Samsung's second Galaxy Unpacked event of 2024 is over, bringing with it a whole host of new Galaxy devices, from the usual suspects in the form of two new foldable phones to Samsung's first smart ring and its Apple Watch Ultra counterpart.
During its keynote address, Samsung touted smart, consumer-focused AI tools for its new devices, aimed at helping you do more, embrace your creative side, stay healthier and sleep better.
You can check out our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July live blog for a blow-by-blow account of what was announced and more reaction and analysis, but read on for nine of the biggest announcements from Galaxy Unpacked.
1. One new galactic ring to rule them all
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is Samsung’s first foray into a new category of wearables: a minimalist, set-it-and-forget-it tracker designed to be worn 24/7. With a battery that lasts up to seven days, the Ring contains several sensors for the kind of passive wellness tracking found on the watch, which monitors heart rate, skin temperature, calculates steps taken, and automatically records running and walking workouts.
It feeds that information straight into the Samsung Health app, giving you a sleep score and energy score along with personalized AI-powered advice. It’s a slim, sophisticated fitness tracker that ushers in a new era for wearables.
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2. But choose wisely…
That's because the Galaxy Ring's sizes are based on standard US sizes, with nine different options ranging from a US size 5 to a US size 13. And Samsung says Ring size and color availability 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 shorter the battery life. So, if you have very thin fingers, your Galaxy Ring will last about six days instead of seven.
3. A smarter, more stylish flagship foldable phone
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 looks virtually identical to its predecessor. But look closer and you'll see that it's slightly shorter and wider, making the cover display easier to use in one hand. Plus, under the hood you'll find a Samsung-optimized Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
That’s helpful since the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will need that chunk of silicon to power built-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 — for example, taking the sketched outline of glasses on a picture of a dog and having the AI generate a real-looking set of glasses to cover the dog’s eyes.
Another clever AI feature is the way the Interpreter app can work across all of the Fold 6’s screens by providing a conversation mode that displays two-way translations from both the main and cover screens. Basically, the Galaxy Fold 6 is the smartest foldable phone you can pre-order right now.
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4. Who is Apple Watch Ultra? Meet the Galaxy Watch Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra takes the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and supercharges it for outdoor activities. The Ultra offers a more impressive battery, a redesigned “shock-absorbing” titanium armor, a programmable “Quick” button, improved GPS, and new tools for wilderness survival.
It obviously draws a lot of inspiration from the Apple Watch Ultra, but it's great to see a real step up in performance from Samsung's Galaxy watches, and from our brief testing time it looks like it'll be a reliable companion for both the office and the outdoors.
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5. A smarter Galaxy Z Flip with a powerful camera
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 may have gotten the most attention at Samsung's latest Galaxy Unpacked event, but the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is definitely the more fun of the two new contenders for best foldable phone (after all, who doesn't love a modern foldable phone?).
This year’s Galaxy Z Flip model offers plenty of iterative improvements over the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (including a new 50MP camera, faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, a larger battery, and improved durability), and also includes 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 Shadow Silver.
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6. Artificial intelligence in your ears thanks to the Galaxy Buds Pro 3
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have taken a new, AirPods-like direction, with stems extending down from the earbuds, new pinch and swipe controls, and a cool “Blade Light” on the Pro model.
Most importantly, they boast some big sound improvements, including an advanced dual-driver system on the Pro and improved noise cancellation. That active noise cancellation is powered by AI, with smart adaptive abilities — though it’ll be better on the more expensive Pro option, of course. They also promise AI-powered call quality improvement and longer battery life, as well as 24-bit Hi-Res Audio and 3D spatial sound when used with Samsung’s best phones.
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7. A Galaxy Watch to keep an eye on
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 doesn’t stray away from the circular design of its predecessors, like the Galaxy Watch 6, but it does make significant changes under the hood. Inside, it’s powered by a 3-nanometer Samsung Exynos chip, and around back, it features 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 to make any metric more accurate.
The Watch 7 also includes pinch gesture controls and Galaxy AI features like smarter suggested replies. Unlike the Fold or Flip, there's no price increase, either.
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8. A new XR platform is coming, with a little help from Google
In a moment you almost missed in the blink of an eye during Unpacked, Google reaffirmed its plans for the XR platform (a catch-all for VR, AR, and MR), in partnership with Samsung, and Samsung president and head of Mobile Experience (MX) business TM Roh said the fruits of Samsung and Google’s XR partnership will arrive “this year.”
Our best guess for when we'll hear more about this is at the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC), which is scheduled for October 3, 2024. But considering we're only halfway through 2024, Samsung and Google might want to hurry up.
9. Get your energy score… with a trick
At Unpacked, Samsung revealed a new Energy Score feature for Galaxy Watches that
It monitors you and gives you a kind of battery charge rating for your body, basically it will let you know when you're at the limit, which is a very clear symptom of modern life.
Samsung touted the feature as a way to improve “your awareness of the ways your health impacts your daily life, so you can use recommendations based on your current fitness level to focus your daily efforts on making improvements.”
But there is a problem.
The fine print indicates that you'll need a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 or newer model to be able to get an energy score. The Watch 4 was released in 2021, so if you have an older model, like a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, you won't get a body energy score—you'll have to rely on the old-fashioned way of telling how tired you are by looking at whether you can get off the couch after coming home from work.
