Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July 2023: Z Flip 5, Z Fold 5, and all the news

It just wouldn’t be hot foldable summer without a new ultra-flagship entry from Samsung. This year, Samsung announced its new Galaxy Z Fold 5 at its Unpacked event, and the $1,799.99 phone looks a whole lot like previous Z Folds. In fact, it’s so similar to last year’s Z Fold 4 that the biggest change for the Fold 5 may be that it’s launching with a direct competitor here in the US in the form of the Google Pixel Fold.

It was only around one month ago that Google launched its debut folding phone, and while it’s proven a valiant first attempt with good cameras and a comfier outer screen, it still lacks a bit in the software optimization department. On the other hand, Samsung has been refining its Galaxy Fold line since it took that massive first step into these unknown, foldable waters (and subsequently face-planted due to massive defects of its original model).

Now that Samsung’s announced its new Galaxy Watch 6 lineup during this week’s Unpacked event, there are even more Android wearables than ever to choose from. Along with a physical rotating bezel, the new lineup sports even more health features than its predecessor, like passive irregular heart rhythm alerts, personalized heart rate zones, and more advanced sleep tracking capabilities.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 comes in two different flavors: the standard version and the Classic. The new wearables start at $299.99 and will be available on August 11th, though you can preorder them today. However, before you whip out your credit card, you might want to research how they measure up to another solid Android rival: the Google Pixel Watch. Released last year, the Pixel Watch is one of our favorites, but it’s different in a couple of key ways.

During Samsung’s Unpacked event today, the company announced the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 phones, but that wasn’t all — it also presented a new Galaxy Tab S9 tablet lineup. The Galaxy Tab S9 starts at $799.99, while the S9 Plus and S9 Ultra start at $999.99 and $1,199.99, respectively. While they won’t be available until August 11th, you can preorder them — with the Galaxy S Pen included — starting today.

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy version of Qualcomm’s top-tier processor, the new tablets are expected to be faster than the Tab S8 series from 2021. The Tab S9 tablets and S Pens are now IP68-rated for dust and water resistance, which is a feature we don’t often see in non-ruggedized tablets. Along with a more durable build, the Tab S9 lineup also features OLED displays that boast a 120Hz maximum refresh rate. All the tablets support Wi-Fi 6E as well, although only the Tab S9 Plus comes with 5G.

Alongside Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 phones, Samsung introduced its newest wearables to the world: the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic. Both smartwatches are available to preorder today starting at $299.99 and $399.99, respectively, ahead of their release on August 11th.

The new Galaxy Watch 6 Classic brings back rotating bezels, which its predecessor lacked, while the standard watch comes with a touch bezel that’s slimmer. In both cases, the screen is larger and should be easier to read. The wearables are also the first in Samsung’s lineup to launch with Google’s Wear OS 4 platform and Samsung’s One UI 5 Watch skin. That allows for new features like personalized heart rate zones, passive irregular heart rhythm alerts, and more advanced sleep tracking capabilities.

Samsung kicked off a new generation of foldable phones at its latest Unpacked event, and it’s already taking preorders for those looking to punch their tickets to hot foldable summer. This time around, the announcements of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 were accompanied by a pair of new smartwatches and new tablets, but the foldables were the star of the show — even if some of the annual improvements are feeling mostly iterative.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the new folding flagship, clocking in at a $1,799.99 starting price and featuring an outer 6.2-inch screen with a 7.6-inch display on the inside. If that sounds familiar from the Z Fold 4 last year, well, it is, though there are bigger changes on the $999.99 Galaxy Z Flip 5, which once again has a 6.7-inch inner folding screen but a much larger 3.4-inch front cover display. The most-touted feature that’s in both Z-series phones is a new hinge design that allows them to close flat with minimal air gap.

Samsung has announced its latest high-end Android tablets: the new Galaxy Tab S9, S9 Plus, and S9 Ultra. The new models follow the Tab S8 series from 2022, with similar designs and features. As before, the smallest Tab S9 starts at $799.99, while the two larger models are $999.99 and $1,199.99, respectively. All of the tablets are available for preorder starting today, July 26th, and are slated to ship starting on August 11th.

What is different is the environment. Samsung has effectively had free reign of the high-end Android tablet market (or whatever scraps Apple’s iPad leaves behind) for the last decade or so. But this year, there are a surprising number of other options from companies like Google, OnePlus, and Lenovo, all bringing different ideas of what a tablet can be — often at a lower price than Samsung offers.

Just hours before Samsung’s latest Unpacked event where the company is expected to announce its latest foldables, wearables, and tablets, leaker Evan Blass has shared a more or less complete look at the company’s forthcoming lineup via his restricted Twitter account. All that’s missing are the official prices.

