The Big News From Galaxy Unpacked 2022 Today: Flip, Fold And BTS
Samsung just wrapped up its second Galaxy Unpacked event for 2022, with the hour-long event seeing the South Korean consumer electronics giant launch new products across multiple categories. As previously rumored, the new devices from Samsung include smartphones from the company's famed foldable lineup, new Galaxy smartwatches, and improved second-generation Galaxy Buds 2 Pro wireless earbuds.
The major highlight of the August 2022 Galaxy Unpacked event was the announcement of the company's new foldable devices — the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4. These new smartphones follow the same theme as last year and don't deviate too much from Samsung's tried and tested strategy, at least as far as the design language is concerned.
While this might disappoint folks expecting massive, exciting changes to Samsung's foldable phones, it seems that Samsung wants to perfect the art of foldable phones and take them mainstream in the process. Owners of Samsung's previous generation foldable phones seeking an upgrade may find the changes to the new smartphones not significant enough to warrant an upgrade. However, to folks finally wanting to jump on to the foldable bandwagon, Samsung's new foldable smartphones do make a lot of sense.
In addition to Samsung's new hardware products, the launch event also saw Samsung include a special Galaxy video for BTS' new single, "Yet to Come."
Samsung's most refined foldable phones ever
Given that Samsung has been making foldable phones for over four years now, the company has had enough time to fix major pain points with these devices. And that is largely what Samsung has attempted with the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Fold 4. A quick look at these foldables, and it becomes evident that they are visually near identical to their 2021 predecessors, save for some minor design changes. For the Flip 4, some of these design changes have led to Samsung managing to cram in a larger, 3,700 mAh battery.
The larger battery, combined with the faster, more efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chips on the phone, should translate to much better real-world battery life. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 gets an improved camera thanks to a new sensor with a larger pixel size, in addition to a more powerful NPU compared to previous models. A major addition to the Flip 4 this time around includes the new features enabled on the cover screen. It means more ways to interact with various aspects of the phone, without having to open up and access the main display.
As for the Galaxy Z Fold 4, most of the design changes to this device are subtle. Samsung did make refinements to the hinge and the body, thereby making the phone lighter and stronger than before. Another design change that aided the weight loss is the removal of a metal layer within the panel, and replacing it with a layer made from a lighter material. The crease on the foldable display shouldn't be as intrusive as it once was, too, Samsung promises, and there have been improvements to the under-display camera to make it less visible.
Samsung's massive wearable push
In addition to the two foldable phones, the event saw Samsung announce two new smartwatches: the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. Unlike the two foldable smartphones that are iterative upgrades over their predecessors, the Galaxy Watch lineup looks like they have been completely redesigned from the ground up.
The more affordable of the two wearables, the Galaxy Watch 5 comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes with four color options on offer. The Watch 5 also gets a durable Sapphire Crystal layer for added durability. The design change also lets the watch cover a larger area around the wrists, thereby enabling improved, accurate readings, Samsung says. A new addition to the Galaxy Watch 5 is a new infrared temperature sensor.
The Galaxy Watch Pro — Samsung's most potent smartwatch yet — gets all the features on the standard model, plus some more. It's available in only a larger 44mm variant, but uses that heft to accommodate a relatively massive 590 mAh battery. The body of the Galaxy Watch Pro is made of titanium, and it gets a host of outdoor-specific features, including turn-by turn navigation. Both the watch models come in LTE and Bluetooth versions.
Completing Samsung's wearables push is the company's upgraded, second-generation true wireless earbuds, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The major change to this year's Galaxy Buds Pro is support for Hi-Fi 24-bit audio, thanks to Samsung's new seamless codec. Samsung has also made minor changes to the woofer and tweeter inside the earbuds this time around to ensure clearer, richer sound. Samsung also claims an improved ANC experience on the Galaxy Buds Pro. The Buds 2 Pro will also support LE audio a few months down the line.