Samsung’s annual summer product launch announcement is an event on the tech calendar that you can rely on seeing around this time each year, but even by typical standards, this one’s a very big one with a whopping seven releases unveiled by the tech giant.
There’s a lot to sift through, so we’ve tried to distil each launch to its most essential features and details.
It’s worth knowing that there aren’t updates to Samsung’s main smartphone lineup of the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra, but there are refreshed foldable phones in the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Audio is also a focus for the brand at this event, with two new wireless earbud releases: the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.
And, lastly, there’s a lot of wearable news. There’s now an updated smartwatch in the Galaxy Watch 7, a durability-focused rugged smartwatch in the Galaxy Watch Ultra, and the intriguing new Galaxy Ring, a piece of jewellery that’s also a health-monitoring device.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro: At a glance
- These wireless earbuds have a clear design change from the previous generation — they now look a lot like Apple’s AirPods
- This design is based on extensive ear data research that found this to be the best approach for long-term comfort
- The Galaxy Buds 3 series features a “blade lighting” system – these lights indicate pairing, help you to find the earbuds, or can be turned on for a futuristic sci-fi look
- Both new pairs have an IP57 rating for water and dust resistance
- Both pairs have a clever real-time language interpretation mode
- Both have “Adaptive EQ” and improved active noise-cancelling (ANC)
- They also have enhanced call clarity to filter out background noise, high-resolution audio support and sound personalisation
- They’re available in either silver or white
- The Galaxy Buds 3 cost £159, while the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro cost £219
The most apparent thing about the new earbuds from Samsung is that they’re a big departure from the style of its previous offerings.
This should improve comfort and fit, which was one of our only issues with the excellent Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, but it also means they look nearly identical to Apple AirPods. It is a shame that these only come in quite futuristic shades, compared to the old Samsung buds that were available in a wide range of fun colours.
However, these do come at competitive prices. We think £219 for flagship earphones is quite impressive when rivals from Bose, Technics and Apple are more expensive. The new “blade lightning” system on the side of each earbud is interesting, although we’re not yet sure how handy it’ll be in use.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: At a glance
- The overall dimensions are unchanged, so it feels a lot like the Z Flip 5
- There are some small design upgrades
- It now has an improved 50-megapixel main camera sensor
- It has AI-driven portrait photography and an auto-zoom feature
- It also has a new 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera that’s better in low light
- It has improved scratch resistance in the frame and hinge
- The pricing starts at £1,049 for 256GB of storage with pre-orders available now and an on-sale date of 24 July
Foldable smartphones may still be a relatively niche category overall, but there can be no denying that Samsung is the leading brand in this category.
That shows in how it hasn’t felt the need to overhaul the design of its most popular folding device, the Flip. It now has a slightly larger battery, a better main camera, an improved ultra-wide camera, IPX8 water resistance (but no dust-proofing) and such a huge number of artificial intelligence features that we’d need a separate article to go through them in full.
But in brief, the new Samsung phones are going to be capable of transforming your doodles into images, interpreting and translating languages in a way that takes advantage of the folding display, new photo editing capabilities, an auto-zoom feature to frame your shots in the best way possible, new suggested replies to messages in your tone of voice, and many more wallpaper options for the cover screen on the Flip, including AI-generated wallpapers.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: At a glance
- There’s a slight change to the dimensions – it’s now thinner with a larger main cover display
- It now weighs 239g compared to the 253g predecessor
- It comes in silver, pink and navy
- It’ll have several artificial intelligence (AI) features for productivity including auto-formatted notes, transcription assistance and a browsing assistant
- It’s much more pricey than the Flip 6, starting at £1,799 for 256GB of storage
As Samsung’s top-tier foldable device, the Fold promises to put the capabilities of a phone and a tablet into one device. Users might be unsure about the extra size and weight of these devices, but it’s evident the tech is advancing quickly – the newest version of the Fold is thinner and lighter, making it a more realistic phone for many of us.
It’s still a pricey proposition, and it has a huge number of those artificial intelligence features, along with a high-end processor powering everything, and a much brighter main display. It’s also now protected against water, like the Flip 6, but it has no dust resistance on board. Overall, it’s a collection of small but substantive upgrades to a very specific phone that you’ll either know if you want or not!
Samsung Galaxy Ring: At a glance
- It’s a practical health-tracking gadget for those who don’t want to wear a smartwatch
- It has a claim of up to seven days of battery life
- It offers all-day tracking with advanced sleep health, and water and scratch resistance (with an IP68 rating)
- It also has heart rate monitoring, automatic workout-tracking and inactivity alerts
- The Ring can help to predict menstrual cycles based on skin temperature
- It’s available in nine sizes and three colours: “titanium black”, “titanium gold” or “titanium silver”
- It’s compatible with any Android phone, but there are extra perks if you have a Samsung phone like a double pinch gesture and a function to find your ring if it’s misplaced
- It will cost £399 and is on sale from 24 July, with no subscription fee for the Samsung health features (unlike the Oura, Fitbit or Google devices)
Not everyone wants to wear a full-on smartwatch; as clever and futuristic as they are, they’re not to everyone’s style and they can be a lot bulkier than a typical timepiece.
