Folding phones and headphones that’ll save your relationship

From the Galaxy Z Fold4 to the Watch 5 Pro and much more, here's everything that Samsung announced at its Unpacked showcase in New York.

Everything Samsung announced at Unpacked.

Samsung has announced the updates to the company’s folding phone range along with premium wearables at an event in New York. The headline for this year’s launch is that the Z Fold4 finally has a flagship quality camera, and the Watch5 Pro seems to be a fitness watch worth taking seriously. But critics are pointing out that the Z Flip4 doesn’t show much improvement, aside from a boost to the battery.

Here's what was announced:

Galaxy Z Fold4

The Z Fold4 is at the top of the Samsung phone range. It’s the phone for people who need a productivity machine for while they’re on the go. But, because folding phones are so new, the designers are still actively refining the design with each release. This year’s refinement is a smaller hinge, making the phone more pocket and hand friendly, while still boosting the screen size.

As mentioned above, the biggest change for 2022 is that the camera array now matches that of the S22 (though not the S22 Ultra, whose camera is still superior). Last year’s folding phones topped out at 12MP and didn’t feature “Space Zoom” (30X to 100X, as found on the S series phones). This year, photographers can enjoy up to 50MP and 30X, removing one of the barriers some people faced when considering the premium Fold phones.

Z Flip4

Another big change is that the front screen is now about 2.7mm wider, which doesn’t sound like much but does physically make a difference to the ease of use of the keyboard. One of the big complaints about previous Folds was that the front screen was too narrow to comfortably type messages on. With a brief hands-on I can say that 2.7mm makes more of a difference when it comes to adding to screen real estate than it does in reducing phone body.

Other details are that it’s 8g lighter (and feels more even, thanks to weight redistribution), the inner screen is 3mm wider without making the body bigger (in fact it’s smaller, thanks to a shrinking hinge), and the processor is a bit faster. Pricing on the base 256GB model is the same as last year at $2499, the 512GB is $50 more expensive than last year at $2699, and the new 1TB model ties with the original Fold as the most expensive smartphone ever sold in Australia at $2999.

Galaxy Z Flip4

Those hoping for major updates to the pocket-sized nostalgia phone are going to be disappointed, as the updates appear to be mostly incremental. However, the most requested new feature was a bigger battery, and Samsung has delivered on that, with 12% more juice. The bezel has also been reduced, allowing the body to be 1.2mm shorter and 1.5mm narrower than its predecessor, while still keeping the same-sized screen.

The biggest non-battery changes are to the front screen, which now allows users to change settings and make calls without opening the phone up, and the camera, which has a 65% brighter sensor. The camera is key because the Flip is aimed at content creators.

Like the Fold4, it’s also been upgraded with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, for zippier performance. Once again, the base model is the same price as last year, with the 128GB going for $1499, while the middle model, the $1649 256GB is $50 more than last year, and the new 512GB is an expensive $1849.

While the uptake of foldables has been relatively slow in Australia, Garry McGregor, Vice President of Samsung Electronics Southeast Asia and Oceania, says interest in foldable devices has increased significantly in the past year. He also says that folding is the future of phones. “These are not a fad. At Samsung, we genuinely believe the mainstream form factor for the smartphone will evolve over the next few years to become foldable. Human genetics aren't changing; Your hands aren't getting any bigger, but our demands on mobile technology are growing.”

Watch 5, Watch 5 Pro and Galaxy Buds2 Pro

Watch 5

The biggest updates came to wearables this year, with the introduction of a brand-new fitness-focussed Pro line.

While the Watch 5 is all about wellness and improving your sleep by comparing you to lions, hedgehogs and moles (oh to be a fly on the wall in the many, many meetings where they argued about which animals best represent sleeping styles), the Pro is all about getting outside.

The Watch 5 Pro has more accurate GPS, a scratch-resistant sapphire screen (at the New York experience room, we were encouraged to scratch the sapphire with a metal stick), and a titanium body, presumably with the hopes that it will weather a bike accident better than you do.

Some of the new features touted were getting routed back to your start point, even when you’ve been mountain biking on an unforged path, and more consistent heart rate readings, less affected by skin temperature.

Galaxy Buds2 Pro

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro are billed as a real Apple AirPods contender, with better aerodynamics, 24-bit audio, and automatic pairing to your TV as well as your other Galaxy devices. It’s that TV pairing that McGregor thinks is the killer feature “I think he's going to save marriages across Australia.”

Pre-orders for the new devices have started today, with availability from the 2nd of September.

The author travelled to New York as a guest of Samsung.