Samsung Unpacked 2024 liveblog: Galaxy Watch Ultra, Z Fold 6, Z Flip 6, Galaxy Ring and more
It's time for gadget summer (and gadget Olympics).
Gadget fall is starting in the summer this year, and things are kicking off with Samsung's second Galaxy Unpacked of the year. After its "Galaxy AI" event in January in San Jose, Samsung is taking its keynote to Paris, ostensibly to unveil a host of foldables and wearables. And it's likely no coincidence that the company has chosen the city that's hosting the Summer Olympics as the site for its launch this time.
In addition to probably the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, we're also expecting to see the Galaxy Ring that was teased earlier this year, as well as new smartwatches and maybe earbuds. The show kicks off at 9AM ET, and we're blogging the event live. You can also watch the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event in real-time, too.
151 Updates
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Catch up on all the news from the event
A black Samsung Galaxy Ring resting on a hand.
As expected, the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked showcase shed more light on the Galaxy Ring, Samsung's latest foldables, two new smartwatches and a couple pairs of earbuds.
If you missed the livestream, you can catch up on demand. But in case you don't have time to watch it yourself, we've got all the big news for you right here. There's a lot to go through, so let's delve right into our look at everything that was announced at the July 2024 edition of Samsung Galaxy Unpacked.
Read Everything Samsung revealed at its Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event.
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"Galaxy AI is here." TM Roh closes out the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event.
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Thanks everyone for tuning in, and don't forget to check back with Engadget for reviews of everything Samsung announced at Unpacked real soon.
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But yes that seems to be it! Sam is about to run to the NYC event for some hardware pickups so make sure you stay tuned for our evaluations of the devices announced today!
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TM Roh made a small Olympics shoutout, talking about his admiration of athletes who relentlessly pursue new heights. He also made comparisons to the new foldables, saying those also represent bleeding edge developments and lots of other platitudes.
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Ok, well it looks like that's it!
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Samsung partnering with the Olympics.
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Osterloh is reminding us of "the upcoming XR platform" that Google, Samsung and Qualcomm have been working on "and you'll want to stay tuned on that." He's done talking about how much he loves working with partners, and is shaking hands (awkwardly in my opinion) with TM Roh.
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Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President of Devices & Services at Google, announcing collaboration with Samsung.
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He's recapping some of the features Google launched on Galaxy devices first, like Circle to Search and "new ways we're bringing Gemini, the most helpful personal AI assistant, to your phone."
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Google and Samsung have worked together for "well over a decade," he says. Which is true. Wear OS has been the result of the two companies collaborating to merge two wearable platforms. "As head of platform devices at Google, I'm deeply committed to this partnership," Osterloh adds.
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Galaxy Z phones will have 7 years of security updates.
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Osterloh, aka the head of hardware at Google, has taken the stage. But he is taking a moment to talk about the Android ecosystem and Gemini AI.
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New Samsung Galaxy products available July 24.
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WAIT A MINUTE RICK OSTERLOH?
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Galaxy Z Flip6 starts at $1,099 and Galaxy Z Fold6 starts at $1,899.
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The Z Flip 6 is starting at $1,100 and the Z Fold 6 is starting at $1,900. Notably, that's $100 more than last year's phones.
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Galaxy Z Fold6 specs.
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Galaxy Z Flip6 specs
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Pre-orders for all the new Galaxy devices begin today with official sales starting on July 24.
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That's a good callout Cherlynn. Perhaps the biggest difference between the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro is that the Pro features ear tips that actually go inside your ear canal. The standard Buds 3 have hard plastic tips similar to basic Airpods.
Both models support ANC, but its more effective on the Buds 3 Pro due to their more closed design.
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Galaxy Buds3 and Galaxy Buds3 Pro specs.
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Maybe I'm cranky though. No croissants consumed here, either.
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We're an hour into Unpacked, do you think we're near the end? Mat, how are you holding up. Croissants?
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I like the new look here. But does Samsung really need to explain how audio (or noise cancelation) works... on a live stream?
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For what it's worth, I use a set of older Galaxy Buds Pro as my main headphones for the Galaxy laptop I work on. They're not bad, but I am a fan of the stick design as opposed to the round, stick-em-deep-in-your-ear-hole style.
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Yea, it looks like they are starting with the Buds 3 Pro, which is admittedly a little confusing.
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Galaxy Buds3 Pro are noise canceling but have a Siren Detect feature.
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The siren detection is an interesting tactic to let some noises in even with ANC on. I can see how that would be useful if you're walking around in the city, but at the same time, part of the reason people wear headphones is to block out noises like that.
