Samsung’s latest unpacked event was an interesting one to say the least from the company revealing their new foldable devices which felt like more of the same to a watch that has some surprisingly neat tricks up its sleeve as well as the new Samsung S9 Tablets which felt pretty familiar and all in all this makes one ask the question “What if a company like Samsung which has been known for innovating the tech space were to finally settle?” and the results are actually not that bad.

Galaxy Fold 5 and Flip 5 

Now, the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip 5 are an interesting pair and this is because the Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 is actually bringing in some new changes whereas on the Fold is last year’s model even down to simple things like the design however this doesn’t mean that there are no tweaks to the formula. Samsung apparently is using a new hinge as well as a brand-new shock absorbing layer which will help fix the issue of displays cracking on their own over time. Both the Fold and Flip 5 are running on a Snapdragon 8 gen 2 processor and this will help in making the devices taken by these new foldables look nearly identical to the ones taken by the S23 line of phones.

The Z Fold 5

The hardware is mostly the same with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 as well as the aluminum edges and that’s it for the Fold 5 as well as some slight changes to the software but what might actually turn out to be this device’s standout feature is the revised S-pen which is surprisingly smaller and thinner than its former designs and this can actually make it easier to travel around with. In terms of internals, The Fold 5 is packing a very similar 7.6” main screen as well as a 6.2” and a camera module featuring a 50MP wide camera as well as a 12MP Ultra Wide as well as a 10MP Telephoto camera and 3 storage options from 256 GB to a 1 TB option as well as 12GB and as we have stated before this is the same device as last years making it kind of disappointing actually. And before we move on to the Flip 5, Samsung is keeping the price of the Fold 5 to start at $1799 making it a pricy rehash of last year’s device and at the end of the day this may put the Samsung Z Fold 5 at a disadvantage because it’s direct competitor, the Pixel Fold is going for the exact same price except it comes with 5.8” screen that goes for a wider more comfortable viewing experience than the Skinny tall Z Fold 5 screen.

The Z Flip 5

Moving on to the more exciting device, the Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 and right off the bat you’ll notice the bigger 3.4” cover screen which Samsung is calling the Flex window and the idea here is that you can run any app you want to making it kind of unnecessary to always keep the phone open and although it’s not as big and functional than the Motorola Razr+. It still has some interactive and helpful widgets which Samsung are promising more of as time goes on. Samsung’s new Good Luck customization suite is one of the features that seemingly make the Flip 5 much more of a personal device and this is a welcome change with the only drawback being that you need to activate the ability to run apps from the outside display with Good Luck. This feature will not be rolled out for the first few months making it one of the few disadvantages to owning a Flip 5 but, you do get the ability to control the camera using your Samsung Galaxy watch 6 making it an almost “fair” trade. In terms of specs the Flip 5 has a 6.7” Main Screen with a 3.4” Cover Screen as well as 8GB of RAM and a 256GB and 512GB storage option respectively. The starting price of the Galaxy Flip 5 is $999, the same price as last year, which makes more sense here considering the bigger cover screen and reworked hinge. Along with the upgraded entry storage of 256GB vs 128GB, it makes for a better starting package than last year’s device.

Samsung Galaxy Watch and Watch 6 Classic

As we said before about this event feeling like more of the same, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is a clear indicator of how to bring back something that’s missed but still very much welcome and we’re talking about the returning physical bezel and this was a feature that was absent in the Watch 5 but makes a welcome in the Galaxy Watch Classic. However, this feature is not present in the normal Watch 6 meaning if you want a physical bezel you need to get a watch 6. Moving on to the Hardware, minus the physical bezel for the watch 6 classic not much else has changed and if it’s the normal watch 6 then it’s just the same as the other watches making it kind of hard to tell the difference but as is said something’s true worth is determined by what’s on the inside and the “guts” of this machine are pretty much the same. This means we’re getting the same GPS, same IP68 water resistance and no new sensors whatsoever but both watches are getting a slight boost in performance.

The watch 6 series will have a brand spanking new Exynos W930 with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. How this will affect the actual performance of the product is something we have yet to see for ourselves as what was shown so far were demo products. Another change in the hardware department is the use of the brand-new fabric bands and a one-click strap mechanism making it much more comfortable to wear. The new one-click swap mechanism makes it easier for swapping bands and the good news is that these bands are backwards compatible so don’t fret if you have a large collection of bands lying around. The real changes to the watch 6 are on the Software side for instance the Watch 6 series will be launching with Wear OS 4 and keep in mind that almost every other smartwatch is still using Wear OS 3 but I guess Samsung will always be Samsung and Wear OS4 is apparently going to extend battery life and this helps in addressing an issue that has been plaguing Samsung Galaxy Watch devices the past few years. Furthermore, the Galaxy watch 6 series features a brand-new sleep score feature which uses a hypnogram which allows you to identify all of the stages of your sleep cycle and gives you a score indicating if you need to sleep more or if you’re sleeping too much and this is further complimented by the new watch faces which put all of the information you need in an easy place where you need it. The bioactive sensor also allows for better real time tracking of your heart rate as well as receiving alerts for when your heart rate spikes whilst you’re resting. The bad news is Samsung is upping the price meaning you can get your Galaxy watch 6 at $299 and a Galaxy Watch 6 Classic at $399 making them a bit pricey.