The second Galaxy Unpacked presentation in 2023, hosted by Samsung, also turned out to be quite memorable due to the announcement of several interesting new products at once. In addition to the fifth-generation Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip foldable smartphones improved in various areas, the July event showed a trio of flagship Galaxy Tab S9 tablets and a pair of Galaxy Watch 6 smartwatch models with pleasant autonomy and advanced customization. There is definitely something to talk about, so in this article I analyze the innovations of each presented device and make a direct comparison. First things first, of course.
Galaxy Z Fold 5
- The price is from $1,999.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 has been seriously upgraded in terms of dimensions – Samsung has finally paid due attention to thinness and weight, because it was because of the tangible massiveness that previous models were constantly criticized. When open, the smartphone is now 0.2 mm thinner (6.1 mm vs. 6.3 mm), while when closed, the difference is a more significant 0.8-2.4 mm (13.4 mm vs. .8 mm). This progress was achieved thanks to the redesigned hinge design, which allowed to get rid of the notorious gap between the halves and thereby increase the compactness. The weight of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has also been noticeably reduced, down to 253 grams (by 10 grams).
The glass on the front and back of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has changed from Gorilla Glass Victus+ to Gorilla Glass Victus 2 from Corning. The diagonals of both displays, their resolution and frequency have not changed in any way, but they have become a little thinner inside the frame, as the panel-to-body ratio has increased to 91.1% (was 90.9%). In addition, the maximum brightness is now a solid 1,750 cd/m².
The processor in the Galaxy Z Fold 5 uses the modern Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform with a 4 nm process technology. Bluetooth has been updated to version 5.3, Wi-Fi 7 is supported, internal memory has been upgraded to UFS 4.0. Compared to its predecessor, the colors have also been refreshed: dark green has been replaced by two types of blue, gray has appeared and beige has lightened. In the latter, the frame is no longer golden, in the gray and blue versions it is now generally matte black instead of glossy color.
Galaxy Z Flip 5
- The price is from $999.
The key feature of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 against the backdrop of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is the largest external display in the history of the series, occupying almost the entire space of its half. It has a standard frequency of 60 Hz, a resolution of 748 × 720 pixels and a flagship brightness rating of 1,600 cd / m² (peak). The diagonal jumped from a small size of 1.9 inches to 3.4 inches, almost like the first iPhone. In fact, now it is not an auxiliary tool, but a full-fledged independent screen, as, for example, in the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra.
Similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 5, the clamshell design has been improved and the hinge now closes without a gap. The dimensions basically remained the same, with the exception of the thickness – 15.1 mm (it was 15.9-17.1 mm). Inside, the innovations are similar: the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset (thus, the performance of the smartphone is in no way inferior to the neighboring model in the line at the original price of $ 999, which is $ 800 cheaper), the base memory capacity has increased by 2 times up to 256 GB, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E are supported.
The color options of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 are quite different from its predecessor. The folding bed is presented in four options: graphite, beige, lavender and mint. But now they are complemented by gray, blue, green and yellow, which are available exclusively in the Samsung online store (in the case of the Galaxy Z Flip 4, these were not originally offered outside of special editions).
Galaxy Tab S9
- Price – from $799.
The business card of the Galaxy Tab S9 line comes from an unexpected side – all tablets are now protected from water and dust according to the IP68 standard. This means that their cases are not at all afraid of fine dirt and grains of sand, now you can even safely dive into water to a depth of more than 1 meter and stay there with any Galaxy Tab S9 for more than 30 minutes. Samsung has taken care of the ease of use under water so much that the S Pen stylus has acquired an IP68 rating.
With the dimensions of the Galaxy Tab S9, it turned out ambiguously. Only one of the three tablets is thinner and lighter than its predecessor: the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S9 now weighs 498 grams (up from 503 grams) and is 5.9 mm thick (up from 6.3 mm), although it has a larger battery (8,400 mA). ⋅h versus 8,000 mAh). In turn, the Galaxy Tab S9 + has grown heavier to 586 grams (was 567 grams), Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra – up to 732 grams (was 726 grams). Perhaps the increase is due to the sealing of the case to achieve water resistance.
The Galaxy Tab S9+ and Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra have eliminated the 128GB minimum configuration. RAM is now only 12 GB (previously there was an 8 GB model). The four stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos surround sound and AKG tuning are also 20% more powerful due to the larger design. Other pluses: Bluetooth 5.3, exclusive support for GoodNotes and LumaFusion applications, a beige color has been added to the palette.
Galaxy Watch 6
- The price is from $299.
The Galaxy Watch 6 is a comprehensive upgrade and places a heavy emphasis on personalized health advice. Design and technical aspects improved:
- the frames are thinner, the display is 20% larger (1.47 inches and a resolution of 480 × 480 pixels instead of 1.36 inches 450 × 450 pixels);
- maximum brightness 2,000 cd/m²;
- the physically rotating bezel returned for simple and intuitive operation;
- Over 700 unique strap styles and combinations
- Exynos W930 dual-core processor with an increased clock speed of 1.4 GHz (was 1.18 GHz);
- the amount of RAM increased to 2 GB (was 1.5 GB);
- Bluetooth is now version 5.3;
- The latest version of Wear OS 4 operating system with One UI Watch 5 interface is installed out of the box.
Just as the watch helps you track activity in detail during the day, it now collects data thoroughly during the night as well. Samsung specifically notes that the Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic are able to analyze in depth the most important sleep factors – total rest time, cycles, wakefulness, sequence of processes, body temperature during sleep, physical and mental recovery progress. Each morning, the watch will issue a detailed sleep health report to the wearer, a feature developed in collaboration with the National Sleep Foundation. When it’s time for bed, it also helps you create the perfect resting environment by automatically changing the settings of your connected smart home technology and enabling sleep mode on your watch and smartphone.
As part of the blood pressure monitoring and electrocardiogram functions, Galaxy Watch 6 is now able to detect atrial fibrillation in the background, even while sleeping. What else: autonomy has increased to 30 hours (or 40 hours, provided that some settings are disabled), the new Thermo Check application allows you to measure the temperature of food and water in a non-contact way, gesture control has been expanded, optimized versions of Gmail and Google Calendar applications have earned in the firmware .