Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026: The 6 biggest announcements

Samsung’s annual summer event kicked off on Wednesday morning with the company unveiling a new line of watches and smartwatches. Following weeks of rumors and leaks, Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Fold 8 with a new design that is shorter and wider than last year’s Fold, the “Ultra” Fold, an updated version of the Flip, and a refreshed version of the Galaxy smartwatches.

If you weren’t able to watch the event in person, you can find all the big announcements from this year’s Galaxy Unpacked below.

The highlight of Galaxy Unpacked was the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which is a major upgrade from last year’s Z Fold 7. The new design is shorter and wider, with a 7.6-inch display on the inside and 5.5-inch on the outside. It’s significantly longer at 4.5mm extended and 9.7mm folded, compared to 4.2mm and 8.9mm, respectively, for the Z Fold 7.

The new Fold also features a new hinge design by Samsung Flex Titanium technical display. It doesn’t completely take away from the design inside, but it does make it less noticeable than previous Samsung designs. The new Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 have also got the Flex Titanium design.

Z Fold 8 runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The camera setup is a step down from the Z Fold 7 – the Z Fold 8 has two main cameras instead of three, 50MP wide and 50MP Ultra wide. The front camera and internal camera are both 10MP like the Z Fold 7, however.

The Z Fold 8 starts at $1,899 and comes in four colors: lavender, graphite, cream, and pistachio (for online orders only).

While the regular Z Fold 8 was redesigned, the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra takes its design cues from last year’s Z Fold 7. Samsung’s new flagship is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for the Galaxy with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

The Ultra features a larger 5,000mAh battery, compared to the 4,400mAh battery in the Z Fold 7. The phone also supports 45W Wired Charging and 20W wireless, an improvement on the Z Fold 7’s 25W Wired / 15W Wired Charging. The camera setup is the same as the Z Fold 7 with a 200MP wide / 50MP ultra wide / 10MP telephoto main camera and 10MP selfie cameras inside and cover displays.

The Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at $2,099 and comes in four colors: graphite, cream, violet shadow, and green shadow (for online orders only).

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Z Flip 8 with some bumps, but no major changes in design. It now runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, an upgrade from the Exynos 2500 chip that powered the previous Z Flip 7. It also includes 12GB of RAM and options for 256GB or 512GB of storage (no 1TB option though).

Like last year’s model, it has a 6.9-inch screen and a 4.1-inch screen, with a 4,300mAh battery. Although it looks the same, the cover is much more flexible now thanks to new handles and the ability to open an app. It is slightly smaller at 13.1mm folded and 6.1mm extended. Unfortunately, it’s $100 more expensive than the Flip 7, starting at $1,199. The phone comes in four colors: pink, graphite, cream, and mint (for online orders only).

The Galaxy Watch was refreshed from Galaxy Unpacked with a new processor, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite. It also comes in two sizes, 44mm and 40mm. The larger 44mm model has a 1.47-inch display and a 445mAh battery, while the 40mm model has a smaller 1.34-inch display and a 390mAh battery. Samsung says both sizes last up to 30 hours per charge and are always on. Both also have 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

In addition to other updates, highlights of this year’s Galaxy Watch refresh are four new fitness modes: Vitals, Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, and Fitness Index. All four will also be available on the new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, and could help Samsung’s smartwatches compete with Apple’s wearables.

Unfortunately, the Galaxy Watch 9 has gone up in price by $30 since last year, so it starts at $379. The 44mm model comes in graphite and silver while the 40mm one is available in graphite and cream.

The new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has an impressive battery

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, not to be confused with the second model of the Galaxy Watch Ultra from last year. The new Ultra includes a much larger battery at 800mAh, up from 590mAh in last year’s Ultra, which somehow fits into a case that’s 12 percent thinner than the previous model. Samsung claims it can last up to 60 hours on a full charge with constant display. The updated Ultra is also getting new security features like the original Galaxy Watch.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Like the previous model, it is available in one size, 47mm, with a 1.52-inch display. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 also increased in price by $50, bringing it up to $699, with two color options, titanium silver and titanium gray.

Google also showed up at this year’s Galaxy Unpacked with a number of new frames for the upcoming glasses it’s developing in partnership with Samsung. It unveiled new designs from Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, following the first two designs from all the models that were announced in May at Google I/O. The first pairs of Google’s smart glasses are expected to launch later this year.