It's the start of the year, which means a new Samsung Galaxy S smartphone range is due. And it could be coming as soon as next week.
On Wednesday 22nd January, Samsung will hold its annual Galaxy Unpacked event, which usually serves as the launch of the new range. Samsung is making a big play of AI, but there is also talk of a new Slim model – sound familiar? – and new processors.
Read on for all the rumours worth paying attention to.
Samsung Galaxy S25: release date rumours
Samsung's annual Galaxy Unpacked event takes place on Wednesday 22nd January in San Jose, California. Samsung hasn't explicitly said it will launch the next Galaxy S range there, but given that it usually does – and that it's almost exactly a year to the day since the S24 range launched at last year's Galaxy Unpacked – it's reasonable to assume that it will.
The Galaxy S24 went on sale on 31st January 2024 – two weeks after the announcement. So it's highly likely that the S25 will be available to buy around the end of the month, or the start of February.
According to leaker Ishan Agarwal, the S25 range will start shipping on 31st January in India, and could even arrive in customers' hands that same day. Another leaker says that the phone will go on sale in South Korea on 7th February. Of course both could be correct, as phones tend to hit retailers on different days in different countries.
Either way, we shouldn't have long to wait.
Samsung Galaxy S25: possible price
Phone prices rarely leak ahead of launch, and when they do, they are often unreliable. We would expect the Galaxy S25's price to be broadly in line with its predecessor's, much like other smartphones that have launched recently.
Here's how much the S24 range cost.
| Storage | S24 | S24 Plus | S24 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
| 128GB | £799 / $800 / AU$1349 | N/A | N/A |
| 256GB | £859 / $859 / AU$1399 | £999 / $999 / AU$1699 | £1249 / $1299 / AU$2199 |
| 512GB | N/A / AU$1599 | £1099 / $1119 / AU$1899 | £1349 / $1419 / AU$2399 |
| 1TB | N/A | N/A | £1549 / $1659 / AU$2799 |
According to ETNews, the S25 models will carry higher price tags due to the extra cost of the new Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. ETNews' track record is a bit hit and miss though, so we wouldn't put too much store by the report.
Samsung Galaxy S25: design hearsay
One big change rumoured for the S25 range is the introduction of a new model: the Galaxy S25 Slim. Yes, much like the iPhone 17 Slim that has been rumoured, the S25 Slim is said to be a slimmed down version of the main handset in the range. The above render is from OnLeaks and Smart Prix.
It looks very much like the S24 (and its successor, if the S25 renders are correct) with a flat front, back and sides and three rear cameras. But with a reported depth of just 6.4mm, it's rumoured to be 1.2mm slimmer than the S24, and nearly 2mm thinner than the S25 Ultra (though again, that handset's depth is yet to be confirmed).
However, while the S25 Slim could make an appearance at Galaxy Unpacked next week, it's not rumoured to launch until May, some four months after the rest of the S25 range.
Samsung Galaxy S25: screen rumours
It looks as though we could be in for a bigger screen, on the S25 Ultra model at least. That's according to @UniverseIce, who tweeted that the S25 Ultra's body will be less wide than the S24 Ultra's, bringing it down to the same 77.6mm as the iPhone 16 Pro Max. That allows for a reduced border, and a screen size of 6.86 inches – very slightly up from the 6.8-inch display on its predecessor. Samsung may well round this up and call it a 6.9-inch screen.
Despite this larger screen, the S25 Ultra could actually have a smaller footprint than the S24 Ultra, thanks to its slimmer bezels.
The S25 and S25 Plus's screens are said to remain unchanged at 6.2 and 6.7 inches respectively.
The S25 Ultra's screen is said to have rounded corners, instead of the sharp ones of its predecessor (as you can see from the render below).
However, other leakers dispute some of the details. @OnLeaks posted a series of renders of the S25 Ultra, claiming that the screen size will remain the same as the S24 Ultra. But he agrees that it will have rounded corners.
The screen should be nice and strong too, thanks to second-generation Corning Gorilla Armor Glass. This will have "anti-reflective properties" that should make it easier to see in bright sunlight, according to @UniverseIce.
Samsung is rumoured to be sticking with last-generation M13 OLED displays for the S25 range, instead of opting for the more expensive M14 used in the iPhone 16 Pro handsets, in an effort (we assume) to keep overall costs down.
Samsung Galaxy S25: features leaks
It may not surprise you to hear that artificial intelligence (AI) is rumoured to play a big part of the Samsung Galaxy S25. According to a leak on Tecnoblog (via SammyFans), the S25 will use Google's Gemini AI system to work with different apps. According to the leak, it will be able to summarise YouTube videos and dump these summaries directly into the Samsung Notes app on the S25.
Gemini is also said to have a new, simpler appearance on the screen, making it less intrusive but more attractive.
Samsung has made no bones about its focus on AI, calling Galaxy Unpacked "The Next Big Leap in Mobile AI Experiences". It also revealed a teaser clip (above), stating that "A true AI companion is coming". Though booking a restaurant and adding the event to a calendar doesn't seem particularly groundbreaking.
We are expecting to see three devices in the range – S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra – with the S25 Slim possibly making an appearance but launching later in the year. An FCC filing (spotted by 91Mobiles) confirms the three models in the range, which has been Samsung's norm for a few years now.
Chances are that the S25 range will feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite 8 processor, which was unveiled in October. This is again focused on AI. Qualcomm named Samsung as one of the companies launching devices featuring its new chip in the coming weeks, so this is pretty likely – although there is a caveat: Samsung's Galaxy phones often feature different processors in different regions. So while the US market is likely to get Qualcomm's latest, UK users could get an S25 featuring Samsung's latest Exynos processor. Though @UniverseIce has claimed that all regions will use the latest Snapdragon chip this time around.
Expect Android 15 running Samsung's One UI 7 on top – Samsung previously revealed that this will come as standard on its next Galaxy S handsets. One UI 7 is sold as the firm's first integrated AI platform, so expect plenty more mentions of AI during the Galaxy Unpacked event.
The phones' cameras are expected to stay largely unchanged, but the Ultra's 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor is rumoured to be bumped up to 50 megapixels (via Android Headlines).
Qi2 wireless charging is also expected to come as standard, according to the Wireless Power Consortium.
Otherwise, Samsung is also rumoured to be announcing a new Galaxy Ring 2 wearable, and smart glasses at the event.
Samsung Galaxy S25: early verdict
Nothing is concrete until it is announced on Wednesday, of course, but in previous years, plenty of Galaxy S leaks have proved true. We are expecting to lose count of the number of times AI is mentioned during the event, but what's really exciting is the AV potential of the S25 range.
The S24 Ultra had real pop and sharpness ("impactful and cinematic" was our verdict), but it fell down on subtlety, so if Samsung can improve in that area, we could be in for a treat. We'll bring you all the news on Wednesday, and update this page with more rumours in the meantime.
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Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review
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