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Samsung just held its Galaxy S25 Unpacked event where it announced a deluge of devices, including the Galaxy S25, the S25 Plus, the S25 Ultra, and the S25 Edge. But while the technology behind these devices might be impressive, the online reaction wasn’t.
Despite being one of the most popular smartphone makers in the world, much of the internet responded to the Samsung Galaxy S25 range with feelings somewhere between boredom and unhappiness.
The launch of new Samsung Galaxy S25 devices is an interesting moment to analyze, as it shows an increasing divide between what people wish new mobiles were like and what companies are able, and willing, to release.
Before we continue with that school of thought, let’s look at the event itself
What Is Samsung Galaxy S25 Unpacked? And What Happened?
Every year, Samsung holds at least one Galaxy Unpacked event where it announces new hardware. In 2024 for example, the company held an Unpacked event in January where it announced the Galaxy S24 range and another in July, in which it launched the Galaxy Ring, as well as a gamut of other products.
The first Galaxy Unpacked of 2025 took place on Jan. 22 in San Jose, California. Here, company launched its new range of Galaxy S phones, including:
- The Samsung Galaxy S25: The entry-level device in this range.
- The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: A physically larger version of the entry-level phone.
- The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: The premium device, with improved specs and features.
- The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: An ultra-thin phone.
A quick note: this piece isn’t focused on the phones themselves, instead it’s more concerned with the online reaction to them—so let’s dive into that.
How Did People Respond To Samsung Galaxy S25 Unpacked?
In broad terms, a lot of people online weren’t particularly impressed by the Samsung Galaxy S25 Unpacked event.
For example, many people expressed their disappointment and boredom with Samsung’s announcements:
Some users took a slightly different tack, highlighting the lack of perceived enhancement or improvements over the last several models:
While others compared the aesthetics of the Samsung Galaxy S25 range to Apple, one of the company’s biggest competitors:
Certain users on social media were also unimpressed with the headline device announced at the Unpacked event, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge:
Why Is The Internet Unimpressed With The Samsung Galaxy S25 Event?
The biggest reason the internet appears bored and uninterested with the Samsung Galaxy S25 range can be attributed to the maturation and plateauing of the smartphone market.
-Covered in a Wired podcast, a reason behind this is down to the fact that handhelds are already so advanced and iterated, especially in a design sense, we’ve now reached an optimum phone shape and structure.
On top of this, most of the elements that people use daily—such as the cameras or screen—are already excellent, so making noticeable improvements gets tougher every year.
The only really outstanding bugbear for people is battery life, but that’s limited by physical constraints, so unless the public are happy with huge phones, it’ll again be incremental improvements, rather than devices that last for weeks.
This trend, of course, is to be expected.
Technology simply cannot progress at the same rapid rate forever. Bigger screens, better cameras, and elements like facial recognition have already been done. The low-hanging fruit has been picked, so all that’s left are small improvements.
The issue though appears strongly when people upgrade. Once someone feels their phone is due for replacement, they want to feel like they’re getting something new for their money, and that’s currently not the case.
Fairness is a key element in how people perceive price. A study around cost increases in the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that individuals are happy to pay more if they believe it to be justified by external factors.
This can be broad, including both recognition of something like inflation and technological advancements—and this is where Samsung is hit by public perception.
Experts are well aware that every device in the Galaxy S25 range — from the Ultra to the edge — are all technical marvels, but, to the naked eye, they don’t really seem that different from the previous models.
There’s little in them that capture the public’s attention. Instead, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 range can appear like little variants on the same model. To people potentially spending thousands, this can seem unfair.
But it’s a Catch-22. If Samsung did something that was eye-catching and unique, it probably wouldn’t work as well as a regular phone, meaning many people would be irritated by that. Instead, it sticks to broad conventions with the Galaxy S25 range and… people are still irritated.
This is something facing all phone manufacturers. Technology has advanced, but not in a way that’s immediately obvious in the way old handsets were.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that this will change any time soon. The Samsung Galaxy S25 range are bound to be excellent phones, but if people are looking for novelty and something fresh, they’re unlikely to find it in this market. Being unimpressed might just be the new status quo for smartphones.