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They keep saying Buds 3 Pro. It's basically too early for me and I have not had enough croissants. (Total number of croissants consumed by Cherlynn today: 0)
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Lol Cherlynn, Samsung is launching both the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro right now.
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To paraphrase our audio guru Billy Steele — What the heck are blade lights? That said, I do like the aesthetic of these Galaxy Buds
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6: Brighter, lighter and faster, but is that enough?
At its latest Unpacked on July 10, Samsung announced its latest generation of foldable phones including the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Ever since the original Galaxy Fold came out in 2019, Samsung has enjoyed a commanding lead over the market for flexible screen phones. But with the introduction of challengers like the OnePlus Open, the Pixel Fold and the 2024 Moto Razrs, the gap between Samsung and its biggest competitors has been shrinking quickly. So while the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 are lighter, faster and more durable than before, I'm not sure if that's enough to keep Samsung's latest generation of bendy handouts at the top of the growing mountain of foldable rivals.
Read our full preview of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 here.
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Malika Chraibi announcing the Galaxy Buds3 Pro.
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The LED lighting built into the side of the buds is nice I guess, but I really like how small the previous-gen buds are.
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Buds 3 Pro — did Samsung ever launch an actual Galaxy Buds 3?
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Now we're coming back to the Galaxy Buds 3. I'm very curious what people think of the design change.
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I do appreciate how Samsung found a way to support dual-screen real-time translation on both the Flip and the Fold, even with the Flip having a much smaller exterior display.
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Samsung is expanding its AI-powered Live Translate feature to more languages, and integrating it into more apps.
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Here is a sample of some of the cases.
Z Flip 6 cases
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Samsung is really diving into the fashion-foward nature of the phone, there are going to be a ton of case and accessory options, including some cases with built-in LED lighting.
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I don't like putting cases on phones but these certainly look cute.
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The Z Flip 6 offers "smart" wallpaper options.
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The new Live Effect feature reminds of those magic moving portraits from Harry Potter. The phone uses AI to create these pseudo-motion photos from still images.
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Here is where Samsung deserves some credit, it has really powered up the Z Flip 6 for this generation.
Its 4,000 mAh battery is the biggest in any Flip to date. And base RAM is now 12GB, up from 8GB on last year's phone.
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The Z Flip 6's battery delivers 4,000mAh of power.
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The Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a FlexCam with autozoom.
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Galaxy Z Flip 6 in three colors
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Samsung is talking about the zoom capabilities on the Z Flip 6, but we should point out that the phone doesn't have a telephoto zoom lens. It's just digitally cropping in.
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Z Flip 6 time! I wonder if our head boss in charge Aaron Souppouris has any thoughts, as a person who uses the Flip as his daily driver.
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Yep, go check out our hands-on video with the new phones to see more of the AI features in action.
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I will say I was pretty impressed by this Sketch to Image thing. When Sam tried it out at our hands-on session, it accurately put some realistic-looking crowns on his head. His awful sketch of a fish turned into gorgeous multicolor paintings. I can see myself playing around with this for at least an hour.
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Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 6 is swiping many of the AI features from the S24 Ultra
Two phones.
Samsung just announced the Galaxy Z Fold 6 at its most recent Unpacked event. The company's latest high-end foldable is filled with both hardware and software upgrades. As usual with modern tech, AI is the name of the game here.
It's getting pretty much all of the fancypants AI features first included with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. These include the interpreter mode for in-person conversations in another language and the live translation feature for calls. There's chat assist to check spelling, grammar and tone of messages, complete with a glut of emoji options.
Read the full Galaxy Z Fold 6 story here.
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An example of Samsung's new AI-powered Portrait Studio feature on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
This is me, but in comic form I guess?
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Samsung really loves to capitalize on trends. That Sydney Sweeney moment where they stopped to thank her for being at the event (after asking AI to draw her) was definitely not awkward. Sweeney definitely looked very comfortable and happy.
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Ok, who wants to see what a regular person looks like when they use Portrait Studio?
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Sydney Sweeney makes an appearance at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event.
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So what Samsung is showing off right now is its new Sketch to Image feature, which allows you to make a basic drawing and then let AI generate a more detailed pic. It's fun and surprisingly realistic, but I wonder how useful it will be to normal people.
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Samsung just revealed the Galaxy Z Flip 6, putting the S24's best specs in a compact foldable
Two foldables.