That’s why we’ve started to see the rise of “smart rings” like the Oura Ring which has been reviewed by our health and wellness expert at the Good Housekeeping Institute, making it into our roundup of the best sleep gadgets. Now, as teased back in January, Samsung is launching its own Galaxy Ring.
In a brief hands-on session, we were impressed to see that it’s such a slim and small device at only 7mm wide and 2.6mm thick, with a 3g weight. It’s bigger than a piece of jewellery but much smaller than a watch, and it’ll do many of the same health-tracking features people rely on the best fitness trackers for. That includes automatically recognising workouts, sleep monitoring, and heart rate tracking.
It’s packed with sensors and technology, and unlike the Oura or devices from Fitbit or Google, there’s no ongoing subscription to worry about after the initial £399 cost.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: At a glance
- The upgraded Galaxy Watch comes in either 40mm or 44mm sizes
- The available colour options are green or cream (for the 40mm) and green or silver (for the 44mm)
- It now features a fast 3nm processor, a first for Samsung in a wearable device
- It also has better health-tracking features and improved GPS
- It runs on WearOS 5 but has enhanced gestures and AI-powered replies when used with a Samsung phone
- It offers the same sleep, health, and fitness features as the Galaxy Ring
- If used with a Galaxy Ring, you get greater accuracy and 30% better Ring battery life
- The price starts at either £289 or £319, depending on which size you pick
Samsung’s new default smartwatch is the Watch 7, and while it doesn’t look that different when compared to last year’s Watch 6 it now has an improved processor, better GPS and improvements to its health tracking.
The seventh iteration of the wearable device continues to work with any Android phone but has a few extra perks if you pair it to a Samsung smartphone, like a “double-pinch” gesture similar to what’s possible on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. It’s unlikely to grab as much attention as the new launch of the Galaxy Watch Ultra below, but it shares a lot of the same specifications at a lower price.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: At a glance
- This premium watch has a new design focused on durability
- It’s designed for extreme conditions including high temperatures and altitudes
- It’s circular with a square titanium body, and the screen has a high peak brightness and a night mode
- It has a military-standard durability rating with IP68 water-resistance
- It comes in a 47mm size
- The price of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra starts from £599: pre-orders are happening now, and it’s on sale from 24 July
Much like the Apple Watch Ultra, this premium watch isn’t designed for most people but is instead targeted at those with intense sports, trekking and adventuring in mind. It has serious durability ratings for surviving challenging conditions like temperature extremes and high altitude – Samsung claims it’ll be able to keep going in -20C cold, 55C heat and at a 9,000m altitude.
If you’re in doubt about whether you’d use this, you probably don’t need it. It’s an expensive and powerful outdoor watch for only the most active people, capable of tracking triathlons, extended hikes, open-water swimming, kayaking, windsurfing, climbing and more.
All the new Samsung tech
Simon Cocks is Good Housekeeping UK’s Technology Editor, overseeing tech shopping content and strategy for the title. He previously also worked across other titles including Esquire UK, Digital Spy, Men’s Health UK and Women’s Health UK.
Simon specialises in testing the latest smart gadgets, home entertainment gear, headphones, speakers, portable chargers, radios, e-book readers and smartphones. He's reviewed top tech products from brands including Google, Apple, Amazon, JBL and Bose.
A magazine journalism graduate from Kingston University in 2014, Simon also worked on the Discovery and Silkroad inflight magazines. He then gained experience writing about entertainment at SFX and Total Film. He also contributed reviews and interviews to TwitchFilm (later ScreenAnarchy), CultBox and Frame Rated.
He joined Good Housekeeping UK as the Editorial Assistant for Special Projects and was part of Good Housekeeping’s Consumer Affairs Team between 2014 and 2019. In this role, he conducted price comparison research, wrote detailed household and money-saving advice guides and edited thousands of in-depth reviews for the Good Housekeeping Institute.
He has focused on technology and gadgets since 2020, where he started by testing out power banks and instant cameras. He writes reviews, roundups, news articles and deals updates, and also covers top tech deals during sales like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
When not testing out the latest gizmos, you’ll find Simon either catching up with the newest releases at his local cinema or out shooting with his beloved compact camera.
You can follow Simon on Instagram, on Bluesky, on LinkedIn and on Threads.
