Samsung Galaxy Unpacked: New foldable phones, earbuds on agenda; what to expect

The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event is scheduled for August 11 with the slogan “Get ready to unfold”. TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung, has confirmed that the company will be launching the next iterations of its foldables phones. If you need further confirmation, the invite for the event bears silhouettes of what looks like the two foldable offerings from the company – Fold and Flip – placed next to each other.

Samsung is also going to launch the new S Pen designed specifically for the foldable devices, Roh had confirmed. The devices will come with larger and more durable screens, he had hinted in an article on Samsung’s website.

Here’s a closer look at what to expect from the next Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3

Samsung has been tight-lipped on what the next Galaxy Fold would bring to the table. However, leaks and reports so far have given some insight into what could be on the specification list.

For starters, the Fold3 will sport a 7.6-inch screen on the inside and a 6.2-inch display on the outside. Coupled with the S Pen, it would offer a wider space than Galaxy Note series for taking notes or doing productivity tasks.

However, the S Pen will not be as closely integrated with the device as seen on the Note family. There will be a separate case for a space to tuck in the stylus. This means it will have to be recharged separately; the S Pen in Note devices recharges by slotting inside the phone. It also remain to be seen whether both screens would come with S Pen support.

Under the hood, the Galaxy Z Fold3 would run Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100, depending on the market. The battery is rumoured to be a 4,400 mAh unit, slightly smaller than the Fold2.

This time around, the Samsung foldables are likely to even get a waterproof rating.

On the camera front, we might see a triple-camera setup with three 12 MP sensors under wide, ultrawide, telephoto sensors. The front camera will be a 10MP punch hole camera. On the inside will be an under-display camera that can click 4MP images, possible pixel-binned from a 16MP sensor.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 would maintain a smaller footprint than its predecessors while keeping the battery capacity same at 3,300 mAh. There are reports that Samsung might up the wired charging speed to 25W from 15W.

The main screen is expected to be same as earlier versions at 6.7-inch, but the external display could be bumped up to 1.9-inch. There is no word on the internal panel supporting a higher refresh rate.

The camera setup is likely to be the same dual-camera set with two 12MP sensors under wide and ultrawide sensors.

Galaxy Z Flip3 would run the top-of-the-shelf Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, but it is not clear whether there will be an Exynos variant or not.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic and Watch4

Samsung will take the covers off the next iteration of its Galaxy Watch. There are going to be two versions – Galaxy Watch4 Classic with a hardware rotating bezel and the Galaxy Watch4 without one.

This will be first smartwatches from Samsung to switch over to Google’s WearOS, although with One UI Watch 3.5 on top. This means Google apps, from Google Maps to Google Assistant, will be available on the Galaxy Watch4.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 will feature Samsung Health that can count your steps, monitor heart rate, blood oxygen levels (SpO2) and even an ECG feature, among other bells and whistles.

Both models will be offered in two display sizes – 1.36-inch and 1.19-inch, with both displays set at a resolution of 450×450 pixels.

The larger variants will feature a 361 mAh battery, while the smaller ones will get a 247 mAh unit, both offering 7 days of backup.

The Watch4 Classic will be made out of stainless steel and measure 46mm and 42mm, while the normal variant will get an aluminium chassis and come up to a size of 44mm and 40mm.

Both versions will get Gorilla Glass DX protection and IP68 dust and water resistance.

Samsung Galaxy Buds2

The Samsung Galaxy Buds might finally come back at the Galaxy Unpacked event this month. The Galaxy Buds2 is likely to come on the scene and succeed the original launched back in 2019.

The upcoming iteration of Galaxy Buds2 are likely to get Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) with a three mics array. The new Buds2 are expected to feature bigger batteries, capable of 5 hours of playback with ANC on, 8 hours without and 13-20 hours more with the case. The battery in each buds has been increased to 61 mAh, and that in case has been raised to 252 mAh.

On the charging front, Galaxy Buds2 might get Qi-compatible wireless charging, along with USB Type-C for faster recharge times