Samsung announces 5 brand-new devices, but drops iOS support for wearables

Just recently, Samsung announced five brand-new devices during its Galaxy UNPACKED 2021 Online Event, which was live streamed on Wednesday, August 11th, 2021.

These new releases include two new high-end Smartphones with folding screens, which are none other than the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G Smarpthone and the Galaxy Z Flip3 Smartphone, as well as two brand-new Smartwatches from a completely new Galaxy Watch Series; the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, and also a new pair of wireless earbuds simply called the Galaxy Buds 2.

Now, it's worth pointing out that it's typical of Samsung to release its new high-end Smartphones (including phones with folding screens) right at the start of August, as that gives the South Korean tech. giant (Samsung) a big "marketing chance" to get its latest flagships out on the consumers market before Apple actually announced its upcoming new iPhones, which, according to previous years, tend to be launched each year either during the first or second Tuesday of September.

Back to Samsung's new devices. Starting with its two brand-new high-end foldable Smartphones (the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G Smarpthone and the Galaxy Z Flip3 Smartphone), which, specifically for the latter, it's awesome to see that Samsung has actually rolled out a foldable Smartphone model that, for the very first time ever, costs under $1,000.

In addition to that, both the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G Smarpthone and the Galaxy Z Flip3 Smartphone will also be the very first Samsung foldable phones to feature an IPX8 Water-Resistance rating.

This just shows how much Samsung has continued to work on and refine its Screen-Folding Technology, which, as most fans probably remember, actually had quite a bumpy start at first with the release of its original Galaxy Fold Smartphone.

After that sad disaster first occurred, Samsung quickly looked to fix many of the flaws on its original Galaxy Fold Smartphone, which were predominantly pointed-out by fans. And just a few months after that, a few other remaining major fixes that were still needed also came with last year's release of the company's Galaxy Z Fold 2 Smartphone, which finally had the company correcting several other glaring issues that were found on the Z Fold 2's predecessor.

Obviously, all of Samsung's efforts on improving its sequentially released foldable Smartphones ultimately have the main goal to make this form factor more mainstream for any of its upcoming Smartphones that are still to be released.

Then, for its two new Smartwatches that are part of the company's brand-new Galaxy Watch 4 Series, we have the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, for which both watches had their exterior designs moderately updated, and the same goes for their internal components, which also got upgraded to make these two new Smartwatches smoother and faster in their fitness tracking capabilities.

Now, the major news that really stands out here is the fact that neither of these new Smartwatches from Galaxy Watch 4 Series will actually support iPhones, as Samsung just recently decided to drop iOS support for its new wearables, meaning that users will not be able to pair these new watches with any iOS devices. In other words, all of the watches' key features will now be exclusive to Galaxy Phones, and most likely, this decision will probably also stick to any upcoming models, so be aware of that.

To be a little more specific, this decision probably comes as a direct result of Samsung's new partnership / collaboration with Google, which was just recently announced a few months ago via Samsung's official Newsroom Page, on a blog that was posted on May 18th, 2021.

This ultimately means that both the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic will be the first Smartwatches running on Google's and Samsung's new Wear OS. Still, for users of older Galaxy Watch models, there's nothing to panic about, as Samsung itself confirmed that it "currently has no plans to stop legacy support for previous Galaxy Watches that were compatible with iOS devices".

Now, if you missed Samsung's Galaxy UNPACKED 2021 Online Event, here’s everything that you need to know about each of its five (x5) brand-new devices.

Galaxy Z Fold3 5G Smarpthone

Starting with the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G Smarpthone, which is the company's third-generation phone with a foldable display that opens like a book, ultimately converting the phone itself from its standard smartphone-like design into a tablet-like device.

On top of that, this new 3rd-gen foldable Smartphone now works with Samsung's S Pen Stylus. Now, in order to make the Fold 3 able to work together with its S Pen Stylus, Samsung decided to create two new S Pen models, for which both come equipped with a unique and special pen-tip that moves as you apply pressure either while writing or drawing on the phone's screen, and that ultimately helps to prevent any potential damage.

Still, the S Pen is only an optional accessory for the Galaxy Z Fold3, but its still a very useful and reliable accessory that Samsung hopes to attract both business and enterprise users alike. Going even further into finer detail, know that the S Pen will only work on the Z Fold3's main screen, and not on its cover display, so be aware of that.

 On the outside of the phone, we have an ultra-strong, yet still fairly lightweight Aluminum frame that's around 10% more durable than previous models, which helps to keep the phone's internal components better protected against any unexpected drops and accidental bumps.

