The dust has settled on Unpacked, Samsung’s Paris event in which the company announced its biggest mobile devices, bar the Samsung Galaxy S25 phones, due next year.
What’s here to see? There’s a new smart ring, the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Samsung’s foldable phones get a refresh in the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6. The smartwatch series gets an Ultra model, and a general refresh with the Watch 7. There are new earphones, too: the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.
Here’s what you need to know about the seven new products.
Samsung Galaxy Ring
The Galaxy Ring is the most interesting of Samsung’s Unpacked products, as it’s part of a brand new family. This is Samsung’s take on the Oura smart ring, which has been around for years.
It’s titanium, rated for 100m water resistance, only weighs (up to) 3g and lasts up to a week between charges.
The Galaxy Ring can do pretty much what a fitness tracker does, minus the wristwear. It has a heart-rate sensor, temperature sensor and motion sensors for everyday activity tracking.
There’s no GPS, of course, for accurate location tracking. But it will track sleep, estimate your energy levels and provides period cycle tracking. At £399, though, you do pay for these feats of techy miniaturisation.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6
Both Samsung foldable phone lines have been given a refresh. There’s the phone that opens like a book, the Z Fold 6. And the one more like a classic clamshell, the Galaxy Z Flip 6.
They both get Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, and have better ruggedisation than last time around. In a flip-reverse of the usual phone standard, these mobiles have great water resistance but don’t like dust as much.
This ends up in an unusual ingress rating of IP48. They can be fully submerged in water at depths of up to 1.5m, but aren’t dustproof. The screens are brighter, too, up to 2,600 nits.
These aren’t the most dynamic of upgrades. But the dynamism here comes from that folding design. The bad news: prices have increased, too. A Galaxy Z Fold 6 starts at £1,799, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 £1,049.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 7
Samsung’s Watch line has new member, and it’s an Apple Watch Ultra rival. The £599 Galaxy Watch Ultra still has a round screen, but the casing adopts a more rectangular appearance.
Water resistance is higher than the Galaxy Watch 7’s, at 10ATM, but it doesn’t have the diving credentials of the Apple Watch Ultra. Without that in tow, the differences in this higher end model are more about the basics. It has a titanium casing and ultra-hard Sapphire crystal screen protection. That doesn’t come cheap.
Battery life is longer, too, rated for up to 100 hours, and it comes with mobile internet (LTE) connectivity as standard. The casing is 47mm across.
Want to spend less? The new Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 starts at £289 (40mm), or £319 for the larger 44mm version.
All of these watches have Samsung’s BioActive Sensor, the name for the heart-rate array on the back. As in previous generations, the watches can estimate your body fat percentage, take an ECG reading, and estimate blood pressure.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3
The company’s true wireless earphones have been given a slightly contentious refresh for 2024. Both the Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro look more like Apple’s AirPods than before, with a stalk that hangs down below your tragus.
You’re going to get much better sound from the Buds 3 Pro, because the Buds 3 have a tip-free design that lets you hear more of the world around you. They also have active noise cancelling, though, which is unusual for an open pair.
The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro use dual drivers, and have smarter active noise cancellation. It can detect when you’re talking to someone, to ease off the noise blocking, and recognise sirens and alarms. They are rated to up to seven hours of battery life, or six hours with ANC switched on. That’s a little more than the Buds 3, which last up to six hours (five with ANC).
You’ll pay £219 for the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, £159 for the Galaxy Buds 3.
