The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked product showcase took quite a while to unload. There is a new list of Galaxy foldablea Galaxy Watch Ultraand improved Galaxy Buds. But of all that was announced on Wednesday, the most impressive and memorable announcement for all Lord of the Rings fan is the long-awaited $399 Galaxy Ring who comes in gold (And in darkness binds them). Everything comes out on July 24th, with pre-orders starting today.
Samsung’s latest offering looks all set to take on Apple at Galaxy Unpacked, especially with the new $179 Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro sporting a stick design similar to yours AirPods Pro. As we finally get a look at the new and improved Galaxy Watch 7 with it redesigned health sensor array, the more intriguing item is the Galaxy Watch Ultra. This is a rugged watch with a programmable action button similar to Apple Watch Ultra 2.
It wouldn’t be Galaxy Unpacked without foldables, and as expected, we got our first look at the $1,899 Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the $1,099 Z Flip 6. The two devices may look very familiar to those who have spent time with Turning 5 and Fold 5but there are a few key differences, including a squarer shell on the Z Fold 6. All of this comes at a price, though, as both devices now cost $100 more than the previous phones from last year.
Now there is more pressure on folding players, which the players like Motorola, OnePlusand even Google entered the US market with cheaper products than Samsung’s latest. We’ll have to see if any touted Galaxy AI can keep the foldable device market in the Korean tech giant’s large orbit.
Galaxy Unpacked: Galaxy Z Fold 6 is Samsung’s lightest foldable phone yet
The big flagship foldable, routinely cited as one of the best foldable phablets, is back with better processing power and a revised 7.6-inch AMOLED internal screen. The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 comes at a higher price, starting at $1,900 for 256GB of storage — $100 more than the Z Fold 5.
Rather than attempting something closer to a standard phone size when closed, the Fold 6 still has a compact shape, though its once-rounded corners are now prominent. Samsung claims it’s their lightest foldable yet. While thinner foldable displays are known to be more sensitive than a typical phone screen, Samsung said its new internal screen has increased durability. A new STF coating should also make the no-folds more noticeable than the previous folding ones. The bezels have also been slimmed down to try and maximize the screen area.
The new Galaxy Zs features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip that boasts better CPU and GPU capabilities and a vastly improved neural processor to handle some of the device’s AI capabilities. The claimed peak brightness of the internal screen is 2600 nits. It also has some gaming features like ray tracing support.
The Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 should have seven years of promised security updates.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 has an improved external camera
The $1,099 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 also comes in at a higher price, but with a design that’s much, much closer to the Z Flip 5. It still keeps the 3.4-inch AMOLED FlexWindow from the previous generation, though you have access some AI features like Suggested Answers from the external screen. FlexWindow now works with Galaxy AI’s live translation features, so your conversation partner should see your translated text while you see their translation on the internal display.
There’s now a 50MP wide main sensor and a 12MP ultrawide lens on the outside, and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 promises camera capabilities equivalent to the Galaxy S24. The main sensor has 2x optical zoom and up to 10x zoom. Nightography uses AI to improve dark photos – the FlexCam feature, when you use the Flip half-open, now automatically scales to center the subject in the frame. There is also an automatic slow motion function.
A new vapor chamber keeps things cool in addition to a 4,000mAh battery that promises all-day battery life. With the Photo Ambient feature, you can add “live effects” to some images that you use as wallpaper. This includes darkening or brightening your image depending on the time of day, or generating fake rain or snow in bad weather.
The Galaxy Ring is designed to be an unobtrusive fitness tracker
Perhaps the biggest announcement of Galaxy Unpacked was that the $399 Galaxy Ring is finally here. Just as expected, it’s designed to be a health and wellness tracker without all the screens. It weighs 2.3 to 3 grams and comes in nine different sizes and three colors. As mentioned, the gold color is best for those who always want the proverbial Eye of Sauron to judge their health.
Three sensors send your sleep, nutrition and fitness metrics to the Samsung Health app, including heart rate and sleep patterns.
