Not many apps were updated over the holidays, so the bits of code that usually give us clues about new features in the pipeline were mostly absent this week. Still, with CES only days away and major phone releases from OnePlus and Samsung hot on its heels, the hardware leaks kept coming. Between those, a few user reports, and end-of-year industry trends, the week in mobile was surprisingly busy as we turned over the calendar.
Last Week’s Roundup
Samsung Unpacked got unmasked while you unwrapped gifts in last week’s news
As Google annoys regulators and users alike
The Galaxy S25 rips a few pages out of the Pixel playbook
If you’re only going by the hardware leaks, you’re not expecting much of a difference between the Galaxy S25 series and the S24 before it. This was also the case with the generational bump between the Galaxy S23 and S24, but the latter sold better, largely on the back of One UI features like Galaxy AI. It seems that Samsung’s sticking with this strategy into 2025, as the latest leaks are all about the software.
Towards the beginning of the week, we saw more evidence that Samsung will finally support seamless updates with the S25 — a feature Google phones have employed since the Android Nougat days. Car crash detection, another feature enjoyed by Pixel users for some time, was also said to be coming. Lastly, much like the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, an APK teardown revealed that Samsung could give Galaxy S25 users a free Gemini Advanced subscription, but we’re not sure if it’ll be a full year or a shorter term.
Main Story
More evidence shows Samsung could finally adopt this ancient Android Nougat feature
Seamless updates at long last
Samsung’s ‘other’ Galaxy devices finally get their US passports
Right as the calendar turned over to 2025, Samsung announced a pair of “new” devices for the US market: The Galaxy A16 and the Galaxy Fit 3. Both devices were already available overseas before the announcement, and the Galaxy Fit 3 doesn’t seem notably different from the version that debuted over a year ago.
But there’s a key difference between the US version of the Galaxy A16 and the one that already existed elsewhere: Where the international version used a MediaTek SoC based on a 6nm process, the US variant runs on the 5nm Exynos 1330. Despite this upgrade, Samsung managed to keep the US A16 at a very attractive $200 price point, all while guaranteeing 6 years of updates — one more than Apple’s latest iPhones guarantee.
Main Story
Samsung’s $200 budget phone launches this month with more guaranteed updates than Apple’s latest flagship
The Galaxy A16 launches in the US on January 9
Smart speakers take one step forward, two steps back
Development around the Matter smart home standard hasn’t progressed as quickly as some of us had hoped, but things are slowly but surely getting there. This week, we learned an update will allow Matter to support smart speakers, enabling features like audio source selection and volume control from any Matter-compatible app. This means you could potentially control your Sonos soundbar from a Nest Hub, for instance. The Connectivity Standards Alliance is developing this update, but a release timeframe hasn’t been provided.
But it wasn’t all good news for smart speakers this week. For one, Apple agreed to pay out $95 million in damages to users affected by an “unintended Siri activation” issue with concerning privacy implications. At the opposite end of the spectrum, it seemed like Google’s devices weren’t listening at all, as users reported Google Home and Nest devices giving them the silent treatment for basic queries like “What time is it?” and “Tell me today’s weather.”
Main Story
Are your Google Home and Nest devices giving you the silent treatment? You’re not alone
Nest Hub? More like Nest dud
Foldables are so 2023 — at least, for Samsung
We saw signs that Samsung’s foldable sales were stagnating as early as the month after the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip 6 launched. Then last week, a roadmap leak showed that Samsung was planning to make more phones, but fewer foldables in 2025. This week, we may have learned why: While Galaxy S sales soared in 2024, Galaxy Z sales reportedly tanked.
But it wasn’t all bad news for the foldable segment this week. Honor, the company behind the impossibly thin Magic V3 foldable, reported a 50% year-over-year sales increase in December 2024. With Samsung pioneering the foldable phone market, it had seen steady, continuous growth, but now it’s apparent that the company will need to innovate to keep its edge.
Main Story
Pixel Watch bands come and go from the Google Store
The Pixel Watch 1 and 2 had identical strap connectors, but the Pixel Watch 3 threw a wrench into things. Even though the base model still sports the same exact connector for watch bands, there’s a new 45mm variant that needs an entirely new selection of straps, and there still aren’t a ton of options for this model.
But early in the week, the new Performance Loop Band that had been exclusive to the Google Store became available on Amazon, making the workout-friendly band more accessible. Meanwhile, Bellroy’s leather straps for both sizes of the Pixel Watch 3 went the other direction, becoming available on the Google Store for the first time. Slowly but surely, the selection is improving for people using the bigger Pixel Watch 3.
Main Story
One of the fanciest Pixel Watch straps just hit the Google Store
Bellroy’s leather strap joins the lineup
