New and powerful Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5 foldables and more debut at Galaxy Unpacked Korea 2023

At the grand biannual Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event that took place for the first time in South Korea, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5, Galaxy Z Flip5 as well as the new Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch6 series made their official global debut.

Samsung has maintained a steady lead in foldable phones since they debuted the first Galaxy Z Fold in 2019 and the Galaxy Z Flip in 2020. While details have been liberally leaked about the internet in recent weeks, their latest generation Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5 still had plenty of surprises to offer at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event.

While the two new foldables took the limelight, Samsung also launched their latest Galaxy Tab S9 series of tablets as well as their Galaxy Watch6 series smartwatches which come in standard Galaxy Watch6 and a larger Galaxy Watch6 Classic variant with a rotating bezel; something that hasn’t been seen on the last couple of versions of the Galaxy Watch smartwatches. Here’s a quick primer on what Samsung launched at Galaxy Unpacked 2023 in Korea…

What is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5?

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is a more powerful, more refined update to last year’s Galaxy Z Fold4 with the new model being lighter by 10g at 153g, slightly slimmer and narrower all around at just 6.1mm thin when unfolded and 13.4mm thin when folded down. This is on account of an optimised internal layout and the use of a new Flex Hinge in the phone.

While the Galaxy Z Fold5 is physically slightly smaller than the Fold4, it still retains the same sized 6.7-inch cover display and primary 7.6-inch foldable display on account of smaller bezels while using vibrant Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels with 120Hz refresh rates. The phone also uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for the front cover display and backplate along with tough Armor Aluminium for the chassis. 

Under the hood, the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 uses the Snapdragon 8  Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset used in the Galaxy S23 Ultra, runs the latest Android 13 and their own OneUI 5.1.1 overlay, has 12GB RAM and comes in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage variants. The rear hosts a triple camera setup with a 50MP main camera with OIS, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a 12MP ultra wide angle camera. 

The front cover display also has a 10MP selfie camera set into a punch hole while the inner folding display has a 4MP invisible under display camera. Keeping it powered is a 4,400mAh battery with 25W fast wired charging as well as Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 tech and reverse wireless charging to juice smaller devices like the Buds2 Pro.

At launch, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 features Icy Blue, Phantom Black and Cream colourways as well as online exclusives Blue and Grey. In Malaysia, the 256GB version retails for RM6,799, the 512GB variant retailing for RM7,299 and the top of the line 1TB variant costing RM8,299.

The good news is that Malaysia will feature all of the above colourways for preorders. To preorder the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5, check out their official page here.

What is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5?

The more compact and fashionable lifestyle oriented foldable phone to the more businesslike Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5, the Galaxy Z Flip5 tackles the pain points of last year’s Galaxy Z Flip4 with a similar compact foldable form factor and upgrades the front cover display to a much larger 3.4-inch Super AMOLED 60Hz Flex Window cover display that takes up almost the entirety of the front panel.

With the larger cover display, users have greater access to notifications and apps without having to open up the phone entirely. It also acts as a much more effective viewfinder for selfies and wefies compared to its predecessor. Flip the phone open and you get a 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

The new Galaxy Z Flip5 also benefits from a new Flex Hinge that confers a much slimmer gap when folded down though the phone still weighs about as much as the older Flip4 from last year at 187g and at 6.9mm thin when unfolded. Of note is that the phone retains a solid IPX8 water resistance rating as well the use of Armor Aluminum in the chassis.

Powering the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 a Snapdragon 8 Gen2 for Galaxy processor running Android 13 and OneUI 5.1.1. Paired with the chipset is 8GB RAM and your choice of 256GB or 512GB storage options. For imaging duties, the Galaxy Z Flip5 uses a dual camera setup that consists of a 12MP camera with OIS and a 12MP ultra wide angle camera with improved low light capabilities on account of an enhanced AI-powered image signal processing (ISP) algorithm.

In tandem with its unique form factor, users are able to use it folded halfway up in Flex mode and use the cover display for selfies and interact with selected apps like YouTube. Keeping the phone powered is a 3,700mAh battery with 25W wired fast charging, wireless and reverse wireless charging.

At launch the Galaxy Z Flip5 has 4 colourways with the option of Mint, Lavender, Cream and Graphite and 4 online exclusive paint jobs which are Yellow, Blue, Green and Gray. In Malaysia, the Galaxy Z Flip5 retails for RM4,499 for the 256GB version and RM4,999 for the 512GB version.