Now, as mentioned before, this is the very first time ever that a Samsung foldable phone will feature an IPX8 Water-Resistance rating. That basically means that users will be able to submerge the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G Smarpthone up to 3.2 ft. (1 m) underwater for up to 30 minutes of time, for which the phone should still work without any problems whatsoever.

During its Galaxy UNPACKED 2021 Online Event, the company also played a really cool and interesting video that detailed exactly how the Z Fold 3's construction protected all of its internal components from water-damage.

For its cover screen, the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G Smarpthone intergrates a 6.2-inch display, which can then be opened up to a slightly larger tablet-sized 7.6-inch display that smoothly folds back and forth, which also comes protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus exterior glass cover screen.

More importantly, both the phone's 6.2-inch display Cover Screen as well as its 7.6-inch display Main Screen can deliver a smooth gaming-like refresh rate of 120Hz.

At the back of the phone, we can find a Triple-Camera setup that's composed by a 12MP Telephoto Camera, a 12MP Wide-Angle Camera, and a 12MP Ultra-Wide Camera.

Another fairly notable feature that's worth pointing out is a 4MP Under-Display Camera that's built-in the phone's main display, and according to Samsung, users won't even notice it while they're using the phone, so there isn't much to worry about in terms of usability.

In addition to that, there's also a built-in 10MP Cover-Camera on the phone's opposite display.

Moreover, the company also updated all of its official Apps that can be accessed directly from the phone's main screen, and that was done by giving those specific Apps a two-column orientation that basically ends up packing slightly more information on the screen. Not only that, but there's also a new taskbar that can be used to keep all of a user's favorite Apps quickly accessible with a single touch.

And as everyone obviously expected, the Galaxy Z Fold3 will also feature support to 5G Connectivity, as well as support to Wi-Fi 6 Connectivity, so that's covered too.

For the phone's color options, in total, fans will have three (x3) different color models available to choose from, and those will be: Phantom Black, Phantom Green, and Phantom Silver.

For its price-tag, the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G Smarpthone is already available for pre-ordering today, for which the phone starts a $1799 for a 256GB Storage option with 12GB of RAM memory, but there's also a second version of the phone with twice the Storage for a total of 512GB Storage Space, and that one goes for $1899. The Galaxy Z Fold3 will be officially released on August 27.

Galaxy Z Flip3

Now, we'll have a look at the Galaxy Z Flip3, which is the successor to Samsung's original Z Flip Smartphone. The brand-new Z Flip3 is a fairly small pocketable and squared-shape foldable Smartphone that can be quickly opened up just like flip phones from 15 years ago, and doing that will reveal a decently sized 6.7-inch display screen on the phone's inner-side.

Then, sitting at the front of the phone, we have a small built-in 1.9-inches interactive Cover Screen that's four-times larger than the one from its predecessor (meaning the one found in the original Z Flip Smartphone), which makes it a signature part of the phone's unique foldable experience. This increase in size for the Z Flip3's Cover Screen makes it much easier for users to glance at any incoming notifications. A very convenient quality-of-life feature to say the least.

Samsung also made the Z Flip3's Cover Screen more functional, as it now allows you to swipe and interact with Apps -- like Samsung Pay or the camera app -- without opening the phone.

Next to the Z Flip3's Cover Screen there are also two built-in Cameras, which are a Wide-Angle 12MP Camera and a Ultra-Wide Camera.

Not only that, but built right onto the phone's main display, there's also a 10MP Front Camera that users won't even notice while they're using the phone.

On top of all of that, the Z Flip3's Cover Screen also has selfies covered, as any selfie that's taken with the phone closed will simply show up on its Cover Screen as a preview right after being taken, and all you have to do snap a selfie with the phone close is to simply hit the volume button on the phone's side to trigger its camera shutter.

As mentioned before, and just like the Galaxy Z Flip3's bigger brother (the Galaxy Z Fold3), this smaller flip-Smartphone model will also feature an IPX8 Water-Resistance rating, for which the phone will be able to be submerged up to 3.2 ft. (1 m) underwater for up to 30 minutes of time and still work without any problems.

Lastly, Samsung also updated its OneUI 3 interface for the Z series, which basically, is more or less the same One UI that runs on the Galaxy S-series, but for its two newer phone models (meaning the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip3) it optimizes Android and the OneUI skin for a foldable display.

