Pretty please?

Today Samsung will be holding their Annual Galaxy Unpacked event where they are almost definitely showing off the new Galaxy S25 devices and even without leaks to back this up, we can pretty much know that there will be at least three new Galaxy S phones that will look a lot like last year’s, making minor advancements on areas like the screen, battery and of course, AI, but otherwise providing a device that looks and works pretty much the same as the one from even two years before and offers little tangible benefits for most users. But as we’ve said multiple times before, this wasn’t always the case. Not too long ago, Samsung was one of the most boundary-breaking and creative smartphone makers on the planet, being the outright opposite of Apple, until they became them. So as we get ready for another year of Samsung devices, we have to rightfully ask – please mix it up this year Samsung.

Now if the leaks are to be believed, Samsung will be showing off four phones this year, namely the usual trio of a base flagship phone in the regular S25, a larger screen and battery S25+ variant, and of course the S25 Ultra with the expected S-Pen and best camera array of the three. The new addition this year is a slimmer S25 Slim device likely aimed at being more fashion-forward and capturing the same market that the Z Flip phones has (except without the weaknesses of a foldable). However it also clearly shows what could almost be deemed a ceiling of sorts that Samsung has reached with their S-series devices. Or at least one they’ve chosen to reach, where they can’t change the phone too much in fear of pushing customers away but at the same time sticking to said formula is what’s making Samsung die-hards decide to move away from them and try Google’s Pixel devices or even brands like OnePlus and Xiaomi. Even it’s Z Fold and Flip devices have settled into a rut that everyone is unhappy with because Motorola, OnePlus Honor and again, Google show more innovation in the space.

As such Samsung needs to do better. To experiment a little and at least show that it still has that spark in them. We don’t even think it had to be with the S devices, after all that’s their cash cow line. But they could at least show some desire for new technologies or approaches with their A-series line, which back in 2019 was actually aimed at that. Their A80 smartphone had no front camera because the back one could slip to the front. A feature that to be fair no one asked for, but still made Samsung seem cool. And that’s without counting the earlier days when the Galaxy Alpha series tried out new looks and designs before the S-series took them on. The Alpha series is what essentially morphed into the A – series, and now ironically the A-series’ job is to look and feel as much like the S-series as possible. And we would probably buy Samsung’s reluctance to innovate in the cheaper device segments if companies like Xiaomi and Nothing didn’t exist.

Nothing has made their whole M.O. making awesome, stylish phones with great software for half the price Samsung does. Their Nothing Phone (2) and Phone (2) aren’t perfect but they’re one thing that Samsung’s devices are not anymore: fun. There is genuinely no Samsung phone on the market that brings that feeling anymore minus the Z-Flip at best. Their phones feel premium, well made, even majestic in the Z Fold line sure, but fun? We probably haven’t had a fun Samsung since the days of the Note 9 with its yellow pen. And that goes for the accessories based around the phones as well. The Galaxy buds used to look like either little eggs or beans with unique shapes. Now they look like Airpod Pros which yes, have that design to better increase the microphone quality but Sony’s buds are just as good without needing to be copycats.

And don’t even get us started on the Galaxy Watch Ultra, which outside of the power of the Galaxy ecosystem is by far the laziest device Samsung has made in years! It feels like it’s there by default. And well if that’s the best description your product can be given, it says a lot about the state of creativity in your company. The only area the company is at least a bit innovative is with their Galaxy Book laptops, which aren’t all that special but they try to push things, bringing in solid hardware due to needing to catch up to established PC players. And considering Samsung’s dominant position in phones, chances are they won’t do that anytime soon (Xiaomi please enter the US market and spook them somehow).

To be fair, chances are we’ll see an Apple Vision Pro-like headset on the 22nd and maybe THAT will be Samsung’s big play at something new this year. But unless that thing is really cheap while being as good as the Vision Pro, I doubt it will set most people’s hearts on fire. So I’ll plea with you again Samsung. Give us something new this year. Try one-inch cameras in your phones maybe, make a Tri-fold phone like Huawei did. Or at the very least make the screen on the next Z-Flip as big as Motorola. Do Something that remind us of the S7-S10 Streak of phones or the whole Note line of phones which was so focused on pushing the boundaries one of the phones exploded from too many features (minus the explosions of course). Just give us devices that feel like they’re creating the future again, not stuck behind Apple’s past. Chances are you won’t, at least not this year. But considering as a company you were kind of in a state of panic last year, maybe you should change things up.

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