Everything from Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked July 2024!
Open the next frontier of Galaxy AI.
And thus starts Samsung’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event, showcasing their latest products and announcements here in the beautiful city of Paris. Just like last time, the brand’s major selling point is not any physical product but rather the Galaxy AI features that are to form the backbone of its very own Galaxy AI ecosystem.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the major announcements, hardware and software, shown off during the event.
A lofty future for the Galaxy AI Ecosystem
President of Samsung’s Mobile Division TM Roh starts off by informing us that Galaxy AI will now be available on “200 million Galaxy devices this year”, possibly referring to both new releases as well as older devices that received these features as part of their latest slew of updates.
Translation appears to be a big selling point for Galaxy AI like last time, with Samsung even making a stylized video showcasing this aspect of their AI, which has now grown to support over 16 languages this July. Samsung is also looking to expand this to 20 languages by the end of 2024. All of this can be done on-device as well so you don’t always need an internet connection to use them.
Expanding on Circle-to-Search, Samsung also offers live-translation for its devices too. Here, you simply point your camera at text in a language you can’t quite understand and the AI should be able to translate it for you. Quite convenient, especially for travelers.
Finally, Samsung did mention a few things regarding privacy and security when using these AI tools. For one, users get a choice for whether they want their data to be processed just on the device or via the Cloud, helping speed things along. It’s all up to the individual user what they want to share from the looks of it.
Introducing the Samsung Galaxy Ring
After all the rumors and leaks, Samsung’s Galaxy Ring is finally official. The Ring is made from lightweight and comfortable titanium, featuring sensors that track sleep activity, heart rate, exercise, and more, syncing with the latest Samsung Health App. The device also claims to boast substantial battery life, lasting up to 7 days on a single charge.
What’s bound to be even more exciting though, is the brand’s promise that the use of its Galaxy Ring and Samsung Health features requires NO SUBSCRIPTION. We honestly can’t help but see it as a means to undercut industry leader Oura; who does charge a monthly fee for their own smart ring.
Time will tell how long this model lasts however. There’s still some lingering questions like whether or not future features will still make their way to the Ring without paying extra. The Galaxy Ring will start at USD 399.
New Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 7
Of course, the Galaxy Ring isn’t the only wearable shown off during the presentation. We’ve also got the new Galaxy Watch Ultra; a more rugged, long-lasting smartwatch that Samsung supposedly designed for the great outdoors.
In terms of build, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is built with titanium cushion frames and features up to 10 ATM water resistance. Samsung also boasts that the watch offers up to 100 hours when set to its power-saving mode. This is supposedly made possible via a combination of its new 3nm processor, a revised power management system, and the new Wear OS 5, developed in collaboration with Google.
As far as functionalities goes, it should be fairly similar to previous watches like the Galaxy Watch 6. You get your bio sensors which help measure things like blood pressure, ECG, and the new ability to detect signs of sleep apnea; all of which are already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Galaxy Watch 7 is also quite similar, except a little more pared down from the Ultra. It only boasts up to 30 hours of battery life for one. Samsung does position the Ultra as a watch for athletes looking to get the most out of their workouts while the Watch 7 is meant more for the day-to-day user.
As far as pricing goes, the Watch Ultra will be available for USD 649 whereas the Watch 7 will start at USD 299 for the smaller, Bluetooth version.
Accessibility via Samsung Health
Overall though, these latest wearables are all meant to act as a vehicle for their very own Samsung Health, and this time, the focus appears to be on accessibility. Sure, we’re now all aware of how smartwatches (and now, smart rings) track things like oxygen levels, heart rate, and sleep metrics. Interpreting this data is another matter however and that’s where Galaxy AI comes in.
In short, the AI will be able to summarize this information and present it in layman’s terms basically. There’s a layer of gamification involved from the looks of things, with the AI offering suggestions on whether to take some more resting time or a particular exercise. Note that these are still just suggestions though. Implementation lies solely in the hands of their user.
New Foldables: Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6!