It’s meant to be worn 24/7; it’s claimed to last up to seven days on a single charge. It’s made of titanium, so the promise is that it should be durable and relatively light on your fingers, plus it’s rated at 10ATM water resistance for depths of up to 100 meters.
Galaxy Buds 3 look like real AirPods in a new iteration
The $180 Galaxy Buds 3 feature a new look with a stick design reminiscent of AirPods. The Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro have adaptive EQ and ANC, but compared to the Pro, the cheaper earbuds only include a one-way speaker. The case is rectangular to better accommodate the stick-like buds.
Galaxy Unpacked: The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro look very punk industrial in silver grey
It’s not just a new shape that makes the $249 Galaxy Buds 3 Pro stand out. Samsung said it designed its latest high-end headphones to fit any odd-shaped ear. It should also adjust the ANC and sound experience depending on whether the buds fit snugly or loosely.
The Korean tech giant said these are the “best” buds they’ve ever produced in terms of pure audio quality. They contain a bi-amplified two-way speaker that supports Hi-Fi audio. The new Buds should have twice the playback bandwidth of the Buds 2 Pro, but as always, we’ll have to test them ourselves to give any credence to the claims.
The obvious comparison to the new Galaxy Buds Pro is the Apple AirPods Pro, but look beyond the design of the stick and there are some interesting design decisions. On the one hand, the primary color choice is a Robocop-like steel gray marked with a blue or red stripe to indicate whether the rod is made for the left or right ear. The more expensive Galaxy Buds have in-ear silicone to keep them in place, compared to the standard sticks of the cheaper counterpart. It also comes with a clear plastic lid in case you ever get nervous that your precious buds aren’t where they should be.
Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch 7 has an improved health sensor
Just like the Watch 6, the Galaxy Watch 7 is designed to be a health-tracking powerhouse. It uses a 3nm processor promising to be three times faster than previous watches. You can get it in 40mm and 44mm watch sizes, both of which will have different color options.
Both watches include dual-frequency GPS for accurate location tracking in cities or forests. Still, the main highlight of the Watch 7 series is the improved BioActive sensor, which aims to offer better health readings, monitor heart rate and generate a ‘Body Composition’ health report. The latest watches and newly redesigned health sensor are among the first watches approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to detect sleep apnea.
All new watches run on WearOS 5.
Galaxy Unpacked: The new Galaxy Watch Ultra is as attractive as it is expensive
The $649 Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra it takes away a lot of what’s good about the Watch 7, but extends it with better durability and water resistance that can take up to 100 meters underwater. It features a multi-sport tile for those training for a triathlon, and an action button-like “Quick Button” can be programmed to initiate or control workouts instantly.
The watch face is round like other Galaxy watches, but also features a square titanium bezel for durability.
The Watch Ultra uses “custom FTP” which takes four minutes of cycle time compared to some of its earlier watches. It requires a connection to your phone, but it should work with the new Samsung Health for your tracking.
The more expensive watch is supposed to offer 100 hours of battery life in standby mode and 48 hours in standby mode.
Galaxy Unpacked: Galaxy AI and Google AI Both are coming to Samsung’s foldable devices
Circle to Search is coming to Samsung foldables, including recent additions like translation and math/physics homework help. The company has promised that it will soon be able to solve symbolic math problems in the near future.
Samsung’s own Galaxy AI is a separate set of AI capabilities. The first is Note Assist, which brings several AI capabilities to the Samsung Notes app. It enables translation and transcription services that also allow you to summarize the recording. The Composer feature is an AI chatbot that generates text based on prompts. Finally, Smart Select gives S Pen users quick access to AI translation features.
Sketch to image and photo assistant
The latest foldable phones have even more AI capabilities. The Sketch to Image ability allows users to draw on their photos, and with a button, the phone should try its best to generate a more realistic object in the image using AI. This is a feature similar to Microsoft’s Copilot+ Cocreate feature in Paint.
There’s also Photo Assist to improve certain aspects of photos, such as brightness. Another AI feature that’s probably less useful is Portrait Studio, which takes a photo and creates an AI-generated mockup of the subject in the image. Samsung used the feature on actor Sidney Sweeney with some rather strange, plasticky results.
