Samsung has been very tight-lipped when it comes to information about its next flagship Android smartphones, the Galaxy S25 series. That could be about to change as soon as this week following a report that one of its head mobile executives will attend an industry event where it’s expected that major new smartphone technology will be announced.
Tech firm Qualcomm is hosting its annual Snapdragon Summit event from 21-23 October in Hawaii and Korean media has reported that TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung will be in attendance.
It’s thought Roh will be there to see the announcement of Qualcomm’s next-generation high-end smartphone chipset that the American firm traditionally launches at the event each year. The mobile processor will be the follow up to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip that is inside major Android phones such as the OnePlus 12, Xiaomi 14 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Samsung has a special agreement with Qualcomm whereby its version of the 8 Gen 3 was called ‘Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy’, which optimised the mobile tech for Samsung phones such as the S24 Ultra and also allowed the chip to be allegedly more powerful than in other phones, able to achieve a higher clock speed.
It’s thought Samsung could be pursuing a similar deal again where the firm would be able to say the chip, presumably to be used in the expected Galaxy S25 Ultra, is more powerful than when used in competitors’ phones.
Samsung has used Qualcomm chips in its Galaxy S phones for several years, however in the UK some models use Samsung’s own Exynos chips.
Though we don’t expect Samsung to use the Snapdragon Summit event to announce the Galaxy S25 or even reveal its design or release date, we do expect to find out all about the new Snapdragon 8 series chip, which could in turn shed light on the features and power of the phones.
Samsung has gone all-in on the mobile industry’s current obsession with artificial intelligence (AI). The company was first to push it with its Galaxy AI features launched with the Galaxy S24 series earlier this year, and has since brought several of the tools to older phones in a software update.
These include Google’s Circle to Search, photo editing tools, translation smarts and ways for AI to help you summarise or rewrite text.
Phone firms have had to find new ways to excite buyers as phones have become powerful enough that people don’t see the need to upgrade as often as previously. Processors and cameras are good enough that many don’t buy a new phone for several years, meaning Samsung, Apple and others are pushing AI as a reason to get a new phone that’s compatible with the new features.
Express.co.uk will be reporting from the Snapdragon Summit, bringing you the latest news on the next generation of Android phones including the Samsung Galaxy S25.
