The second Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event of 2024 has been and gone, leaving in its wake a whole suite of new Galaxy devices. These range for the usual suspects in the shape of two new foldable phones to Samsung‘s first smart ring, and its retort to the Apple Watch Ultra.
Across its keynote, Samsung touted smart, consumer-focused AI tools for its new devices, with the aim of helping you to get more done, embrace your creative side, stay healthier, and sleep better.
You can check our our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July live blog for a beat-by-beat account of what was announced, and more reaction and analysis, but read on to learn about nine of the biggest announcements from Galaxy Unpacked.
1. A new Galaxy Ring to rule them all
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is Samsung’s first foray into a new wearables category, a minimalist set-and-forget tracker that’s designed to be worn 24/7. With up to seven days of battery, the Ring contains several sensors for the sort of passive wellness tracking found in the watch, monitoring heart rate, skin temperature, estimating steps taken, and automatically logging running and walking workouts.
It feeds that information directly into the Samsung Health app, giving you a Sleep Score and Energy Score along with AI-powered personalized tips. It’s a slender, sophisticated fitness tracker that signals a new era for wearables.
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2. But choose wisely…
That’s because the Galaxy Ring’s sizes are based on US standard sizes, with nine different options from US size 5 to size 13, and Samsung says that the availability of the Ring’s size and colors will vary by region. To find the right size for you, you’ll need to use a free sizing kit when you place an order for the Ring.
However, the smaller the Galaxy Ring, the smaller the battery life you’ll get – so if you have super-slim fingers your Galaxy Ring will last an estimated six days instead of seven.
3. A smarter, sleeker flagship foldable phone
You’d be forgiven for thinking the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 looks pretty much identical to its predecessor. But look more closely and you’ll see it’s a little shorter and wider, making for a cover display that’s more usable in one hand. Plus, under the hood you’ll find the a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip tuned for Samsung.
That’s handy as the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will need that slice of silicon to power the baked-in Galaxy AI features, including a neat Sketch to Image feature that takes S Pen doodles on a photo and uses AI to turn them into images of real-world objects – say taking the sketched outline of some glasses on the image of a dog and having the AI generate a real-looking set of specs to cover the pooch’s eyes.
Another smart AI feature is how the Interpreter app can work across the Fold 6’s displays by providing a conversation mode that shows two-way translations of the main and cover displays. Basically, the Galaxy Fold 6 is the smartest folding phone you can preorder right now.
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4. Apple Watch Ultra who? Meet the Galaxy Watch Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra takes the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and supercharges it for outdoor pursuits. The Ultra offers a more impressive battery, a titanium-armored “cushion” redesign, a programmable “Quick” button, improved GPS and new tools for wilderness survivability.
It’s obviously taking a lot of inspiration from the Apple Watch Ultra, but it’s great to see a real boost in performance for Samsung Galaxy Watches and from our brief hands-on time, it looks set to be a dependable companion for the office and the outdoors alike.
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5. A smarter, snapper Galaxy Z Flip with a serious camera
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 may have received top billing at Samsung’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event, but the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is definitely the more fun of the two new best foldable phone contenders (after all, who doesn’t love a modern-day flip phone?).
This year’s Galaxy Z Flip model delivers plenty of iterative upgrades over the Galaxy Z Flip 5 – not least a new 50MP camera, a faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a bigger batter and improved durability – and it also plays host to a handful of new software and AI features. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is available to pre-order now in four color options: Yellow, Blue, Mint and Silver Shadow.
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6. AI in your ears – thanks to the Galaxy Buds Pro 3
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have taken an AirPods-like new direction, with sticks extending downwards from the buds, with new pinch-and-swipe controls – plus a cool ‘Blade Light’ on the Pro model.
More importantly, they have big sound upgrades, including an advanced dual-driver system in the Pro, and upgraded noise cancellation. That ANC is AI-powered, with smart adaptive skills – though it’ll be better in the more expensive Pro option, of course. They also promise AI improvement to call quality, and longer battery life, as well as 24-bit Hi-Res Audio and 3D spatial sound when used with the best Samsung phones.
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7. A Galaxy Watch to watch
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 doesn’t stray from the circular design of its predecessors, like the Galaxy Watch 6, but instead makes meaningful changes under the hood. Inside, it’s powered by a 3-nanometer Samsung Exynos chip, and on the rear, it boasts a completely redesigned BioActive Sensor. Those two pieces of hardware power an Energy Score feature that aims to make your health data more digestible and strives for any metric to be more accurate.
The Watch 7 also gets gesture controls through a pinch and Galaxy AI features like smarter suggested replies. Unlike the Fold or Flip, there isn’t a price increase either.
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8. A new ‘XR’ platform is coming, with a little help from Google
In an almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment at Unpacked, Google reaffirmed its XR platform plans (a catchall for VR, AR, and MR), in partnership with Samsung, with Samsung President and Head of the Mobile Experience (MX) business TM Roh saying that the fruits of Samsung and Google’s XR partnership are coming “this year.”
Our best guess for when we’ll hear more is at Samsung Developer’s Conference (SDC) which is scheduled for October 3, 2024. But considering we’re halfway through 2024, Samsung and Google had better get a move on.
9. Get your Energy Score… with a catch
At Unpacked, Samsung revealed a new Energy Score feature for Galaxy Watches that
monitors you and gives you a form of battery charge rating for your body; basically, it’ll flag when you’re running yourself into the ground, which is very much a symptom of modern life.
Samsung touted the feature as a way to enhance “your awareness of the ways your health influences your daily life, so you can utilize recommendations based on your current physical state to focus your daily efforts on making improvements”.
But there’s a catch.
The small print notes that you’ll need a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 or newer to be able to get an Energy Score. The Watch 4 was released in 2021, so if you have anything older, like a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, you won’t get get a charge rating for your body; you’ll have to rely on the old fashioned way of telling how tired you are by seeing if you can get off the sofa after rolling in from work.
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