Some companies like to sneak hints into their invites — and then there’s Samsung. Samsung just sent out invites for its next Unpacked event. The Note leads with the big, bold words “Get ready to unfold” and features a pair of flat-colored objects that can reasonably resemble the form factors of the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip, respectively.
In keeping with the general state of the world over the past year-and-a-half, the event will be held virtually on Wednesday, August 11. Interestingly, the company is also opening up preorders on its “next flagship,” sights and specs unseen. Perks for early preorders include “12 free months of Samsung Care+, up to an extra $200 trade-in credit, and a special preorder offer.”
There’s a lot to unpack (so to speak) ahead of the event. First, I’m probably not alone in expecting that the company would focus its next big event on the upcoming Galaxy Watch. But honestly, it’s generally best to wait until you see the thing and maybe even read a review or two. The big event at MWC was a bit of a dud (not unlike MWC itself), offering more information on the forthcoming wearable partnership with Google instead of announcing any hardware, as the company noted.
The upcoming One UI Watch will debut at an upcoming Unpacked event later this summer, sporting the new UI, andthe open joint Samsung/Google platform.” It seems reasonably likely that this will be the event where that will occur, even if the new watch doesn’t get top billing. For one thing, we’re running out of summer. For another, rumors have the new Galaxy Watch set for a release in late August (the 27th). All told, this cold to be a pretty colossal summer event for the company, bucking last year’s trend of meting out devices one by onindividuallyal invents.
Word on the street is we could be seeing a Galaxy Watch 4, Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 3, Galaxy S21 FE (“Fan Edition” — the latest version of the company’s budget flagship), and even the Galaxy Buds Pro, which will more directly take on the AirPods Pro (which are getting a bit long in the tooth). What’s missing in all of this? No points if you said the Note. Samsung’s well-loved phablet is reportedly not com toing this yea chip shortages continue to plague the industry. That would be a big hit to Samsung’s six-month cycle, though we’ll see how that all plays out soon enough.
