Everything That Was Announced At The Samsung’s Annual Launch
The recent Samsung Unpacked event sure did some unpacking: it was the major retailer’s annual chance to show off the cutting-edge tech it’s been working on in the past year. Along with its latest software and AI updates, this year’s launch showed off three new (and relatively reasonably priced) foldable phones: the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the Galaxy Flip 7 and the Galaxy Flip 7 FE. We also saw the leap forward of its wearables with the Galaxy Watch 8.
Some Samsung superfans were left wondering what happened to rumours of a tri-fold phone, and the South Korean company didn’t go into detail about a newer version of their Galaxy Buds or their Android XR Headset (a joint project with Google and Qualcomm). But rumours persist that we’ll hear more on the latter before the year is out. For the moment, let’s dig in to what we can get hold of very, very soon.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
The latest version of Samsung’s foldable is their thinnest and lightest foldable phone yet, and means it’s real progress from the previous versions. But at £1,799, it’s still out of reach for many of us. What you do get for that money is a phone that looks very much like a traditional Samsung Galaxy smartphone, but gives you double screen size of a usual smartphone when you need it (and the fold is barely noticeable). This version features an upgraded camera system, including a 200MP wide lens that you’ll also see on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, as 12MP ultra-wide camera, and 10MP 3xtelephoto lens, and 10MP cameras on the cover and main screen, which allows full flexibility whatever format the phone is.
Note it doesn’t have a decent optical zoom, but that’s the trade-off for the sleekness – it’s 8.9mm when folded, which makes it the thinnest major foldable on the market. The only other real drawback to achieve that is that it no longer supports the S-pen.
The battery is the same size as previous versions, at 4,400mAh. But technical efficiency improvements mean it should last longer. It’s available to pre-order now, and released on July 25th. It comes in four slick colours: blue, black, silver and mint.
Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 and 7FE
Alongside Samsung’s foldable phone that can double in size, the Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 can go down to half its size, making it pocket-perfect. This year, there are two versions: the standard Flip 7, and the 7FE, which is its cheapest yet. Last year’s model Flip 6 went on sale for £1049, and this year, the 7 is the same price, while the 7FE is just £849. Cynics may immediately ask what’s been scarified on the 7FE to make it cheaper. Well, it might be short on improvements, but at least it’s making foldable phones a little more affordable to the average consumer. The design is largely the same as the Flip 6 – the weight and size are the same, and there’s no change on the camera hardware or battery. There are a couple of downgrades: the RAM is reduced from 12MP to 8MP, and the chipset has changed from Snapdragon to Samsung’s own Exynos 2400. Together, it means it won’t have the best performance on the market, but it should still be good enough for daily tasks. It’s also only available in black and white.
Still, it’s an affordable flip phone, especially when compared to the Flip 7. Improvements for this include a revamped design with a bigger cover and larger main screen, and a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate instead of 60Hz in last year’s model – this should mean a smoother and better display for watching videos and playing games. The battery is also boosted. It’s up from 4000mAh to 43000mAh, which Samsung say gives 31 hours of playback – not too shabby!
The Flip 7 is available in blue shadow, jet-black, coral-red and mint, while the 7FE is available in black and white. They’re both released on 25 July.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Series
Galaxy watches are proving ever popular, and this series finds significant changes to make the most of the latest innovations. The range now consists of the Galaxy Watch 8 and the 8 Classic (with a rotating bezel) that’s akin to the Galaxy Watch Ultra. The big visual change is that the circle-face-in-a-square-case design that had only be seen in the Galaxy Watch Ultra is now across the board – this design helps it to be 11% thinner than the Galaxy Watch 7. There’s a 50% improvement in the screen brightness, so you’ll be able to see it much better outside (and the battery life is around the same as the Watch 7, so no compromise there).
The real beauty is what’s inside. The Now Bar widget gives quick access to background tasks. And it’s the first Samsung watch to use Gemini, so advanced AI will be on hand to help out. AI is embedded in the health tracking features too. You’ll now find antioxidant detection, detailed sleep recommendations and personalised fitness plans included – for example, you can ask to run off the calories of a pizza slice, if you’re feeling unhealthy for indulging.
The Galaxy Watch 8 starts from £319 (a £30 increase from the Galaxy Watch 7) and it’s available in 40mm and 44mm, and Bluetooth or LTE. The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic starts from £449 more. They both hit the stores on July 25th.
AI and software features
Alongside the new range of products, Samsung showed off their many technological advancements at the Unpacked event. The new devices come with a new user interface (One UI 8.0) that will be rolled out in older devices in due course. There’s much better integration with AI in each device, and across devices too. AI features include helpful aspects like Audio Eraser (to scrub out background noise, for example) and Gemini Live – a result of Samsung’s far-reaching partnership with Google, which we’ll hear plenty more about in due course.
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