Samsung unveils its new line of foldable devices at Unpacked

By SHAWN CHEN

NEW YORK (AP) — Samsung introduced several updates to its foldable devices lineup on Wednesday, with the new Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and the new Z Flip 7 FE taking stage at the latest Unpacked event.

The Korean electronics company unveiled the upgrades — including new versions of their watch — in New York but also announced an expanded partnership with Google to inject more artificial intelligence into its foldable lineup.

Here are the biggest announcements from this summer’s Unpacked event:

A thinner Galaxy Z Fold 7

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is much thinner and lighter than its predecessors, coming in at 0.17 inch thick when unfolded and less than half an inch folded.

It also weighs slightly less than half a pound, an impressive feat considering the company also increased the total size of the screens from the Fold 6 — now 6.5 inches for the exterior screen and 8 inches for the interior screen.

The battery capacity remains the same as the previous generation. But unlike previous generations of fold devices, this one doesn’t support the company’s digital stylus.

A 200 megapixel camera will act as the main capture and a 10 megapixel camera that extends along the frame of the phone gives users the ability to quickly capture wide shots.

The Fold 7 will retail starting at $1,999. Pre-orders start today, and the device will hit shelves on July 25.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 goes bigger

The flippable cousin of the Fold has an enlarged 4.1-inch top screen and the clamshell folds down to just over half an inch. The inner display grows to 6.9 inches from the Flip 6’s 6.7 inches.

It gets a slightly bigger 4,300mAh battery and maintains a 50 megapixel main camera and 10 megapixel front camera.

A new, cheaper version of the phone, called the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE was also announced today. It’s a slightly smaller version — keeping the Fold 6’s 6.7 inch screen size — of its premium counterpart.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 will retail for $1,099.99 and the Flip 7 FE starts at $899.99. Pre-orders for both devices began Wednesday and both will be available generally on July 25.

The updated Watch 8 series

The Galaxy Watch Ultra, Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic have all been refreshed with various updates — memory, thickness, design — but the main takeaway from today’s event is that Google’s Gemini AI was being preloaded onto the devices. Users can access the AI by speaking to their watch.

AI permeates all of the devices

Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of devices and services, appeared in a pre-recorded video at Unpacked to announce that the AI Mode of its search engine will be used in Samsung’s circle to search function, allowing users to make quick queries by tapping or circling things on their screen. And Gemini will receive further integration with base Samsung device apps, like Calendar and Reminders.