Samsung confirms today's Galaxy S25 launch will include a big One UI 7 software upgrade
Galaxy Unpacked will likely feature a major software launch among its announcements
Our Galaxy Unpacked live blog is up and running! Head there now for the latest on the rumored announcements from today's event.
We'd been expecting some last-minute Galaxy S25 leaks today before the reveal at Galaxy Unpacked. But surprisingly we've got some official news from Samsung ahead of time.
A Samsung press release celebrating good reviews of One UI 7 (spotted by 9to5Google) confirmed the new OS would be launching with "the upcoming Galaxy S series devices." That's all but confirmation of the new Galaxy S25 series, and that it'll run the latest software.
You wouldn't think that a new phone running the latest software was unusual. Nor would we until last year when Google launched the Pixel 9 series with Android 14 instead of the latest Android 15. It's good to see Samsung won't offer a similar disappointment.
Android 15, upon which One UI 7 is based, introduced various tweaks to the operating system like notification cooldowns, support for screen sharing only a part of your screen and new accessibility features. The Samsung-built layer however changes more, bringing a new design to the home screen and a "Now Bar" for displaying ongoing background activities like music playback, timers or map directions.
The Galaxy S25 will likely still get some software features beyond the standard loadout of One UI 7 though. Rumors claim the Bixby digital assistant could get improved generative AI capabilities, that the phone will be able to string AI tasks together for greater convenience (such as finding a restaurant and then sending details to your calendar and your friends), and have access to the Google Gemini Advanced subscription service for free.
You can check out more info on the Galaxy S25 series, including the top Galaxy S25 Ultra model and the mysterious Galaxy S25 Slim we may also be getting, in our rumor hubs. But with Galaxy Unpacked just hours away from starting at the time of writing, you may also want to join our Galaxy Unpacked live blog for all the official info as we get it.
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Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.