Now, we get to the big hitters. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 are pretty much what we expected: a slight upgrade over the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5 they released last year. You get an improved chipset, improved battery life, some slight adjustments to the cameras on the part of the Z Flip6, and a few structural improvements for both.
Once again, Galaxy AI is shown as the main selling point for both phones, with the Z Fold6 centered more on productivity and multitasking. While the Composer and editor apps aren’t anything too new, it does boast a feature they’re calling “Sketch to Image”, working in tandem with the S-Pen.
Basically, “Sketch to Image” will take rough sketches or doodles you made with the S-Pen and process it into a finished digital image. It’s been demonstrated to work on photos too, such as drawing a ship onto a photo of the river, with the AI converting it into a real-looking one. It’s not perfect though, as evidenced by Android Police’s James Peckham failing to get the AI to generate a hat based on his drawing.
Moving on the Z Flip6 and it’s all about the camera here. Star of the show is the new 50MP wide camera as well as processing enhancements in order to bring it up to the level of the Galaxy S24. FlexCam is still there of course, now even coming with AI features such as Auto Zoom, which is quite handy for getting say, everyone in a group photo in frame.
For people who intend to keep these very expensive phones for much longer, we’re also pleased to report that Samsung will also be offering seven years of software updates for the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip, putting it in line with the S24 series. That’s 7 years of security AND OS upgrades, according to Samsung.
We’ll be writing a more in-depth look at these two phones in particular of course. For now, one bad news is that the phones are now more expensive, with the Galaxy Z Fold6 starting at USD 1,899, and the Galaxy Z Flip6 at USD 1,099.
While we’re at it, make sure to check out a great deal on the Galaxy S24 Ultra here if you want a powerful, premium Galaxy device today!
Galaxy Buds3 Pro and Galaxy Buds3 Pro: Smarter, more comfortable
Then there’s the new Galaxy Bud3 and Galaxy Buds3 Pro, which Samsung claims is built to deliver “our most intelligent sound experience ever” whether that’s in calls, or music playback. And yes, Galaxy AI also plays a role here too, mostly related to making adjustments to the quality of your sound.
As explained by Malika Chraibi, Samsung’s Wearable Product Management Specialist, the Galaxy Buds3 uses its built-in mics to measure sound leakage and automatically adjust the sound curve and noise cancellation levels in order to get the best audio. This is apparently done to help counteract a bad fit, which you may not always notice so long as it's comfortable.
Adaptive Noise Cancellation has also been adjusted, with the Buds3 now accounting for the different environmental sounds you might encounter. For example, it will supposedly tune out sounds of construction but let in the sounds of an ambulance siren passing by.
The Galaxy Buds3 will start at USD 179 while the Galaxy Buds3 Pro is priced at USD 249. Stay tuned as we find out the exact pricing for all these devices here in the Philippines.
Expanding AI capabilities with Google Gemini
By now, it’s pretty clear that Samsung’s all in on AI for its devices now. To expand their efforts, the company also announced that it’s partnering with Google in order to integrate their Google Gemini assistant into the latest Galaxy devices.
We expect all of Gemini’s features to be made available on these latest premium devices, before expanding to older flagships like the Galaxy S23 line. If nothing else, it should be interesting to see how Gemini on Galaxy performs compared to Google’s own Pixel devices, given the differences in hardware for each.
Samsung also announced its “personal knowledge graph” as a means to improve its Galaxy AI. Under this graph, the AI will measure your phone’s usage across multiple data points, providing personalized suggestions once needed.
Admittedly, it sounds a little alarming though Samsung already does track your usage which you can check under its Digital Wellbeing settings. As per their security promises though, Samsung does let users know that these new Galaxy AI settings are all opt-in, giving you control over how your data is managed. No word on whether you can completely turn them off however.
All products will be available on July 24, 2024. In the meantime, stay tuned for when we announce our pre-orders for the latest crop of devices here at your most trusted online gadget store!
For gadgets and electronics, get it at Kimstore!
