Welcome to Tech Bytes! In this series, we bring you the biggest news hitting the Tech and Gaming fields, putting it into an excellent, simple brief for you to quickly catch up on so you’re up to speed over dinner and drinks.
As we head into the halfway mark of the year, May 2025 has brought some interesting pieces of news. Sony and Samsung were on hand to announce new hardware, while Google had much to say about AI. To see all the big news for this month, read on from our Tech Bytes May 2025 roundup!
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge slides into the Samsung family
Samsung announced a new Galaxy S25 phone here in May 2025—but wait, didn’t we already get those back in February? Well, this is a new version…this is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is Samsung’s foray into making exceptionally thin smartphones. Measuring in at just 5.8mm thick and weighing only 163 grams, the Galaxy S25 Edge stands out against the rest of the S25 line. Despite the size, some notable features from the S25 series have been brought over, such as the titanium frame and the 200-megapixel main camera from the Ultra.
However, there are some exclusions as well. It loses a telephoto sensor from its camera system, and it has a smaller 3,900mAh battery capacity. But otherwise, it does retain flagship features like the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and Samsung’s AI tools.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is widely available in Singapore on 30 May 2025 and is priced at S$1,628. For more details on the phone, check out our hands-on coverage.
Sony Xperia 1 VII brings Alpha camera and Walkman features to a smartphone
Sony returns with the latest iteration of its flagship smartphone – the Sony Xperia 1 VII. And once again, photography is a big part of the phone.
Leveraging their expertise from the Alpha camera line, Sony has brought new features to the Xperia 1 VII. One of them is Auto Framing, which uses AI to recognise and track subjects before automatically cropping the shot to centre them on the screen. Another is AI Camera Work, which brings pro-level stabilisation for videos.
On the hardware side, there is a new 48-megapixel ultrawide sensor—one that is approximately 2.1 times larger than its predecessor and will provide users with clearer night shots and better dynamic range. Besides the camera, the Xperia 1 VII’s 6.5-inch OLED display also gets a smarter adaptive function by way of an additional light sensor added to the back of the device, assessing light levels more accurately and then adjusting accordingly. Expect a better listening experience as well, with components from Sony’s Walkman devices used to improve wired sound performance, while the stereo speakers have also been upgraded.
The Sony Xperia 1 VII will be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite and has an IP65 / 68 rating for durability. Additionally, there’s a generous 5,000mAh battery included inside the phone, which Sony estimates will give two days’ worth of use.
Preorders for the Sony Xperia 1 VII are running from now till 30 June 2025, with its price listed as S$1,989.
Sony WH-1000XM6 has finally been announced
Sony didn’t stop at phones, they were also on hand to announce the long-awaited successor to their flagship noise-cancelling headphones.
The Sony WH-1000XM6 has finally been revealed, and it brings back a much-loved feature: folding. Yes, the headphones can now fold again, coming with a new folding mechanism that uses advance metal injection. There’s also an updated compact case that is now smaller and features a magnetic closure more convenient for users to open.
In terms of performance, the headphones feature a new processor called QN3, which provides enhanced noise cancellation. There are also four more microphones added to the device that improve voice calls for users. A newly designed driver unit additionally elevates the listening experience, delivering richer vocals and more defined instrument sounds.
June 2025 is the slated launch period for the Sony WH-1000XM6 in Singapore, where it is listed at a suggested retail price of S$649.
Samsung reveals its 2025 TV series
It is the season for new TVs, and Samsung is the latest name to unveil its upcoming television models for 2025.
The headliner is the Neo QLED 8K QN990F, which is powered by the NQ8 AI Gen3 Pro processor. It includes features like 8K AI Upscaling Pro, which helps to upscale lower-resolution content to 8K. For gaming and sports content, Motion Xcelerator 240Hz brings fast motion clarity. Object Tracking Sound Pro also provides more accurate sound positioning, with audio following the movements on the screen.
Next is Samsung’s 2025 Neo QLED 4K lineup, all featuring Quantum Matrix Mini LED panels. The flagship QN90F model comes with the upgraded NQ4 AI Gen3 Processor for improved picture and sound quality, which is also able to upscale older content into 4K. The Neo Quantum HDR+ feature, meanwhile, analyses scenes to boost brightness and brings more realistic visuals.
Lastly, we have the S95F and The Frame Pro. The S95F is Samsung’s OLED TV model, and it is touted to be brightest-ever OLED screen yet. It, too, comes with improved visual quality with the NQ4 AI Gen3 Processor, and will feature a smooth 165Hz refresh rate for gamers. Meanwhile, The Frame Pro is also newly launched with brighter colours, sharper contrasts, and improved local dimming for deeper blacks.
If you’ve been thinking of upgrading your TV, some models, such as the S95F, are already available for purchase in Singapore.
Google I/O 2025 previews new AI features and tools
The Google I/O 2025 keynote wrapped up this month, featuring all sorts of AI-related announcements. But while a lot of niche tools were detailed during the event, some upcoming features might be of interest to general users.
Google Meet is set to launch with a new real-time translation feature. It’ll automatically translate the language of the person you’re speaking to into your native tongue, and vice versa. It currently only supports English and Spanish, but more languages are sure to be added in time.
AI will be used to help with shopping for clothes. Google will be testing a feature that lets you upload a full-sized image of yourself, and then—using an AI model—it generates a preview of how shirts, dresses, or pants might look on you. At the moment, it is unable to distinguish between genders—so you can have it generate a preview of a guy wearing a dress—but it has the potential to help with online shopping in the future.
And finally, Google’s AI assistant is even smarter than before. Under Project Astra, the multimodal AI bot is now more proactive. Previously, it was able to recognise objects that it sees on the phone’s camera, but now it activates when appropriate. For example, if it is observing you doing homework, it will speak up when it notices a mistake, rather than waiting for the user to finish and then asking the bot. Or if you are following a diet plan, the bot will cue in with reminders without prompts.
There’s a lot more to uncover from the Google I/O 2025 keynote, but these updates show that the general public will also be seeing some benefits soon.
Dyson PencilVac is the world’s slimmest vacuum cleaner
If you’ve thought that the design for vacuum cleaners will never change, think again. Dyson has unveiled what it claims to be the “world’s slimmest vacuum cleaner” – the Dyson PencilVac.
Measuring just 38mm in diameter, the PencilVac looks more like an electronic broom than a vacuum cleaner. The battery, motor, and electronics are all integrated into the handle of the device, allowing it to weigh a lightweight 1.8kg in total.
The head of the Dyson PencilVac uses four spinning brush bars called Fluffycones, resisting hair tanglement, especially from longer strands. It is paired with green LED lights to help illuminate dust and debris, showing which areas have been cleaned. Though the motor is only 28mm in diameter size, it still produces 140,000RPM of spin and generates 55AW of powerful suction to suck up troublesome dirt. It’ll also feature a new two-stage linear dust separation system that prevents performance loss and clogging.
While it won’t be launched in Singapore for now, it will be available in Japan sometime this year, with price details to be revealed soon.
This marks 2025 May’s edition of Tech Bytes, and we hope this roundup gives you a little insight into tech to be excited about. Check with us again in June 2025, as we bring you more byte-sized news every month!
Photo of Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge by Russell Loh of the DANAMIC Team. Additional visuals courtesy of Sony Singapore, Samsung Singapore, and Dyson.
