Samsung Galaxy Word 20 occasion: what to anticipate from the Unpacked keynote

It's official: Samsung's next major product launch will take place on August 5 at 10 a.m.CET and will be a virtual event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The main product will almost certainly be the next phone in the Samsung Galaxy Note series, a premium line of smartphones that combines some of the most powerful phone hardware with a large, beautiful screen and the signature S Pen. However, we also expect everything from new earphones to wearables to leaflets.

Samsung has not been afraid to tease additional product releases. And since we originally published this article, Samsung said in a blog post that five devices will be presented at the event. More recently, five silhouettes have been shown using a teaser trailer. To our eyes, they look like silhouettes for a new tablet, a smartwatch, real wireless earphones, a foldable smartphone and of course the Note 20.

Last year, the company launched a new smartwatch and laptop

These silhouettes perfectly tie in with the latest reports on products that Samsung is developing, including a Galaxy Tab S7 tablet, a Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch, real wireless Galaxy Buds live earphones, and a successor to the Galaxy Fold called Galaxy Z Fold 2.

This article originally pointed out that rumors suggest Samsung could launch a 5G version of its Galaxy Z flip phone. However, the company has now officially announced this, so this is off the table for August.

Read on for an overview of everything we can expect from Samsung's next unpacked event.

The biggest leak in the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra came from Samsung, which posted a photo of the phone on its own website.

Picture: Samsung Russia

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series

Every year, the touch phones equipped with a Samsung pen are the focus of the company at the "Unpacked" event in August. This year we expect Samsung to display at least two Note phones, including a standard Note 20 (which is reported to have a flat 6.7-inch display with 2400 x 1080 pixels) and a larger Note 20 Ultra with a curved display 6.9-inch display (3200 x 1440) according to WinFuture. Some reports also refer to a Note 20 Plus with a 6.87-inch display (2345 x 1084). However, it has also been speculated that this could be the same device as the regular Note 20 or the Ultra.

Leaks indicate at least two Note 20 devices

Our first real look at Note 20 Ultra came from Samsung itself, which incorrectly appeared to be posting a photo of the phone on its website. It wasn't much, but it was enough to confirm that the device is there (which … duh) and will have a redesigned camera hump this time. This appears to include three cameras along with a fourth sensor, which could be either a 3D ToF sensor or a laser auto focus, which would be helpful when taking portraits or focusing speed.

Thanks to a short practical video and photos by YouTuber Jimmy Is Promo, whose channel specializes in news about Samsung phones, we took a closer look at the Note 20 Ultra. His leak contained a few shots from the front of the device, showing the Note 10-style centered hole-punch selfie camera, as well as the slightly smaller bezels and a larger camera bump. Renderings of the phone that were later released by WinFuture seem to confirm this leak.

Regarding the step-down note 20, WinFuture has now apparently published marketing renderings of the phone. These images seem to show that the Note 20 has a less striking camera bump and a flatter screen that doesn't bend around the edges of the device.

Image: WinFuture

In terms of cameras, the leaked images and videos of the Note 20 Ultra seem to show that the "folded" periscope zoom lens from Samsung is making a comeback to the S20 Ultra, which allows the zoom types, which until recently were difficult to pull, in the limited space available a smartphone offers. When it comes to the Note 20 Plus (which may or may not be the same device), Leaker Ice Universe initially said that its main camera will have a 108 megapixel main sensor like the S20 Ultra. However, he also said that this time the zoom lens is said to reach 50x and not 100x the S20 Ultra, and that the zoom lens will have a 13-megapixel rather than a 48-megapixel sensor. (WinFuture has since confirmed that the camera's main sensor and ultrawide cameras would have resolutions of 108 megapixels and 12 megapixels, although it has been reported that the zoom lens will be 12 megapixels.) That sounds like a downgrade, in practice however after the S20 The 100x zoom recordings from Ultra were mostly unusable, so it seems sensible to stop at 50x this time. Using a lower resolution sensor could also mean better performance in low light conditions when zooming.

According to WinFuture, the Note 20 should have a 64 megapixel zoom camera with an optical zoom of 3x, while the maximum zoom is 30x in total. This zoom camera is said to include 12 megapixel main and ultrawide cameras.

According to the Jimmy is promo video, the S Pen of the Note has a largely similar design as last year (the video even shows how the Note 20 pen is inserted into the Note 10 and vice versa), but is said to have a new "pointer" have ”, with which you can remotely control a screen cursor with the S-pen. This may be a big advance over the Note 10's relatively simple gesture controls, and gives you more options if you only want to control your phone remotely with the stylus. And the S Pen on the Ultra may only have a latency of 9 milliseconds, while the S Pen on the Standard Note 20 could have a higher latency of 26 milliseconds, according to separate WinFuture reports.

The pictures from Samsung show a handset with a large camera projection and three reversing cameras.

Picture: Samsung Russia

Internally, we expect a Snapdragon 865 or even an 865 Plus processor to power the Note 20 Ultra. None of the processors has an integrated 5G modem. However, since these are designed for use with Qualcomm's X55 5G modem, the Note 20 series is likely 5G capable.

According to WinFuture, the Note 20 Ultra will apparently have a 6.9-inch screen with a resolution of 3200 x 1440 and a variable refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. Other reports indicate that the Note 20 Plus screen also has a refresh rate of 120 Hz. Regardless of what the actual name for the super power note is, the screen should look as smooth as the Galaxy S20. The big question is whether you can use this refresh rate of 120 Hz while the screen is set to the maximum resolution of 1440p as this was not possible with the S20 series. A leak has said you will be able to on the Ultra, but it is far from safe.

