Eliana Willis

Matthew Miller/ZDNETI remember so vividly when, seven years ago, Samsung introduced Bluetooth wireless connectivity to the S Pen with the Galaxy Note 9. It was such an innovative feature because the Note 9 would automatically and burdenlessly charge up the stylus whenever it was inserted into the phone. Once charged, which took less than a minute to do, the pen could be used as a wireless clicker for taking photos and videos, scrolling through presentations, and more.Also: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2025: Galaxy S25, Gemini AI, moreWith the new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, much of that pizzazz is no longer available, and I don’t blame the company. According to Samsung, most users simply didn’t use the wireless, air gesture features enough. Instead, more handy methods (pun intended)  for taking photos, for example, such as waving a hand on-screen to prompt a countdown timer, overshadowed the S Pen.  More

Screenshot by Nina Raemont/ZDNETMuch like your own New Year’s resolutions, Samsung seems to be going all-in on health this year. The tech giant unveiled several new Samsung Health features at its Unpacked event on Wednesday, alongside the launch of its Galaxy S25 phone lineup. Also: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2025 The features provide a more personalized approach to wellness, from health coaches that provide recommendations based on the data gathered to your bedroom environment before bedtime. Many of these features are coming soon, according to Praveen Raja, who presented them at the Unpacked event.  More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETToday at its Unpacked event, Samsung announced its new lineup of AI-packed Galaxy smartphones, including an on-device LLM that learns from your habits and multimodal AI that can take action based on what it sees and hears. After some users gave a lukewarm reception to Apple Intelligence in the iPhone 16, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 lineup remains focused on innovative AI features, while doubling down on integrations across its ecosystem of products.Samsung wants its ecosystem to be persistent across all its devices, understanding that the lines between tablets, smartphones, and laptops are starting to blur. “Consumers’ lives are not as binary as they used to be,” Danielle Moten, Samsung’s director of PC product told me in an interview. “We’ve taken the ability to continue what you’re doing from device to device.”  Also: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2025 Samsung repeatedly referenced its “shared vision for an open AI ecosystem” during its Unpacked keynote event, highlighting its partnership with Google and positioning the pair as leaders in AI innovation, with AI existing across devices and operating systems.”We want to offer a truly cross-OS platform experience,” MC Lee, Samsung corporate VP, elaborated in the same interview. “When it comes to the Galaxy ecosystem, we made no compromises.”  More

Like past January Unpacked events, Samsung released three new Galaxy S models, with the base models getting some subtle but meaningful upgrades, including a thinner and lighter design. Other changes include the introduction of new colors, including Icyblue, Navy, Mint, Silver Shadow, as well as online-only exclusive colors like Blueblack, Coralred, and Pinkgold. The vibrance of the Coralred colorway stands out amongst the rest of the lineup’s more muted finishes, and made a splash among reporters at Unpacked. Also: I went hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S25 – and the AI features were surprisingly polishedAt the heart of the devices is the newly launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. According to Samsung, the chipset will be dramatically different than the variants found on competing Android phones.For example, Samsung claims it delivers a performance boost of 40% in NPU, 37% in CPU, and 30% in GPU compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Beyond AI, the chipset will help provide a smoother experience when gaming, equipped with Vulkan Engine, a high-performing graphics platform, and improved Ray Tracing.  Other specs remain the same as last year’s model, such as its 6.2-inch and 6.7-inch display, 4,000mAh and 4,900mAh batteries,120Hz Adaptive Refresh Rate, 50 MP main lens, a 12MP ultrawide, a 10 MP telephoto, and a 12MP selfie camera. Also: Best One UI 7 features coming to Samsung Galaxy S25 models (and older phones, too)Despite the camera hardware remaining the same, the software upgrades should significantly improve the experience. For example, 10-bit HDR recording is now applied by default, allowing users to capture better detail, and a new Galaxy Virtual Aperture, integrated into the Expert RAW app, gives users better depth-of-field control, similar to when using a DSLR.  Galaxy S25+ and S25 Ultra also feature advanced AI image processing with ProScaler, which, like Samsung TVs, uses AI to digitally enhance the resolution of videos. Just know that the phones need to be set to QHD+ resolution to take advantage of the feature.Pricing for the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus starts at $799 and $999, respectively. That’s the same as past years’ retail price, which is good to see, provided you’re getting improvements — some in hardware and more in software.  More

