What to expect at Samsung's Unpacked event in Seoul

The next generation of Galaxy devices are undoubtedly headlining the event, which is being held for the first time in South Korea. But which one would you choose?

A Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 at Samsung's flagship store in Seoul, South Korea. EPA

Let me first thank T.M. Roh for confirming what we can expect at Samsung Electronics' second Unpacked event for 2023.

By discussing foldables, tablets and wearables in a blog post last week – plus inviting everyone to mark their calendars for July 26 – the head of the company's mobile experience division dropped apparent hints on all the hardware coming this week, so it's up to me to connect the dots.

Samsung is scheduled to unveil its latest premium devices as the world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer aims to cement its position as the dominant player in the foldable smartphone market.

Shipments of foldable smartphones are forecast to quadruple by 2025 as original equipment manufacturers focus on the premium device business, Counterpoint Research said in a report.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to ship about 55 million foldable devices by 2025, into a premium smartphone segment that grew by 1 per cent last year, compared with the overall smartphone market's 12 per cent decline, it said.

Samsung is primed for the opportunity: it holds a 62 per cent market share, well ahead of second-placed Huawei Technologies with 16 per cent, latest data from Counterpoint shows.

"When design comes together with technological innovation, it brings forth new possibilities. With innovative technologies, people can make the most of today and ultimately create the best possible tomorrow," Mr Roh said.

He didn't delve deep. But that being said, and with all the reports and speculation swirling, here's what to expect at Unpacked 2023, Part 2.

When is Unpacked?

It's on Wednesday, July 26, at 8pm Korea time, which will be 3pm in the UAE. It's also earlier this year, as Samsung has traditionally held Unpacked in August.

Samsung began holding two Unpacked events in 2012 to promote the then-new Note series and make it distinct from its Galaxy S flagships. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Samsung streamed four Unpacked events from 2020 to 2022.

This will be the first time Unpacked will be held in Seoul, Samsung's home turf. When the event started in 2010, it hopped to global cities including Las Vegas, Barcelona, Berlin, London, New York, Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco.

Unfolding the next generation of Galaxy devices

Of course, the stars of the show are the newest versions of Samsung's foldable smartphones. That'll be the fifth and fourth iterations, respectively, of these devices, since Samsung skipped "Flip2" to align their numberings.

No specifications have been confirmed but it is seen that the high-end device widely expected to be the Fold5 will be slimmer thanks to a redesigned hinge. Aesthetically, not much is expected.

But that hinge is a big deal: it's long been rumoured that Samsung is working on redesigning the hinge and it seems that we'll see a new one on the Fold5, one that will allow the device to completely be shut, compared to previous models that have a gap in between both sides of the inner screen.

The other device, expected to be the Flip5, would probably steal the show, if speculation is to be believed: it has been reported that Samsung has increased the size of its cover screen, which would make a lot of difference.

The previous two Flips have used a 1.9-inch outer display and the original sported a humble 1.1 inches. It's unclear how much of an upgrade it would be but it definitely makes more sense for Samsung to utilise most of or, better yet, the entire front cover as a display.

Assuming the Flip5 retains its dimensions, we could expect a cover screen anywhere between 3 inches to nearly 4 inches – potentially bigger than the original iPhone – the latter of which assumes the dual-lens camera will be in-screen.

Samsung could probably take a cue from the Motorola Razr+, which has a 3.6-inch outer screen and is very versatile.

That would let users do more, as previous Flip cover screens were very limited in functionality because of its cramped size. Selfie fans would also definitely rejoice.

Internally, both are expected to retain last year's memory specs: 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage for the Fold5, and 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage for the Flip5. Both, however, are most certainly using the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 chip.

Judging by the looks of it, it seems the Flip5 makes the more sensible option to upgrade – unless a surprise pops up for the Fold5.

Time for the Galaxy Watch6

There are two expected additions to Samsung's stable of digital timepieces – the Galaxy Watch6 and Watch Classic, both of which will still focus on health and activity (notifications too, of course).

We're anticipating token upgrades on these wearables, with improvements in both hardware and software: bigger batteries (which, in theory, should bump up its life) and a faster processor, and upgrades with the introduction of Google's Wear OS 4 and Samsung's Watch One UI 5.

When design comes together with technological innovation, it brings forth new possibilities. With innovative technologies, people can make the most of today and ultimately create the best possible tomorrow

T.M. Roh,
president and head of mobile experience business at Samsung Electronics

While the Watch6 is apparently the direct successor to the Watch5, the parallels are unclear between the Watch Classic and last year's Watch5 Pro, which was aimed at those with active lifestyles.

Judging by its name, the uninitiated might think that the Classic version could take cues from previous Samsung Watch units for a retro feel. But look further beyond to the fact that the Watch4 Classic had a rotating bezel; will Samsung bring it back after its absence from last year's Watch models, which had touch-sensitive bezels instead?

Work and play with the Galaxy Tab S9

The previous Galaxy Tab S devices were among the most solid pieces of tablets in the market, so we can expect another good set from Samsung this year.

The company has pushed its Tab S series as a device for productivity and entertainment, and it aims to continue to improve further on this with an expected three-pronged line-up – the Tab S9, S9+ and S9 Ultra.

Samsung's S Pen for its Tab S devices has also proven to be more than capable of being at par with the best in the market. We're expecting them to improve on the drawing, sketching and doodling experience.

Will there be a surprise?

Hard to tell. Off the top of our heads, we reckon Samsung could throw in some new wireless headsets, specifically the long-rumoured Galaxy Buds 3.

Keep in mind that the original Buds were launched in 2019 and its successor in 2021 (March and August, respectively); this translates to a two-year gap in between models, so it would make sense if Samsung actually introduces the new iteration.

Other than that, Samsung could announce some new partnerships with its fellow tech companies for products and/or services that would boost its ecosystem.

And we're also not discounting the possibility of a tease for a new product in its prototype stages – in whatever shape, form or fold that would be.