This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
In our search for the best technology, we often tend to overlook what's right in front of us. Instead, we salivate over the tech specs of a distant product, but without seeing the full picture and using it, it's easy to glorify a specialized product... only to find out that it disappoints in daily use.
This year, after going through dozens of devices, I keep on coming back to... Samsung. The brand is always in our face, and you can often see people criticize it for some individual spec where it is not quite the best. Be it a slightly smaller camera sensor size that nerds obsess over or a battery that does not live up to expectations. There is certainly a grain of truth in these criticisms, but there is also the bigger picture.
And after spending a few days with the new Galaxy Watch 8 series, I am more convinced than ever that Samsung's ecosystem has never looked this good.
Samsung has become a design leader, not a follower
The unique cushion design of the Galaxy Watch 8 proves Samsung is ready to take risks (Image by PhoneArena)
The cliche usually goes that Samsung is a company that follows closely in Apple's footsteps. But the Galaxy Watch 8 series show that Samsung is able to take some bold risks.
Take the new cushion design of the Galaxy Watch 8 (or should we just say the "squircle design"?). It is unlike any other smartwatch on the market.
Do you think it was an easy decision to go away from the beloved circle shape of the watch to this crazy looking new design? I bet that it wasn't, but Samsung went for it anyway. The result is a watch that goes against the grain, but for a good reason — a slightly bigger battery and much improved comfort.
Bonus points for this watch looking like the iconic Panerai Radiomir Otto Giorni luxury smartwach that costs north of $10,000.
Samsung also deserves credit for sticking with the rotating bezel design, its own invention that again remains unmatched and has a loyal following.
Galaxy S25 series is... flawless?
Samsung took another controversial decision earlier this year with the Galaxy S25 series.
Rather than equip its flagship phones with bigger batteries like all other major flagships, it went with ultra-slim designs. I'm not even talking about the Galaxy S25 Edge here, I mean the other three models.
The Galaxy S25 Plus is in my view the most underrated flagship, with a body just 7.3mm in thickness and a weight of merely 190 grams. This is lighter than the much smaller iPhone 16 Pro, which has a much smaller screen!
And I don't know why the Galaxy S25 doesn't get more recognition for its super compact and lightweight design. This phone is seriously the ONLY truly compact phone in 2025, if you ask me.
The excellent A series
Add to that the unexpected success of the 2025 Galaxy A series, which is apparently selling like hotcakes.
The Galaxy A36 and specifically the Galaxy A56 are 90% a flagship at half the price.
These phones are among our top picks for budget phones, and while the Pixel 9a gets a bit more recognition for its camera, the Galaxy A series provide the better overall value and a much more practical (and larger) screen size.
Market analysts from IDC also recognized the A series in their latest report: "Samsung was able to consolidate its market leadership and outperform the overall market achieving strong growth in the quarter driven by the sales of its new Galaxy A36 and A56 products," said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president, Client Devices, IDC. "These new products introduce AI-enabled features to mid-range devices, which has been effectively used in retail stores to drive sales, as more consumers become curious about AI."
IDC sales data shows Samsung is killing it lately
And let's not even get started on the topic of Apple and AI...
More form factors
Samsung is also quicker and more agile with new form factors. Case in point — the Galaxy Ring. Have you heard about an Apple or Google-made smart ring? Nope, both those companies are way behind Samsung on that front.
And of course we have all the Folds and the Flips. Samsung is clearly in the lead in the Flip segment, and while you could argue that the Fold was the weak link... it just made it great with the recent Fold 7 release.
We have to admit, though, that it's not all roses. Apple is clearly far ahead of Samsung on the virtual/mixed reality front with the Vision Pro. Too bad that product costs $3,500 and nobody is buying, though.
Samsung might be behind, but it has some products in the pipeline such as Project Moohan, its Vision Pro alternative, that is expected later this year.
UI overhaul
Not everyone loves the new One UI style (probably the one area where Samsung copied Apple the most). However, it's a much needed fresh coat of paint and I'd argue that a few mistakes made in the process are better than sticking with the old boring look of One UI.
So these are my reasons to believe that Samsung is undergoing a bit of a renaissance in 2025.
The company is not afraid to take risks, and most importantly, it takes the right risks. It has addressed most of the criticism and if you are sleeping on Samsung's ecosystem... well, it might just be the bargain buy of 2025, considering all the lucrative deals that we commonly see.
But let me know what you think: is Samsung the success story of 2025?
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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