In case you were out of town this week, here’s the recap of the Galaxy Unpacked event. Samsung opened a new chapter with slimmer Z foldables, but also the first FE foldable that targets a lower price. It also launched new smartwatches with a “cushion” design.
All new devices went on pre-order after the event and that will continue for a couple of weeks – open sales begin on July 25 (Friday two weeks from now). During the pre-order period, the phones get a free storage upgrade.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 is super slim (8.9mm folded, 4.2mm unfolded) and light (215g, it weighs less than an S25 Ultra). You can check out our hands-on for a closer look and don’t miss the camera samples that show off what the new 200MP camera can do.
The phone also has bigger displays – 6.5” cover and 8.0” main display (up from 6.3” and 7.6” on the Z Fold6). One thing that wasn’t upgraded was the battery – you’re still looking at a 4,400mAh cell. Samsung says that Z Fold buyers had other priorities, demanding a slimmer build, better cameras and larger displays.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 offers the best of both worlds – a slimmer design (13.7mm folded, 6.5mm unfolded vs. 14.9mm/6.9mm on the Z Flip6) and a bigger 4,300mAh battery. That’s 300mAh more than the previous model and almost as big as the Fold battery.
This one has larger displays too, an edge-to-edge 4.1” cover display and a 6.9” inner one (vs. 3.4” and 6.7” on the 2024 model). However, all Z Flip7 models will be powered by the Exynos 2500, including the US one. Also, the cameras didn’t get any real upgrades besides 10-bit HDR video support. Check out our Z Flip7 hands-on and camera samples for more info.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 FE is the more affordable clamshell foldable – its MSRP is $200 less than the Z Flip6 was last year. That said, you can’t depend on carrier deals for this one – the Z Flip7 FE will be sold only by retailers and not carriers.
Anyway, you are essentially looking at the Galaxy Z Flip6 except with the old Exynos 2400 chipset replacing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. Also, memory was cut back to 8/128GB and 8/256GB configurations, but the free storage upgrade gets you the latter.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch8 is the slimmest in the family, measuring only 8.6mm, while getting a small bump in battery capacity. The squircle shape – or “cushion design” as Samsung terms it – is said to be more comfortable to wear and more stable (which offers more reliable readings during exercise with a lot of movement).
The Watch8 has a 50% brighter display (now boosting to 3,000 nits), but it is powered by the same Exynos W1000 as last year’s Watch7. Check out our Galaxy Watch8 series hands-on for a closer look at the Watch8 and Watch8 Classic.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic brings back the rotating bezel and introduces the Quick Button, similar to the Watch Ultra. This one is available only in 46mm size and comes with a relatively small 1.34” display. There are no discounts yet, but Amazon throws in a $50 and a $100 gift card for the Watch8 and Watch8 Classic, respectively.
There is no new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, but Samsung refreshed the existing model with a new color, Titanium Blue, and it doubled the storage to 64GB (bringing it on par with the new Classic). Even with the $100 gift card, unless you need the extra storage for podcasts or something, you may want to go with the older Ultra – 32GB is still a lot of storage for a watch.
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