What to expect from Samsung’s August Unpacked event

Samsung’s annual summer launch event is almost here. The company is holding its August Galaxy Unpacked event on August 10 at 9am ET, a year and a day after last year’s foldable-focused event. And, if rumors are to be believed, we’re in for a lot of very similar announcements including a pair of foldable watches, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, a new line of smartwatches with the Galaxy Watch 5, and most likely some new headphones.

We know there are foldables on the way because Samsung basically showed them to us in its promotional images and official trailer for its August 10 launch, and Samsung’s smartphone boss teased the “new Samsung Galaxy foldables” in a post. blog about the launch. The sheer number of Watch 5 leaks also makes us pretty sure it’s due to an impending reveal. Last year also saw the announcement of a new pair of truly wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 2, and this year we expect to see the launch of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. We previously did some renders of these last month, and a big leak At the last minute it seems to confirm that they are ready for the event itself.

Samsung used to use its summer launch events to announce a new generation of Galaxy Note phones. But last year, it skipped the launch of what would have been the Galaxy Note 21 entirely, officially confirming that it would be discontinuing the brand earlier this year. Instead, the Note line’s trademark features have been integrated into the more premium devices in the Galaxy S range, with the Galaxy S22 Ultra sporting a Note-inspired design and built-in S Pen stylus.

In other words, don’t expect a Note 22 to be announced this week. Instead, this is what Samsung could offer.

Galaxy Z Fold 4

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold devices are designed to combine the pocketability of a typical smartphone with the larger screen size of a tablet. That doesn’t seem to change for the fourth generation of the foldable, which like last year appears to pair a 7.6-inch internal foldable screen with a 6.2-inch cover screen, according to a leaked list of specs published by Google. Ice Universe Twitter Filter.

Leaked press photos of the Z Fold 4 suggest that it could also feature a very similar design to last year’s phone. They show off a trio of cameras on their rear contained within an oval camera bump, as well as what appears to be a centrally-oriented punch-hole selfie cutout in the cover display.

But while the device as a whole looks similar, there are signs that some changes will be coming to this year’s phone. For starters, even though the internal screen’s corner-to-corner size seems to stay the same, Ice Universe Reports that the screen could have a slightly wider aspect ratio, closer to a square than the 5:4 aspect ratio we saw last time.

Reports suggest that there are also some more tangible improvements on the way. Obviously, a faster processor is likely to be rumored to be a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 this time around, but it also looks like the Z Fold 4 could get a camera upgrade. Leaked specs suggest it will now feature a 50-megapixel main, 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and 10-megapixel telephoto camera on the rear, according to Ice Universe, the same as we saw on this year’s Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus. Last year’s model had a trio of 12-megapixel shooters, meaning we could get a higher resolution main camera at the expense of a slightly lower resolution telephoto lens.

Unfortunately, the Ice Universe leaks suggest that we could once again get an under-display selfie camera inside the Fold 4, which was responsible for some truly lackluster shots on last year’s phone. It is also reported that it still only has 4 megapixels of resolution.

Image: Evan Blass/ 91Mobiles

But perhaps the most interesting update we could see with this year’s foldable comes from Google, whose Android 12L update released earlier this year contains a number of optimizations aimed specifically at large-screen devices. It’s also updating its own apps to work better on tablet-sized screens and pushing third-party developers to do the same. These are all improvements that could lead to a better software experience on this year’s Z Fold 4.

Galaxy ZFlip 4

Leaks suggest we’re also in for a year of minor upgrades with the Z Flip 4, the next entry in Samsung’s line of folding clamshells. Leaker Evan Blass has also posted what appear to be official press renders of the Flip 4, showing a similar device to last year’s phone. There’s a two-tone design on the rear with a pair of cameras alongside a small external notification screen, and internally, it looks like we’re getting another hole-punch notch rather than an under-display camera (thank goodness).

Image: Evan Blass/ 91Mobiles

That’s not to say there won’t be noticeable changes. A couple of different leaks have suggested that the Z Flip 4 could feature a less noticeable crease where the internal screen folds down the middle. Leaker Ice Universe reports that it will be “shallower” than the crease on the Z Flip 3, which certainly appears to be the case based on some apparent leaked photos of the device. That’s not to say the Z Flip 3’s crease was especially problematic; my colleague Dan Seifert said he basically forgot about it after a couple of days of use, but hey, we’ll never say no to improved industrial design.

If leaks are to be believed, it won’t just be the internal screen that’s getting some updates. Ross Young, a reliable source for screen leaks, has said that he expects to see a bigger notification screen on the Z Flip 4 two inches or more instead of the 1.9-inch screen we saw on last year’s model. Other rumored improvements include a larger 3700 mAh battery and a faster processor, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1.

galaxy 5 clock

Of all the devices on this list, we may have the best idea of ​​what to expect from the Galaxy Watch 5. While last year’s Watch 4 range was split into the standard Watch 4 and the Watch 4 Classic (which came with a built-in watch). fan favourite). rotating bezel), this year it looks like we’ll be getting a Watch 5 and a Watch 5 Pro, and there’s no physical rotating bezel in sight.

Images of the two smartwatches were made public in early July by leaker Evan Blass (who else?). The Watch 5 Pro appears to only be available in a larger 45mm size (which will apparently allow it to pack a larger battery), while the standard Watch 5 will be available in two smaller sizes, which are supposed to be 44mm. and 40mm. in line with last year’s Watch 4.

Image: Evan Blass / 91Mobiles

Details are scarcer on what new functionality the watches might offer. An FCC filing from June suggested we could see fast charging on this year’s models, while another report claims we could see temperature sensing available (potentially useful for seeing if you have a fever).

Presumably, the watches will include Google Assistant support at launch, while Google’s voice assistant only made its way to the watch 4 months after launch. Given the big splash Samsung and Google made with Samsung smartwatches running Wear OS instead of Tizen last year, it seems very likely that the Galaxy Watch 5 will continue to run Wear OS 3.

Galaxy Pro 2 Earbuds

We didn’t get a lot of leaks about the Galaxy Buds Pro 2 until this week, when WinFuture.de shared what it claimed were official photos and specs of the headphones.

Based on this report, we expect the main features of the Buds Pro 2 to be a revised design and improved active noise cancellation, so “even the loudest ambient noise” (to quote winfuture apparently quoting Samsung) can be algorithmically dampened. Other specs include water resistance up to IPX7, 10mm drivers, 360-degree audio, Bluetooth 5.3, and a runtime of eight hours on a single charge, expandable up to 29 hours with the case. We assume that the battery life of eight hours is without ANC, given that the Galaxy Buds 2 offered 7.5 hours of battery without ANC and five hours with ANC activated.

9to5Google previously reported that the headphones could cost $230 (vs. $200 for the original Buds Pro) and feature support for 24-bit audio, while winfuture says they will be priced at €229 in Europe. Since last year’s more affordable non-Pro Galaxy Buds 2 were so good they undermined Samsung’s Pro models, the company needs to up its game for the Buds Pro 2 to stand out.

Image: WinFuture.de

some surprises

Although most of Samsung’s announcements are usually leaked before events like these, there is always some hope that the South Korean company has a surprise or two in store. Could we see the company announce new laptops? Any new smart home functionality for SmartThings? Or maybe even the return of the Galaxy Home Bixby smart speaker? I’ll be honest, that last one is unlikely. But it’s fun to dream, huh?