Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July 2026: Live updates from the Z Fold 8 and Flip 8 launch event

T-minus 12 minutes!

Booooo.

Would you say you're packed like.... sardines..?

"Galaxy Unpacked? More like Galaxy Packed in! Can't move in this place for media and influencers."

While we wait, back to the comments for a moment. I just noticed that Mark Dell asked (or hoped out loud) that the Flip gets meaningful updates, and is wondering if he should upgrade from his Z Fold 6. As much as I've been a fan of Flip-style foldables (and love watching them be used on Love Island), I've been pretty well-served by a standard smartphone and still don't seek them out. But maybe I need to live with one to truly get it.

(I've asked Mat to go take more pictures for us. I'm sure you all are hungry for it. I'm just hungry.)

Damn, Mat Smith everybody. He'll be making jokes all summer long.

Our defense folded faster than a Galaxy Z Flip, sadly.

Bless you, Cher.

About two weeks ago, I told myself, Samsung hosting the Unpacked event in London must be a sign. It must be a sign from the universe that the company picked what would surely be the World Cup champion city to host its foldables event. Surely! (I was obviously wrong. It didn't come home.)

They have Samsung-branded sun umbrellas to keep the sun's damage away. 

Mat sent this picture from the Unpacked event in London, where it looks to be a lovely day.

User jley in the comments rightfully asked about trade-in offers and hopes they'll be decent. I agree, anything we can do to save some money in this economy is welcome.

I'm certainly going to get some coffee soon and not sit here at my laptop panicking about our coverage!

We've got 40 minutes to go. Enough time for more questions, brewing some coffee and reading up on the rumors we've heard so far.

Galaxy Z Slice:

I am sitting down, bathed in purple light, waiting for the Unpackening.

Francesca Di Maggio in the chat may have just predicted the outcome of Unpacked today... 

"if it will be "Flip... same but better camera", "Fold ... same but better screen", "Watch.. same but better battery" it will be very sad." 

Maybe if you take this to Polymarket or Kalshi you will be less sad! (I kid, I'm not a fan of "prediction markets")

Commenter Chrisaba1 has a long history with Samsung's foldables, seeming to upgrade every generation first from the Flips then to the Folds! And yes, Chrisaba1, I am also intrigued by this supposed wider foldable. But maybe I'm more stoked for Apple's version? Am I a heathen for saying that?

I'm not proud of it, by the way, it's a pretty unhealthy affliction, workaholism. Hopefully Samsung will make a health tracking tool to help me be less intense! Meanwhile, let's see what else is in the comments. OMG I see Engadget Podcast regular Mark Dell is here! Hello Mark! We're so excited you're back! 

Commenter Aidyonline, who's using a Z Fold 5, is asking the right questions, like is the soon-to-be last-gen Z Fold 7 going to get a price cut? Should you pick the Z Fold 8 if it's significantly better? Are the cameras vastly improved? 

My answer is... Maybe we need to wait an hour to find out...

I believe Sam should be on his way to the New York viewing event as well, and should be checking in shortly. For those of us here in the US, it's still pretty early and outside of work hours. I'm just a workaholic.

Maybe I should catch up on what he's said. In line already! Proud of you Mat. More pictures please!

Looks like Mat is near the event venue! Or these signs have been obnoxiously placed all over London.

The media line is already 120 folks deep, as this is the big global launch event. 

Kabir says in the comments they're hoping to upgrade from their Fold 7 to the "8 wide" which I know is just an easy way to refer to whatever new foldable Samsung announces today but I have to say I like "8 wide" as a name. But I agree with Kabir in hoping that not too much has been compromised specswise!

I hope it doesn't run too long, Mat. But I see we have a bunch of new comments! Digging right in...

What is your biggest hope for this Unpacked event? 

I'm more of a Z Flip man. But we're a quiet, humble bunch.

Es89 in the comments has some very good questions as an existing Z Fold 3 owner. I'll ask our resident foldable nerd Sam to fill you in on the details at a more reasonable hour but I will say that from my own observation and experience the last Z Fold (which was the 7) certainly felt durable and sturdy! But I haven't used it longterm like Sam has.

It's not a store, although I'm bound by Samsung secrecy about exactly where it's being held... for another hour or so.

I thought the same, Mat. Also, commenter Aby is trying to find out which store in London this event is being held and I'm not sure myself, to be honest. We've also got S23 Ultra user Sjd1978 in the chat following along, hello!

Or maybe just one of them?

Just here to answer some commenters while we wait for the event to kick off and first of all, I see you, "Neat" and "More than neat"! Good to know our commenters are definitely not AI.

I'm also intrigued to see what sort of health tracking features and apps might appear in Samsung's next generation of smartwatches. I wore the Galaxy Watch Ultra for a spell, and it was a handsome smartwatch, if a little thick.

I'm most excited to see how Samsung will differentiate among what's rumored to be three new foldables. Is it too soon for TriFold 2? Probably.

Samsung has decided to do its big launch event in London this time, so I had to step up and do my job. (I don't know why Cherlynn is awake and online, but that's a problem above my pay grade.)

Good morning everyone and welcome to our liveblog of Unpacked! Thanks for joining us bright and early. Plenty to expect from Samsung today, and we're looking forward to learning more.