2025 has formed as much as be a 12 months of breakthroughs and experimentation for the tech business; smartphones and wearables do not simply look totally different, however have began to turn out to be extra user-friendly, because of AI. Trifold gadgets have arrived, ultra-thin designs are on the rise, and good glasses are gaining recognition.
On the identical time, throw in rising costs pushed significantly by international tensions, and this 12 months additionally marked a turning level in client tech, giving us a sense that we’re certainly dwelling sooner or later.
The foldable glow up: Trifold goes mainstream
Whereas tri-fold gadgets aren’t a brand new idea, they did not actually catch on, at the least not on this a part of the world. Huawei’s Mate XT was the primary to show that this idea was certainly potential; its restricted availability made it extra of a distant dream somewhat than a usable system.
However Samsung might have modified it in a single day. The corporate lastly launched the Galaxy Z Trifold on December 1, which is claimed to convey the ability of “probably the most superior foldable applied sciences” proper into the palm of your arms.
Primarily, making the shape issue extra legitimate and broadly out there to the broader smartphone market. When Samsung launches a brand new system, your complete ecosystem follows, from Google optimizing Android for it to carriers that could be prepared to subsidize it for customers. This additionally means builders will begin creating apps suitable with multi-window help on a bigger scale. But it surely does not simply finish there.
Samsung’s intention wasn’t about including one other display, however to experiment with whether or not a trifold may really be a usable product. Whereas it might not change conventional slab telephones anytime quickly, it may double as a pill and a productiveness device. This type of shift in thought from “Why would you need this?” to “Who is that this really made for?” is a large deal. This transfer by Samsung may push opponents to make their very own tri-fold and doubtlessly drive folks to contemplate proudly owning this system.
AI takes middle stage as corporations shift focus
For the previous few years, AI has been a buzzword for each main tech firm. Nonetheless, in 2025, we have lastly began to see it pulling its weight with fashions like Gemini 3 Professional, ChatGPT 5.2, Meta’s Llama 4, and so forth.
As a substitute of being within the background on many gadgets thus far, generative AI has turn out to be a core characteristic of smartphones, to the purpose that it has been baked into each facet of the system. It could possibly actually “see” what you see, provide help to navigate higher, and even allow you to “strive on” garments whereas procuring on-line. From search and images to productiveness instruments, AI may even provide help to create higher workflows to handle your day. A lot in order that we even have an AI Residence robotic in our midst.
This 12 months wasn’t about flashy demos — it was about displaying us how AI may work its approach into our lives. Firms like Google, Samsung, and OnePlus additionally redefined the consumer expertise with extra intuitive AI. Now it does not simply reply to your instructions, however it learns out of your every day routine and provides you customized solutions in actual time.
AI has quickly transitioned from optionally available software program to a foundational characteristic on smartphones. This has altered how we work together with our gadgets, marking a monumental shift in client tech.
The rise of the ultra-slim smartphones
This 12 months, we additionally witnessed a number of tech corporations obsessive about making super-thin gadgets just like the Galaxy S25 Edge and the iPhone Air, measuring 5.8 mm and 5.6mm, respectively. Becoming all the required elements into such extremely slim casings is an engineering marvel in itself.
Regardless of the hype each corporations tried to create with telephones, the S25 Edge and the iPhone Air noticed underwhelming gross sales, a lot in order that Samsung has reportedly determined to ditch the Edge lineup for good.
But we really feel that the slim-phone period is actually simply getting began. These gadgets might function essential stepping stones towards future foldables and even slimmer rollable telephones. It nearly feels just like the producers are utilizing these designs to experiment with new supplies, improved battery expertise, and extra, in a quest to slim down {hardware} with out compromising on efficiency.
Tariffs, Tariffs and, extra Tariffs
Effectively, all wasn’t merry within the city of Tech. Earlier this 12 months, below the Trump administration, the U.S. imposed hefty tariffs that impacted the tech provide chain.
At first, a ten% tariff was levied on all Chinese language imports, which was later elevated to twenty%. On the identical time, the U.S. additionally imposed 25% tariffs on items from Canada and Mexico. At one level, tariffs went as excessive as 145%, which actually shook up Apple traders, and the dialogue rapidly broadened to incorporate all smartphone producers. That imposed a 25% tariff on smartphones, together with Apple, Samsung, and different OEMs that manufacture telephones outdoors the nation. The end result?
This despatched all of the tech corporations right into a frenzy, main Samsung to reportedly ramp up manufacturing of this 12 months’s Galaxy S25 sequence in a preemptive transfer and OnePlus to out of the blue improve the worth of its Watch 3. These tariffs even focused semiconductor chips and key electronics, comparable to reminiscence chips and circuits, that are principally imported from outdoors the nation, particularly from China. After a couple of days, the White Home determined to exempt sure electronics from these tariffs briefly.
That stated, it created sufficient confusion for customers and tech corporations alike. This implies telephones do not get costly simply due to their {hardware}, but in addition the worldwide polices that dictate pricing. For now, Samsung and Google have each caught to the identical value tags with their flagships; nevertheless, this may change along with your subsequent telephone.
XR lastly will get its second
XR had its greatest moments this 12 months as a number of corporations raced to place the way forward for tech in your face. Android pushed deeper into XR and VR with the launch of Samsung’s much-awaited Galaxy XR headset in October, to problem Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional.
Galaxy XR got here constructed on Android XR, and with Google’s Gemini AI baked proper in. This implies it’s not only a headset operating Android apps but in addition an AI-powered system that understands your environment and responds by way of voice, imaginative and prescient, and gestures.
Meta additionally launched new AI-powered good glasses this 12 months, and the Meta Ray-Ban Show glasses push the boundaries of wearable tech. As these glasses allow you to do just about something whereas retaining your telephone tucked away, from checking messages to principally navigating by way of life, you get to do all of it with only one look on the in-lens show.
Google additionally did not shrink back from displaying off its personal improvements within the XR discipline. It gave us a fast shock demo of its glasses at I/O and supplied a primary have a look at Mission Aura from XREAL, which is reportedly geared up with a 70-degree discipline of view and optical see-through expertise, set to launch in 2026.