The Galaxy Z Flip3 is currently available in a few different color models, for which four (x4) of those are available from every retailer, but there are also three additional color options (Pink, White, and Gray) which are exclusive to orders that are specifically made via Samsung's official shopping page.

If you're interested in buying Samsung's brand-new flip-Smartphone, know that Z Flip3 is also already available for pre-ordering, and it start at $999, coming with a total Storage Space of 128GB. Just like the Galaxy Z Fold3, customers also have the option to pay a bit extra for some more storage space, and so, you can instead get a model with a total of 256GB Storage Space by paying just $50 extra, making it a total of $1049.

Galaxy Watch 4 Series

Now, we'll have a quick look at Samsung's two brand-new Smartwatches from its new Galaxy Watch 4 Series.

Both the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic come directly from Samsung's partnership with Google, which is mainly focused on the release of innovative new wearable devices, such as these two new Smartwatches, which both come running the already-mentioned Wear OS powered by Samsung. This new Wear OS is basically a combination of Samsung's Tizen Operating System that's merged with Google's WearOS.

I'd also like to mention that both watches use a new 5nm processor that's made by Samsung.

Now, what's more impressive about these two brand-new Smartwatches from Samsung's new Galaxy Watch 4 Series is that both watches also come equipped with a Bioactive Sensor that combines three different sensors into one, and this includes an Optical Heart Rate Sensor, an Electrical Heart Sensor and a Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor.

The combination of these three sensors ultimately allow both of these two new Smartwatches from the Galaxy Watch 4 Series to accurately measure different health-metrics such as body composition.

Additionally, this 3-in-1 Bioactive Sensor also makes it possible for both watches to measure a user's blood oxygen level, and even allow these Smartwatches to detect any potential AFib heartbeat / irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that are usually caused by an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate, which can ultimately lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and a few other heart-related complications.

Definitely, it's amazing to see so many great health-focused features implemented here, and obviously, there's both a major benefit of measuring your body composition as well as to know as soon as your heart starts having one (or more) irregular heartbeats.

On that note, know that to take a measurement, all you have to do is to place two fingers on the side of the Smartwatch, in a similar manner of how you'd take an ECG reading, and it should only take around 15 seconds for a users to take a reading and get their results.

In addition to all of that, Samsung will also be adding some brand-new fitness features that are focused on helping to motivate users to work out more, as well as to stay competitive throughout their fitness routines with both family members and friends.

Both watches are already available for pre-ordering, and will also be available in stores starting from August 27th. You can get the Galaxy Watch 4 for just $249, or if you prefer to go with the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, that one will cost you just slightly more, exactly $349 to be precise.

Galaxy Buds2

Finally, we have Samsung's brand-new pair of wireless earbuds, called the Galaxy Buds 2, which aim to directly compete against Apple's own earbuds, the AirPods.

First and foremost, it's important to note that Samsung's new Galaxy Buds 2 will work exclusively with Samsung's Galaxy devices, and no other models, so know that.

Now, the Buds 2 also have Active-Noise Cancelling Technology, which is always great to see for a newer pair or earbuds that gets released, especially nowadays, as having an ANC has literally become the a very important standard for earbuds.

These earbuds also feature an Ambient Mode that allows users to listen to their media while simultaneously being able to hear their surroundings, which is a great feature to have while you're on and about throughout your daily commute.

What's even more impressive is that unlike many of the recently released earbuds models from other brands that only come with 2 built-in Microphones for Noise-Cancellation during your Phone Calls, the Galaxy Buds2 actually come equipped with 3 built-in Microphones (2 Outer Beamforming Mics and 1 Inner Mic), which work in combination with a VPU (Voice Pick-Up Unit) and a Machine Learning Technology that quickly allows the earbuds themselves to adjust their sound-capture profile to whatever type of surroundings you find yourself on, whether that's a more quiet library or a noisy street-side.

As this is the company's second-gen of earbuds, these are also confirmed to feature Bluetooth 5.2 Connectivity.

While the earbuds themselves can offer you around 5-hours of battery life while using ANC On (or 7.5 hours of battery life with ANC turned Off), their Wireless Charging Case also adds an extra 20 hours of battery life.

Sure, it's not those 35-40 hours that some other earbuds from other brands have to offer, but their price might be slightly more affordable, and since this brand-new earbuds model is actually the second-gen of Samsung's own earbuds, it's safe to say that fans can also expect their sound-quality to be even better.

The Galaxy Buds2 will be available in four (x4) different color models (White, Black, Dark Green, and Purple).

The Buds2 will go on sale on August 27th, and they'll go for just $149 per pair.