Adam Breeden/ZDNETDid you know that a modern TV uses significantly less energy than a TV that’s a decade old? Maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise, considering how much more power-efficient today’s display panels are. According to Perch Energy, the average power consumption of an old TV runs around $54 per year in energy costs. Because LED-backlit TVs and OLEDs consume less power than traditional LCD screens, newer models cost about $32 annually. Also: This futuristic power generator kept my home running during an outage. Here’s howIn large part, the bigger your screen size, the more power your TV requires. But there are ways to attenuate your TV’s power consumption every time you turn it on. Here are some settings you can change to save more money on your next electricity bill. Even if it’s just tens of dollars that you’re ultimately saving, it’s still a little less money coming out of your pocket, and that’s the goal. More

Adam Breeden/ZDNETIn the age of smart TVs, convenience reigns supreme. We can access a world of entertainment with just a few clicks, but this comes at a cost: accumulating cache data. Also: The best TVs of 2025: Expert tested and reviewedJust like on your phone or computer, a cluttered TV cache can lead to sluggish performance, app crashes, and even hinder new content from loading properly. That’s why it’s important to clear all that extra cache and make your TV feel like new again. Before I break down the steps for how to do it, let’s address the big elephant in the room first.What is a cache?A cache is a temporary storage area where data is kept for quick access. On your smart TV, the cache stores information from apps, websites, and system processes to help them load faster every time you turn it on. Think of it as a bunch of temporary files intended to speed up loading times for frequently accessed information. Also: How to clear your Android phone’s cache and make it feel like new for 2025For instance, when you open a streaming app, the cache might store thumbnails, login details, or recently watched shows. Caches are designed to help your TV load this content more quickly. Over time, however, the cache can become overloaded with outdated or unnecessary data, which can consequently slow down your TV’s performance. More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETI’ve been a Google Pixel fan since the beginning. I pre-ordered the original Pixel XL phone in 2016 and have upgraded every other year or so since, eventually owning the Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 8 Pro. I even picked up a Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds along the way. Also: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2025: Galaxy S25, Gemini AI, moreBut for the first time, I’m awfully tempted to leave the Google ecosystem. Samsung today unveiled its latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and while I’ve never been so eager to spring to its smartphones, my interest has more to do with the fact that the Google Pixel line is becoming less and less dominant when it comes to new features and capabilities. More

As implied by the inclusion of “personal” in the title, this is the most similar feature to the overarching principle of Apple Intelligence. Samsung’s Personal Data Engine functions as a personal LLM that learns from you with your everyday device usage, ultimately creating an assistant that can anticipate your needs using the context of your phone activity. Also: Every Samsung Galaxy S25 model compared: Which phone should you buy?Essentially, the Personal Data Engine learns what you do and what you want to do to provide you with all day support that predicts what you are about to do and display helpful insights. Of course, data concerns naturally arise from such an application, which Samsung addressed heavily upon launch. For starters, the experience can be turned on or off with a menu toggle. Even if you turn the feature on initially, if you change your mind and turn it off, all of your data is erased. When the toggle is on, the data is stored on the device, and not on the cloud, giving users the reassurance that their personal data will remain more heavily protected. However, the tradeoff of the extra security is that if you lose the device, your data is lost forever. Using this information, it can provide tailored experiences for you such as Now Brief, a feature that gives you suggestions accessible via your Now Bar on the lock screen. Intended to anticipate your needs based on your routines and habits, it may suggest driving mode or display directions to a specific destination. Also: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on: 3 major upgrades I’m looking forward to testingPersonal Data Engine will also provide morning and evening briefs, which each offer different relevant information depending on the time of day. Your morning brief may include summary of your sleep, weather forecasts for the day and schedule reminders. Your evening brief may include a summary of your day’s events and photos you took. Either way, it is a helpful tool to give you the information you need without you having to look for it — saving you time.  More