For Malaysia, Samsung will be offering all available colour combinations though it seems the Bespoke customisation option is not available this time around for the Galaxy Z Flip5. To preorder the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, check out Samsung’s official page here.

What is the Galaxy Tab S9 series?

The successor to last year’s Galaxy Tab S8 series, the new Galaxy Tab S9 series consists of the Galaxy Tab S9, the S9+ and S9 Ultra which feature increasingly larger Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays starting in at 11-inches for the baseline model, 12.4-inches for the S9+ and a huge 14.6-inch panel for the S9 Ultra.

All three tablets feature AKG-tuned quad speakers, use Armor Aluminum for the chassis for durability and have an impressive IP68 dust and water resistance rating.

Powering the entire Galaxy Tab S9 series is the same powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset running Android 13 overlaid with the latest One UI 5.1.1 and has WiFi 6E only and 5G-enabled variants. The baseline S9 model features 8GB or 12GB RAM and either 128GB or 256GB storage options.

The mainline Galaxy Tab S9+ has 12GB as standard and either 256GB or 512GB storage while the large S9 Ultra has either 12GB RAM or 16GB RAM as well as 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage options. All of the Galaxy Tab S9 series have expandable storage via a microSD card slot with support for cards up to 1TB in size. 

For imaging duties, the Galaxy Tab S9+ and S9 Ultra have a dual camera setup on the rear with a 13MP primary camera and 8MP ultra wide angle camera though the baseline S9 model only has a 13MP camera. For video calls and selfies, the Tab S9 and S9+ use a single front mounted 12MP ultra wide angle camera though the Tab S9 Ultra has a better dual 12MP camera setup with one being an ultrawide angle lens. 

Battery sizes differ of course with the Tab S9 Ultra featuring a massive 11,200mAh battery, the S9+ with 10,090mAh and the baseline S9 with an 8,400mAh bttery. Colour options consist of Beige and Graphite for the S9+ and S9 Ultra while the smallest model only gets Graphite for all regions.

Prices start from RM3,699 in Malaysia. For more details on the Galaxy Tab S9 series and potential combinations of WiFi or 5G as well as storage variants along with their prices check out the official Samsung page here while the preorder official page is here.

What is the Galaxy Watch6 and Galaxy Watch6 Classic?

The new Galaxy Watch6 and Galaxy Watch6 Classic smartwatches have a veritable slew of upgrades in almost every aspect of their design with the new Watch6 Classic marking the return of their popular rotating bezel that offers clicky, tactile input to navigate the menus.

The Galaxy Watch6 ships with a 40mm version that uses a 1.3-inch Super AMOLED display while the 44mm version has a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display. The larger sized Watch6 Classic 42mm variant features a 1.3-inch touchscreen akin to its siblings while the 47mm version has a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display. 

Running under the hood of all of the Galaxy Watch6 variants is an Exynos W930 1.4GHz dual-core processor that has Wear OS powered by Samsung and their own One UI 5 Watch interface paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage as standard issue regardless of display size.

On top of a slimmer design and larger displays, the new Galaxy Watch6 series also features larger batteries and reduced battery consumption too with up to 40 hours of battery life if you leave the display off. 

Like last year’s Watch5 series, the Watch6 series has body composition tracking to check body fat percentages, a personalised heart rate zone tracker that offers more precise heart rate tracking as professional athletes have different heart rates from couch potatoes as well as blood pressure and electrocardiogram monitoring.

On top of the bevy of fitness and activity tracking features, the Galaxy Watch6 series are all rated MIL-STD-810H for durability to drops, have an IP6829 resistance rating along with a 5ATM resistance to immersion which is 50 metres of water though it technically isn’t rated for diving work. 

Colourway options for both the Galaxy Watch6 and Watch6 classic differ slightly with the Classic getting Silver and Black colourways, the Watch6 44mm gets Graphite and Silver paint jobs and the Watch6 40mm variants getting either Graphite or Gold hues.

In any case, all of the new Galaxy Watch6 series feature easily detachable straps that utilise a simple button press to release the strap and the watches accept third party straps.

At launch, Samsung has stated a general availability in Malaysia from 18th August 2023 onwards with prices that start from RM1,099 for the base Galaxy Watch6 40mm Bluetooth variant. For more details check out Samsung’s official page here.