Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Summer 2024: What to Expect and How to Watch

Samsung’s summer Galaxy Unpacked event is almost upon us. The company has typically held its mid-year Unpacked launches in July or August. Last year’s took place on July 26 in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung hasn’t revealed the date or the location of this summer’s event, but early reports suggest July 10 in Paris, France (known tipster Evan Blass recently posted a gif to his X account revealing the date and location).

With a general idea of when the event is going down, it’s time to get into the business of ferreting out what’s on deck. Here’s what we expect from the next Galaxy Unpacked.

Fresh Foldables: Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6

Galaxy Unpacked will almost certainly focus on new folding phones from the tech giant. The company updates its Z Fold and Z Flip handhelds every year around this time. While no confirmed details are available, leaks and rumors have painted a fairly clear picture of what we’ll see.

Left to right: Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy Z Fold 5 (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

The Z Fold 6 will be the star of the show as Samsung’s most advanced phone. Notably, the Z Fold 6 will feature a brand-new design. The Z Fold 5, 4, and 3 are all remarkably similar in their basic appearance. Smartprix suggests the Z Fold 6 will resemble the Galaxy S24 family with flatter side edges and a titanium frame. Thanks to the titanium, the phone may see a reduction in weight from 8.92 ounces to 8.43 ounces.

Samsung also plans to upgrade the screens. The outer display will improve to a 6.3-inch OLED panel with 2,376 by 986 pixels. It will still be fairly narrow, but the aspect ratio is slightly wider than previous versions of the phone. The inner screen will maintain its 7.6-inch dimension and rely on a Dynamic AMOLED panel with 2,160 by 1,856 pixels. Most everyone expects the phone to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. It will ship in variants with 8 to 12GB of RAM and 256GB to 1TB of storage.

One area many want to see improved? The camera. The Z Fold 5 produces acceptable images, but they are far behind the quality of photos from the S24 Ultra and other leading camera phones. Here, rumors conflict. Smartprix suggests the optics will be largely carried over from the Z Fold 5, meaning the phone will get a 50MP primary camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and 10MP telephoto camera. The outer selfie camera will stay the same at 10MP, as will the inner selfie camera at 4MP. However, others believe an Ultra version of the phone may include a 200MP main camera. Either way, we should expect Galaxy AI to assist in improving camera performance.

Left to right: Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5 (Credit Iyaz Akhtar)

Last, the phone will use a 4,400mAh battery with support for 25W wired charging. This is the same as the Fold 5. Wireless charging will be available, too. The phone is expected to ship with Android 14 and a new version of Samsung One UI.

Changes to the Z Flip 6 will largely mirror those for the Fold, including the titanium frame and weight reduction. Again, according to Smartprix, the outer screen will stay the same size at 3.4 inches with 748 by 720 pixels. We were hoping a slightly bigger screen would give the phone’s outer user interface more room to run widgets and display notifications, but that appears not to be the case. When open, the Fold 6 will have a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED with 2,600 by 1,080 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate—the same as the Z Flip 5.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will power the phone and it will come with either 256GB or 512GB of storage, likely with 8GB of RAM. The Flip 6 may see an upgraded main camera, which will boast 50MP in resolution. Otherwise, the 12MP ultra-wide camera will be carried over, as will the 10MP selfie camera. The phone may have an upgraded 4,000mAh battery compared with the 3,700mAh cell of its predecessor. It, too, will support 25W wired charging and wireless charging at an unknown rate (likely 15W).

Left to right: Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy Z Fold 5 (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

Pricing is expected to go up by about $100 each. The Z Fold 6 may start at $1,900 for the 8GB/256GB version, while the Z Flip 6 might cost $1,100 for the 256GB model.

There’s no word on what Galaxy AI tools will be on board, but at the very least, the phones will probably match the capabilities of the S24 family.

Watch for Wearables: The Ring’s the Thing

Each summer, Samsung refreshes its family of smartwatches and other wearables alongside its smartphones. This year, we’re looking forward to the seventh-generation Galaxy Watch and perhaps a couple of extras, including the Watch Ultra and the Galaxy Ring.

Left to right: Galaxy Watch 6, Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

According to tipsters from @negativeonehero (via Notebookcheck), the Watch 7 and Watch Ultra will share some specs. The wearables are expected to be powered by a Samsung Exynos W1000 chip at 1.6GHz with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Basic features may include blood pressure tracking, body composition measurements, ECG capabilities, fitness tracking, oxygen saturation tracking, sleep tracking, and temperature tracking.

The Watch 7 will come in small (40mm) and large (44mm) cases with a thickness of about 9.7mm. Similar to the Apple Watch Ultra, the Galaxy Watch Ultra will be wider and thicker at 47mm by 12.1mm. What sets them apart other than size? Materials. The Watch 7 is expected to arrive in aluminum or stainless steel, while the Ultra is believed to rely on titanium for its frame (again, like the Apple Watch Ultra). Further, the Ultra model will have a brighter screen for easier outdoor use (3,000 nits versus 2,000 nits). Moreover, the 40mm Watch 7 will have a 300mAh battery, the 44mm Watch 7 will have a 425mAh battery, and the 47mm Watch Ultra will have a 590mAh battery.

Pricing could be approximately $275 (40mm), $300, (44mm), and $650 (47mm), though these numbers will surely vary by region and promotion.

Left to right: Galaxy Watch 6, Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

Samsung recently announced the Galaxy Watch FE, a lower-cost version of its smartwatch. It appears as though the Watch Ultra replaces what might have been the Watch 7 Classic.

Beyond these wearables, the show stealer could be the Galaxy Ring. Samsung previewed the Galaxy Ring during Mobile World Congress earlier this year. This more intimate wearable slips onto your finger like the Oura smart ring. It will track basic body metrics such as body temperature, pulse, and more. Samsung says the Ring will work together with its smartphones and smartwatches to generate a fuller picture of the wearer’s health. Specs and pricing for the Galaxy Ring are still the fodder of speculation, as Samsung has shared very few details about it.

Samsung Galaxy Ring (Credit: Eric Zeman)

Finally, it’s likely that Samsung will update its earphones. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are two years old now and ripe for a refresh. Could we see the Buds 3 Pro? We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Unpacking Soon

With Samsung Galaxy Unpacked believed to be kicking off as soon as July 10, there’s not much time left to gather rumors, so be sure to check back frequently for the latest tips. We’ll share details about how to watch the event once Samsung makes an official announcement.

In the meantime, read up on the Galaxy AI features in the Samsung Galaxy S24.