Image: Samsung
Samsung announced two new foldable smartphones to create a ‘new frontier’ for Galaxy AI and is making a move into the niche smart ring market.
Samsung had some interesting updates at its latest Unpacked event, with a new range of foldable smartphones and smartwatches for those looking to monitor their health.
The smartphone maker continues to focus on the capabilities of generative AI, as most of these new products include AI-powered upgrades to improve the experience for customers. This isn’t surprising – Samsung’s recent focus on AI helped the company regain a lead in the smartphone market recently.
The company also announced a bigger pivot into the health monitoring market, with the launch of Galaxy Ring, a wearable device that gives users detailed reports on their health. With this move, Samsung is entering a niche market against established products such as the Oura Ring.
“We’re proud to not only be extending our Galaxy Watch range to open up new possibilities for our customers’ wellness journey, but also by announcing Galaxy Ring – our smallest-ever wearable, discreetly designed to allow our customers to monitor their health, wellness and sleep 24/7,” said James Kitto, Samsung UK and Ireland VP and head of MX (mobile experience).
Galaxy Ring
Samsung said the Galaxy Ring brings its sensor technology to users in its most unobtrusive form, as the small ring only weighs up to 3g. The water-resistant ring also comes with seven days of battery life to let users reap its benefits for long periods of time.
Using Galaxy AI, Samsung said this ring can let users monitor various aspects of their health, such as sleeping patterns, heart rates, menstrual tracking and tips for physical improvement.
Image: Samsung
One example of how this device is designed to support users is the “sleep score”, which is a rating the ring gives users after monitoring their sleeping habits. The ring tracks various details while its user sleeps, such as movement during sleep, sleep latency and their respiratory rate to provide a detailed analysis of sleep quality.
The Galaxy Ring also provides an “energy score” to users based on physical conditions across four key factors – sleep, activity, sleeping heart rate and sleeping heart rate variability.
This availability for the Galaxy Ring in Ireland will be confirmed in the coming weeks and will cost €459.
Galaxy smartwatches
Continuing the focus on health, Samsung announced two new smartwatches – the Galaxy Watch 7 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra. These smartwatches offer very different experiences – the Watch 7 is designed for everyday wellness monitoring, while the Ultra is for those looking for advanced fitness insights.
The Watch 7 will let users accurately track more than 100 workouts and build routines by combining various exercises with Samsung’s Workout Routine feature to achieve various fitness goals.
Similar to the Galaxy Ring, this watch also features sleep monitoring, which uses AI to track a person’s heart health. The Watch 7 also comes with an “enhanced BioActive Sensor” to give users more accurate readings on their physical health.
Image: Samsung
The smartwatch also features some common generative AI features, such as suggested replies to speed up how its user responds to messages.
The Watch Ultra, meanwhile, features a more durable casing, water resistance and the ability to operate at a wider range of altitudes to accommodate different fitness activities such as swimming and cycling in extreme environments.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra also has a “personalised HR zone” feature, which helps users work out at their optimal intensity levels based on their physical capabilities.
These smartwatches are available for pre-order and will be generally available from 24 July. The Galaxy Watch 7 has a starting price of €329, while the Watch Ultra has a steeper price tag of €699.
Fold 6 and Flip6
Samsung has expanded its foldable smartphone portfolio with the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6, which have a big focus on AI integration.
“This is the next frontier of Galaxy AI, supercharging this unique form factor with enhancements across features such as Circle to Search with Google – optimised for the ultimate user experience,” Kitto said. “Another great example of this is Galaxy AI’s interpreter feature, which uses the dual screen of our foldables to show translation for a real-time conversation.”
The company said these new devices are its slimmest and lightest Galaxy Z series and are optimised for portability. Both devices come with a Snapdragon 8 mobile processor to boost CPU, GPU and NPU performance. Samsung said this processor is optimised for AI processing and will bring enhanced graphics and an improved overall performance.
The Fold6 and Flip6 are available for pre-order and will be generally available from 24 July. These devices come with steep price tags, as the Flip6 starts at €1,239 and the Fold6 starts at €2,059.
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