Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 preview — Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Flip 8, Intelligent Eyewear and more
We’ve already had one Galaxy Unpacked event this year, but what about the second Galaxy Unpacked? Samsung typically holds two of these events each year, and with the Summer Unpacked event, it focuses on the latest foldables and smartwatches. This year is shaping up to be no exception, with rumors pointing to the next Unpacked taking place in London in July.
This year’s event could be a little different, though, because it sounds like Samsung will offer three new foldables this year instead of the usual two. With the iPhone Ultra set to launch later this year, with a wider design, Samsung is expected to release a wider foldable of its own. That’s on top of appearances from new versions of the Z Fold and Z Flip models that appear every year.
Here’s what you need to know about Galaxy Unpacked Summer 2026 and all the new devices expected to be revealed at the show.
When is Galaxy Unpacked Summer 2026?
Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed when the next Unpacked event will take place. But the rumors we’ve heard suggest the event will be held in London on July 22. We don’t have any additional details beyond that, including what time the launch event will take place.
But with July 22 just over a month away, it shouldn’t be long before Samsung makes all the details official.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
Samsung’s reportedly mixing things up with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, and it’s expected that two models will bear the name. The standard Z Fold 8 is what people had been referring to as the Galaxy Z Fold Wide, on account of the new wider design Samsung is set to debut in the near future.
The design is remarkably similar to that of Apple’s iPhone Ultra, which is supposed to arrive later this year. Various renders and dummy models show a foldable that’s shorter and wider than traditional Z Fold models. The folding screen is tipped to be 7.8 inches in size, while the cover display is just 5.4 inches.
Other rumored hardware includes a pair of rear cameras instead of the usual three, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, and a 4,800 mAh battery.
There’s an awful lot we still don’t know about this phone, including details on price and a lot of the basic hardware. However, the reports have made it clear that this new naming convention is happening. Which in turn implies Samsung sees the new wider Z Fold as a long-term addition to its foldable family, rather than a one-off — as we saw with the Galaxy Z TriFold and Z Fold SE.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra
The successor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is reportedly getting an extra upgrade, thanks to a brand new name. With the Z Fold Wide bearing the standard Z Fold 8 name, what we thought would be the Z Fold 8 is now being promoted to Ultra rank.
The good news is that the name change isn’t just for show. Rumor has it that there will be a bunch of major upgrades coming to this year’s flagship Galaxy foldable — least of which is the possibility of a creaseless display. That’s the one design feature that foldable phone makers have been striving for since their inception nearly a decade ago, and the Z Fold 8 could, at the very least, come close to it being a reality.
Design-wise you’re looking at the same basic shape as the Galaxy Z Fold 7, albeit with a slightly larger 8-inch foldable display and a 6.5-inch cover screen. Despite the increased size, the phone is expected to be 15 grams lighter, and if past foldables are anything to go by, it may even be slightly thinner.
Samsung may also finally upgrade the resolution of the main camera lens to 200MP — up from 50MP. The 12MP ultrawide lens is expected to rise to 50MP, with a slightly smaller jump from 10MP to 12MP on the telephoto camera. The two selfie cameras apparently won’t be changing, though, so they’re sticking at 10MP.
Other rumored hardware includes a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a larger 5,000 mAH battery and a charging boost from 25W to 45W. However the starting price may be higher as a result of the global RAM shortages, with rumors suggesting a $2,199 price tag for a basic 256GB model.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8
Samsung has mostly neglected the Z Flip series over the years, and the rumors suggest that this year won’t be any exception. In other words you should only expect to see incremental upgrades from the Galaxy Z Flip 8 when it arrives at Galaxy Unpacked.
From a design perspective we’re likely to see more or less the same phone as last year. A 6.9-inch foldable display paired with a 4.1-inch cover display that surrounds a pair of camera lenses. We haven’t heard anything about the kind of camera hardware to expect, but we’re likely to see a 50MP main lens, a 12MP ultrawide lens and a 10MP selfie camera. It’s also possible we’ll see a reduction in weight and thickness, as has been the trend with past Z Flip devices.
From a performance perspective, it’s unclear what kind of chipset Samsung will opt for. While the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 would offer the best performance, there’s a good chance Samsung will instead opt for an Exynos chip. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 came with an Exynos 2500, and logically that would mean the Z Flip 8 would utilize the 2nm Exynos 2600.
Sadly there have been reports that Samsung may be scrapping the Z Flip series, which means the Galaxy Z Flip 8 may be the last Samsung flip-foldable we see for a while. So if you want a Samsung flip phone, rather than a Motorola Razr, this may be the one you need to buy.
Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2
Galaxy Unpacked won’t just be about the phones, and word is that we’ll also see two new smartwatches at the July event: The Galaxy Watch 9 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. There’s a lot still unconfirmed about these wearables, but there have been a couple of rumors and leaks suggesting crucial changes.
The first is a report claiming Samsung has ditched the Exynos 1-series chips in favor of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset. This may be to support more AI features on the watches themselves, rather than passing them off to a smartphone.
It’s also speculated that 5G could make an appearance, alongside a more powerful health sensor that improved tracking accuracy of metrics like heart rate, sleep, Afib and more.
Intelligent Eyewear
We’ve already seen Samsung’s Intelligent Eyewear, designer glasses equipped with cameras and AI, at Google I/O back in May. Google’s developer conference didn’t go into a lot of detail about what to expect from the smart glasses, which means Galaxy Unpacked has plenty of opportunity to fill in the gaps.
At the very least Samsung needs to provide concrete details about pricing and when the glasses will actually go on sale. We’d also like to hear more about hardware specs, features and capabilities, plus any additional brand collaborations that might see different Eyewear designs go on sale in the near future.
Outlook
The star of Galaxy Unpacked is definitely going to be the new foldables, especially since the event is expected to see the debut of a brand new folding Galaxy phone. That doesn’t happen very often, and it’s going to be interesting to see what Samsung has in store for us — and what this means for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series as a whole.
That’s not to say that Unpacked will only be about the phones. Rumors suggest that we’ll be seeing updates for Samsung’s smartwatches, including some notable upgrades, and we’re all but guaranteed to get more information about the Intelligent Eyewear smart glasses. Who knows? Maybe there will be a few more surprises up Samsung’s sleeve on the day.
We’ll just have to wait for Samsung to confirm when Galaxy Unpacked is going to take place, and what it actually has in store for us on the day.
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