Samsung just announced the Galaxy Z Flip 6 smartphone at its most recent Unpacked event and it's a doozy of an update that squeezes some of the S24's best features into a compact foldable. There's a new design, an updated camera system and the biggest battery in a Z Flip to date.
Read the full Galaxy Z Flip 6 story here.
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Samsung always forgets to talk about DeX, which I guess means we're not getting updates for that.
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Samsung's invited another influencer to a launch event. This time it's a "digital magician." I feel old.
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Voice Recorder is now integrated into the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.
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Now Samsung is showing off its Composer feature, which allows you to write an email with AI and adjust things like tone and more. But we should mention that this is merely an expansion of Galaxy AI features we saw back during the launch of the S24.
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Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra hands-on
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra on a wrist in mid air, showing an analog watch face with a black background and white and orange markings. A finger is resting against the middle button on the right edge.
Have you heard the song that goes "anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you?" Well, it seems like the folks at Samsung have been listening to that on repeat. At its Galaxy Unpacked event today, the company unveiled a slew of products, including a few wearables that look remarkably familiar. The Galaxy Ring, which was teased in January, appears to be inspired by the Oura Ring. Meanwhile, the new Galaxy Watch Ultra seems to have borrowed many traits from a competing product at Apple, right down to its name.
Read the full Galaxy Watch Ultra story here.
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The stream is spending a lot of time on the addition of Gemini, which is fine I guess. But was there ever any doubt that Samsung's flagships would be able to use Google's latest AI assistant?
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Jenny Blackburn announcing Gemini features on the new Galaxy Z Fold 6.
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Wait breakdancing is an Olympic sport? I'm slow to everything outside of tech
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Samsung's Galaxy Buds 3 have an AirPods-esque design and a dash of AI
Samsung's Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Buds 3.
Samsung's new Galaxy Buds lineup is hardly a surprise thanks to a recent leak, but the company still had to officially debut its latest audio accessory at its Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event. Alongside new folding phones, watches and even a smart ring, Samsung revealed the Galaxy Buds 3 series. The new models have a more AirPods-like look thanks to their stickbud or "blade" design, and Samsung is playing catch-up with new features like an Interpreter tool, Adaptive EQ and others.
Read the full Galaxy Buds 3 story here.
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Galaxy Z Flip 6 opens vertically, like an older flip phone.
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So now Samsung is talking about some of its expanded AI features, like bringing Circle to Search to the Z Flip 6 and Z fold 6.
There are also new translation features that can replace text in place or solve mathematical formulas.
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Samsung (finally, properly) launches the Galaxy Ring
Image of the Galaxy Ring in its charging case.
Samsung has today announced the Galaxy Ring, a finger-worn wearable bolstering its ecosystem of health-tracking gear. Yes, this is the third or fourth time it's been announced, but today is the day it's actually available for you to pre-order. It's a conscious attempt to corner a market held by plenty of smaller players in the space, most notably the Oura Ring. You'll also get the usual AI woo insights to help you take better care of your body when you think things might not be going well.
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New Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6.
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Yea, I've owned almost every generation of the Fold. I still love being able to switch between the small outside screen and the big flexible one in an instant.
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New Galaxy Z Fold 6 opens like a book.
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I wouldn't get too overly jazzed up about ray-tracing on the Z Fold 6, that's mostly due to the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, which is a processor you find on a lot of other high-end Android phones.
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I know you love the Fold, Sam, but I'm more of a Flip girl myself and am excitedly waiting.
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Samsung just mentioned how the Z Fold 6 is the lightest Fold yet. It weighs 14 grams less than the previous model, which doesn't sound like a lot, but when you pick it up, you notice the difference right away.
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New Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.
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FYI, that AI portrait of Sam... doesn't look like Sam.
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If you want to skip ahead, here is our hands-on with both the new Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6.
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Samsung Galaxy Ring will be $399.
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Please read my hands-on with the Galaxy Watch Ultra to see just how different (or similar) it is to the Apple Watch Ultra. Spoiler: it's incredibly familiar.
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It's time for the foldables!
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Yea, it's important to mention that the differences between the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Watch 7 are mostly in design. The Ultra is tougher, has better water resistance and such, but the sensors and most of the features are the same.
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Meanwhile, the Galaxy Watch Ultra starts at $649 and the Galaxy Ring starts at $399. I'll say that Samsung's "Ultra" watch costs $150 less than Apple's, which is nice?
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The Galaxy Watch Ultra will be $649
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Samsung also just launched the Galaxy Watch 7, which will be available from $299 for the smaller Bluetooth model. It comes in 2 sizes and has the same 3nm processor as the Galaxy Watch Ultra, along with the same biometrics sensor.
