K-Pop artists, teen drama actress and decently updated devices flexing in the flip side.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 makes all the rumours go true
The star of the launch promotions, The Galaxy Z Flip 5 kicked off the show by making all the rumours and promotion tweets (X’s ?) proven right. Starting off, the Flip 5 (and the Fold 5) finally fold flush with no gaps thereby reducing thickness by 2mm, thanks to the re-engineered “Flex Hinge” although, weight remains untouched. This iteration of the Flip also gets the most anticipated cover display. Dubbed as the “Flex Display”, the non-flexible outer display now spans at a larger 3.4″ but with larger bezels and bordered down by the camera island instead of going all around them, thus getting oddly shaped like a folder icon. More customisations are granted for this display and its works similar to the Galaxy Watches’ widgets, dubbed here as the “Flex Windows”. But the software flexibility of running any app on that “Flex Display” remains to be seen.
Otherwise, this is another iterative update for the Flip. It still gets the 6.7″ AMOLED Display with 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ certification and an unorthodox 22:9 aspect ratio. Both the Flip 5 and Fold 5 get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 “For Galaxy” SoC like their S22 flagship cousins with storage options of 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB coupled with 8 GB of RAM as standard. Battery remains unchanged with same 3700 mAh capacity, 25W & 15W of Wired PD and Qi Wireless charging respectively. Cameras are, again, still the same with the 12 MP Primary camera with OIS and 12 MP ultrawide angle lens with 123° FoV. Selfie shooter inside the punch-hole of the foldable display remains at 10 megapixels. However, new software tricks are provided to spice things up like Auto-Framing (which also works in the new cover display) which uses the ultra wide camera along to shoot videos where the phone adjusts the field of view as more subjects get included in the frame, AI depth mapping for better subject separation in portraits and much more. You’ll have your choice of Mint, Graphite, Cream and Lavender from most stores, as well as Gray, Blue, Green and Yellow options that are exclusive to Samsung’s website.
The Z Flip 5 starts with an untouched price of $999 US and available in the USA starting August 11
The Z Fold 5 gets fully flat with nothing down the road for this year
Just like the Flip 5, the Z Fold 5 gets minimal updates for the most with the new flat-folding hinge as the major one. Its still IPX8 water resistance with no certified dust repellence (same for the Flip 5). The display bending mechanism is just like the Flip 5 with mildly wide-bending style which still projects a gutter in the inner display, only more shallow this time around. The new device has underwent a diet by reducing to 253g and thickness reducing by 2.4 mm. The S Pen for the fold gets a slimmer profile, new button, new shades and better resting place in the case but still no silo within the device to store more easily. Both the Flip 5 and Fold 5 runs OneUI 5.1.1 on top of Android 13 out of the box (with no chargers, indeed) with 4 full OS updates and 5 years of security patches but the Fold 5 gets minor software tweaks like more recent apps accommodation (upto 4 this time) in the taskbar of the inner display, multiple finger usage while multitasking with multiple apps and many more. Overall specifications are photocopied from the previous generation except for the processor. One can get the device with 12 GB of RAM as standard with 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB of storage. Improvements for the under-display camera in the inner screen remains to be seen. Sadly, the haphazard aspect ratio of both displays remain unchanged. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is available in your choice of Icy Blue, Phantom Black or Cream (there are also Gray and Blue variations that are exclusive to Samsung’s website).
The Z Fold 5 starts with the same sum of $1799 and is available in the USA from August 11
The Galaxy Watch 6 asks space with you in bed by becoming classic (again)
As the headline suggests, the Pro goes out instead of fighting against the Apple Watch Ultra and Samsung resurrects the Classic yet again with this 6th generation of the Watch, along with the normal version. Samsung has improved its obsolete sleep tracking this time by getting it more personalised by assigning animals as a comparison for the sleep quality and embossing sleep scores in most of the new watch faces. New fabric band is introduced to adhere to the sleep tracking motive and Samsung has revised their watch band swapping method to a more proprietary “One Click” band (*sighs*) where a single button handles the lock between the watch and the band, thereby cutting down in customisation. Display now feels larger, thanks to slimmed down bezels and the display now hits 2000 nits of brightness, with Sappire Crystal protection and AOD throughout the lineup. The Classic is similar to the normal Watch but with premium bands/straps and the satisfying physical rotating bezel! Both the watches run Google’s WearOS 4 with Samsung’s OneUI-esque skin on top, with the new Exynos w930 aslong with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB ROM taking care of the processing abilities of the fresh apps coming to WearOS soon. The Watch 6 gets Gold, Silver and Graphite colours while the Classic is restrained with Black and Silver finishes.
The Galaxy Watch 6 starts at a price of USD 299, while the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic starts at USD 399. Both models will be available in select markets on August 11. The Galaxy Watch 6 will be available with 40mm and 44mm dials in both Bluetooth and LTE variants. On the other hand, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is available with 43mm and 47mm dials, once again in Bluetooth and LTE models.
The Galaxy Tab S9 series gets weird, again
When the Tab S8 felt mental, the S9 series takes things to eleven. Like other flagships in Samsung, these too get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 “For Galaxy” in all 3 variants. Dynamic AMOLED 2X with 120 Hz refresh rate which was reserved for the Ultra now trickles down to the whole lineup. What will be the USP is the presence of IP68 dust and water resistance, a first for any tablet, throughout the whole lineup. This also applies to the S-Pen which still comes with the package. Vapour chamber is introduced in the flagship tab series this time for better cooling. Also new apps like Goodnotes, Lumafusion and Arcside are coming to the Tablets, as said in the event. Otherwise, the specs of these tablets remain largely unchanged with 2 colours, Graphite and new Beige. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 is available in the base 8GB + 128GB storage variant as well as the 12GB + 256GB option. On the other hand, the Galaxy Tab S9+ is offered in 12GB+256GB and 12GB+512GB options, while the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra comes in 12GB+256GB, 12GB+512GB, and 16GB+1TB options (RAM+ROM).
All three Galaxy Tab S9 models are up for preorder beginning today, July 26th, from Samsung’s website. They’ll officially launch on Friday, August 11th in the USA where availability will expand to other retailers. The regular Tab S9 starts at $799, the Tab S9 Plus starts at $999, and the Tab S9 Ultra starts at $1,199. There’s also a 5G version of the Tab S9 Plus which starts at $1,149.
The tradition of launching new Buds series is gone this time.