Samsung Doing Another Unpacked Event September 4 - August 30, 2025

Samsung's doing their fourth Unpacked event this year because they can't figure out what sticks. According to their announcement, this one's focused on "Galaxy AI Experience," which sounds like marketing trying to make basic phone features sound revolutionary.

The Constant Event Strategy is Getting Old

Look, most companies do maybe two major events per year. Samsung's doing like five because they're throwing everything at the wall hoping something breaks through Apple's media dominance. The timing right before Apple's iPhone event is classic Samsung - get a few days of headlines before everyone forgets about your products when Apple announces theirs.

The problem is that Samsung's events have gotten predictable. They announce incremental updates to existing products, add "AI" to everything (which usually just means better autocorrect), and act like they've revolutionized technology. Meanwhile, most people are still using their Galaxy phones the exact same way they did five years ago.

What's Actually Getting Announced

The Galaxy Tab S11 series is probably happening. Samsung's tablets are actually decent - better than most Android tablets, which isn't saying much since Android tablet apps are still garbage. But if you want an Android tablet, Samsung's your best bet.

Galaxy S25 FE is the budget flagship. It'll have 90% of the S25's features for 70% of the price, which is honestly not a bad deal. The cameras will be slightly worse, the build quality will feel cheaper, but for most people it's fine. Classic Samsung move - flood the market with options until something hits your price point.

The "AI Experience" Thing

Samsung keeps pushing AI features that most people never use. Circle to Search is actually useful when it works. The photo editing stuff is neat for Instagram. But most of the AI features are solutions to problems nobody had.

The real issue is that Samsung's AI runs through Google's services anyway. So you're getting Google's AI with Samsung's UI on top, which usually makes everything slightly worse. Samsung trying to differentiate on AI when they don't control the underlying technology is like McDonald's trying to compete on gourmet ingredients.

Timing vs Apple: The Eternal Struggle

Samsung timing this right before Apple's event is smart from a news cycle perspective and stupid from a consumer perspective. Anyone seriously considering a new phone will wait to see what Apple announces anyway.

The back-to-school timing might matter for tablets, but Samsung tablets are still running Android, which means app developers don't care about optimizing for larger screens. Good hardware running software that wasn't designed for it.

Samsung's global market share is strong, but they're constantly fighting the perception that Android is the "cheap" option while iOS is premium. No amount of Unpacked events will fix that fundamental positioning problem.

Samsung scheduled their September 4 event because Apple Intelligence is making their AI features look like amateur hour, and they know it. While Apple's been quietly shipping actual AI features that work, Samsung's about to throw another "Galaxy AI Experience" presentation at us - which probably means Bixby will interrupt you more often and Samsung's photo editor will keep suggesting you remove people from your family photos.

Bixby vs Siri: Still Nobody Wins

Samsung keeps rebranding their AI stuff every six months hoping we'll forget that Bixby is still garbage. "Galaxy AI Experience" is marketing speak for "we've connected more stuff to Google's AI since we can't build our own."

At least Apple's AI runs locally so it doesn't send your dick pics to the cloud for processing. Samsung's "aggressive cloud AI integration" means Google gets to see everything you do on your phone, which is fine if you're cool with that but let's not pretend it's some brilliant strategic advantage.

Why September? Because Schools Buy Shit Then

Samsung picked September because that's when schools and companies actually spend money on tablets. IT departments get their budgets approved in August and start buying gear before the fiscal year ends. It's not some genius strategic move - it's basic sales timing.

The Galaxy Tab S11 will probably get some AI productivity features that sound impressive in demos but break constantly in real use. Samsung loves showing off AI document processing that works great on stage with perfect PDFs, then shits itself when you try to scan your kid's messy homework. Meanwhile iPad Pros just work, which is why every enterprise still buys them despite costing twice as much.

The Galaxy S25 FE: Another "Premium But Cheap" Phone Nobody Asked For

Samsung's dropping the S25 FE announcement to try cutting Apple off at the knees before iPhone 17 pricing gets announced. Classic Samsung move - announce your phone first and hope people forget that your "Fan Edition" phones are just last year's flagship with cheaper materials and a shittier camera.

The S25 FE will probably cost around $700-800, same as every other "affordable premium" phone. Samsung keeps pretending their AI features justify the price, but most people just want a phone that takes good photos and doesn't lag when scrolling through Instagram. The AI stuff is marketing fluff that uses battery and makes the phone hot.

Samsung's Google Dependency Problem

Samsung acts like their "partnership with Google" is some huge advantage, but really it means they can't build AI worth a damn on their own. Every "Galaxy AI" feature is just Google's AI with Samsung's skin on top, running through Google's servers where they get to mine all your data.

Samsung does make their own chips, which is cool, but they mostly just use them to run Google's AI models faster. It's like bragging that you have a custom gaming PC to play mobile games better. Sure, technically it's more powerful, but you're still stuck playing the same shitty games as everyone else.

Why Samsung Actually Cares About September

Samsung's timing this for IFA and Asian holiday shopping, not because they're strategic geniuses but because that's when people actually buy phones. Europeans shop before IFA, Asians buy stuff for holidays, Americans wait for Black Friday. Samsung's just following the money.

The virtual event thing is pure cost-cutting disguised as "global accessibility." In-person events cost millions and Samsung's been bleeding money on their mobile division. Virtual events let them control the demo environment so their AI features don't crash on stage like they do in real life.