Samsung's 2025 in review: Big bets, bold changes, and missed shots

2025 may have been one of the most interesting years in recent memory for Samsung and its fans. Some things changed unexpectedly, and Samsung introduced a couple of highly anticipated devices in new product categories.

As the end of the year draws near, it's time to take a look back and ponder some of the company's 2025 highlights, whether good, bad, or somewhere in between.

Here is our review of Samsung's biggest decisions of the year, starting with CES 2025 in January and moving onward to the first flagship phone series of the year.

For a quick summary, here is a list of content. For more details, check out all the sections below.

The Korean tech giant kicked off 2025 by revealing its initiative to bring AI to more devices, especially home appliances, through the “AI For All” strategy.

More on that later, but the biggest highlights from CES were the new 2025 TV models, featuring an upgraded One UI-inspired interface and the Vision AI suite of new features.

Through Vision AI, Samsung has introduced more clever tools for TV users, including something that works similarly to Circle to Search on phones.

It's called Click to Search, and through it, Samsung TV users in 2025 can ask the AI to identify objects and actors on the TV screen and receive recommendations based on that content.

Along with a new TV series, Samsung also launched a couple of new soundbars to elevate the home entertainment experience even higher.

The most standout product in this category is the QS700F soundbar, which is Samsung's first soundbar equipped with an internal gyroscope.

Why does it matter? Because it's the first Samsung soundbar that knows whether it's placed at 0 degrees on a stand or mounted at 90 degrees on a wall.

Image credit: Samsung

The QS700F adjusts the channel output according to its position to deliver the same awesome audio experience no matter its orientation.

At the end of March, Samsung hosted the Bespoke AI 2025 event, where it truly began to unfold the aforementioned “AI For All” strategy.

Samsung revealed new home appliances equipped with AI and touchscreens. But for us, one of the most memorable products in the consumer electronics category was the Bespoke AI Jet Ultra vacuum cleaner.

Through the Bespoke AI Jet Ultra, Samsung became a record holder. At launch, the AI Jet Ultra was the world's most powerful vacuum cleaner in its class, challenging every other brand and Samsung competitor, including Dyson.

This was also Samsung's first-ever vacuum cleaner to bear the prestigious “Ultra” label. And it thankfully didn't disappoint expectations.

Speaking of Ultra, Samsung's Galaxy S Ultra model for 2025 may have truly begun steering the series in another direction.

On the bright side, the Galaxy S25 Ultra took one considerable step toward a more refined, S-like design, characterized by softer corners and flatter surfaces.

Unfortunately, S Pen fans took a loss in the process. The Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen abandoned Bluetooth connectivity, and in turn, we had to say goodbye to Air Actions.

Without Air Actions, the modern S Pen can no longer be used as a wand to control the device through gestures. This change might be here to stay.

While we're discussing the S Pen situation, it's worth noting that the Galaxy Z Fold 7, released this past summer, also abandoned S Pen support.

Although none of the previous models had a dedicated S Pen slot, they supported the S Pen Fold Edition and optional S Pen accessories.

The 2025 model said goodbye to all of that. For the Galaxy Z Fold 7, neither the cover nor the foldable screen supports any S Pen of any type.

Speaking of foldable phones, 2025 sure was a huge year for Samsung's foldable device category.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 may have lost its S Pen, but that might have been for the better. The Fold 7 became the thinnest foldable in its category.

Then, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 captured everyone's attention through its sublimely refined design. It almost feels like the Flip's design has peaked in 2025.

Unfortunately, while 2025 was also the year when Samsung released its very first Fan Edition foldable phone, it didn't do too well. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE was a flop, mainly because it felt overpriced.

And last but not least, after years of waiting, Samsung finally gave us fans a new foldable form factor. The Galaxy Z TriFold became the company's first dual-folding phone, but it's too bad that the launch is limited to only a few markets.

Years ago, most smartphone manufacturers were racing toward creating the thinnest phones in the industry. But that goal was slowly replaced by other, arguably more important ones years ago.

In 2025, that desire for thinner phones was rekindled, possibly due to the fact that foldable phones could have really used thinner profiles.

Indeed, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 are significantly thinner than their predecessors, but that's not where the story began.

On May 13th, Samsung finally stopped teasing the Galaxy S25 Edge and officially announced the phone. At launch, it was the world's thinnest slab-type phone with a profile of only 5.8mm.

While it may have sold relatively poorly compared to Samsung's expectations, the Galaxy S25 Edge certainly marked one of the more interesting periods of 2025.

Samsung is no stranger to releasing two One UI updates in the same year, but when that happens, those One UI updates are usually based on the same Android version.

However, this year, Samsung introduced a new Android and One UI update at the beginning of the year: Android 15 and One UI 7.

Then, months later, the company released the Android 16-based One UI 8.0 update. And if that wasn't enough, Samsung invited select Galaxy S25 users to test One UI 8.5 at the end of 2025.

This two-Android update schedule for 2025 was unusual and mostly caused by One UI 7 delays as well as an early One UI 8 release. Next year, things might look more normal.

After years of co-developing a new VR/AR headset with Google and Qualcomm, Samsung finally introduced Galaxy XR earlier this year.

It's a brand-new extended reality headset that combines virtual and augmented reality capabilities. It's a direct competitor to the Apple Vision Pro, and it's powered by Google's new Android XR platform.

Although limited app support might be an issue for now, this is undoubtedly an ambitious project that aims to democratize the Android XR platform across various other wearables, from headsets to simpler AR glasses.

Galaxy XR was launched only in South Korea and the USA, but the headset is expected to reach a few other markets in early 2026.

A few months ago, Samsung stated that Ballie should go on sale in Korea and the USA before the end of summer 2025.

In case you missed the news, that hasn't happened. Unfortunately for fans of the Ballie robot concept, Samsung doesn't seem convinced this product will work.

It is a highly experimental device — a ball-shaped roaming robot that doesn't vacuum or clean but carries a set of cameras and a projector.

Ballie will not see the light of day in 2025 as initially planned, and it may never become a real product. This is one of Samsung's 2025 failures, but we'll never know if Samsung made the right choice by delaying it indefinitely.

Well, we never thought this would be a 2025 highlight, but it was, and it's a fun choice to end this year in review on an unusual note.

In late October, when Samsung's chief Jay Y. Lee and NVIDIA's Jensen Huang got together to discuss future business opportunities over dinner, they almost broke the Internet.

Executives talking business is nothing out of the ordinary, but the two chiefs decided to hang out and enjoy beer and fried chicken at a restaurant in Seoul's Gangnam district.

Lee and Huang were surrounded by fans and reporters alike, and their dinner was anything but ordinary, given all the attention. The media blew up, especially in Korea, and for a couple of days, every other piece of news we heard had something to do with Samsung, NVIDIA, and fried chicken.

It certainly was an eventful year for Samsung and its fans. It almost seems like Samsung gave almost everyone plenty of reasons to have mixed feelings but also to celebrate.

Some say that select Galaxy phones and tablets have become too similar year after year. But that's just a small part of the whole. The Samsung story is always eventful and never the same every year.

2025 was sure interesting for Samsung, even unpredictable in certain situations. Some would say it was a year of experimentation but also of refinement.

Will 2026 shape up differently? Most likely, but we'll see in about 12 months. Until then, let's celebrate and enjoy the end of 2025.