It’s an overcast day in Seoul and I’m being herded into a jazzed up bus with free WiFi, being taken to a secret location to get my hands on a bunch of new devices. Awaiting me are two floors of gadgets — showcasing the latest lineup of Samsung’s foldable flagships, tablets and smartwatches. This was a couple of days ago and today, Samsung has pulled the curtain back on its latest stellar line-up at the event with its own set of stars including Suga from BTS and the Euphoria-starlet Sydney Sweeney. Here’s a first look at each devices that has been launched.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5
This smartphone has always screamed “CXO material right here!”, and continues to do so in its new avatar. The massive device is marginally slimmer — but not in a significant way that might be noticeable. It still has the 7.6-inch display when unfolded, however, it is now lighter by 10 grams compared to its predecessor.
The Flex View has now been integrated across multiple third party apps. So for example, if you’re watching YouTube on one half of the screen, you can use the second half for other operations within the app itself. This is different from the Split-Screen mode, where users can navigate between two different apps.
This smartphone as well as the latest Flip5 have been upgraded to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform, which is already powering the top-tier S23 series smartphones, and the likes of OnePlus 11 and vivo X90 Pro+.
The Galaxy Z Fold5 features a new pastel Icy Blue colour variant apart from the usual Phantom Black, Cream, Gray and Blue.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5
With a millennial and Gen Z face, this smartphone has got a much larger Super AMOLED cover display now — 3.4-inches across. What’s unique about the cover display is that it’s almost a Windows folder-icon shape, and not a perfect rectangle. As I scroll up to access more content the little extra space gives me a preview of what’s coming next.
Samsung has added a bunch of new widgets to add to the cover display too. The company has also introduced what feels like the coolest set of accessories to adorn a smartphone — a Flipsuit Case with changeable NFC cards. These are funky slip-in cards that can be inserted into the protective case and can be used for making payments and exchanging information. With each NFC card and its unique design, users also get a matching Flex Window design on the smartphone screen.
On the Flex Window, the scope of widgets have been expanded to show global stock market updates with the Google Finance widget. I could also pinch towards the centre of the cover screen to activate the Multi Widget View that lets me see all the active widgets at a glance.
Giving users even fewer reasons to flip open the phone is the quick reply function along with chat history visible on the cover screen. Samsung Wallet has also been integrated, so when I swipe up on the screen, I can pay on-the-go, view my boarding passes and membership cards. The Flip5 is available in some fun colours now including Mint, Blue, Green and Yellow, apart from the usual colour options.
Smartwatches
Skipping the Pro this year, Samsung has launched the Galaxy Watch6 and Galaxy Watch6 Classic. Galaxy Watch6 is an ultimate daily driver with a modern and minimalist design. It comes in 44mm in Graphite and Silver, and in 40mm in Graphite and Gold shades. For a more premium, timeless timepiece design, look no further than Galaxy Watch6 Classic, featuring the signature our fan-favorite rotating bezel, is available in Black and Silver in 43mm and 47mm.
In terms of functionalities, both watches now emphasise more on heart health — be it tracking irregular heart rhythms or monitoring your heart rate to recommend the optimal zone to get the most out of your exercises. There is also an increased focus on the quality of sleep, with both smartwatches equipped to analyse Sleep Score Factors — total sleep time, sleep cycle, awake time, physical and mental recovery.
Additionally, Galaxy Watch6 also shows the user Sleep Consistency rate and also has a designated Sleep Animal symbol representing one’s sleep type. There is also a Body Composition feature now that measures the user’s skeletal muscle, basal metabolic rate, body water and fat percentages, and sets up personalised fitness goals accordingly.
Tablets
Not one, not two, but three new tablets have seen the light of the day in the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event — the Galaxy Tab S9, S9+ and S9 Ultra. All three devices sport a dynamic AMOLED 2X display and are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.
The basic model, the Galaxy Tab S9, sports a 11-inch display, while the Tab S9+ has a 12.4-inch display. Aimed for easy content creation as well as multi-device workstyles, the 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra — the biggest model — offers the best of both worlds.
Common to the series is the AKG quad-speaker system and Dolby Atmos sound, along with a display that offers an adaptive refresh rate of 120 Hz. For long hours of gaming, there is said to be a better two-way heat dissipation. The improved S Pen works with all the variants and users can now scribble directly on search bars, browsers and app stores.
A new bi-directional charging feature makes sure the device is charged, no matter which way it faces in the cradle. All the tablets are available in two colours — Beige and Graphite, and are primed for four generations of One UI and Android OS upgrades.
Prices
At the time of writing, we are still waiting on Samsung to reveal the India prices for the entire lineup of products. This information will be updated on the web version of this article by 8 AM IST on 27 July, 2023.
Verdict
While there may not have been a ton of major hardware changes to this year’s flagship foldables, it is amply clear that Samsung stands unwavering in its mission to take the foldable experience to the next level. The smartwatches seem to be following Apple Watch 8 series’ footsteps in including health parameters such as atrial fibrillation monitoring and advanced sleep monitoring. Nevertheless, I’m sure loyal Android consumers would appreciate the inclusion of these features. The tabs also cover all bases in terms of size, portability and functionality. Performance over prolonged use is something I’ll be sharing with you once I have the devices with me in India for a long term review.