Unpacked 25 Review: News from Samsung’s Launch Event

With the Samsung Unpacked event barely behind us, there is much to talk about, particularly with the impending launch of their joint XR headset. We have been hearing rumours about Project Moohan for some months but without getting any real understanding of what it might be, and how it will fit into the current market. Samsung chose to keep the conversation flowing by showing an image of the device and giving us a little bit of information about it.

We are now getting closer to a launch, and while the Suwon-si tech giant is still keeping things close to its chest, they teased the headset at its Unpacked event last month. The mention at Unpacked was little more than an image and a short description, but it was a stake in the ground. Samsung’s XR headset hasn’t been much of a mystery in the industry, however, it appears that this is the company’s first public acknowledgement of its existence to consumers. If you want one, now’s the time to start saving as it will no doubt be hitting the markets fairly soon. Read on down for more about the headset.

For the major tech releases at Unpacked 25, we saw, of course, the launch of the S25 phone range, including the much-anticipated S25 Ultra. Samsung also teased out the S25 Edge – apparently the world’s slimmest smartphone – which is expected to hit the market in the first half of this year. The ‘Edge’ was probably the biggest news at the event and we need to deep dive into what was said about it.

S25 Edge

Smartphones have been getting bigger and fatter for years and many consumers have felt that something new is needed. Bigger isn’t always better, and it has taken a tech giant like Samsung to give us an alternative. While Unpacked only showed us a model of the Edge, it looked like it was pretty damned close to a full product. We were, however, left to guess some of the details, since Samsung wasn’t giving much away.

The S25 Edge is sleek – I mean really sleek – with a thickness of just 6.4mm, compared to 8.2mm for the new S25 Ultra. Okay, its camera hump extends beyond that but not greatly so, mainly because the device on show only had two cameras – a main and an ultra-wide, we would think, since ditching the telephoto lens would reduce hump depth. If the main is a 200mp unit as expected, the two cameras would do a pretty good job in most instances, and remove the need for a telephoto unit.

More width savings could be made by selecting the right screen technology. As per the model, the Galaxy S25 Edge could feature a 6.7-inch display. That would be the same size as the Galaxy S25 Plus but smaller than the 6.9-inch Galaxy S25 Ultra. And if they opted for a tandem OLED display, they could make significant savings on the depth of the screen. These kinds of displays use two OLED screens in tandem – hence the name – to dramatically increase the light emitted. OLED displays are usually quite dark, making them rather useless in phone applications, but they can be made very thin. By combining two of them, you end up with a thinner display but with more than acceptable brightness levels.

One major issue that remains to be resolved is the possible battery life; being significantly thinner, the Edge is likely to have a thinner battery too, so unless Samsung has some new battery technology, we can expect the battery life to be shorter than the rest of the S25 range. It might not be a show-stopper but undoubtedly battery life is a major selling point for many consumers. Let’s see if having a significantly thinner phone can make the difference. All of this is speculation based on a model at the event, but once we get something firmer, we’ll pass it on to you. Keep checking back for updates on the Edge.

AI Assistant on the S25 Range

Other big news at Unpacked 25 was upgrades to the embedded Gemini Assistant, now found on the latest S25 range. A “Gemini Live” conversational mode is one of the new Gemini AI features that are available on the Samsung Galaxy S25 range. This mode enables users to interact with the assistant in a natural voice directly on the lock screen by means of the “Now Bar” feature. It also provides real-time updates such as sports scores, map directions, and notifications. All of these features are powered by Google’s Gemini AI technology. In essence, the lock screen becomes more interactive and personalised with the addition of AI assistance at the touch (and hold) of a button. You now no longer have to open your phone to get AI assistance.

An expansion of the “AI Overview” search results and one-touch actions that may, for instance, initiate a phone call with a tap of the phone-icon chip that will display above a phone number are two of the new features that are being added to the Circle to Search function that Google has released. In addition to those features, Gemini is becoming more intuitive and useful. Other new natural language features include:

• Cross-app connectivity. Using natural language, you can now simply ask Gemini to perform actions across multiple apps, with a prompt such as, “Search for the upcoming Warriors game and add it to calendar.”
• Extended AI Photo Search. If you need to find a particular photo on your device, you can use a natural language prompt through search through your gallery and get Gemini to select and show it.

There are also many more features which we are only just coming to terms with. We’ll give you more information as we start to figure them out.

Key to the release of the XR headset is the new operating system, already christened ‘Android XR’, which became a reality back in December. With that piece now in place, the way is now open for the hardware to hit the market, and hopefully we will see that later in the year.

Google and Samsung have collaborated to create the new operating system software, which would enable users to interact with a variety of real-world items and virtual reality apps via voice commands, motion controls, and eye tracking.

Initial reports indicate that the general UI resembles competing AR/VR operating systems that let you use passthrough to observe the actual world around you while arranging app windows around your virtual surroundings. Additionally, Google and Samsung have demonstrated how users would be able to utilise a large virtual display while interacting with material using a mouse and keyboard. Plainly, Android O/S is being set up to become THE way of operating Samsung and Google-based devices, and the inference is that almost anything running Android will become entwined with the new system.

This is actually a big deal, since Android currently occupies around 72% of the market, with Apple coming up at 27% and all the rest – basically Windows-based O/S’s – accounting for the rest. In the future, Android O/S is likely to power the majority of phones, tablets, smart devices, and a range of headsets and they will share common features.

This means that an increasing section of the technology market is likely to share a common operating system, making swapping between them a piece of cake. It certainly seems that compatible devices such as the impending Project Moohan headset will transfer data across logged-in accounts and a purchase made on one should feed straight across to the other, as well as smart phone equipment and any included computer devices.

Android XR Hardware

Okay, with the new O/S out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the forthcoming Samsung headset and what we can fairly safely surmise about it. According to initial reports and the image, Samsung’s headset looks fairly similar to the Meta Quest 3 and the Vision Pro. Unlike either, the light seal is optional, allowing you to let the outside world in. It is reported to be lightweight and does not squeeze the face too firmly, making it comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. Samsung claims to have included a technology that automatically calibrates the display to the user’s eyes, resulting in the most colourful experience. We are unsure how it works, but we want it.

But rather than just create a headset that is an upgrade of what is already available, and then work on the next iteration – the model for most developing companies – Samsung has stepped outside the box. Reports suggest that they have decided on the bold move of including the Google Gemini generative AI package as a functional part of the XR headset. It might seem like a bit of a gimmick, but many commentators are actually calling it a genius step.

Google have dabbled with AI for some time and offer both Assistant and Gemini as credible packages, but they do different things and respond in different ways. Gemini, being Google’s flagship package, is a broader, more natural system that lends itself to voice command – just the type of thing you need with a headset, and it does exactly what you want it to do; find and install particular apps, translate, give you directions, describe how to get out of the virtual zombie hell that you find yourself in – just about anything that you can do with AI outside of XR anyway.

By allying Generative AI with XR, it’s like having the best gaming buddy in your ear all of the time, but one that also knows everything about everything. Tony Stark may have had Jarvis, but with the Android XR you have Gemini, and there is little to choose between them.

Aside from the lack of specifications on the power of the device, the chipset that it might be using, the display type and resolution and a possible retail price, the Android XR sounds like a world-beating device. Hopefully, Samsung and Google have learned Apple’s lesson and will pitch it at around the same price as the Meta Quest 3. That would make it the absolute must-have device. Keep checking back here to see the latest updates.

We at Unity Developers are looking forward to getting our hands on an Android XR, but we are looking forward to developing content for it even more. If you have a game or App that you would like help developing, why not contact us and see how we can get your project done for you.