The Galaxy S25 is almost here. These are the biggest changes I want to see

With the rumored Galaxy S25, which is us expecting to see during the Samsung’s Unpacked event on Wednesday, Samsung has an opportunity to continue the approach it has taken with Galaxy S24.

Last year’s Galaxy S phones included a mix of functional and forward-looking changes, such as longer battery life on the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus, and Galaxy AI in all models. Likewise, I hope to see advances in AI, along with improvements to more mundane but critical elements like phone cameras, displays, and charging speeds.

Given Samsung’s emphasis on AI, there’s a good chance that the Galaxy S25 will come with new Galaxy AI features. Samsung essentially said this during its developer conference in October, during which it teased its new One user interface 7 a software update that will debut on the S25 range. Otherwise, it will likely include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor (at least the US variant of the phone) and routine design and camera upgrades. There are also rumors of a new slimmer version of the Galaxy S25 arriving sometime next year, according to ETNews.

Samsung’s current Galaxy AI features are promising, but I want the next iteration to have a bigger impact on the overall phone experience. Current features seem very focused on specific use cases that may not come up as often, such as language translation and photo editing.

Besides more useful AI tools, I’d like to see faster charging and other optimizations to the phones’ core elements, like the camera and display.

Read more: Why Google’s new Android VP says ‘people don’t want to hear about AI’

More impactful Galaxy AI features

Right now, Galaxy AI and other non-Samsung generative AI features seem like just the beginning. Samsung began by applying generative AI to obvious and practical use cases, such as deleting objects from photos, translating text and phone conversations in real time, generating polished images from rough drawings, and rendering slow-motion videos and saving the results.

What I really want is a more dramatic rethinking of how our phones perform basic tasks, making them easier and faster to use. Of all the AI ​​features available on Samsung phones so far, Search circle embodies this idea best by removing the middle step from launching Google to search for an object. More of this please!

I want new AI tools that help manage the endless stream of notifications, data and media on my phone. The Pixel 9 the lineup’s new Screenshots app, which lets you search for content in your screenshots, is a good example of this, as are the notification summaries and text messages in Apple Intelligence, which just launched as part of the company’s iOS 18.1 update. While far from perfect, message summaries have turned out to be one of my favorite new features in the Apple Intelligence.

Sally Hyesoon Jeong, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics and head of the framework’s research and development team, hinted that Samsung’s next mobile software update may align with this theme. During the company’s developer conference, she said One UI 7 will be better equipped to understand your intent and “minimize complexity,” though she didn’t reveal specific details about the software.

This direction is also consistent with previous comments that Patrick Chomet, Samsung’s executive vice president and head of user experience, made on CNET about the company’s approach to software.

“(You’ll never have to go into settings or never have to look for the next action,” he said in previous interview when we discuss how the company wants to make the software on Samsung phones smarter. “You may not need to open (any) apps.”

As I wrote in my review, I think Samsung missed opportunity and had to give Galaxy S24 Ultra exclusive Galaxy AI features not available on cheaper models. Not only will this help justify its high price, but it will boost Ultra in the phone’s name. We’ll see if there’s a different approach next year.

Changing the way we use our phones is no small feat. Given how much we rely on them for basic tasks, asking users to adopt a new way of doing things can be more disruptive than helpful if done the wrong way. I don’t expect Samsung to change the entire operating system in a few months, but I’d like to see a step in a new direction similar to Circle to Search.

Read more: What I learned after swapping my Apple Watch for Samsung’s Galaxy Ring

Faster charging

I’m glad Samsung increased the battery life of the Galaxy S24. Now it just needs faster charging. The Galaxy S24 supports 25-watt wired charging, while the Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 Ultra support 45-watt wired charging. It’s been that way for years, at least from the Galaxy S20 generation.

With companies like OnePlus offering lightning-fast charging speeds, I’d like to see some improvement from Samsung. The OnePlus 12for example, it offers 80W charging in the US and 100W charging in the UK, which allowed my colleague Andrew Lankson to fully charge the battery in just 26 minutes.

Samsung, it’s time to step up.

Glare reduction across the entire range

One of the most underrated features of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is Corning Gorilla Armor on the screen to reduce glare and reflections. Since the screen is perhaps the most important part of the phone, any improvement is welcome. My colleague Lexy Savvides was particularly fascinated with the S24 Ultra anti-glare screen, finding it easier to see than the iPhone 15 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra on a sunny day in San Francisco.

This cover is only on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. With screen quality being so important to a phone, there’s a strong case to be made that Samsung should extend this to all Galaxy S25 models. The Ultra’s giant screen, S Pen and more sophisticated camera are more than enough to separate Samsung’s super high-end phone from the rest of the range.

Read more: Don’t buy a new phone just for AI. At least not yet

Camera upgrades

Samsung made a splash with Galaxy S23 Ultra A 200-megapixel primary camera when it debuts in 2023. Megapixels only tell one side of the story when it comes to photography. Factors such as sensor size, pixel size and aperture, along with the image processor on the chip, are just as important as the megapixel count itself when it comes to determining how good a camera your phone can be.

Samsung has made improvements in these areas as well over the years, but now that it faces new competition from Xiaomi, it needs to work harder if it wants to truly be the king of smartphone photography.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra it has a massive image sensor that’s larger than the ones you’ll find on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, allowing it to achieve impressive photos with a wide dynamic range that CNET’s Andrew Lankson called some of the best images ever seen from phone. The larger sensor allows the camera to capture more light for improved image quality, reducing the need for noise reduction.

I’d also like to see more practical editing features. I was fascinated by the iPhone 16’s Photo Styles feature, which applies an effect to an image customized to the scene. I’m not saying that Samsung should release its own version of the Photographic stylesbut I would like to see new tools that enhance the aesthetics of your photos that have nothing to do with using generative AI to change the content of the photo.

Overall, I hope Samsung improves camera, display, and charging speeds while also introducing new software features that make its phones more intuitive than before. Samsung usually releases new Galaxy S phones in the first quarter of the year, so we expect to hear more in the coming months.