Elsewhere, it has also been reported that the Note 20 Plus will feature an LTPO (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) display similar to that of Apple's Apple Watch Series 5. This technology could give Samsung much more control over the device's update rate of the phone with the option to reduce it if necessary to extend battery life. This is a useful technology that can help reduce the power consumption of a 120 Hz display.

According to WinFuture, the standard Note 20 will have a slightly smaller 6.7-inch display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 and will be limited to a refresh rate of 60 Hz.

After all, according to WinFuture, both the Ultra and the standard Note 20 can be optimized for gaming via Microsoft's xCloud streaming service.

Samsung Galaxy leaflets

Samsung released a 5G version of the Galaxy Z Flip on July 22, the latest smartphone of which is becoming more compact. So if the company is going to show a leaflet at its August 5th event, it's likely a successor to folding the galaxy. (In contrast to the Z Flip, the fold is a tablet that can be folded up to the size of a smartphone.) SamMobile recently reported that the successor is called the Galaxy Z Fold 2 to unify Samsung's foldable branding, Leaker Max Weinbach reports that it will be revealed in August and released in October.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is under development and may be launched in August

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is expected to have a larger display on the device's cover, which should mean that when folded, it can be used much better than the original Galaxy Fold with its small cover display. Rumor has it that the internal screen has a much smaller hole cutout for the selfie camera than the Galaxy Fold's strong notch. You can get a picture of what it might look like when you see this blurry picture of the leaflet that leaked earlier this month. According to reports, 5G is also supported, which seems to make sense for another probably very expensive folding handheld device.

If you want to believe some older rumors, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 will have an 8-inch display with ultra-thin glass, a 108 megapixel camera and an S-Pen. It is said to be powered by a Snapdragon 865 processor.

Leaked images show a watch with two physical buttons and a rotating bezel.

Picture: Evan Blass

New wearables

At this point, a new Galaxy Watch is almost a matter of course. Samsung seems to skip the Galaxy Watch 2 completely and jump straight to the Galaxy Watch 3, which is already included in approval applications as well as leaked images, renderings and even a practical video.

The big rumor is the return of a physically rotatable bezel, which was unfortunately missing in the Galaxy Watch Active and Active 2 last year and offers convenient physical control for the smartwatch. The watch will reportedly be available in 41mm and 45mm sizes, as well as LTE and Wi-Fi variants.

Samsung's Tizen software appears to be getting a makeover for the new smartwatch. With new watch faces, you can add custom details like your heart rate or step count on the edges of the display. There are also reports that there are new gesture controls to take photos or answer incoming calls. We have been fans of Samsung smartwatches in the past and are currently evaluating the Galaxy Watch Active 2 as the best smartwatch for Android users. So we have high hopes.

In addition to the Galaxy Watch 3, Samsung also has an apparently new fitness tracker on the way if you want to believe a recently submitted filing by the Federal Communications Commission. Little is known about the details of the device, which appears to be a successor to Samsung's Galaxy Fit from last year. However, expect a heart rate measurement and automatic training detection. However, given Samsung's comments below on five machines to be introduced, this new fitness machine is unlikely to be released.

The Galaxy Buds Live have a bean-shaped design and are said to have active noise cancellation.

Picture: Evan Blass

Samsung Galaxy Buds live earphones

Earlier this year, Samsung released a pair of real wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds Plus, which quickly became our first choice for the best real wireless earbuds you can buy today. Now it looks like another pair could be on the road that contains the biggest missing feature: active noise cancellation.

Bean-shaped earphones are reported to be on the move

The Galaxy Buds Live was first published by WinFuture in April and subsequently appeared in the official Galaxy Buds companion app from Samsung. This confirms the name and support for active noise cancellation.

According to reports, the new noise reduction function means that according to WinFuture, the battery life is not as good as that of the Galaxy Buds Plus, with only 4.5 instead of 11 hours of playback. Apparently you can charge a maximum of 20 hours when used with the case. The design was recently shown in a leak by Evan Blass. If you want to see the final designs and colors for the headphones, watch this video from Twitter user @ h0x0d that appears to show a leaked marketing clip:

According to WinFuture, the Galaxy Buds Live will be available for retail for $ 190, which is about $ 225 or $ 174.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and S7 Plus

There aren't many manufacturers taking Android tablets seriously these days, but Samsung releases new entries in its Galaxy Tab series every year. According to a recent report from SamMobile, there will be a Tab S7 and S7 Plus, which will come into play at its event in August Unpacked.

If the reports are correct, the S7 and S7 Plus have 11-inch LCD and 12.4-inch OLED displays and are powered by Snapdragon 865 Plus processors. Both work with the Samsung S Pen, and you can choose between 6 or 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of storage. There also appears to be a 5G version of the Tab S7 Plus, but it only supports 5G below 6 GHz, which means that the gigabit speeds are not supported by mmWave. Finally, expect fingerprint sensors on the display on the tablets, although SamMobile cannot confirm whether they have an optical or an ultrasonic sensor.

The Galaxy Home, which was first announced in 2018, has yet to be released.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

One more thing?

At this point, it's probably stupid to expect the Samsung Galaxy Home to appear. The smart speaker with Bixby drive, which was announced in 2018, was repeatedly delayed, although Samsung has announced and released a miniature version in South Korea. Given the delays, it's almost so far we half expect Samsung to announce an AirPower-style cancellation. But we would be surprised if this happened at a time when the note 20 thunder could be stolen.

Update July 27, 4:07 p.m. ET: Updated with new details and rumors, as well as the official announcement of the Galaxy Z Flip 5G.