Blass has published over a dozen images in total, which appear to show Samsung’s promotional webpages for the devices ahead of their official unveiling. The pages show a pair of foldables (the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5), a new Galaxy Watch 6 smartwatch lineup, and a range of Galaxy Tab S9 tablets. There are images aplenty of the new devices, as well as confirmation of key features that have been rumored for months.

Samsung’s second Galaxy Unpacked event of the year is just days away, and it’s going to be filled with new products. In addition to the highly anticipated launch of Samsung’s next-gen foldables, we’re also expecting Samsung to announce updates to its Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Tab lines.

If you’re curious about the upcoming Unpacked, we’ve rounded up all you need to know about the event below.

Samsung’s new phone announcements are expected tomorrow, July 26th, at 7AM ET during its next Unpacked event, so that means today’s the last chance to net $50 of preorder credit by making a free reservation.

While Samsung may be keeping the full details of its Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 folding phones under wraps, the reservation promo it typically runs is like a nudge, nudge, wink, wink, “yeah, you know what’s coming” discount for its most loyal early adopters as a treat. The way it works is simple: you submit a no-obligation reservation on Samsung’s site by entering your name, email address, and phone number, and you’ll receive a $50 credit to use on a preorder of the Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, or other new qualifying devices Samsung announces tomorrow.

What’s old is hot again, and flip phones are so very hot right now.

These phones are a far cry from the phone that you mastered T9 texting on in college. Today’s flip phones are garden-variety 2023 smartphones that happen to fold in half — plus a screen on the front cover.

The upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 could come with a larger display thanks to its slimmed-down bezels. A specs list posted by leaker SnoopyTech (via 9to5Google) suggests that the 40mm Watch 6 will come with a 1.31-inch OLED display, while the 44mm version will feature a 1.47-inch OLED display.

The specs sheet indicates that the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will get a similar upgrade, featuring the same display sizes across its rumored 43mm and 47mm options. According to the specs sheet, the 1.2-inch display might come with a 432 x 432 resolution, while the 1.47-inch screen may have a 480 x 480 resolution. That’s a slight upgrade from the 1.2-inch and 1.4-inch displays on its Galaxy Watch 5 predecessor.

Samsung only just announced that its next Unpacked event will take place on July 26th at 7AM ET, but the deals are already trickling in on the company’s next slate of Galaxy devices (including the heavily rumored Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5). Starting today, you can place a preorder reservation one of two ways, each of which entitles you to $50 in Samsung credit when you preorder one of Samsung’s forthcoming, yet-to-be-announced devices at a future date.

Like Samsung’s previous reservation promos, you won’t have to hand over your credit card details, either. All you need to do is fill out your name and email address on Samsung’s website or the Shop Samsung app before July 26th. You’ll then be eligible to redeem the Samsung credit when you preorder an upcoming Galaxy device, presumably on July 26th when Samsung announces the new Galaxy lineup. There is one slight catch, though: you won’t be able to use the credit toward the Galaxy device you’re preordering — only other eligible products. Samsung hasn’t specified what qualifies yet, but in previous years, the credit has been good toward a pair of wireless earbuds, cases, and other accessories.

We have a confirmed date for Hot Foldable Summer’s biggest party. Samsung has announced it’s hosting its next Unpacked on July 26th at 7AM ET — bright and early for the east coast, but it’ll be an evening affair in Seoul, where Samsung previously announced that it’s hosting the event. The image and text released with the announcement make it quite obvious that we’ll see a flip-style foldable at the event, which would naturally be the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the Z Fold 5 is anticipated as well. We will likely see the Galaxy Watch 6, too, as well as some Galaxy Tablets. That’s quite a packed Unpacked.

The flip-style foldable in Samsung’s promotional image looks right in line with the rumors and leaks we’ve seen thus far with a lower-profile hinge. It certainly looks like a phone that will close flat. Unfortunately, this profile view doesn’t give us a glimpse of the cover screen, which is expected to be much larger than the teeny tiny screen on the Z Flip 4 — literally big, if true.

With about a month to go until the next Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, we may have a pretty comprehensive idea about what to expect from the next version of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Several leaks over the last few days have revealed a lot about what the phones may look like — and what’s under their respective hoods — ahead of their official unveiling.

A Twitter leak early this week from Revegnus showed a photo of a folded phone that looks to be to be the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in a blocky, black case (via 9to5Google). The case hides a lot of the design, but what you can see backs up previous alleged renders. For instance, the screen on the back may be the same 3.4-inch 720 x 748 cover screen that’s been predicted. You can also make out the side-by-side camera lenses, another rumored update to the design.