Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy Ring 2 Launch: All the Facts, Rumours and Leaks

Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event on January 22 will set the pace for all flagship phones this year. The company’s annual refresh cycle will bring in a new Galaxy S25 family of top-end phones, and this year we’re expecting some major shakeups in addition to the usual feature launches. Samsung faces the challenge of impressing audiences who already have extremely powerful devices with phenomenally good cameras and various AI features. Here’s what we’re expecting, based on what we know so far and all the rumours and leaks that have popped up over the past few weeks.

Samsung’s launch event, to be held in San Jose, California, will be broadcast live around the globe and Acko Byte will be covering it live, so do check in here for all the details as they are officially announced.

Here’s what we expect:

Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra

The Korean giant is expected to launch updates to all its current flagship S-series models. The Galaxy S25 and S25+ will have pretty much identical specifications, apart from dimensions, weight, screen size and battery capacity. They essentially give people two choices based on preference for smaller or larger devices. As with previous generations, most colour options will carry across the range, but each model might have one or two exclusive colour options. 

Official-looking images of the lineup have appeared online, thanks to prolific leaker Evan Blass. Not much has changed about the physical appearances of each device – the Galaxy S25 and S25+ are still flat on all sides with rounded corners on the metal bands running around them. You still get a vertical stack of individually protruding camera lenses, though they appear slightly more prominent than on last year’s models.

The flat backs of these phones allow for magnetic accessories, particularly for wireless charging. The new Galaxy S25 family is rumoured to support the Qi 2 protocol, which is built around Apple’s MagSafe standard.

The top-of-the-line Galaxy S25 Ultra will still have an S-Pen, in a callback to the once-popular Galaxy Note series. However, it might lose some remote control functionality and go back to being just a stylus, with Samsung dropping Bluetooth 

As for hardware, Samsung has used different mixes of its own Exynos processors and Qualcomm’s equivalent Snapdragon models in different models and different regions. It isn’t clear yet how this generation will pan out but Qualcomm is supplying at least some of its chips, undoubtedly the current flagship Snadragon 8 Elite or a slightly tweaked derivative.

The Galaxy S25 and S25+ could have 50-megapixel primary cameras which promise 2X optical-quality zoom, likely achieved by sensor cropping. There should also be a 10-megapixel 3X telephoto camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera on each model, plus a 12-megapixel front camera. Top-end optics have always been exclusive to the Ultra model, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra looks set to get a 200-megapixel main camera, 50-megapixel 5X optical telephoto camera, and 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. All models are also said to feature improvements with transitions between lenses, macro image quality, and lower noise in videos. 

Battery capacity for the S25+ is apparently 4900mAH while the S25 Ultra gets a 5000mAh battery and the smaller S25’s battery capacity was not listed in the same leak. Display sizes are unlikely to change compared to the Galaxy S24 generation, except for the S25 Ultra which could come with a 6.9-inch panel.  

All the newly announced phones are already confirmed to ship with Samsung’s One UI 7 software, which is based on Android 15. Users can expect more deeply integrated AI touches and some visual overhauls. Beta versions have already been released, showing off a redesigned notifications panel.  

Google’s Gemini AI suite is likely to be more prominent on these phones than on previous models, which means Samsung is letting its own Galaxy AI features share the spotlight. Gemini could be able to read information from content within various apps, as per a leak of some official-looking marketing images. A feature called “Now Brief” will show contextually important information, message summaries and alerts on the home screen. 

As for pricing, there are no indications yet whether Samsung will raise prices globally, but it is likely that there will be a slight increase in India compared to previous generations because of recent changes in the Indian Rupee's exchange rate.

Samsung Galaxy S25 “Slim”

Rumours strongly suggest that Samsung is working on an ultra-thin model that will join the existing Galaxy S series. This was likely a last-minute response to leaks that Apple is planning the same for its iPhone 17 generation launching later this year. By all accounts, the purported Galaxy S25 “Slim”, or whatever it winds up being named, will not be ready for launch on January 22 but will join the family in the first half of 2025. Samsung might tease it or officially confirm its existence, but that might dampen sales of the models that do launch. 

The Galaxy Slim could be as thin as 6.1mm and Samsung would likely have to make some compromises with the spec sheet to achieve this. A periscopic telephoto camera would be unlikely, and processing power might also have to be capped to manage heat dissipation.

Samsung Galaxy Ring 2

Last year’s Galaxy Ring opened up a whole new market segment for Samsung, and based on its success, a second-gen model might be launched or teased. Despite being so tiny, a new smart ring model should have better battery life and more sensors, or better hardware to enable more health and activity parameters to be recorded. It’s likely that Samsung will offer more sizing options, and new finishes could also be planned.

Samsung Galaxy XR Headset

It is well known now that Samsung is working with Google on an augmented reality (or eXtended reality) headset, and it will not be trying to compete with the Apple Vision Pro. Samsung’s headset (or headsets) are likely to be simpler and more affordable, with deep ties to Google’s Android and Gemini offerings.  

Surprisingly, the rumour mill has been relatively quiet about potential new Galaxy Watch models and audio products. Updated true wireless earphones and other connected audio or smart home products have been announced at previous Galaxy Unpacked events but this time, the focus is going to be largely on phones.