Samsung Galaxy Unpacked: Foldables, flippables, but no tri-fold smartphone

Mint

2 days ago

Samsung went all out during its summer Galaxy Unpacked event in New York City. The theme was 'Foldables', with several hotly anticipated devices (the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Flip 7, and Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE), a brand-new UI explicitly designed for foldable devices, an all-new Galaxy Watch 8 series (with a minor upgrade to the Galaxy Watch Ultra) lineup, and some new artificial intelligence (AI) updates.
Unfortunately, Project Moohan and the heavily rumoured tri-fold smartphone (Galaxy G Fold as it might be called) were absent. There is an exciting update about the latter, though.
Here's the lowdown on the Samsung Unpacked event that took place on a relatively hot day in New York City.
I'll always take a mobile UI designed explicitly for folding smartphones. To that extent, Samsung is calling their latest One UI 8 update a 'next-generation interface designed specifically for foldables, optimized for AI and built on the principles of multimodal understanding and deep personalization'.
There's a new AI-enhanced interface that allows you to move and resize pop-up windows wherever suits you best. Dragging and dropping is now child's play. For the 'flippers' out there, you can now get more done on the cover screen (a new intuitive interface to help you stay on top of your day) with an expanded display.
Thinner and lighter, and playing catch-up to all the folding smartphones from Chinese manufacturers. That's the best way to sum up the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which now ships without an S Pen. The Z Fold 7 comes in at 4.2mm thick (when unfolded) and 8.9mm thick (when folded). The outer screen is larger, with a 6.5-inch display. On the inside, there is an 8-inch display. These are much larger than the ones on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Additionally, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 boasts the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, paired with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The primary camera also receives a significant upgrade, now featuring a 200MP wide-angle sensor. There's also a 12MP ultrawide lens and a 10MP telephoto camera. It's also got a 4,400mAh battery and supports 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 will retail for a starting price of ₹ 1,74,999 and comes in three colours—Blue Shadow, Silver Shadow and Jet Black.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 gets a larger 4.1-inch cover screen. The display extends beyond the two cameras, which is something Motorola has been doing for a while now. The inner display also receives an upgrade from 6.7 inches on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to 6.9 inches on the Galaxy Z Flip 7.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 has also slimmed down. It now measures just 6.5mm thick when unfolded. The Samsung Exynos 2500 processor powers the smartphone, paired with 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Surprisingly, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 features a larger 4,300mAh battery. There's a 50MP wide-angle lens, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 10MP front-facing camera, all of which are the same as on their predecessor.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a starting price of ₹ 1,09,999 and is available in Blue Shadow, Jet Black, and Coral Red colourways.
If the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is a little bit out of your budget, then fret not, as Samsung has your back. The 'Fan Edition', a slightly pared-down variant, has been released. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE features a design similar to that of the Galaxy Z Flip 6. It features a 3.4-inch cover display that borders the camera, but does not extend beyond it. On the inside is a 6.7-inch inner display. There's 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage along with a 4,000mAh battery. The rear cameras are a 50MP wide-angle camera and a 12MP ultrawide lens, respectively.
Even for the Watch 8 series, thin is in. These new smartwatches are smart, stylish, and undergo a complete makeover. The circle-square-case design of the Galaxy Watch Ultra has now been adopted by the Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. The Galaxy Watch 8 is 11 percent thinner than the Galaxy Watch 7.
The Galaxy Watch 8 is available in two sizes: 40mm and 44mm, and features a slightly larger battery. The smartwatches now sit flatter on your wrist for a more comfortable experience.
Consumers and fans of Samsung were worried that there wouldn't be another Classic model of the smartwatch, but it's back! The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, along with the rotating bezel, is back with a bang. The clicks are oh so satisfying.
The smartwatches now feature a new lug system used for swapping straps. The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic comes with a Quick Button for programming shortcuts. The hardware updates, though, are very minor. The significant updates to these smartwatches, for what it's worth, are software-based. There's now a Running Coach, a new Bedtime Guidance feature, Vascular Load (for measuring stress levels), Google Gemini and Antioxidant Index. The latter features LED sensors upon which you stick your thumb. The algorithm then tells you whether you're eating enough fruits and veggies!
The Galaxy Watch Ultra receives a second-generation successor, but the updates are minor. It has most of the same features as its predecessor, with only one significant change. The storage is now 64GB instead of 32GB. Besides that, you get a 47mm display with a titanium casing and a 590mAh battery (good for up to 100 hours of use in power-saving mode). Oh, and there is a new Titanium Blue colour option this year.
We've all come to love Circle to Search ever since it debuted last year. Now, it's getting even more powerful with AI Mode. It's Google's most advanced AI search experience yet. You can circle something, get an AI-powered response and then ask follow-up questions, no matter how tough.
On the Galaxy Z Fold 7, you can simply long-press the power button and your screen will be shared with Gemini. Then you can utilise Gemini's help for anything and everything you need.
On the Galaxy Z Flip 7, camera sharing with Gemini Live is now available. It's coming to the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FlexWindow.
'Starting with the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7, Gemini will also connect directly with your favourite Samsung apps like Samsung Calendar, Reminder and Notes,' Samsung announced at the Galaxy Unpacked event. This is in addition to Gemini Live support for Google apps.
Since the brand-new Galaxy Watch 8 comes with Wear OS 6, it is the first smartwatch to feature Gemini.
Project Moohan is more than just a secret. Samsung has been teasing and slowly releasing information about its very own Android XR headset, Project Moohan, and we were all anticipating some concrete news about it at Galaxy Unpacked. Alas, we haven't learnt any bit more than we did when the teaser was released at the last Galaxy Unpacked 2025 event in January.
There was also little information available about the heavily rumoured tri-fold smartphone. The Galaxy Fold was an afterthought; it seemed that way. It was only during press interviews that we learned from TM Roh, Samsung's acting head of the device experience division, that the company "(is expected to) launch the tri-fold phone within this year'. Roh further iterated that Samsung hasn't settled on a name yet for its first-ever tri-fold smartphone.
Note: All devices will be available on Samsung.com, Amazon.in, Flipkart.com and all leading retail outlets across the country.