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Galaxy Watch Ultra can detect sleep apnea.
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You'll also be able to get your Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs) reading through the Galaxy Watch Ultra, apparently. This is a fairly new metric to me and I'm not sure how helpful it really is.
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We're already getting some more comments in Engadget Slack saying that the Galaxy Watch Ultra is ugly, and I can't disagree.
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The Galaxy Watch Ultra also has similar biometrics sensors to help track your blood oxygen level, heart rate and more. But it's also the first to receive FDA authorization to look for signs of sleep apnea. The audience half-heartedly "woo-ed" at that one.
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With the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Samsung Health, you can get your FTP reading in a fairly short 4 minutes of cycling.
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"You are not wrong" — the nicest thing Cherlynn has ever said to me.
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Should also mention, there's no rotating bezel on the Galaxy Watch Ultra, and I will die on this hill, but that has long been the best feature of Samsung smartwatches.
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The Galaxy Watch Ultra has more accurate location tracking thanks to its dual-frequency GPS. We're also learning about other features that should be helpful for endurance or distance athletes. A new metric it will track is Functional Threshold Power, or FTP.
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Chiming in on Cherlynn's thoughts, when I think of the Apple Watch Ultra, I think orange band, too. Or is that just me?
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This is also the "fastest Galaxy Watch ever" and also the first smartwatch to run Google's Wear OS 5.
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The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra comes in three colors.
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"It looks great, ultra modern and sleek," This feels like a compliment to Apple? The Galaxy Watch Ultra looks very similar to the Apple version. Samsung's has an "enhanced power management system" that can help it last up to 100 hours in power saving mode, which is impressive if true.
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But I have to say, I do not like the combination of a square case with a circular display. Like, just pick one or the other please.
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New Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.
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Welp, this is familiar. I guess Apple doesn't technically own the word "Ultra" but damn, for Samsung to also name its thing the Galaxy Watch Ultra feels kind of blatant.
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I know Cherlynn has some thoughts on this thing, so I'll let her chime in.
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Samsung's Galaxy Ring has up to 7 days of battery life.
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But wait, there's more: the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
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New Samsung Galaxy Ring that tracks your health.
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And there it is, the long-awaited Galaxy Ring
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Now they're talking about how Samsung is hoping to guide people on their fitness journeys, regardless if people are looking to lose weight, sleep better or something else.
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Dr. Matthew Wiggins announcing Samsung Health's new Energy Score.
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Looks like Samsung is leading off with new health and fitness stuff, which sort of says a lot about the company's priorities for this event.
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In case you haven't had a chance to look at Engadget.com yet, that teaser pic of the new Galaxy Buds is clearly hinting at a big design change for its mobile audio offerings.
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Remember when Samsung got sassy about the AirPods' stems?
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New Galaxy Buds 3
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So far we've gotten mentions of the Galaxy Z Fold 6, Galaxy Buds, Watch and Ring... Lots to come today, it seems.
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TM Roh announcing Samsung AI.
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Samsung is talking about how its Galaxy AI is set to be available on up to 200 million devices in 2024.
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Sam, Mat. Can you kick it?
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Someone in Engadget Slack just said this looks the intro to a Disney movie, and they're not wrong. But I think that's because Samsung is going for something a little more classic to fit in with the Olympics.
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So uh it's 9:01am and if you go look at Engadget.com you'll see some stories...
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Aaaaand away we go
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Fun trivia, the name of Samsung's theme song is "Over the Horizon."
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I should mention that as I sit here watching the live stream, while Apple has been good at DJing prior to its events. It's kind of nice hearing the classic Samsung theme music.
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Ok, here's your five minute warning! Go get your drinks or whatever, the show is going to start shortly.
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Cher: you know it's coming home.
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Important question, Mat. England v Netherlands?
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Oh that's cool. I've been waiting so long for microLED displays to become more widely available. Sadly, they're still extremely expensive.
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Yeah, the event here kicks off at 2PM. I miss not having any kind of coffee, though. I think the curved screen is the microLED display the company likes to show off at CES.
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Wasabi and lime? That sounds interesting, but its a good thing time zones exist because I don't think I would really enjoy it this early in the morning.
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What's the vibes at this event Mat? And is that screen actually curved?
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Here in London, Samsung is holding its satellite event in its KX space. It's a combination event space / Samsung showroom. They have coffee and decent WiFi, so it's a decent place to work when I'm in central London. Don't tell Samsung.
