Samsung’s July Galaxy Unpacked event finally revealed its new Galaxy Ring wearable and what it can do. That’s in addition to other new products, like the AirPods-like Galaxy Buds 3 and 3 Pro, a beefy Galaxy Watch Ultra, and a redesigned Galaxy Z Fold 6 with squared corners and much brighter displays.
The Galaxy Ring is the big one — Samsung’s entry will be the first serious smart ring from one of the big phone and smartwatch makers when it becomes available on July 24th. The ring is facing an already entrenched but still fairly niche market occupied by the Oura Ring, Evie, and Ultrahuman.
The company also revealed a new Galaxy Z Flip 6 and the Galaxy Watch 7, talked about some new Galaxy AI features, and gave pricing information for all of the new devices. Everything is up for preorder now and will be available on July 24th.
Highlights
- How to preorder Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, and the Galaxy Ring
- Samsung’s Galaxy Ring could be the one ring to rule an ecosystem
- Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds are blatant AirPod clones in both form and function
- The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 come with minor updates and higher prices
- Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra hands-on: ultra déjà vu
Jul 12
Samsung’s new folds, flips, and Apple clones
As the rest of the tech industry seems to mostly shift to overproduced infomercials for their product launches, Samsung is holding fast to its love for giant live events in huge arenas. This year, at Unpacked in Paris, the company announced a whole lineup of new gadgets. The new Fold and Flip look nice but also a bit uninspired; the Watch Ultra and Buds 3 look almost too familiar; and the Galaxy Ring might be the beginning of something really cool.
Read Article >On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk through all of Samsung’s announcements and try to figure out whether “Apple products but for Android” is actually a winning strategy. It might be! Plus, we debate what to make of Samsung’s somewhat lackluster upgrades for the Flip and Fold phones — maybe these just aren’t the smartphone shapes of the future. Or at least not yet.
Jul 10
Here’s where you can preorder the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6
In addition to three new wearables (the Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Watch 7, and Watch Ultra) and a new pair of Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Samsung has unpacked details on its two newest foldable smartphones: the Galaxy Z Fold 6 ($1,899.99) and Galaxy Z Flip 6 ($1,099.99). Both bring minimal improvements over their predecessors yet start $100 higher than previous releases. Preorders start today, and the devices will begin shipping on July 24th.
Read Article >The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 most notably add the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is Qualcomm’s latest flagship chipset. It has a dedicated neural processing unit for the growing list of Galaxy AI and Google Gemini features present in Android 14 and One UI 6. Samsung refined their outward design with a flatter profile and less curvature around the corners and edges while making internal room for better cooling properties. Both devices also get an IP48 rating for protection against dust and water. They previously didn’t have an ingress protection rating for dust, though the “4” in that slot means it’s not exactly dust-tight — it only guarantees protection against objects 1mm or larger.
Jul 10
How to preorder Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, and the Galaxy Ring
Samsung didn’t just announce new foldable phones and wireless earbuds during its Samsung Unpacked event on Wednesday but also a new lineup of wearables: the Galaxy Watch 7 ($299.99), the Samsung Ring ($399.99), and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra ($649.99). While you’ll have to wait until July 24th until they’re officially available, all of the wearables are available to preorder now in the US.
Read Article >The new wearables target a wide audience, from casual users to outdoor athletes. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is a stylish wearable that’s more of a discreet health tracker, while the Galaxy Watch 7 is a smartwatch that’s more capable with new sleep apnea detection capabilities. Yet it’s not as feature-packed as the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, which, as my colleague Victoria Song wrote in her hands-on impression, is basically the Android version of the Apple Watch Ultra. Built for the active, outdoorsy type, Samsung says it is its most durable watch yet and replaces the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro as Samsung’s premium smartwatch.
Jul 10
Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm are, uh, still doing that XR thing.Google’s Rick Osterloh mentioned the elusive XR collaboration briefly in his onstage appearance at Unpacked, without providing any new details. That’s the at least the third time we’ve heard about it without actually hearing anything at all about it. But I guess now we know it’s still a thing in the Osterloh Android era?
Jul 10
Some looks at the new Galaxy Buds 3.Setting aside their Apple-ness and the Cybertruck-like angles, what do we think? Here’s a gallery of new Galaxy Buds images from Galaxy Unpacked.
For more on what they’re like, check out Chris Welch’s hands-on.
1/8
Jul 10
Google’s Rick Osterloh takes the stage.Osterloh heads up hardware over at Google and is taking time to really cement the Google / Samsung partnership. The thing that stuck out most to me was when he said: wherever you are on your Galaxy phone, just hit up Gemini. And does he have that Galaxy Ultra on his wrist? Looks like it.
“Lets unpack the future together.”
Jul 10
These foldable phones are still pricey.The Z Flip 6 starts at $1,099, while the Z Fold 6 is $1,899. All the products, including the Galaxy Watches, Ring, and Buds will be available starting on July 24th.
Jul 10
Samsung says adding a stem to its earbuds produced a “quantum leap” in comfort.Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Buds 3 ditch the more discreet look of the company’s past earbuds for a familiar stemmed design. The company says a ton of research and analysis on ear shapes and comfort led to the big design shift.
