What to expect at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in July

Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked event is coming up fast at 9AM ET on July 10th in Paris, France. The company isn’t being coy about at least a couple of things it’s talking about — the graphic in its announcement video clearly hints at foldables, and the video’s description reads in part, “Galaxy AI is here.” You can watch the stream either on YouTube or its website.

There’ll be more to the event than just folding phones and pre-announcement device reservation discounts. Samsung does its regular Galaxy phone announcements at its other Galaxy Unpacked event early in the year, so that’s out of the way, but we might also hear about other stuff, including a new Samsung Watch product and, of course, the Galaxy Ring.

Samsung January Galaxy Ring announcement was little more than a tease, but the company gave reporters hands-on time with a prototype at Mobile World Congress in February, revealing colors and ring sizes and a little about what kind of data its sensors will gather. What we’d love to hear is how much the thing will cost, what kind of health sensors it will have, and when it’s coming.

For now, there are rumors, like that it will cost around $300 or $350 and that Samsung may spin up a fitness and health subscription to go along with it. But apart from that and FCC testing records that revealed battery capacities, very little has made its way out of Samsung’s halls about the Galaxy Ring.

Plenty about the Galaxy Z foldables has already leaked. It seems the Z Fold 6 is getting an updated, more squared-off design, significantly brighter screens, and a touch longer battery life, though using the same 4,400mAh battery size as its predecessor.

The clamshell Flip 6 may be less changed from the previous model, but it’s expected to see some other key updates. Besides a similar brightness boost to the Fold 6, the phone may get a much brighter screen like its larger sibling, along with a vapor chamber cooling system and either a 4,000mAh battery or a 3,790mAh battery, depending on the rumor (the current model’s battery capacity is rated at 3,700mAh). The secondary screen might be an IPS panel instead of OLED.

Both phones are expected to be lighter, thinner, and powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor.

Samsung was quick to jump on the AI train, and at least some of its Galaxy AI features are available or coming to all manner of Galaxy phones and devices — not just the latest and greatest. So far, Galaxy AI is full of table stakes for artificial intelligence: things like on-device, in-call audio and text translations and photo and video editing, and Google’s Circle to Search feature. Now is the company’s chance to set itself apart a little bit.

Samsung will probably talk about its next Galaxy Watch lineup. Leaked images have suggested more of the same for the regular Watch 7, but the company is expected to announce a cheap Galaxy Watch FE, as well as a heaping helping of smartwatch, maybe called the Galaxy Watch 7 ‘Ultra.’

The Watch 7 Ultra looks like a bigger, badder watch with a squircle case — but a still-circular watchface. The chunky watch seen in leaked renders seems to be the company’s answer to the Apple Watch Ultra, to the point that leaked images even show a third button that could be similar to Apple’s Action Button. It even appears to feature a Samsung interpretation of Apple’s proprietary slide-in watchband connector — meaning you may not be able to use your old Galaxy Watch bands with this one.

The Galaxy Watch 7 Ultra isn’t the only thing apparently taking cues from Apple’s designs — Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3, based on leaks so far, plainly look like Apple’s third-generation AirPods, but with angular stems instead of round ones, and blue and orange accents at the tips. “Pro” models look a little more different, featuring a matte gray finish. Someone on Reddit claimed to have already bought a pair of those for $250 at a Walmart in the US, so it would seem they’re already in retail store rooms (and, apparently, on some shelves).