acknowledged that well below one percent of users actually used those features. I think it's good for the company to be able to recognize when things aren't working and remove the Bluetooth radio and battery and avoid overengineering something that didn't need overcomplicating.

Read more: Samsung retires S Pen Air Commands because no one was using them

Before I go, I want to point out that the Galaxy S25 Edge only has two rear cameras, which means Samsung may have had to sacrifice either an ultra-wide or telephoto lens in back. Even if the phone is super thin, that's not a great compromise to start with. But maybe that's just me.

Thanks everyone for tuning in. For more details please check out Engadget.com for additional info, specs and hands-on impressions!

I guess this is Samsung's mic drop moment for this event, because all it showed was a name and a handful of short clips, so I guess we'll have to wait to find out more sometime later this year.

That looked like the super slim variant of an S25 that people were speculating might be teased at Unpacked today. There wasn't much in terms of detail, but a mostly black video that showed an impressively thin device.

Aaaaaand, it looks like that's it for the first Unpacked event of 2025.

But of course, there's one more tease to talk about: the Galaxy S25 Edge.

We are being told Paul Bettany is now narrating the post-credits scene like he is Vision or something.

Pre-orders are live now, with official sales beginning on February 7.

"Sounds like" is the key phrase in Sam's post below. It really sounded like a British voice robotically speaking.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra will be available starting at $1,299, while the S25 and S25+ will go for $799 and $999 respectively.

And now it sounds like Samsung is using AI to give a summary of its own Unpacked event.

Samsung says it's also creating a circular battery supply chain to help prevent excessive e-waste. These batteries will use up to 50 percent recycled cobalt.

And now here's your required section talking about Samsung's sustainability initiatives.

Samsung says it has four goals for 2025 such as eliminating plastic from packaging.

How many guest speakers has Samsung had take the stage today? And also there have been surprisingly few celebrity appearances. No Bruno Mars, no Sydney Sweeney, no Pokimane or Mr Beast...

Back to talking about security again. Samsung is dancing around the use of blockchains to ensure privacy.

Which is completely fair. I just have so many bad memories associated with Bixby being incompetent.

I think we asked Samsung about Bixby and its use cases on the smartphone, and the answer was something like Bixby is better suited for on-device settings changes, whereas Gemini might be better for generative AI tasks

Bixby still exists on the S25 Cherlynn! I'm just not sure why you'd pick it over Gemini.

Of course, like a lot of modern smart home devices, Samsung's offerings run on the Matter protocol for increased compatibility and interoperability.

Bixby! It still exists! Mostly in areas outside the smartphone it seems.

Now Drew Blackard is returning to the stage. He is reinforcing how Galaxy AI and SmartThings can be used to more tightly integrate devices, monitor your health and create new routines.

You'll even be able to monitor how your pets are doing while you're away or get input from professionals regarding their mood and health.

New for 2025 is a new anti-oxidant index to help you keep a better track of what you're eating and how that may affect your overall health.

Samsung is also showing how you can see health records from professionals on your phone. Though those are only available in the US and India at the mome

Naturally, because AI and health tracking are available across a wide variety of devices, these features aren't siloed strictly to phones.

Samsung is showing an assortment of metrics like Sleep Score, Energy Score and more to give you a better idea of how much exercise you should (or shouldn't be) doing.

Samsung says it's trying to create an end-to-end health experience powered by personalized insights and coaching.

Next up is Praveen Raja, Samsung VP and head of digital health.

Now Samsung is trying to entice the teens by showing them how AI can help them turn around a video project in less time.

For content creators, Clay is touching on the S25's ability to now record in Galaxy Log and then grade colors during the edit with look-up-tables.

You can see the advantages of filming on a really small device, especially for underwater shots. Notably, the S25 Ultra still has a 5x optical zoom, which gives Clay more flexibility when trying to capture various subjects.

Okay I'm here for this crab documentary content though. I'm invested in this keynote now.