Phone
Samsung confirms Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 will officially launch in July
Samsung has officially confirmed that it will organize the next unpacked event on July 27; however, previously, it was expected to happen one day earlier. However, the country will be the same, South Korea. At this event, the company will unveil its new-gen foldable Galaxy device, including Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5.
The upcoming Galaxy event will not be limited to foldable devices, but there are high chances that Samsung could introduce some more gadgets in this, including the Galaxy S9 series, Galaxy Watch 6 series and its first XR headset.
According to the information, the next Galaxy Unpacked event will be organized at COEX, a convention centre in Samseong-dong, Gangnam. For the first-time organization in an Asian country, Samsung said that it plans to launch new foldable phones in new cultural environments in new cities around the world, which means the company will introduce next-generation devices to different cities.
Moreover, we also have some more information about the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 improvements; as per rumours, these devices give you more enhanced performance than Galaxy S23. These devices will get a new type of hinge technology called Waterdrop, which makes the inner display more secure. Along with this, it is also rumoured that these devices will get water and dust-resistant capability with an IP58 rating. In the Galaxy Z Flip 5, you will get an extra display on the backside of the phone.
We already crossed the first quarter of 2024, and the results are fortunate for the tech industry since the global smartphone market grew by six percent.
If the reports are to be believed, the global smartphone market seems to be rebounding, with Android smartphones particularly finding success in the first quarter of the year. Comprehensively, the market grew by six percent year-over-year regardless of Apple shipping only a few iPhones last quarter as compared to Q1 2023, and that appears due to the great success of Samsung Galaxy phones.
Samsung is typically the top smartphone manufacturer in terms of sales, but things appeared to have changed over the months of 2023 since it later lost that title to Apple in Q4 2023. However, as Apple posted a 13% decline in shipments in the first quarter of 2024, Samsung took it as a golden opportunity and was able to recapture the leading position. Samsung devices made up 20% of the total smartphones shipped last quarter, whereas iPhones accounted for only 17%.
In the premium smartphone market, phones above $800 grew the fastest in Q1 2024. This benefited Apple the most, probably because customers are choosing the more expensive iPhone 15 Pro Max models. Furthermore, Apple maintained its position as the smartphone revenue leader, with a 43% share of the market. The success of select brands in regions outside of North America, such as TECNO, Xiaomi, Honor, and Huawei, partially explains the entire growth. Of the top five OEMs, Xiaomi grew the most last quarter, improving shipments by 34%.
It is expected that the trend of strong growth in the premium smartphone market will continue. This is driven by the arrival of new phones with generative AI capabilities. Analysts are predicting that at least 11% of smartphones shipped in 2024 will have generative AI. However, Apple has yet to join the generative AI list.
Finally, Samsung started distributing the waiting One UI 6.1 update to more Galaxy flagship devices that debuted in 2021 and 2022. Now a total of 19 Galaxy devices have gotten their Android 14-based One UI 6.1 update.
Samsung has added new devices to the list of One UI 6.1, which are as follows:
- Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and Galaxy Flip 3.
The Galaxy S22 series, including the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra, is on the list of devices getting One UI 6.1, but it appears that Samsung may have delayed the rollout due to errors a few users have faced after updating their smartphones.
It is reported that the rollout was paused because some Galaxy S22 units may fail to boot or unlock after the update has been installed. However, users on the Samsung Community forums in Korea, the only market where One UI 6.1 has been released for now, don’t appear to have run into issues themselves.
However, Samsung has yet to officially confirm that it has paused the rollout and even acknowledged any issues, so at the moment, it’s not exactly confirmed that the update has been taken off the air. The Galaxy S22 series owners who didn’t get the One UI 6.1 update yet might want to wait for more details to come out before proceeding with the installation.
If the users are afraid of the issue and want to avoid the risk, they might consider waiting until the Korean giant fixes these problems before installing the update.
Samsung has kept the same battery capacity for the flagship devices while also sticking to the same fast charging speed. If we look at the Galaxy S Ultra devices from the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the company has stuck with 45 W charging and the same 5000 mAh battery. According to the latest report, the Galaxy S25 Ultra may also use the same battery and specifications.
Previous, it was rumored that the Galaxy S24 Ultra could be equipped with stacked battery technology, which could lead to maximizing the component cost, but now, according to an X user named Sawyer Galox, it is reported that the Korean giant will skip this hardware change on the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra to save on component cost.
Along with this, the tipster also expressed his disappointment with Samsung’s take on the unchained hardware. He adds that users who want to buy the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra should keep their expectations low with the battery performance, as Samsung will keep the specs the same with the 500mAh battery and the 45W.
However, the company will also introduce its latest device with new chipsets that may provide improved optimization, which may provide some long-lasting battery life, but it will not provide any improvement in charging.