Samsung is all set to host its foldable-focused Galaxy Unpacked 2023 on July 26 in Seoul, South Korea. If the rumors are to be believed, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will be the showstopper because of its big outer display. On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is touted to be an incremental update. But the Unpacked will be much more than a foldable launch. Apart from these two hero products, Samsung is rumored to launch the next-gen Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Tab S series in the form of Watch 6 and Tab S9, respectively. Here’s what you can expect from the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 July 2023.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
I’m most excited about the Galaxy Z Flip 5 because it is tipped to receive a major upgrade. For four generations, the clamshell foldable has been stuck with a small cover display, which only allows you to have certain widgets and information at a glance.
On the other hand, Motorola is leading the cover screen game with its Razr Plus, which offers a 3.6-inch cover display that lets you run almost any app without unfolding the phone. I’m currently using the Razr Plus, and it’s amazing how immersive Motorola has made the cover display.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is reported to have a 3.4-inch cover screen. With Samsung being close to Google and One UI being an intuitive UI, I expect the Flip 5 to have some tricks up its sleeve to stand out in the segment.
On the inside, it could feature a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, which is expeted to remain the same as the predecessor. However, the next big upgrade is expected to be in the hinge design. According to a Ross Young tweet, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 will have a new hinge design to reduce the gutter-like crease on the inner display.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is likely to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, paired with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of storage. I expect it to offer better battery performance than the Flip 4 because the flagship chipset has been a godsend for battery life this year. From the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to the Xiaomi 13 Pro and iQOO 11, the SoC has never disappointed.
There hasn’t been a major leak on the optics front, but the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is supposedly getting a camera upgrade. It could sport a 50MP primary sensor and a 12MP ultrawide-angle sensor. But there’s nothing concrete on this yet.
I wish Samsung to offer faster charging on the Flip 5. For reference, the Flip 4 supports 25W wired fast charging, and it is likely to remain the same on Flip 5. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is expected to launch at the same $999 price as the Flip 4.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Don’t expect a redesign with the Galaxy Z Fold 5. It’s likely to have major changes under the hood but look and feel the same, that is, have a taller aspect ratio when compared to the Pixel Fold. The 5th-gen Samsung foldable is said to focus on a hinge redesign.
According to the renders from Smartprix, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will have a new hinge – like the Flip 5 to reduce the crease visibility. You can expect to get better IP rating for dust and water resistance.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is speculated to be very similar to the Fold 4. This means, it could feature the same 6.2-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch foldable display with a 120Hz refresh rate support on both. Like the Flip 5, it expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. It could pack a the same 4,400mAh battery and triple rear camera setup as the Fold 4.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 started at a steep $1800, and the Fold 5 is unlikely to cost any less. For context, the Pixel Fold costs the same.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series
Samsung dropped the Classic model on Watch 5 in favor of a Pro variant. According to MySmartPrice, we’ll get the Classic option back with a rotating physical bezel. I don’t think Samsung has dropped the Pro variant but is aiming for a bi-yearly release, at least for now.
According to the leaked images, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will have a physical rotating bezel, which was dearly missed on the Watch 5 series. I prefer the physical rotating bezel because it feels like a more intuitive way to interact with the small screen on my wrist. The regular Watch 6 is tipped to be like the Watch 5 and offer software support for bezel interactions.
The Galaxy Watch 6 series is said to feature a bigger display at 1.47-inch. It could be a microLED panel, reports SamMobile, which would be an upgrade from the Super AMOLED screens of Galaxy Watch 5 series with Sapphire Crystal layer on top for protection. For the unaware, microLED panels offer higher brightness, better contrast control and are more efficient in terms of battery consumption.
The new Samsung smartwatches are said to get a 10% boost in performance over the predecessors. The Watch 5 series was smooth in day-to-day use, and I don’t see any reason to be skeptical about the Watch 6 performance. The 40mm Galaxy Watch 6 could pack a 300mAh, an upgrade from the 285mAh Li-ion cell found on the predecessor. All models are likely to get a bigger battery.
Samsung switched to Google’s Wear OS from its Tizen OS with the Galaxy Watch 4. Onto its third generation, Wear OS on the Watch 6 is expected to offer a wider feature set. The Galaxy Watch 5 was launched at $279, and I expect the Watch 6 to start at the same price.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series
Samsung introduced a new Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra last year in the company’s flagship tablet lineup. We might get in upgraded Tab S9 Ultra this year. It is said to feature a massive 14.6-inch display. The Tab S9 and S9 Plus are expected to come equipped with 11-inch and 12.4-inch OLED displays, respectively.
The Galaxy Tab S9 lineup will be powered by the smae flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset mentioned above. The top-of-the-line Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is said to come in a 16GB RAM variant for those who require an Android tablet with that much memory.
While Samsung is announcing a slew of new products, my eyes are on the Galaxy Z Flip 5. The big cover display will finally make the clamshell phone worth buying. And paired by the best Qualcomm processor of 2023, I expect it to last an entire day easily, which wasn’t the case with the Flip 4. I’ll be bringing you hands-on coverage on July 26, so stay tuned for more.
Read the full article here
