- It's been a summer of flashy tech launches,
(phone beeping)
and now it's Samsung's turn
in the spotlight (upbeat music)
and the company isn't making any big moves.
It's foldables, the Z Flip and the Z Fold, are back
with new additions, the Galaxy Watch is going pro
and the Buds Pro are getting a sequel.
But, across the board, it's a story
of little changes here and there, not big leaps.
It doesn't make for an electrifying product launch,
but it might make these devices just a little bit nicer
to use.
Let's dive in and take a look starting
with the folding phones.
We'll cover the buds and the watches later,
so you can skip ahead if that's what you're interested in.
(upbeat music)
So we've got the Galaxy Z Flip 4
and its big brother, the Z Fold 4.
There have been some durability improvements
but mostly limited to the main screens on both devices.
Samsung says they're 45% stronger
than the previous versions.
That's thanks to using stronger ultra-thin glass
and making adjustments to the display's layers.
There's stronger adhesive on the screen protector too,
so those should stay in place a little better,
and hopefully this time
around Samsung's figured out the dreaded bubble problem.
The phones are still rated to 200,000 folds
and Samsung has made the bezels and the hinges
on both a little slimmer.
On the Fold, the two times telephoto lens has been promoted
to a three-time zoom
and it also includes Space Zoom for the first time,
which is just Samsung's term for digital zoom
with some AI enhancements.
The camera under the Fold's main display also blends
in a little better this time around.
You can see it if you're looking for it,
but it's much less distracting than on last year's model.
Both models have updated main camera hardware.
There's a bigger 50-megapixel sensor on the Fold.
Image processing is supposed to be better too.
Remember Nightography?
Yep. That's here.
Samsung says low-light photos are brighter
and the really nice portrait mode updates we saw
on the S 22 series are here too.
There's a few software changes under the hood too.
When you use Flex Mode,
that's when you have the phone folded halfway,
there's a new feature where you can use part
of the screen as a touch pad.
There's even a little mouse cursor to move around
when you're using Chrome.
The Fold's task bar is now on the bottom of the screen,
rather than on the side.
You can do more from the Flip's cover screen too,
like sending quick replies to texts.
Oh, and one thing that hasn't changed, the price.
The Z Flip 4 is still 999
and the Z Fold 4 still costs 1,799.
So in my short time with the device,
I felt like the phones feel really nice.
The hinges are a little stiff,
you have to be kind of firm when you're opening,
closing the phones is not really like a one handed joint
but I don't know about 1,799,
you can buy like a bag full of phones for 1,799.
Let's talk about the watches.
(mellow music)
There's the Galaxy Watch 5
and the brand new Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.
The Watch 5 is kind of the definition of minor updates.
There's a new skin temperature sensor
and the design has been tweaked so
that the watch sensors make better contact with your skin.
Samsung says the glass on the watch face is 60% stronger
than on the Watch 4 and the battery is also 15% bigger
and Samsung claims you can get up
to 50 hours on a single charge.
That's good because battery life
on the Watch 4 kind of sucked.
There are 40 and 44 millimeter sizes
and it starts at 279 for Bluetooth or 329 for LTE.
The Watch 5 Pro is for serious outdoorsy types.
It's 45 millimeters, so it is not small,
and it felt pretty chunky on my wrist.
Samsung claims it'll get 80 hours on a single charge,
which is wild, or even up to 20 hours of continuous GPS use.
It has turned by turn route specific navigation,
which is kind of unexpected,
and it's rated 5ATM and IP68 waterproof,
so you can wear it on a swim.
It's also more expensive, naturally.
It's 449 for Bluetooth and 499 for LTE,
so that's a steep, $170 premium over the non-pro version.
One thing you're not going to find on either watch,
a physical rotating bezel,
just the capacitive touchscreen bezel.
Samsung still sells the Watch 4 Classic
with the rotating bezel for now
but we wouldn't be surprised if it goes away entirely.
The capacitive bezel is fine, it gets the job done
but there's that tiny delay that you don't get
with a physical bezel.
Finally, the buds. (serene music)
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro,
like 2 Pro 2 furious. (drum music)
Anyway, there are, you guessed it,
very minor updates over the Buds Pro.
They cost 299 and there's higher resolution, 24-bit audio
and the buds themselves are 15% smaller.
Samsung says they should be more comfortable
to wear all day in that the air vents are a little bigger
to relieve pressure.
I didn't wear them all day, but yeah,
they're pretty comfortable.
Samsung claims there's three extra decibels
of noise cancellation compared
to the original Galaxy Buds Pro
and that these do better at handling higher pitch sounds.
They include spatial audio and automatic switching
between Samsung devices
but still don't offer proper multipoint support
like the Pixel Buds Pro,
so, that's kind of a bummer.
- [Woman] Big bummer!
(Allison laughs)
- Maybe they're saving that for the sequel,
Galaxy Buds Pro, Tokyo Drift. (drum music)
This wasn't exactly the most exciting
"Unpacked" we've seen recently and that's okay.
At least with its foldables,
Samsung doesn't have to do a lot of work
because it basically owns the product category.
They're still years ahead of the competition,
so the little moves and refinements here
and there make sense, but if you were hoping
for a summer blockbuster from Samsung, well,
there's always next year.
There's gonna be new phones, and then after that,
there's gonna be some more new phones,
and then Christmas happens
and then there's more new phones,
so, buckle up!