Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July 2026: Every New Device Announced

Samsung just launched six new devices at once — three foldable phones, two smartwatches, and its first pair of smart glasses — at Galaxy Unpacked on July 22, 2026 in London, with all of it going up for pre-order immediately and shipping August 7. If you blinked, you missed a genuinely unusual move: instead of the usual one-or-two-phone Unpacked cadence, Samsung front-loaded its entire foldable lineup and both watches into a single event.

I went through the spec sheets on all six devices, and the headline isn’t any single phone — it’s that Samsung is clearly trying to make “foldable” feel like the default choice again, not the expensive niche option. Here’s what actually shipped, what it costs, and which one is worth your money.

Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra: The New Flagship-of-Flagships

The Z Fold8 Ultra is Samsung’s first-ever “Ultra” branding on a foldable, and the spec sheet backs up the name. It packs a 6.5-inch exterior display and an 8-inch interior display, both running at 120Hz, wrapped around a body that’s just 4.1mm thick when open and weighs 215 grams. The camera system jumps to a 200MP main sensor alongside a 50MP ultrawide and a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom and 30x Space Zoom, plus 8K video recording. Battery capacity lands at 5,000mAh with 45W fast charging.

All three new foldables run the same chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, with base configurations starting at 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. The Z Fold8 Ultra starts at $2,100.

Galaxy Z Fold8: A New Shape, Literally

The regular Z Fold8 is the more interesting engineering story. It’s Samsung’s first foldable with a horizontal, passport-style orientation instead of the tall-and-narrow book fold the line has used since 2019 — a 5.5-inch exterior cover screen that folds out to a 7.6-inch interior display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, also at 120Hz. It carries a 50MP main and 50MP ultrawide camera pair with 8K video and 10x digital zoom, a 4,800mAh battery, and weighs 201 grams. Price starts at $1,900.

Galaxy Z Flip8: Slimmer and Lighter Than Ever

The Flip8 is the most “just make it better” of the three. It keeps the clamshell form factor with a 4.1-inch exterior cover screen and a 6.9-inch 120Hz interior display, pairs a 50MP main camera with a 12MP ultrawide, and packs a 4,300mAh battery. At 180 grams and 6.1mm thick when unfolded, Samsung is calling it its slimmest and lightest Flip yet. It starts at $1,200.

Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2

Samsung didn’t stop at phones. The Galaxy Watch 9 comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes, starting at $380 for Bluetooth-only or $430 with LTE, and gets a 390mAh battery — a 20% capacity bump over last year — along with a 3,000-nit display.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is the bigger upgrade: a 47mm case that’s 12% thinner than its predecessor at 10.7mm, an 800mAh battery (35% larger), a 5,000-nit display, IP69K water resistance, and dedicated diving and trail-running modes. It starts at $700.

Samsung’s First Smart Glasses

The quiet surprise of the event was Samsung’s first pair of smart glasses, co-developed with Google, Warby Parker, and Gentle Monster. They run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip, get roughly 9 hours of battery life per charge with a case that provides 7 additional charges, and lean on Google’s Gemini for on-device AI features. Pricing and a firm release date weren’t announced — Samsung is holding those back for later in 2026.

Quick Reference: What Launched and What It Costs

The AI Layer Tying It All Together

Every device at this event shipped with Gemini baked in somewhere. On the foldables, Google’s Gemini Intelligence powers a task-automation feature that works across more than 40 apps — Samsung’s demo showed it booking event tickets and placing food orders without the user touching each app individually. The phones also ship with Gemini Notebook pre-installed and a six-month free trial of Google AI Pro. On the watch side, both new models get a Health Assistant AI feature and support wrist-gesture activation to summon Gemini hands-free.

It’s a bigger and more central AI push than Samsung’s watch and foldable lines have gotten before, and it’s a reminder of how much of Samsung’s “own” software layer is now really Google’s, wearing a Samsung skin.

Should You Actually Buy One?

If you’re due for an upgrade and want the horizontal-fold form factor, the Z Fold8 is the one worth waiting for — it’s the first real shape change to the line in years, not just a spec bump. If raw camera performance and top-tier hardware matter more than saving $200, the Z Fold8 Ultra’s 200MP sensor and bigger displays justify the “Ultra” name. And if you just want the lightest, thinnest flip phone Samsung has made, the Flip8 delivers exactly that without asking you to spend foldable-flagship money.

For anyone still undecided on foldable versus a standard phone at all, it’s worth reading through how the iPhone vs. Android comparison for 2026 holds up before committing — a $1,200-plus foldable is a very different purchase than a mainstream flagship, and the tradeoffs (durability, app scaling, resale value) are still real even three generations into the format. On the watch side, if you’re choosing between the Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2, our guide to the best smartwatches of 2026 breaks down which features are actually worth paying extra for versus which ones sound better in a keynote than they feel on your wrist.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do Samsung’s new Galaxy Unpacked devices actually ship?

All six devices announced on July 22, 2026 — the Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Fold8, Z Flip8, Galaxy Watch 9, and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 — are available for pre-order now and ship August 7, 2026. Samsung’s smart glasses don’t have a confirmed price or release date yet.

What’s the cheapest new foldable Samsung announced?

The Galaxy Z Flip8 starts at $1,200, making it the most affordable of the three new foldables, ahead of the Z Fold8 at $1,900 and the Z Fold8 Ultra at $2,100.

What’s actually new about the Galaxy Z Fold8’s design?

It’s Samsung’s first foldable to switch to a horizontal, passport-style orientation instead of the vertical book-fold shape the line has used since 2019, with a wider 5.5-inch cover screen and a 4:3 interior display.

Do the new watches and foldables all use the same chip?

The three foldables (Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Fold8, Z Flip8) all use the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset. The Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2 use their own dedicated wearable chipsets, and Samsung’s smart glasses run a separate Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip.

What AI features come with the new Galaxy lineup?

Gemini Intelligence handles task automation across 40-plus apps on the foldables, Gemini Notebook ships pre-installed with a six-month free Google AI Pro trial, and both new watches add a Health Assistant AI feature plus wrist-gesture activation for Gemini.

Sources: Engadget, with additional reporting from Samsung’s official newsroom and TechRadar.