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I am here drinking a wasabi and lime cooler, watching tiny finger food pass me by.
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Whoa, that curved screen is cool though.
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I'm also hoping that one day Samsung finds room inside the Z Fold to stash an S-Pen, so it can finally become a true successor to the Galaxy Note. But that may be wishful thinking.
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Our UK bureau chief Mat Smith has arrived at the satellite event in London and it looks like he got there way early.
An event space with a screen in front and two sets of empty chairs. A camera tripod is at the bottom right of the image.
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And I know a lot of people are looking for new cameras on the Z Flip 6 too, especially since that phone is aimed at more social people who really care about taking good looking pics.
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That includes stuff like a new main camera for the Z Fold 6, because after using the Pixel Fold, it just doesn't feel great to pay a ton of money for a big foldable phone only to have slightly downgraded image quality compared to a more traditional device like the S24.
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It's hard to say, I think Samsung is putting its main focus on wearables like the Galaxy Ring, so I'm not sure we'll get some of the bigger ticket items I've been waiting for.
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Sam I am having a sad little cup of coffee. Sad because it's not French pastries. It's Gold Kili coffee though, shoutout to my Singaporeans. Sam you're a big foldable fan — what are you looking forward to seeing today?
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But I think the croissants and pastries and snacks are probably better in Paris. I guess the NYC one might have bagels? Anyway, it's me, your intrepid tech event snack reporter. Bringing you the most important nuggets of insight on which big company has the best catering.
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I'm going to go make some matcha real quick while we get closer to go time. Cherlynn, what are you having this morning?
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Normally, events aren't this early for us on the East Coast, so it's a little weird to wake up and jump right into things.
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Yep, Samsung is hosting some kind of fan experience in New York City today, which is supposed to open up sometime after Unpacked.
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Unpacked being in Paris this year means that the timing is a little strange for us on the US East Coast. It's definitely outside of my work hours right now, and neither myself nor Sam have made the trip to France for the launch. There are some satellite events happening in New York and London though
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Enough about rings for now — I have to take a moment to remind you that, if you've seen any of the rumors recently, you'll know Samsung might have some familiar-looking products planned for today. It looks like some version of the Apple Watch Ultra and AirPods might be in the works? I mean would you just look at these leaked potential products?
Two gadgets.
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I hate to do it but I kind of have to do this... Do you think Samsung's Galaxy Ring will be... the one ring to rule them all? And like will it glow in the dark so it can... In the darkness bind them?
I know, I know.
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Hilariously, we learned last month that Samsung had filed a lawsuit against Oura to prevent the latter from filing any copyright or patent infringement claims. Apparently Oura has been too aggressive with its suits against smaller competitors, and Samsung's suit stated that "Oura's actions and public statements demonstrate that Oura will continue asserting patent infringement against other entrants into the U.S. smart ring market, including Samsung."
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In case you somehow forgot, here's what the Galaxy Ring is supposed to look like. We've already seen official renders in January, and more details on its features were announced in February. Samsung's basically been hyping this thing up all year. It has a lot to live up to.
Samsung unveils the Galaxy Ring as a way to 'simplify everyday wellness'
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This is a big sporting month, what with the Euro 2024 tournament going on right now and the summer Olympics kicking off on July 26. My money is on Samsung sponsoring the Olympics, and somehow making some athletes wear its latest health- and fitness-tracking devices. Will the Galaxy Ring be declared some kind of official gadget for the games?
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If our liveblog isn't enough for you and you'd like to watch Samsung's event too, you can tune into the company's stream. Here's a guide on how to watch the Unpacked 2024 stream, for easy reference.
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Part of the fun is usually to guess at what surprises companies might have up their sleeves and my money is on some sort of Olympics tie-in. It's absolutely not a coincidence that Samsung chose Paris just weeks ahead of the Summer Olympics starting there. Here's the company's invitation in video form, in case you wanted to hunt for potential Easter eggs.
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Gadget fall is starting in the summer this year, and things are kicking off with Samsung's second Galaxy Unpacked of the year. After its "Galaxy AI" event in January in San Jose, Samsung is taking its keynote to Paris, ostensibly to unveil a host of foldables and wearables. In addition to probably the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, we're also expecting to see the Galaxy Ring that was teased earlier this year, as well as new smartwatches and possibly earbuds. The show kicks off at 9am ET, and we'll be blogging the event live. Senior reporter Sam Rutherford and I will be bringing you the commentary, so stick around because it will be fun. I will make sure it is.
Catch up on all the news from Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked 2024 here!