Jul 10
Live Translate will support more languages this year.Samsung is expanding its feature that translates phone calls in real time to cover 16 languages in July and 20 languages by the end of the year.
Jul 10
Google Gemini x Samsung.Google and Samsung confirmed that their deal for Gemini AI features on Galaxy devices will bring updates (announced at I/O earlier this year) that let it read and respond to what’s on your phone screen or in a video you’re watching, as well as new Circle to Search features.
Jul 10
Interactive wallpapers are kinda neat.Yeah, they’re kind of gimmicky, but I’ll admit that I was entertained when playing around with them the other day during our hands-on experience. The FlipSuit cases for the Z Flip 6 were also fun, especially the ones with LEDs.
Jul 10
No appearance from BTS this year, instead we get TXT.Somewhere in Seoul, I think our former laptop reviewer Monica Chin is fangirling. BTS is still mostly going through their military service, but K-pop stars making an appearance at Unpacked is a time-honored Samsung tradition.
Jul 10
Sydney Sweeney’s here again.She was in the audience at last year’s Unpacked, too, and is now being subjected to Galaxy AI creating an uncanny portrait of her. Sydney, blink if you need help.
Jul 10
“Soon.”Gemini is available on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, and Google is touting a bunch of new AI features it previewed earlier this year, like homework help in Circle to Search and contextual suggestions. But they’re still coming “soon,” so it doesn’t look like we’ll get to try them out right away on the new foldables. Bummer.
Jul 10
Some people on staff say “no” to this Galaxy AI-generated image.I say yes. No, I say HELL YES.
Jul 10
Samsung has reached the point of “improving the flatness” of its foldables.Now six generations into its foldable devices category, Samsung just showed a video about the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s display, which has a new coating, a less noticeable crease, fewer layers between the screen and your eyes, and smaller bezels. And apparently it’s even flatter than before when open.
Jul 10
In case you didn’t catch those close-ups.Here’s a gallery of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra’s detail shots. That strap connection looks pretty familiar!
1/16
Jul 10
Where... have we seen these Ultra features before?A lot of these features look awfully similar to the Apple Watch Ultra. Samsung isn’t shy about where it got its inspiration for this beefy squircle watch from.
Jul 10
The Galaxy Watch Ultra gets FDA-cleared sleep apnea detection.This is an industrywide first. Fitbit first started working on this back in 2017! It’s not meant to be a diagnostic tool — these features never are. Rather, it’s meant to alert you and encourage you to talk to a doctor.
Jul 10
Samsung wants you to put a ring on it... for sleep.I got a chance to play around with the Galaxy Ring, but here’s the gist: it’s made of titanium, comes in three colors, has up to seven days of battery life, and will be a really great, discreet way to track your sleep.
Jul 10
Samsung’s introducing a new AI-powered Energy Score and Wellness Tips.The Energy Score uses four health metrics to tell you how ready you are to tackle the day, while the Wellness Tips feature gives you personalized advice based on those metrics. Annnnd these metrics get us into the Galaxy Ring.
Jul 10
Can I kick it?Samsung says yes, you can. The company’s kicking this event off with a video about how its new phones, particularly the Z Flip 6, can live translate “Can I kick it” and “Yes you can” in a number of languages.
Jul 10
AI sparkles! AI sparkles everywhere!Watching the intro to today’s Galaxy Unpacked event, I’m reminded of this great David Imel video answering the most important question of our time: why did everyone decide that the official logo of AI is ***sparkles***?
Jul 10
Samsung’s Galaxy Ring could be the one ring to rule an ecosystem
Samsung may have launched three new smartwatches this year, but the wearable I’ve been most excited to see from the company was the Galaxy Ring. After months of teasing, Samsung officially announced the $399.99 smart ring at today’s Unpacked event — and I finally got to play around with one. Granted, I only spent a short time with the Galaxy Ring, but so far, I like what I’ve seen.
Read Article >Right off the bat, the Galaxy Ring hardware is quite nice, though its overall design doesn’t stray too far from other smart rings. (I know because I showed up to the hands-on wearing four other smart rings.) It comes in three colors: gold, silver, and black. All have a titanium frame and look fetching, but like a magpie, I found myself partial to the gold, as it had the shiniest finish. I can’t quite speak to the durability yet, but it’s got 10ATM of water resistance and an IP68 rating.
Jul 10
Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds are blatant AirPod clones in both form and function
Alongside its latest folding phones and wearables, Samsung is introducing the new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Buds 3. As leaks (and early sales) confirmed, the company has moved away from the subtle in-ear design of past generations to a stemmed look that gives these an AirPods-esque look and feel — especially in white. Both earbuds also come in a gunmetal gray finish that, combined with the angular “blade” design, makes me think of Tesla’s Cybertruck. But there’s no denying the overall similarities to Apple’s massively popular AirPods.
Read Article >Samsung’s press release says the switch was the direct result of “a variety of collected statistical data” that showed a stem form factor produces better comfort and in-ear stability. So, here we are. I’ll miss the vibrant purple Buds 2 Pro, not to mention the bean-shaped Buds Live.