Samsung’s mid-year Galaxy Unpacked is always a fun event. Whereas the year’s first Unpacked is focused on the latest Galaxy S series, the summer Unpacked is typically reserved for new foldables and smartwatches, which makes for a more product-packed gathering.
As we inch closer to the event on Wednesday, July 22, I figure it’s worth curating what’s already leaked out, because it’s damn near everything.
More durable foldables with less screen crease
The past few weeks have been nonstop leak after leak for Samsung’s next foldables. We’re expecting there to be three new models. The main upgrade across the foldables should be Samsung’s Flex Titanium technology, which both strengthens the durability of the screens and reduces the visibility of the crease on the inner screen.
The new Galaxy Z Flip 8 should be the successor to last year’s Z Flip 7. WinFuture has shared product images and what it claims are full details for the new flip-style foldable. While I was hoping for a thinner device, it looks like the Z Flip 8 will be marginally thicker, though it should be lighter at 180g versus the Z Flip 7’s 188g. Otherwise, we’re looking at more or less the same features, but with a newer Exynos 2600 chip. According to WinFuture, the Z Flip 8 will have a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner screen with 120Hz refresh rate, a 4.1-inch Super AMOLED cover screen, three cameras (a 50-megapixel main and a 12-megapixel ultrawide on the outside and a 10-megapixel selfie lens on the inside), the same 4,300mAh battery as before but now with faster 45W charging, and storage options of 256GB or 512GB paired with 12GB of RAM.
The middle foldable is expected to be the new shorter and wider Galaxy Z Fold 8. This is supposed to be Samsung’s answer to Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone. We’ve been staring at leaked images of the Z Fold 8 for weeks, but now we have full specs, also hailing from WinFuture. When unfolded, the Z Fold 8 is said to measure 4.5mm thick, and the whole thing weighs 201g. The report says the Z Fold 8 has a 7.6-inch inner Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen with 120Hz, a 5.5-inch cover screen, dual rear cameras (both 50 megapixels), and two 10-megapixel hole-punch cameras (one on the cover display and one on the inner screen). It should be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy and have options for 256GB of storage (with 12GB of RAM) or 512GB and 1TB (with 16GB of RAM). Battery capacity is said to clock in at 4,800mAh, which would be pretty respectable.
On the high-end, we’re expecting to see the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. As its name suggests, it’s projected to have the better cameras (200-megapixel main camera, 50-megapixel ultrawide, and 10-megapixel 3x telephoto) and longer battery life (5,000mAh). WinFuture’s leak claims the foldable will slim down by 1mm (from 4.2mm to 4.1mm), but gain 3g (from 215g to 218g). The screen aspect ratios will match the Z Fold 7’s closely, with an 8-inch inner screen and 6.5-inch cover screen, both with 120Hz refresh rates. Chipset, storage, and RAM configurations appear to be the same as the Z Fold 8.
Smartwatches with bigger batteries
On the Samsung smartwatches front, we should be looking at two new models: the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and the Galaxy Watch 9. They’re both said to be thinner and lighter than before and use Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon Wear Elite chip with 2GB of RAM, according to WinFuture.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 will reportedly have an 800mAh battery, which would be a significant jump up from the 590mAh one in the first-gen Watch Ultra. Leaked specs include a titanium case with 10ATM water resistance, a 1.5-inch screen, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, and LTE.
The Galaxy Watch 9 is expected to come in two sizes again: 40mm with a 1.3-inch screen and 44mm with a 1.5-inch display. Compared to the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, the water resistance for the Galaxy Watch 9 could be lower at 5ATM. Battery life improvements could be more minimal year-over-year, too: the same 325mAh on the smaller model and a 445mAh for the larger version (a 100mAh bump up from the Galaxy Watch 8’s 435mAh).
It appears Samsung won’t have a new version of the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, which returned last year with a physical rotating bezel. Maybe the bulkier smartwatch wasn’t popular at all.
More Galaxy AI
One thing that I am certain that Samsung will announce more of is additions to Galaxy AI, its own suite of artificial intelligence features. Whether it’s features from the Galaxy S26 Ultra being brought to the new foldable phones or smartwatches, Samsung has used every Unpacked in recent years to squeeze AI into its apps. It wouldn’t surprise me to see more predictive AI, automations using agentic AI, and generative AI for photo editing. Whether you’ll find them useful is a different question.
The wild cards
It’s a big year for smart glasses, and Samsung has been very tight-lipped about its plans. Other than a partnership with Google that announced “intelligent eyewear” created with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker at Google I/O this past May, there’s been little additional info. We know that both models have built-in cameras for photos and videos and speakers for music, calls, and audio notifications, which sounds exactly like Meta’s AI glasses. But how much will they cost and what kind of privacy policies will be in place? We have no clue. The latter is especially important considering how Meta keeps making it feel gross to wear any of its smart glasses.
Then, there’s the smart ring. Might we get a tease for a Galaxy Ring 2? It’s been two years since the Galaxy Ring came out. Oura now has a slimmer and longer-lasting Oura Ring 5 and Vital Signals’ Signal Ring could be a game-changer, replacing traditional blood pressure cuffs. What’s next for Samsung’s smart ring?